SportsDubbed “The New York Sack Exchange,” the Jets’ record-setting defense was led by the dynamic and brash quartet of Marty Lyons, Abdul Salaam, Joe Klecko, and Mark Gastineau. Together, they unapologetically took the football world on a rollercoaster ride, experiencing both great highs and unimaginable lows on and off the field. The film delves into the triumphs, betrayals, and enduring feuds that characterized this iconic unit, offering a cerebral and emotional exploration of a brotherhood that barely survived the intense spotlight under which they once shined.
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.
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.
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
SportsShidou enters the "flow" and unleashes his Big Bang Drive to score another goal. Isagi demands that Ego let them win, and Ego subs Barou in to cause chaos on the field. And the other players start to find their "flow"...
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.
SportsDown two men and with the 1980 NBA Championship on the line, the outnumbered Lakers look to an unlikely source for inspiration. In Philly, Earvin faces off against his role-model-turned-rival Dr. J, while in LA, Haywood grapples with his own worst enemy: himself.
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.
SportsIn the early 1980s, the city of Baltimore was reeling, but in the city’s troubled East Baltimore neighborhood, there was one beacon of hope: The Dunbar High School boys basketball team. Over two seasons, they went 59-0, and 11 players on their rosters went off to Division I programs. Directors Marquis Daisy and Sheldon Candis chronicle the journey of four boys and their coach, who reached heights that they couldn’t have imagined, even if their saga was capped by a tragedy that made some wonder how far they ever really got away.
SportsThere may be no award in sports as synonymous with a game as the Heisman Trophy is with college football. And there was likely no year in the history of the award as memorable, as transformative, and as controversial as 1997. The ESPN 30 for 30 The Great Heisman Race of 1997 takes an immersive, time-capsule style approach to telling that story, going back a quarter century to chronicle a season that fans will never forget, featuring some of the greatest players ever to take a college football field at the center of it. At Tennessee, Peyton Manning had stunned the sports world by deciding to return for his senior season and
SportsThe 1990 New York Giants season is remembered on two major incidents. First, backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler had to replace an injured Phil Simms. Second, Hostetler guided the Giants to another Super Bowl victory in one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time. Giants legends Ottis Anderson, Carl Banks, and Hostetler himself discuss these topics and more on how the 1990 Giants ended up being Super Bowl champions.
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
SportsThe 1986 New York Mets expected to dominate, and over the first half of the season, that’s exactly what they did. A blend of talent and swagger, they stormed through the National League, and became the toast of a city brimming with excess everywhere you turned. They were a team on the edge, just the way New York wanted it.
SportsTwo of the league's most dynamic quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton battle it out for a chance to advance to the NFC Championship Game as the San Francisco 49ers face the Carolina Panthers.
SportsFrom coach on the sideline, to 'Survivor' of reality TV, to the man with great hair, Jimmy Johnson built a reputation for himself as a leader, as a rebel, and as a champion.
SportsJames "Buster" Douglas scored one of the most shocking upsets in sports history when he knocked out undefeated champion Mike Tyson. At the time, Tyson was considered to be the best boxer in the world and arguably one of the most feared heavyweight champions in history due to his complete domination in the division.
SportsThe season's schedule for major league baseball affects the lives and moods of millions of Americans. Each year executives and managers ridicule the logic, sportswriters and broadcasters question the sanity, and athletes and fans cast blame. Yet not many people know how it is that the MLB schedule is figured out, and even fewer have any idea what is involved.
SportsIn a Super Bowl rematch, the Bengals were much more prepaired for Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. They had the lead for most of the game, but if there is one thing they'll always remember about this game it's this: Never forget about Joe Montana. Montona drove his team back in the 4th Quarter and with a late touchdown towards the end, the 49ers squeaked by the Bengals once again for another Super Bowl win.
SportsThe tale of the 2011 Cricket World Cup and India’s come from behind victory- the culmination of a journey that illustrates how a sport and one man, Sachin Tendulkar, redefined the rise of a nation over the course of a few weeks.
SportsIn Super Bowl XXX, Troy Aikman completed 15 of 23 passes for 209 yards while Larry Brown's two interceptions led the Cowboys to a 27-17 victory over Pittsburgh. Dallas' third Super Bowl win in four years cemented their status as one of the greatest teams in NFL history.
SportsIt was all San Francisco in the first half, which they had a comfortable 20-0 lead in their first Super Bowl. But Ken Anderson's Bengals did not give up, and rallied in the 3rd quarter. But a pair of 49ers field goals sealed their first ever Super Bowl Victory in Michigan.
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.
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.
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 �
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.
SportsDrazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to America where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once blood brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face eac
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.
SportsAfter the thrilling 1984 NBA Finals, Part Three explores the saga from 1985 to 1987 as the teams’ disdain for each other gradually turns to respect. The Celtics and Lakers - Bird and Magic in particular - transform the fans' view of the game from simple black-and-white to full-blown Technicolor. By the end of their last battle of the 80s, while there’s still animosity, there’s also a hard-earned respect for each other. It’s a rivalry that forced America to no longer view the league in black and white.
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.
SportsAssistant coach Paul Westhead adds to the Lakers' growing list of problems when he finds himself dealing with a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Increasingly courted by corporate sponsors, Earwin consults a newfound financial advisor.
SportsAs the Lakers head to Palm Springs for the start of training camp, Buss finds himself in over his head financially, and the team's new coaches struggle to prove their vision for a groundbreaking method of play. Meanwhile, Jeanie works to bring her father's flair to the Forum.
Sports“Los Demonios.” Mundo and Puma are out for revenge on Big Ryck and his crew. Chavo teams with Sexy Star and takes on Son of Havoc & Ivelisse. Blue Demon Jr. is confronted by Catrina who warns him of Mil Muertes. Chavo Guerro seeks revenge.
SportsAs the Lakers prepare for their season opener against the Clippers, an increasingly frustrated Kareem begins to doubt his place on the team – allowing Coach McKinney to stoke his growing rivalry with Earvin. Jeanie courts star talent for newly minted cheer squad, the Laker Girls, including a promising young dancer, Paula Abdul.
SportsIn 1996, the once-dominant New York Islanders were in serious trouble. Lousy performance and poor management were driving away the hockey franchise's loyal fan base. The team hit bottom. Then along came a Dallas businessman named John Spano, who swooped in and agreed to buy the team for 165 million dollars. Things began to look up for the Islanders - way up. But it was all smoke and mirrors. Big Shot goes inside an extraordinary scandal that engulfed the Islanders. Featuring the only interview Spano has ever given about the Islanders deal, this film is an unforgettable tale of a dream that became a lie -
SportsIn 1988, the San Francisco 49ers continued their legacy by being 'The Team of the 80s' and winning their third Super Bowl title. Legends Bill Walsh, Harris Barton, and Roger Craig discuss the season and their championship run. Incredible stories are revealed including the team playing in one of the greatest Super Bowls in NFL history to Bill Walsh explaining his tough decision of leaving the organization after the season.
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.
SportsThe 1986 Mets may have been one of the greatest sports stories ever told, but the roots of their fairy tale lie in a very different time, the late 70s, when they epitomized the hopelessness of New York. Then as the city rose in the early 80s, so too did the team from Queens, thanks to the collection of characters who became the heart of an incredible roster of talent.
SportsKurt Warner represents one of the great long-shot stories in NFL history. A former grocery clerk, Warner got his chance in 1999 and led the Rams to the first Super Bowl championship.
SportsAs the 1984 NBA Finals begin, tensions between the Lakers and Celtics reach new heights. While Buss fends off a potentially life-altering lawsuit, Claire faces the possibility of yet another bankruptcy, and Jeanie questions her place in professional sports. Later, Earvin and Larry battle to the bitter end of their first Finals face-off.
SportsOn Thursday, Nov. 7, 1991, Earvin "Magic" Johnson made people stop and watch at the Forum in Inglewood, California. But this time it wasn't his basketball brilliance as a perennial NBA All-Star and three-time MVP that was captivating audiences worldwide. Instead, the 32-year-old ground-breaking point guard was holding a press conference to make the stunning announcement that he was HIV-positive and would be retiring from basketball immediately. More than 20 years after the announcement, director Nelson George gets to the core of Magic’s incredible personal journey and explores how he continues to thrive two decades late
Sports42 to 1 chronicles one of the most famous upsets in sports history: Buster Douglas’ shocking knockout of the then-undefeated Mike Tyson. Tyson was the most feared fighter of modern times. Douglas, meanwhile, was dismissed as a 42 to 1 underdog. No one thought he had the heart required of a champion. But at the Tokyo Dome on February 11, 1990, Douglas came to fight. Defying opinion, he proved to everyone that there was greatness in him. This is a film about how Douglas pulled off a victory that changed the course of sports history, channeling the absolute best version of himself, if only for one fight, when it mattered mo
SportsCheck out Peyton Manning's historical performance as he throws for seven touchdowns and leads the Denver Broncos to a 49-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the first game of 2013.
SportsAs the 1997-98 season began, the Bulls team received their season handbook with one phrase - “The Last Dance” - from head coach Phil Jackson. His path went from growing up in Montana to playing in the NBA in New York, before eventually becoming a coach with the Bulls. In 1989, general manager Jerry Krause replaced Doug Collins with Jackson, leaving Jordan hesitant to commit to a new team-oriented offense – the “Triangle.” In Jackson’s second season, the Bulls finally get past the Pistons before beating Magic Johnson and the Lakers for the franchise’s first NBA title. Seven years later, the Bulls were chasing
SportsMay 17, 1979: Philadelphia Phillies 23 at Chicago Cubs 22, F/10 -- The Windy City was certainly living up to its name on this mid-May afternoon at Wrigley. The gusty forces blowing through the friendly confines of the quaint old park insured that, as shortstop Larry Bowa recalled, "no lead was safe." So leaving the ballpark or shutting off the television after the Phillies jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first was a grave mistake. The Cubs came right back with six in the bottom half of the inning, and baseball's second-most offensive game was underway. Eleven home runs, 50 hits and 97 total bases... and the Cubs
SportsThe 1980 season was a tumultuous time for the Oakland Raiders. Owner Al Davis was at war with Commissioner Pete Rozzelle after they were denied permission to relocate to Los Angeles. Then, their season started poorly after going 2-3 and losing starting quarterback Dan Pastorini for the year. However, Jim Plunkett rose up to the challenge and rejuvenated his career with the Silver and Black. Former Raiders greats Plunkett, Gene Upshaw, and Matt Millen discusses how the Raiders garnered an unlikely championship.
SportsOctober 14, 1984: San Diego Padres 4 at Detroit Tigers 8, F -- The Padres held a one-run lead in the eighth inning as manager Dick Williams paid a visit to Goose Gossage on the mound. With men on second and third and one out, first base was open for intentionally walking the powerful Kirk Gibson, who already hit a two-run home run earlier in the game. Legend has it that Gibson bet his manager Sparky Anderson that Goose, at that very moment, was talking Williams into letting him pitch to him. In fact, Gossage had dominated Gibson in the past, and felt confident he could get him out. Gibson strode to the plate and promptl
SportsFrom the Bren Center on the campus of UC Irvine, Featherweight world champion Pat Curran defends his title against explosive knockout artist Patricio Pitbull, while lightweight world champion Michael Chandler battles former Olympian Rick Hawn.
SportsIn Super Bowl III, the Baltimore Colts lost to the New York Jets in one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Determined to shake off that embarrassing loss, the 1970 Colts not only found themselves at Super Bowl V, but they won against 'Next Year's Team' the Dallas Cowboys. Baltimore Colts legends Bill Curry, Bubba Smith, Mike Curtis, and former public relations ace Ernie Accorsi recount the 1970 season from trying to shake off the demoralizing upset, to playing in one of the most grueling and mistake-filled Super Bowls in history.
SportsFor the first time ever The Ultimate Fighter competition will feature the biggest male and female weight classes in the UFC. Eight heavyweights and eight female featherweights from around the globe come to Las Vegas to compete on The Ultimate Fighter - Heavy Hitters. After coaches Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum introduce themselves, they run the fighters through drills to evaluate their skill sets. Then UFC President Dana White arrives, greets the group, and the coaches pick their teams and choose the first preliminary matchup. After the fighters move into The Ultimate Fighter house, team training sessions get underw
SportsIf this battle between British submission artist Terry Etim and Brazilian Muay Thai machine Edson Barboza is typical of the matchups we can expect from the lightweight division in 2012, it's going to be an unforgettable year at 155 pounds.
SportsThe Best Ever? That's what some fans claim as Super Bowl X had some of the biggest stars and some of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history. Pittsburgh survived a furious Dallas rally to secure their second straight world championship.
SportsAfter one of the most spectacular UFC debuts of 2012, Abel Trujillo is back tonight to take on fellow rising star Khabib Nurmagomedov in what should be and epic showdown.
SportsOne of the biggest and most explosive teams in college football is gearing up for another title run and A SEASON WITH FLORIDA STATE FOOTBALL gives you a front row seat with unprecedented access on and off the field to Coach Jimbo Fisher and his players as they navigate a season of high expectations. This week: The Seminoles take on the Rebels of Ole Miss. Season premiere.
SportsAfter several near-misses, the Dallas Cowboys finally captured a world championship. Roger Staubach was named game MVP in the 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
SportsThe Dallas Cowboys were on the verge of winning their first ever Super Bowl before imploding in the second half. The Colts had ten unanswered points in the 4th quarter to hold back the Cowboys to a 16-13 win. The Cowboys, labeled 'Next Year's Team', would have to wait another year for their first world championship.
SportsSwing for the Fence With Baseball's Greatest Legends! Journey back to baseball's Golden Era with Home Run Derby the sport's ultimate power-hitting contest featuring hall-of-famers such as Mickey Mantle Willie Mays Hank Aaron and Harmon Killebrew in the prime of their careers slugging it out of the park for cash prizes and the honor of being named Home Run Derby Champion. Hosted by Mark Scott. In this episode: Mickey Mantle vs. Jackie Jensen.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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”
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
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
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
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
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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
