30 for 30

- Season 2

(2012)

According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of former NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar and Andre ...

In the history of the Olympics, there's never been a controversy quite like what ensued over the 100 meter race at Seoul in 1988. The match brought together Carl Lewis (USA) and Ben Johnson (Canada) who had been fierce competitors. Lewis was known as a savvy careerist who became an American hero at the previous Los Angeles Olympics. Johnson was his chief rival, considered an underdog due to his recovery from a pulled hamstring. In less than 10 seconds, Johnson edged out in front of Lewis to win the Seoul race. But that wasn't the end. Three days later, in a reversal ...

On December 10, 2010, Sotheby's auctioned off what could be considered the most important historical document in sports history -- James Naismith's original rules of basketball. "There's No Place Like Home" is the story of one man's fanatical quest to win this seminal American artifact at auction and bring the rules "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith coached and taught for over 40 years.

In 1984, Chicago was in the heady grip of a Black Renaissance. Harold Washington was mayor, Michael Jordan had just signed with the Bulls, Oprah Winfrey was hosting a local morning show, and on the South Side a young man named Ben Wilson was the most talked-about basketball prospect in a city that was known for its great hoops talent. Handsome, gentle and magnetic, Ben Wilson's magical ability on the court was matched by his popularity in his school and neighborhood. In his junior year, he led Simeon High School to its first state championship. And that summer, he was...

In the fall of 1962, a dramatic series of events made Civil Rights history and changed a way of life. On the eve of James Meredith becoming the first African-American to attend class at the University of Mississippi, the campus erupted into a night of rioting between those opposed to the integration of the school and those trying to enforce it. Before the rioting ended, the National Guard and Federal troops were called in to put an end to the violence and enforce Meredith's rights as an American citizen. Two people died and hundreds more were injured during the riots....

A close look at Bo Jackson, a sports hero of mythical proportions, and how the "Bo Knows" Nike campaign shaped how the world perceived him. Without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, or even having what some consider a "great" career in either sport, Bo will be forever be known as one of the greatest and most famous athletes of all time. This film will look at the marketing of athletes, impossible expectations and the legend of Bo Jackson.

Follows the life of Jim Valvano. It includes reflections by some players many years later.

In 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.

Director Sam George chronicles the remarkable life and times of the late Eddie Aikau, the legendary Hawaiian big wave surfer, pioneering lifeguard and ultimately doomed crew member of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokulea.

When the NBA merged with the American Basketball Association in 1976, four ABA franchises joined the more established league - the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs.

In the midst of boxing's contemporary golden age -­ the 1980's -­ stood two fighters who established a captivating rivalry; Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran.

In 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 ...

When Jimmy Connors arrived in New York for the 1991 U.S. Open, the one-time tennis superstar was 8 years removed from his last Grand Slam singles title, ranked 174th in the world and approaching his 39th birthday. Not exactly a recipe for success. But on the verge of a quick first-round exit, Connors suddenly and unexpectedly re-captured the magic, embarking on a stirring and extraordinary run than included an epic contest with Aaron Krickstein on his way to the semifinals. This is What They Want not only illuminates this highly improbable march past a series of ...

Bernard King arrived to Knoxville, he was only the third African American ever to play for the Vols' varsity team. By the time he left he was a legend. In his freshman year he dazzled fans in Knoxville, and with talented teammate Ernie Grunfeld, gained national acclaim as part of what was known as "The Ernie and Bernie Show". King was a three time SEC player of the year, a consensus All-American in 1977 and drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the first round. We will learn about King's strict upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, the success he enjoyed and the challenges he...

Youngstown Boys is a feature documentary exploring class and power dynamics in college sports through the parallel, interconnected journeys of Maurice Clarett and Jim Tressel. These two stars emerged from opposite sides of the tracks in Youngstown, Ohio. They joined together for a magic season at Ohio State University in 2002 and a national championship. Shortly thereafter, Clarett was banished from college football and began a downward spiral that ended with a prison term. Tressel continued at Ohio State for another eight years before his career there also ended in ...

The Kerrigan - Harding incident that rocked the Olympic and sports world.

30 for 30 Present: Requiem 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.

The Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early '90s seemed willing to do anything to win. That characteristic made them loved -- and hated. It earned them the title: Bad Boys.

Before 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.

The mob, including Jimmy Burke, become the focus of a point shaving controversy at Boston College.

Game three of the 1989 World Series is just underway and a devastating earthquake shakes the Bay Area to its core.

In the early 1970s, America was being torn apart by the war in Vietnam, racial unrest in the streets and distrust of the White House. But there was a happy place where men of different backgrounds showed people what could happen when you worked together: yes, Madison Square Garden. In "When the Garden Was Eden," director Michael Rapaport chronicles the glorious and glory years of the New York Knicks, when they made the NBA Finals in three out of four seasons, winning two titles. Stitched together by Red Holzman, the historically mediocre Knicks might have seemed an ...

In 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 out-sized 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 as Bosworth was awarded the first two Butkus Awards. But then Bosworth's alter ego: "The Boz," took over both their lives and ultimately destroyed their careers. In "Brian and The Boz," Bosworth looks back on the ...

"Brothers in Exile" tells the incredible story of Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who risked their lives to escape Cuba. Livan left first--banking on his status as the hottest young prospect in Cuba he defected via Mexico and signed with the Florida Marlins, for whom he became one of the youngest World Series MVPs in history in 1997. Staying behind was Orlando, who was banned from professional baseball in Cuba for life because he was suspected of having helped Livan escape. Then, on Christmas 1997, an increasingly frustrated and harassed Orlando left Cuba in a...

Life story of NFL wide receiver Randy Moss who grew up in Rand, West Virginia. Made by filmmaker Marquis Daisy in a journey back to the small town where troubles with the law nearly derailed Moss's career before he landed at Marshall University and began making national headlines on the football field.

Produced 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 a new controversy when a booster, who made his fortune through a Ponzi ...

The story of one of the greatest upsets in sports history has been told. Or has it? On a Friday evening in Lake Placid, a plucky band of American collegians stunned the vaunted Soviet national team, 4-3 in the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympic hockey competition. Americans couldn't help but believe in miracles that night, and when the members of Team USA won the gold medal two days later, they became one for the ages. But there was another, unchronicled side to the "Miracle On Ice." The so-called bad guys from America's ideological adversary were in reality good ...

He 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? Maybe it was the time he stomped on the chest of a downed player, or the battles he had with his teammates, or a perceived sense of entitlement. But sometimes, perception isn't reality. "I Hate Christian Laettner" will go beyond the polarizing ...

Sole Man offers a snap-shot into how America's playground sport became a sophisticated and increasingly soulless business. Meet Sonny Vaccaro, a true original, whose motives and staggering set of relationships played a seminal role in creating the big-money, multimedia, international phenomenon called basketball.

In 1965, at the height of the space race, Nick Piantanida launched the first civilian space program. A truck driver and exotic pet dealer from New Jersey, Piantanida had no formal training, no college degree and barely enough money to support his devoted wife and their three children. But he had a dream-to take a balloon to the edge of the atmosphere and jump out. If he succeeded, he'd set a world record as he free-fell back to earth for nearly 17 minutes. "Angry Sky" is the story of a man whose dream took him to the edge of space but whose obsession led to his tragic...