30 for 30

Broke 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.

On December 10, 2010, Sotheby's auctioned off the most important historical document in sports history--James Naismith's original rules of basketball.

In 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.

In 1962, the University of Mississippi campus erupted in violence over integration and swelled with pride over an unbeaten football team.

A close look at legendary sports figure Bo Jackson and the marketing campaign that shaped his legacy and redefined the role of the athlete in the pop cultural conversation.

When 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.

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.

The 100-meter men's final at the 1988 Seoul Games was the fastest and perhaps most thrilling sprint in Olympic history. But within 48 hours, gold medalist Ben Johnson had tested positive for anabolic steroids.

"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 culture as personified by a native son whose dynamic life and heroic death served as inspiration to an entire spiritual movement.

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. But one of the odd teams out found a different way to secure its future. Free Spirits tells the colorful story of the Spirits of St. Louis - an entertaining and at times controversial team featuring stars like Marvin "Bad News" Barnes and James "Fly" Williams with an upstart sportscaster named Bob Costas calling the play-by-play. The Spirits managed to pull off a stunning playoff upset of the defending champions in their first season, and then, on their way to franchise extinction, co-owners Daniel and Ozzie Silna managed to negotiate a contract that has allowed the team to continue to exist in the most unusual fashion.

In the midst of boxing's contemporary golden age -­ the 1980's -­ stood two fighters who established a captivating rivalry. Their pair of bouts within a span of just over 5 months in 1980 had all the trappings of instant classics. Sugar Ray Leonard, an American hero, who had become a household name after a Gold Medal-winning performance at the 1976 Summer Olympics that led to numerous corporate sponsorships, versus the Latino champion, Roberto Duran, the toughest -­ some said meanest -­ fighter of all time. It was not just the drama and action of these fights that would endure, but those two words uttered in the second of their clashes, which would create a sense of mystery, bewilderment and intrigue to the present day. No Mas unveils for the first time what really happened, going behind the scenes of these two showdowns with the help of boxing experts, family members and the two fighters themselves.

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 unforgettable tale of a dream that became a lie - and how a scam of such epic proportions initially went undetected.

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 improbably march past a series of talented and youthful adversaries, it also explores how Connors became a polarizing and provocative personality who helped make tennis a high-octane spectator sport.

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 faced at the University of Tennessee, and the obstacles he overcame in the NBA as he looked to live up to the promise of his college career. "It may sound egotistical to say, but I never surprised myself-or almost never-because I prepared to be successful. When it all came together, I was the best in the game."  Bernard King

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.

The 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 Price of Gold takes a fresh look at the worldwide spectacle that ensued with Harding in the center of it all.

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. 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.

On April 15, 1989, the worst disaster in British football history occurred in an overcrowded stadium in Sheffield, England, 150 miles north of London. 3,000 fans flocked through the turnstiles to head to the area reserved for standing, despite a capacity of less than half of that. The result was a "human crush" that killed 96 people and injured 766.

Few 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.

Argentinian Ossie Ardiles left home to play soccer in England. Ardiles and his compatriot, Ricky Villa, joined Tottenham Hotspur, helping lead them to victory in the 1981 FA Cup. But on April 2, 1982, everything changed as Argentinian troops descended on the British-ruled Falkland Islands. He returned to Buenos Aires two days later, his bright future with Spurs suddenly in question.

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.

What 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.

On 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 footage, previously untold stories from players, officials, San Francisco and Oakland citizens affected by the earthquake, and a scientific look back at what happened below the earth, "The Day The Series Stopped" will revisit that night 25 years ago. The record book shows that the A's swept the Giants, but that's become a footnote to the larger story of the 1989 World Series.

In the early 1970s, America was being torn apart by the war in Vietnam, with racial unrest in the streets and a distrust of the White House. But there was a happier place where men of different backgrounds showed people what could happen when you worked together: Madison Square Garden.

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 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 identities of Brian Bosworth are examined as he looks back on his life and passes on the lessons he's learned to his son.

Major League Baseball has been transformed by the influx of Cuban players like Aroldis Chapman, Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu. But a special debt of gratitude is owed to two half-brothers whose courage two decades ago paved the way for their stardom. "Brothers in Exile" tells the incredible story of Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who risked their lives to get off the island.

Randy 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. After overcoming troubles with the law, losing the opportunities to play at Notre Dame and Florida State and then reviving his enormously promising football career at Marshall University, all that was good and troubling about Randy Moss materialized on the day of the 1998 NFL Draft. Twenty picks were made before the Minnesota Vikings selected him in the first round. Based on what unfolded throughout Moss's NFL career, the teams that passed on him may have had a mixture of regret and relief.

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 new controversies when a booster used a Ponzi scheme to win favor with the program.

There 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” through the Soviet lens. His intense focus on the game itself gives it renewed suspense and a fresh perspective. But the journey of the stunned Soviet team didn’t begin – or end – in Lake Placid.

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? 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 "Blue Devil Himself.”

This definitive, first-hand and unflinching account examines one of the sports world’s most polarizing and influential figures, Sonny Vaccaro. A fast talking maverick, his zeal for basketball and instinct for sales forged an era of unprecedented growth for two pillars of pop culture: basketball and sneakers. Vaccaro was instrumental in launching Nike’s “Air Jordan” empire in the ‘80s and started the movement of paying college coaches to have their players wear Nike shoes. Features original interviews with legendary coaches Jim Boeheim, John Thompson, Larry Brown, and John Calipari, as well as former and current NBA stars Chris Webber, Tracy McGrady, and Joakim Noah.

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 downfall.