TV season
2012-10-02
Episode 1
2012-10-02 • 79 min
An exploration of the road to fortune in sports and the eventual detours (for various reasons) to financial difficulties and bankruptcy, as experienced by top athletes including Leon Searcy, Andre Rison, Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, and Cliff Floyd.
Episode 2
2012-10-09 • 80 min
A profile of the Men's 100-meter final at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the lives of the eight men who participated, including Ben Johnson (whose world record of 9.79 seconds was annulled after he tested positive for anabolic steroids) and Carl Lewis (who was awarded the gold medal after Johnson's disqualification).
Episode 3
2012-10-16 • 61 min
The story of one fan's obsessive quest to purchase, at a 2010 auction, James Naismith's original rules of basketball, perhaps the most important historical document in American sports history, and to bring it "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith taught and coached at the University of Kansas for 39 years. (70 mins in length)
Episode 4
2012-10-23 • 79 min
The life of Ben Wilson, a well-regarded Chicago high school basketball star, and how his November 1984 murder (one day before the start of his senior season) had a wide-ranging impact.
Episode 5
2012-10-30 • 52 min
Mississippi native Wright Thompson explores tumultuous events of 1962, when the University of Mississippi campus both erupted in violence over integration and swelled with pride over its unbeaten football team, and how those incidents continue to shape the state 50 years later. (60 mins in length)
Episode 6
2012-12-08 • 79 min
A profile of Bo Jackson and how his college and professional feats in two sports (baseball and football) captured the public's imagination and made Jackson a cultural (and marketing) icon.
Episode 7
2013-03-17 • 102 min
A look at the NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team's successful and improbable championship runs through the 1983 ACC and the 1983 NCAA tournaments. (2 hrs in length)
Episode 8
2013-04-23 • 78 min
A look at the 1983 NFL Draft and the six quarterbacks taken in its first round, specifically John Elway (the first overall pick) and Dan Marino (the last QB picked in Round 1). The film features the recollections of Martin Demoff, the agent for both Elway and Marino, who shares a personal diary he kept to chronicle teams' interest in his two future-Hall of Fame clients. This includes the indecision the Baltimore Colts had with drafting Elway with the first pick or trading it away, and how Marino's selection status plummeted after recording weaker senior year statistics and rumors of recreational drug use.
Episode 9
2013-10-01 • 78 min
A chronicling of the life of Eddie Aikau, a big wave surfer and lifeguard whose death served as inspiration to an entire spiritual movement.
Episode 10
2013-10-08 • 51 min
The story of the colorful figures who made up the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis, and how Spirits owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna, with their team about to be left out in the ABA's merger with the NBA, managed to negotiate a deal that allowed the brothers' involvement in pro basketball to continue in a most unusual fashion. (60 mins in length)
Episode 11
2013-10-15 • 79 min
An inside look at the two boxing matches between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán in the 1980s, with insight from boxing experts, family members and the two fighters themselves.
Episode 12
2013-10-22 • 79 min
The story of how young businessman John Spano struck a deal to purchase the New York Islanders in 1996, only to be later revealed as a fraud and being near financial insolvency.
Episode 13
2013-10-29 • 51 min
The story of a 39-year-old Jimmy Connors and his unexpected and extraordinary underdog run at the 1991 US Open, where he played as a wildcard entrant and reached the semifinals of the men's singles draw.
Episode 14
2013-11-05 • 51 min
A profile of Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld, their decades-long friendship, and their on-court partnership on the University of Tennessee basketball team, better known as the "Ernie and Bernie Show".
Episode 15
2013-12-14 • 102 min
The stories of two Ohio State football figures connected with Youngstown, Ohio, running back Maurice Clarett (a native of the city) and coach Jim Tressel (former head coach at Youngstown State University), their football exploits at OSU (including a national championship in 2002), and their scandalous exits from the school. (2 hours in length)
Episode 16
2014-01-16 • 79 min
A profile of a January 6, 1994, incident at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where an unknown attacker strikes entrant Nancy Kerrigan — an assailant that is later revealed to be a hit man hired by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, as part of a plan to prevent Kerrigan from competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Episode 17
2014-03-16 • 104 min
A recollection of the original Big East Conference, from its simple beginnings and regional rivalries to its national prominence as one of the most successful college basketball leagues, and how it ended up fighting for its survival in the 2010s during conference realignment.
Episode 18
2014-04-17 • 104 min
A look back at the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Narrated by rapper Kid Rock, a native of nearby Romeo, Michigan. (2 hours in length)
Episode 19
2014-07-22 • 78 min
An examination of the competitive nature that teammates Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault exhibited in the 1986 Tour de France; a film based on Richard Moore's book of the same name.
Episode 20
2014-10-07 • 78 min
How Mafia associate Henry Hill orchestrated a point-shaving scheme involving Boston College basketball. Narrated by Ray Liotta, who portrayed Hill in Goodfellas.
Episode 21
2014-10-14 • 52 min
A 25-year retrospective of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck just before the scheduled start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.
Episode 22
2014-10-21 • 76 min
A look back at the New York Knicks' championship teams of the 1970s.
Episode 23
2014-10-28 • 79 min
Former linebacker Brian Bosworth unveils a storage locker to his son Max that contains memorabilia from his college and brief professional career. The elder Bosworth reflects on his life and career, making note of a emerging second persona, The Boz, that had begun to subsume his life.
Episode 24
2014-11-04 • 80 min
The story of Liván and Orlando Hernández, half-brothers who fled Cuba separately and became successful major-league pitchers.
Episode 25
2014-11-11 • 51 min
An exploration of former NFL receiver Randy Moss and his humble (and humbling) origins in Rand, West Virginia.
Episode 26
2014-12-13 • 103 min
A sequel to The U profiles the Miami Hurricanes football program and its rise from scandal (and calls for the school to drop the sport) to a national championship, only to see new controversy after booster Nevin Shapiro is revealed to have given improper benefits to the program.
Episode 27
2015-02-08 • 104 min
An exploration of the Miracle on Ice from the point of view of the defeated Soviet Union team. The film features defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov returning to Lake Placid to recollect his team's defeat.
Episode 28
2015-03-15 • 78 min
A look at the life and basketball career of Christian Laettner and the intense dislike some fans still harbor for the former Duke University and NBA star.
Episode 29
2015-04-16 • 78 min
A profile of Sonny Vaccaro, who rose from steel town roots in Pennsylvania to become an influential force in both basketball and the athletic shoe industry.
Episode 30
2015-06-08 • 79 min
The story of Nick Piantanida, a New Jersey pet store owner and truck driver whose love of parachuting and skydiving puts him on a quest to break the record for the highest recorded parachute jump.
