SportsThe improbable story of Michael Chang’s rise as a young American tennis star, a child of immigrants who turned professional at 15, and then pulled off an unfathomable and unforgettable upset of Ivan Lendl at the 1989 French Open – a match that unfolded in the shadow of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
SportsThey were arguably the most dominating defensive team in the history of the NFL – and perhaps the most entertaining club that pro football has ever seen as well. A behemoth on the field that turned into, literally, one of the classic shows of the reality television era. Now, a little more than two decades after one extraordinary season etched their legacy for all time, the new ESPN 30 for 30 film Bullies of Baltimore tells the story of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, a Super Bowl champion for the ages. Directed by Ken Rodgers of NFL Films, the documentary is a lively and colorful look back at the team’s magical season frame
SportsWhen Jimmy Johnson signed on as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, they were one of the worst teams in the NFL. But after a few years he would coach Super Bowl Champions, and give berth to a dynasty. Their first Super Bowl championship came in 1992 and Cowboys legends Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Ken Norton Jr. discuss the lows before their dynasty started and how the championship season in 1992 that came to be.
SportsThe Dallas Cowboys repeated as World Champions in 1993 -- but it wasn't easy. Cowboys legends Jimmy Johnson, Emmitt Smith, and Bill Bates discuss the 1993 season on a variety of topics --from Emmitt Smith's contract holdout early in the season, to Leon Lett's infamous blunder against the Miami Dolphins, to their win against the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII.
SportsThe documentary focuses on a legendary cast of characters, including head coach Mike Ditka, QB Jim McMahon and the inimitable William "The Refrigerator" Perry who made Chicago Bears as riveting off the field as they were on it on their way to winning Super Bowl XX.
SportsMaya Moore was one of the best women’s basketball players in the world when she stepped away from the sport for a remarkable reason: to fight for a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned. Breakaway chronicles a search for justice, and a relationship that changed the lives of two people forever.
SportsThere is another, unchronicled side to the "Miracle On Ice." The so-called bad guys from America’s ideological adversary were in reality good men and outstanding players, forged into the Big Red Machine by the genius and passion of Anatoli Tarasov. There was a reason they seemed unbeatable, especially after routing the Americans in an exhibition the week before the Winter Games began. And there was a certain shame in them having to live the rest of their lives with the results of February 22, 1980. Director Jonathan Hock ("The Best That Never Was" and "Survive and Advance") explores the scope of the “Miracle on Ice”
SportsIn 1977, the Dallas Cowboys won their second Super Bowl in franchise history thanks to the efforts of some of the best players in Cowboys history. Cowboys’ greats Thomas Henderson, Charlie Waters, Drew Pearson, and Tony Dorsett recount their 1977 season and how they wound up being champions yet again.
SportsOn March 13, 2006, a group of Duke University lacrosse players threw a team party that ended up changing lives, tarnishing a university's reputation, and jeopardizing the future of the sport at the school. A look at the party that ignited a national firestorm and resulted in a highly-charged legal investigation with its underlying themes of sex, race, class, and violence.
SportsLove him or hate him, there is no denying that George Steinbrenner has been one of the most colorful and successful owners in contemporary sports. Heading up a group that bought the New York Yankees in 1973 for $10 million, “King George” emphatically branded the world’s most celebrated sports franchise as his own. The Boss has boasted 10 pennants, 6 World Series trophies and a corporate net worth more than $1 billion. But for all the glory and riches, the Steinbrenner legacy is also mixed with wasteful and embarrassing spending and countless episodes of tabloid-style soap. Now with George’s health seriously failing
SportsIt all started in a house in College Station, Texas in 2009. A group of friends sharing a house in college were doing what a lot of college kids end up doing with their time: messing around and coming up with ways to entertain themselves. But these guys were more creative, and when they posted a video of some trick shots on a nascent Internet platform called YouTube, well, things took off from there. More than a decade later, Dude Perfect is a phenomenon – a sports-comedy troupe with a massive media following on the internet and television, through live performances, and even an amusement park they’re building near the
SportsThere’s high school football, and then there’s Texas high school football. Oddly enough though, one of the greatest teams in state history has been lost to time… and fate. With 21 players who were offered college scholarships and a few of those who later reached professional football, they took on the best that Texas had to offer - including the Odessa Permian team that inspired Friday Night Lights - as well as the worst, a resentful bureaucracy that challenged their legitimacy because of one player’s grade in algebra. Somehow, they won it all, and somehow, they threw it all away. But thanks to searing interviews
SportsAfter being labeled as 'Next Year's Team', the Dallas Cowboys wanted to prove to the NFL they could be champions. In 1971 the Dallas Cowboys would win Super Bowl VI convincingly to erase all doubt. Cowboys’ legends Roger Staubach, Duane Thomas, and Bob Lilly recount the 1971 season from Thomas's contractual troubles, to Lilly being a part of the 'Doomsday Defense', to the quarterback controversy between Staubach and Craig Morton. The 1971 season would be one of the most memorable seasons in Cowboys history and it would be the start of a legendary career for one of the all time great NFL quarterbacks.
Sports1980. As the Lakers' post-victory season begins, a laser-focused Jerry Buss shores up his all-star roster and his relationship with his children. Later, a catastrophic injury threatens the team's chance at defending their title.
SportsOctober 16, 1969: 1969 World Series, Game 5: Baltimore Orioles 3 at New York Mets 5, F -- Slugger Donn Clendenon and light-hitting Al Weis each homered to back the five-hit pitching of Jerry Koosman as the "Miracle Mets" closed out their first-ever World Series championship with a 5-3 victory over the heavily favored Orioles. A key play in the sixth featured Cleon Jones being plunked on the foot by Baltimore starter Dave McNally. Jones was not originally awarded the base, but manager Gil Hodges retrieved the ball and pointed out the telltale black shoe-polish on the ball as proof. Rattled, McNally surrendered a two-run ho
SportsFew teams in professional sports history elicit such a wide range of emotions as the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early 1990s. For some, the team was heroic– made up of gritty, hard-nosed players who didn’t back down from anyone. And for others, it was exactly that trait – the willingness to do seemingly anything to win – that made them the “Bad Boys”, the team fans loved to hate. Sandwiched between the Lakers’ and Celtics’ dominance of the 1980s and the Bulls' run in the 1990s, the Pistons’ two titles in 1989 and ’90 are often viewed as a transitional period in NBA history, rather than a dy
SportsBarry Sanders was a defender's worst nightmare -- a blend of speed and elusiveness that made him impossible to catch and tougher to tackle. His career in Detroit was celebrated with MVP award and pro-bowl appearances, but the greatest wonder was why he left the game abruptly at the height of his career. A Football Life: Barry Sanders goes into the quiet man behind the breathtaking highlights.
SportsIn some ways, Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth were made for each other. The Oklahoma coach and the linebacker he recruited to play for him were both outsized personalities who delighted in thumbing their noses at the establishment. And in their three seasons together (1984-86), the unique father-son dynamic resulted in 31 wins and two Orange Bowl victories, including a national championship, as Bosworth was awarded the first two Butkus Awards. But Bosworth's alter ego – “The Boz” – was taking over. Eventually, he went on a downward spiral and became known as an NFL bust. In "Brian and The Boz," the dual identitie
SportsOn October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PT, soon after Al Michaels and Tim McCarver started the ABC telecast for Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, the ground began to shake beneath Candlestick Park. Even before that moment, this had promised to be a memorable match-up: the first in 33 years between teams from the same metropolitan area, a battle featuring larger-than-life characters and equally colorful fan bases. But after the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake rolled through, bringing death and destruction, the Bay Area pulled together and baseball took a backseat. Through archival
SportsA profile of Cleveland, a city whose collective fortunes have been mirrored by their sports teams, whose very name seems synonymous with losing. Believeland is also a celebration of faith, the story of how fans support their city through their teams, when hope is an act of belief in the face of inevitable defeat.
SportsMike Francesa and Chris Russo, and their "Mike and The Mad Dog" show ruled afternoon sports talk for 19 years. They were distinctly different personalities who often clashed on and off the air, but when all was said and done, they changed sports radio forever.
SportsIn 1971, a young basketball coach named Bob Knight came to Indiana University. Over the next few decades, he became a coaching god. Knight delivered three national titles to a state that worships the game, earning a reputation as not just a basketball genius, but a brilliant leader who equated hard work and discipline with success. And yet, there was another side to that success. In April 1999, Robert Abbott, a producer for CNN/Sports Illustrated, began investigating why three high school All-Americans had left Knight's program over the prior two years. What followed was a chronicle of accusations, denials, and discoveries
SportsIn 1985, Coach Mike Ditka brought the Lombardi trophy to the city of Chicago and made the Bears cultural icons. Bears legends Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, and Mike Singletary discusses the 1985 season and the stories that followed their season, including their incredible '46 ' defense to having some of the greatest characters in the game.
SportsFacing elimination for a second time this Series, the Cubs jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings on their way to setting up a winner-take-all Game 7. In the first, Kris Bryant went deep and Addison Russell hit a two-run double that dropped between two fielders, then Russell added a slam in the third. Jake Arrieta fanned nine and contained the Tribe to a pair of runs, including a Jason Kipnis dinger, while Anthony Rizzo added a third Chicago homer -- a two-run shot in the ninth.
SportsOctober 25, 1986: 1986 World Series, Game 6: Boston Red Sox 5 at New York Mets 6, F/10 -- Leading 5-4 in the 10th inning, just one out away from their first Championship since 1918, the Red Sox (much to the frenzied delight of the Shea Stadium crowd) watch it all roll slowly away from them... literally. Bob Stanley's wild pitch allows Kevin Mitchell to score the tying run. Then, on the final pitch of a fabulous at-bat, Mookie Wilson fights off a fastball and dribbles a grounder up the first-base line that slips between Bill Buckner's legs and into history. Ray Knight dashes home with the game-winning run, forcing a Game 7
SportsIn the 1990’s, a DJ working at a young shoe and apparel company had the idea to set some grainy streetball highlights to a soundtrack of emerging rap music. The result was the And1 Mixtape, a series of videos that transformed basketball’s place in the culture, defined the lives of the players who starred in them, and changed the game itself forever.
SportsAroldis Chapman's 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief helped the Cubs stave off the Tribe and extend the World Series to a Game 6 Tuesday in Cleveland. Chapman bailed Carl Edwards Jr. out of a jam in the seventh, which followed Jon Lester's six strong innings. Jose Ramirez homered off Lester in the second, but Kris Bryant went deep off Trevor Bauer in the fourth to spark a decisive three-run frame.
SportsAlthough the key players stayed the same in 1995, the Dallas Cowboys were without their legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson. Second year coach Barry Switzer guided his team to their third Super Bowl in the 90s. Cowboys’ greats Larry Brown and Darren Woodson, along with public relations director Rich Dalrymple discuss the 1995 season and how they capped off their dynasty in style.
SportsThe 1984 San Francisco 49ers added to their legacy of being 'The Team of the 1980s' by winning their second Super Bowl in four years. 49ers greats Dwight Hicks, Russ Francis, and Keena Turner discusses the 1984 season from their dominant regular season to Joe Montana's MVP performance in Super Bowl XIX.
SportsThe Pittsburgh Steelers continued their dynasty in 1978 by winning their third Super Bowl in the 1970s. Steelers legends Rocky Bleier, Mel Blount, Randy Grossman, and Joe Greene discusses the 1978 season, from Terry Bradshaw's MVP season to playing in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in NFL history against the Dallas Cowboys.
SportsJuly 13, 1999: National League 1 @ American League, 4, F -- The last All-Star game of the 20th century gathered together baseball's "All-Century" team, the greatest living players of all time. This spine-tingling spectacle was augmented by the appearance of the legend among legends, Ted Williams, on hand to throw out the first pitch. His magnetism led to one of baseball's most spontaneous of magical moments, as the current and All-Century All-Stars gathered around the fragile Splendid Splinter, basking in his greatness for what was perhaps the last time. Finally, the game had to go on; the lovefest was dispersed and Wi
SportsIn what would be one of the biggest upsets in sports history, the 1968 Jets shocked the Baltimore Colts, 16-7 to win Super Bowl III. The season itself was a rough one. Legendary Quarterback Joe Namath had to fight through injuries and a turbulent lifestyle to lead his team to victory. Jets legends Don Maynard, Gerry Philbin, and Joe Namath recount the 1968 season including; the Heidi Game, the 1968 AFC Championship, and Joe Namath explains his 'Guarantee' to beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. The AFL would win their first Super Bowl and prove that they could compete against some of the greatest players in the NFL
SportsJake Arrieta carried a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings as Chicago seized home-field advantage in the World Series with a win in Game 2 in Cleveland. Kyle Schwarber drove in a pair of runs and reached base three times to pace the Cubs' offense. The best-of-seven Series heads to Wrigley Field for Friday night's Game 3, with Games 4 and 5 in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.
SportsAfter losing the first ever Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to prove they could win against the mighty NFL. In 1969, the Chiefs would not only go on to play in Super Bowl IV, they were able to defeat the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings to win their only Super Bowl title. Willie Lanier, Jim Lynch, and Len Dawson discuss the 1970 season and how their championship season came to be. They would have to overcome many obstacles including injuries, their rivals the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship, and an alleged gambling scandal that almost cost Len Dawson his career. In what would be the final NFL/AFL Super B
Sports“Ultimate Opportunities” – Dario’s Dial of Doom selects another opponent for the Monster Matanza Cueto. Dario announces that two luchadores will compete for the “Ultimate Opportunity” The Trios Titles are defended.
SportsSt. Louis Cardinals 0 at New York Mets 8 | F -- Johan Santana took the mound Friday night at Citi Field and did something no Mets pitcher had done in the 51 seasons of the franchise, tossing the first no-hitter in club history. The ace struck out eight and walked five while throwing 134 pitches.
SportsThe second part of the Yoga workout specifically created to increase flexibility, strength and posture. Reduce stress and increase physical and emotional balance with of 60 minutes of Yoga. Easy to follow workouts for all levels.
SportsAEW World Champion Chris Jericho teams up with two mystery partners to battle Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, the AEW Women’s Championship is decided, and Cody takes on up-and-comer Sammy Guevara.
SportsAEW World Champion Chris Jericho teams up with two mystery partners to battle Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, the AEW Women’s Championship is decided, and Cody takes on up-and-comer Sammy Guevara.
SportsBo Jackson hit 500 ft. home runs, ran over linebackers, and—for a small window—he was the best athlete we had ever seen. You Don’t Know Bo is a close look at the man and marketing campaign that shaped his legacy. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo redefined the role of the athlete in the pop cultural conversation. More than 20 years later, myths and legends still surround Bo Jackson, and his impossible feats still capture our collective imagination.
Sports35 forwards remain after the 2nd selection at Blue Lock. With a big match against Japan's U-20s in three weeks, Ego announces that the team will be centered around the top 6 players. The tryouts for the rest of the positions begin.
SportsWith two Heisman trophies, two national championships and one crazed fan, the biggest rivalry in college sports, Auburn vs. Alabama, has reached new heights in the last two years. This is the story of the history between the two programs, the bad blood between its fans and how this intense rivalry came to a pinnacle, just when they ended up needing each other most.
SportsIn 1981, college athletic recruiting changed forever as a dozen big time football programs sat waiting for the decision of a physically powerful and lightning-quick high school running back named Marcus Dupree. Having already graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, Dupree attracted recruiters from schools in every major conference to his hometown of Philadelphia, Miss. More than a decade removed from being a flashpoint in the civil rights struggle, Philadelphia was once again thrust back into the national spotlight. Dupree took the attention in stride, and committed to Oklahoma. What followed, though, was a forgettable c
SportsJuly 15th, 2008 -- On an evening honoring the rich tapestry of Yankee Stadium's history, the American League found another reason to celebrate the Midsummer Classic -- but it'd have to wait. The Cathedral isn't one to let the spotlight go easily. In the longest All-Star Game in history, Michael Young's sacrifice fly delivered the final blow, allowing the AL to defeat the NL in 15 innings, 4-3, on Tuesday. In the 79th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, it was a memorable finish to perhaps the final national event on the storied Bronx stage. The final twist took hold with the Phillies' Brad Lidge on to work the 15th. Jus
SportsAfter winning a historic gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, intellectually disabled basketball captain Ramón Torres becomes an unwitting pawn in a shocking fraud that rocks the sports world. As he navigates the aftermath, Ramón must confront betrayal, unravel the truth, and reclaim his identity.
SportsIn Part Two, the Celtics and Lakers meet in the NBA Finals for the first time in 15 years. A culture clash is brewing on the hardwood and the stakes are huge. Beyond Magic and Bird, there is Abdul-Jabbar and Parish, Worthy and McHale, Scott and Ainge, Buss and Auerbach. Throw in the Forum and the Garden, Chick Hearn and Johnny Most, add a heavy dose of ill will, sprinkle in underlying racial tension, and you have a recipe for a battle royal.
SportsThe sports world was mesmerized by two athletes at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer – Nancy Kerrigan, the elegant brunette and Tonya Harding, the feisty blonde engulfed in scandal. Several weeks prior, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Kerrigan was shockingly clubbed on the right knee by an unknown assailant and left wailing, “Why, why, why?” As the bizarre “why” mystery unraveled, it was revealed that Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, had plotted the attack with his friends to eliminate Kerrigan from the competition and increase Harding’s chance at a gold medal. Two decades later, The
SportsFrom 1981-1984, a small private school in Dallas owned the best record in college football. The Mustangs of Southern Methodist University were riding high on the backs of the vaunted "Pony Express" backfield. But as the middle of the decade approached, the program was coming apart at the seams. Wins became the only thing that mattered as the University increasingly ceded power of the football program t o the city's oil barons and real estate tycoons and flagrant and frequent NCAA violations became the norm. On February 25th, 1987, the school and the sport were rocked, as the NCAA meted out "the death penalty" on a college
SportsIn 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a beloved, sweet-natured youngster from the city’s fabled South Side, and America’s most talented basketball prospect. His senseless murder the day before his senior season sent ripples through Chicago and the nation.
SportsPractice 1 focuses on a gentle flow when you are feeling tired and have less energy for a dynamic practice. It includes many postures, such as forward bends that calm the mind, sooth your adrenal glands and help relax you to aid in deeper sleep.
Sports1979. Businessman Jerry Buss stakes his fortune on the purchase of the NBA's lackluster Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the team's head coach, Jerry West, bristles at the prospect of drafting college phenom Earvin Johnson – who must decide if he's ready to live up to the mantle of his nickname: Magic.
SportsIn 2001, sports entertainment titans Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon launched the XFL. The brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies — NBC and WWE — captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come. At the center of it all was a decades-long friendship between one of the most significant television executives in media history, and the one-of-a-kind WWE impresario.
SportsRugby has long been viewed in South Africa as a game for the white population, and the country’s success in the sport has been a true source of Afrikaner pride. When the 50 year old policies and entrenched injustices of apartheid were finally overthrown in 1994, Nelson Mandela’s new government began rebuilding a nation badly in need of racial unity. So the world was watching when South Africa played host to the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Though they only had one non-white player, the South African Springboks gained supporters of all colors as they made an improbable run into the final match where they beat the heavily favor
SportsMarch Madness, 1989. Faced with the last seed in the tournament, sixteen seed Princeton is set to play tournament favorite number one seed in Georgetown. The game was expected to be such a blow out that it wasn’t even originally scheduled to be broadcast on television. Unbeknownst to the Princeton players or their innovative coach, Pete Carril, they were about to play one of the greatest games in college basketball history.
SportsWith plenty of animosity between the two featherweights, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier finally meet inside the Octagon in this highly anticipated bout.
SportsOctober 27, 2004: 2004 World Series, Game 4: Boston Red Sox 3 at St. Louis Cardinals 0, F -- Behind a dominant, three-hit effort by Derek Lowe, the Red Sox completed their World Series sweep of the Cardinals, winning their first title since 1918. Johnny Damon's first-inning home run started the scoring for Boston, and Trot Nixon hit a two-run double in the third. Manny Ramirez was named series MVP.
SportsThe baseball season ends just as the discussion about this Boston Red Sox club's place in the sport's long and layered history begins. It's not enough to simply state that the Red Sox put the finishing touches on their ninth title -- and fourth since 2004 -- with a clear and convincing 5-1 victory over the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.
SportsBoston Red Sox 4 at Colorado Rockies 3, F -- There was certainly no 86-year wait this time. The Red Sox used two homers and superb pitching to complete a sweep and propel once-title-starved Boston to its second World Series title in four seasons. It all ended with Jonathan Papelbon, the closer who has been brilliant all year and into the postseason, striking out Seth Smith on 95-mph heat. The fiery right-hander tossed his glove high in the air with joy, took his hat off and then embraced catcher Jason Varitek after saving the World Series clincher for left-hander Jon Lester. From there, it was a sea of Red Sox piling on
SportsWildcard weekend was the battle of the rookie quarterbacks, as Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks traveled to the nation's capitol to face Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins. The result was a stunning performance by the Seahawks on the road to beat the Redskins 24-14 and to stay alive in the playoffs. The Seahawks showcased an overall team win, as the defense forced two turnovers and the offense accumulated 224 rushing yards, leaving Wilson as the last rookie QB standing in the playoffs.
SportsIn what was one of the craziest finishes in New Mexico Bowl history, Colorado State takes the win by scoring 18 points in the last three minutes.
Sports'The Wonderboy' Stephen Thompson is set to fight Patrick Cote who is training and fighting at the highest level of his mixed martial arts career.
SportsThe exhibition match between Blue Lock and Japan's U-20s has finally kicked off. The first play Bachira and Isagi set up has been swiftly shut down by the U-20s' captain, Aiku, and Isagi finds a new challenge in him.
SportsIsagi looks back and analyzes what he did when he scored a goal on reflex. Then, when the second match begins, Reo finds his new playstyle: Chameleon.
SportsThe tryouts are complete, and Isagi is chosen for the starting lineup. But Shidou is nowhere to be seen... It turns out Sae has picked him to join the U-20s. Meanwhile, Ego begins the final training camp, where he discusses the secret of "flow."
SportsSeeing how incompatible Rin and Shidou are, Isagi hopes to take advantage of it. However, his physical abilities are not enough to get him where he needs to be. Then, Hiori suggests that Isagi does the thinking "on reflex."
SportsThe Japanese team is resolutely preparing for the match against Germany, aiming to advance to the finals afterward. Captain Byodoin trusts his players, who do not give up despite this challenge.
SportsIsagi is chosen as Team A1 along with Nanase and Hiori to play against Team B1, which includes Karasu, Otoya, and Chigiri. While Isagi struggles to find a way into the game, Chigiri and Hiori demonstrate their worth.
SportsTo many observers, the story of the crime of the century is a story that began the night Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were brutally murdered outside her Brentwood condominium. But to truly grasp the significance of what happened not just that night, but the epic chronicle to follow, one has to travel back to much different, much earlier origin points.
SportsOne was the world inhabited by OJ Simpson: wealthy, privileged, and predominantly white. A world where celebrity was power, and where OJ - race be damned - was one of the most popular figures around. But just a few miles away from his Rockingham estate in Brentwood was a very different reality. A reality lived by millions of other black people at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department and its chief, Daryl Gates.
SportsLong before hip hop superstars filled our airwaves and shopping malls, the Miami Hurricanes brought street values and hood bravado into America’s living room. Recruiting from some of the toughest ghettos in Florida, a football program on the verge of collapse was re-energized with some of the most controversial and brilliant players in football history. With a newly branded swagger, inspired and fueled by the quickly growing Miami hip hop culture, these Canes took on larger-than-life personalities, winning four national titles between 1983 and 1991. Filmmaker Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys) tells the story of how these �
SportsThe police arrived at the condo on Bundy Drive at 4:25 a.m. on June 13th, 1994. It was a gruesome murder scene, clearly the result of a violent confrontation that had left two people dead - one of whom, they'd quickly discover, was the estranged wife of O.J. Simpson. It was just the start of a chapter of American history like none other, one that would lay bare the realities of race, power, the legal system, the media, and so much more in Los Angeles, California and far beyond.
SportsBroke explores the roads to fortune in American sports and eventually, the many detours to bankruptcy. Bernie Kosar, Andre Rison and Cliff Floyd are among the athletes who talk openly about the challenges of managing their money in an era when big contracts don’t necessarily support bigger lifestyles. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders and saddled with medical problems, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. A story of the dark side of success, Broke is an allegory for the financial woes haunting economies and individuals all over the world.
SportsThe crime of the century gave way to the trial of the century, which officially began in January of 1995. It would be like nothing before it, nor anything that's come since, and reshape the landscape of the media, and, truly, American culture along the way. It would also be the fight of O.J. Simpson's life.
SportsWhen the night of October 6, 2004 came to a merciful end, the Curse of the Bambino was alive and well. The vaunted Yankee lineup, led by ARod, Jeter, and Sheffield, had just extended their ALCS lead to three games to none, pounding out 19 runs against their hated rivals. The next night, in Game 4, the Yankees took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, then turned the game over to Mariano Rivera, the best relief pitcher in postseason history, to secure yet another trip to the World Series. But after a walk and a hard-fought stolen base, the cold October winds of change began to blow. Over four consecutive days and
SportsIt took less than four hours for them to decide. And on the morning of October 3rd, 1995, it was announced. O.J. Simpson had been found not guilty of all charges. But as the reaction in the courtroom, across Los Angeles, and across the country showed, it was also much, much more than that. Meanwhile, it was also time for O.J. to go home. But if Simpson had hoped that he could return to any semblance of the life he'd enjoyed before the murders, he would quickly learn how much had changed.
SportsHe made perhaps the most dramatic shot in the history of the NCAA basketball tournament. He's the only player to start in four consecutive Final Fours, and was instrumental in Duke winning two national championships. He had looks, smarts and game. So why has Christian Laettner been disliked so intensely by so many for so long? Go beyond the polarizing persona to uncover the complete story behind this lightning rod of college basketball. Featuring extensive access to Laettner, previously unseen footage and perspectives from all sides, this film is a “gloves-off” examination of the man who has been seen by many as the
SportsWhen the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack's only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference's automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, N.C. State had "survived and advanced" its way to a national championship. Director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled.
SportsIn the spring of 1983, a new generation of superstars was poised to enter the NFL. Six quarterbacks were selected in the first round of that draft - still the most ever. Elway to Marino explores this landmark draft through the eyes of the players, head coaches, general managers, team owners and agents who participated - including Marvin Demoff, who represented both John Elway and Dan Marino, and kept a diary in the months leading up to the most dramatic draft day in NFL history. Learn the inside story of the draft picks, back room deals, and tension between the future Hall of Famers and the teams that selected them.
SportsReggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals which solidified Miller as Public Enemy #1 in New York City. With moments to go in Game 1, and facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit of 105-99, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to give his Indiana Pacers an astonishing victory. This career-defining performance, combined with his give-and-take with Knicks fan Spike Lee, made Miller and the Knicks a highlight of the 1995 NBA playoffs. Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores will explore how Miller proudly built his legend as "The Ga
SportsIn the fall of 1993, in his prime and at the summit of the sports world, Michael Jordan walked away from pro basketball. After leading the Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and taking the Bulls to their third consecutive NBA championship the following year, Jordan was jolted by the murder of his father. Was it the brutal loss of such an anchor in his life that caused the world’s most famous athlete to rekindle a childhood ambition by playing baseball? Or some feeling that he had nothing left to prove or conquer in basketball? Or something deeper and perhaps not yet understood? Ron Shelton, a former minor league
SportsProduced in 2009 for the 30 for 30 series, “The U” took a look at all that was good and bad about the rise of the University of Miami’s football program in the 1980s. But that wasn’t the end of the story. “The U Part 2″ picks up where the original film left off, with the program trying to recover from the devastation left by NCAA sanctions and scandals that had some calling for the school to drop football. The Hurricanes rose from those ashes to win another national championship, only to face new controversies when a booster used a Ponzi scheme to win favor with the program.
SportsPerhaps no family has had more influence on a sport than the Mannings. Written into the pages of football folklore is the Manning legend – a father and his sons. Patriarch Archie Manning, a star quarterback at the University of Mississippi and in the NFL, followed by oldest son Cooper, whose football dreams were cut short by a spinal condition, then sons Peyton and Eli – both of them quarterbacks, All-SEC, number one draft picks, back-to-back Super Bowl champions and MVPs. Director Rory Karpf explores how a tragedy shaped the course of not only Archie’s life, but his family’s as well.
SportsEver since he shocked the sports world by winning the PGA Championship 25 years ago, John Daly has been one of the most popular - and polarizing - figures in a sport that cherishes its traditions and minds its manners. Directors Gabe Spitzer and David Fine cover Daly's rise and fall, his redemption at the British Open in St. Andrews in 1995, and his struggles with booze, food, gambling, women, and depression.
SportsOn Valentine’s Day 1993, 17-year-old Bethel High School basketball star Allen Iverson was bowling in Hampton, Va., with five high school friends. It was supposed to be an ordinary evening, but it became a night that defined Iverson’s young life. A quarrel soon erupted into a brawl pitting Iverson’s young black friends against a group of white patrons. The fallout from the fight and the handling of the subsequent trial landed the teenager, which some considered the nation’s best high school athlete, in jail and sharply divided the city along racial lines. Oscar nominee Steve James (Hoop Dreams) returns to his hometo
SportsIf at its essence, the popularity of professional wrestling has always been about its characters, there's never been a performer more original and more electrifying than Ric Flair. As a pure wrestler, he was beloved. His "Woooo" showmanship was imitated by athletes from other sports, as well as the hip-hop community. But as interviews with family members and Flair himself reveal, his frenzied lifestyle masked the loneliness of a man who could never please his physician father and ran away from his own wives and children, toward an almost unbearable tragedy. It was Ric Flair who popularized the boast, "If you want to be Th
SportsWhile rival drug cartels warred in the streets and the country's murder rate climbed to highest in the world, the Colombian national soccer team set out to blaze a new image for their country. What followed was a mysteriously rapid rise to glory, as the team catapulted out of decades of obscurity to become one of the best teams in the world. Central to this success were two men named Escobar: Andrés, the captain and poster child of the National Team, and Pablo, the infamous drug baron who pioneered the phenomenon known in the underworld as "Narco-soccer." But just when Colombia was expected to win the 1994 World Cup and t
Sports“Eddie Would Go.” It’s a phrase that has long carried deep meaning with countless Hawaiians and surfers worldwide. Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau goes beyond those famous three words and chronicles the remarkable life and power of Eddie Aikau, the legendary Hawaiian big wave surfer, pioneering lifeguard and ultimately doomed crew member of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a. With a rich combination of archival imagery, contemporary interviews and meticulously researched historical source material, this film is a compelling exploration of the tragic decline and extraordinary re-birth of the Hawaiian cultu
SportsPete Carroll's football knowledge, upbeat personality and recruiting skills, propelled Southern Cal back atop the college football world as home attendance skyrocketed and the Trojans put together a 34-game winning streak. As it would be later discovered, though, the program was committing sins that would result in lost scholarships and victories. But those revelations didn't come until after the national championship game in the 2006 against the University of Texas. Featuring interviews with Carroll and others inside the USC program at the time, "Trojan War" looks at Carroll's nine-year USC reign through the prism of t
SportsRequiem For The Big East chronicles the meteoric ascension of the Big East conference, and how in less than a decade, it became the most successful college basketball league in America. Told through the lens of the Big East’s famed coaches and its most iconic players, the film tells the story of an eccentric group of outsiders who rode the success of their teams on the court to become unlikely celebrities in their sport and beyond it.
SportsBefore Lance Armstrong, there was Greg LeMond, who is now the first and only American to win the Tour de France. In this engrossing documentary, LeMond looks back at the pivotal 1986 Tour, and his increasingly vicious rivalry with friend, teammate, and mentor Bernard Hinault. The reigning Tour champion and brutal competitor known as “The Badger,” Hinault ‘promised’ to help LeMond to his first victory, in return for LeMond supporting him in the previous year. But in a sport that purports to reward teamwork, it’s really every man for himself.
SportsIn the mid-1990s, Orlando was the center of excitement in the NBA. The young franchise, led by mega-stars Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, beat the mighty Bulls en route to the 1995 NBA Finals. While it was clear Orlando was a dynasty in the making, the Magic's moment on top was never fully realized.
SportsThere are rivalries, and then there is the Celtics vs. the Lakers. In Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies Part One, director Jim Podhoretz chronicles the storied franchises' epic clashes, tracing not only the history, but also presenting a fabulous cast of characters who would change the NBA and open America’s collective mind. At the center of it all in the 1980s was a pair of brilliant players - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
SportsRandy Moss has long been an enigma known for his brilliance on the football field and his problems off it. “Rand University” gets to the intersection of those aspects of Moss by going back to where he came from – Rand, West Virginia – and exploring what almost derailed him before he ever became nationally known for his extraordinary abilities as a wide receiver.
SportsThe Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots are the last teams standing as Super Bowl XLIX kicks off. Winner takes home the Lombardi trophy in this thrilling battle.
SportsIn 1989, the Buffalo Bills were a talented team featuring four future hall of famers. Dysfunction and in-fighting ran deep in the locker room, but the team soon transformed into an elite force on the way to an unprecedented run of four AFC Championship victories, and four straight Super Bowl appearances. Of course, that isn't what the Bills are remembered for. This is the story of a team that went down in history for making four straight Super Bowls, and losing them all.
SportsWhat happens when you combine "Goodfellas" with college basketball? You get "Playing for the Mob," the story of how mobster Henry Hill -- played by Ray Liotta in the 1990 Martin Scorsese classic -- helped orchestrate the fixing of Boston College basketball games in the 1978-79 season. The details of that point-shaving scandal are revealed for the first time on film through the testimony of the players, the federal investigators and the actual fixers, including Hill, who died shortly after he was interviewed. "Playing for the Mob" may be set in the seemingly golden world of college basketball but, like "Goodfellas," this is
SportsOn August 9, 1988, the NHL was forever changed with the single stroke of a pen. The Edmonton Oilers, fresh off their fourth Stanley Cup victory in five years, signed a deal and exported Wayne Gretzky, a Canadian national treasure and the greatest hockey player ever to play the game, to the Los Angeles Kings in a multi-player, multi-million dollar deal. As bewildered Oiler fans struggled to make sense of the unthinkable, fans in Los Angeles were rushing to purchase season tickets at a rate so fast it overwhelmed the Kings box office. Overnight, a franchise largely overlooked in its 21-year existence was suddenly playing to
