30 for 30

When former New York Mets superstars Dwight "Doc" Gooden and Darryl Strawberry were good, they were great. They were the biggest stars on a team that captured the imagination of New York City and won the 1986 World Series. But when life spiraled out of control for both men, they broke the hearts of Mets fans. The pitcher and the power hitter look back on the glory days of the mid-80s and the harrowing nights that turned them from sure Hall of Famers into prisoners of their own addictions.

They were the most popular fraternity on the campus of college basketball in the early 1980s. Led by Nigerian soccer player Hakeem Olajuwon and hometown kid Clyde Drexler, the University of Houston Cougars not only electrified the NCAA Final Four with three straight appearances from 1982-84, but they also transformed the game itself.

Ever 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.

On October 15, 1988, Notre Dame hosted the University of Miami in what would become one of the greatest games in college football history. The coaches and players open up about the fight that started the game, the highly debatable calls that are still being talked, about and the insensitive aspects of the irresistibly popular "Catholics vs. Convicts" t-shirt.

In 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.

Who is John Calipari? To his devotees, he is one of college basketball's greatest coaches. To his detractors, he represents everything wrong with college sports. Somewhere between lies one of the most compelling and complicated figures in American sports. "One and Not Done" chronicles the life of Calipari - from high school point guard, to dominating UMass coach, to king of Kentucky.

There 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.

In 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.

After 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.

Mike 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.

Two weeks into the 1987 season, the NFL's players went on strike. For the first time in the history of professional sports in the United States, replacement players would take the field. Crossing the picket line to play in the NFL changed their lives, but not in the way they'd expected or hoped. The moment they crossed the picket line, they were no longer athletes; they were scabs. By the end of the strike, Washington stood alone as the only replacement team to go undefeated- ultimately setting up returning strikers for a triumphant run at a Super Bowl. For those replacements, the experience of 1987 should have been a badge of honor. Instead, it became a scab that never healed.

There’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 with players, coaches and family members, this film is ultimately about what Carter found.

Tommy Morrison was one of the best heavyweights of his time; a handsome, charming, yet unsettled young star. Born into a troubled family in America’s heartland, Morrison’s initial emergence as a fighter was bolstered by a starring role in “Rocky V.” A few years later he beat George Foreman for the WBO heavyweight title, and seemed primed for more stardom, even in the face of blown opportunities and upset losses. But everything changed in early 1996 when he tested positive for HIV, abruptly forcing him into retirement at age 27.  There have been other boxers and other sports stars whose stories ended sadly, but rarely is the loss of potential as poignant as the case of Tommy Morrison.

He was the Beatles of soccer - a handsome, charismatic lad from Belfast, Northern Ireland who worked wonders with the ball and thrilled Great Britain. But George Best was also the lead in a Shakespearean tragedy fueled by drink and excess and depression.

If 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 The Man, you gotta beat The Man." In this film, you'll get to meet the man.

The Two Bills traces the relationship between coaching masters Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells that spans over four decades. They first worked side by side as assistants with the New York Giants, and after Parcells took over as head coach, they won two Super Bowls together. Buttressed by what he learned from Parcells, Belichick has won five Super Bowls of his own with the Patriots. Through all the ups and downs of their careers, including some memorable games when they were on opposite sides of the field, they forged a bond that few men of their stature have ever experienced.

In 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; riots and death threats; a smoking gun video; and the fall of a coaching legend.

Seau was a legend long before he retired from the NFL — surrounded by a passionate fan base, deep respect from his peers and a loving family, he experienced a unique sense of purpose that extended beyond the playing field. Despite appearing to have everything, his decision to end his own life at 43 remains both deeply disturbing and largely unexplained. This revealing account of the Hall of Famer’s life and death seeks answers, exploring the remarkable path from an immigrant Samoan family to NFL stardom, and the many obstacles faced throughout two decades spent as an American football icon at the heart of a brutal and unforgiving game.

42 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 most and no one thought it was possible.

Brash. Electric. Magnetic. It would be hard to find another athlete whose brilliance on the field was such a manifestation of his persona beyond it as Deion Sanders. Sure, there were other stars who played more than one sport, and there were other figures whose individuality got your attention - but there was no one who did it quite like the man who loved the spotlight so much, he called himself "Prime Time." And there was no instance that encapsulated his abilities, and his conviction in how limitless they were, more spectacularly than a whirlwind 24 hours in October of 1992 - when Sanders sandwiched a pro football game around a pair of postseason baseball games, in two different cities.

A portrait of the Dominican immigrants of New York in the '80s and '90s, as seen through a loving family whose youngest son, Felipe Lopez, became the top ranked high school basketball player in the nation and was hailed as ‘The Dominican Michael Jordan'. Lopez’s prospects seemed limitless. Embraced as an immigrant hero, then cast aside as an American failure when he did not live up to the enormous expectations, Felipe Lopez would eventually find happiness not as a basketball player, but as the man he was always meant to be.

In 1977, a 39-year-old aerospace engineer attempted to qualify for the world's most famous race, the Indianapolis 500. In the face of scorn and skepticism, and saddled with subpar equipment, Janet Guthrie shocked the racing world. The reluctant feminist-turned-trailblazer became the first woman to earn a place on the starting grid at Indy, among 33 of the world's greatest drivers. But just as her career should have rocketed forward, it suddenly, inexplicably stalled. Qualified chronicles the mercurial rise of this barrier breaking auto racer and her equally rapid decline. What Janet Guthrie accomplished in the male bastion of mid-70s American motorsports, stands as a testament to one woman's determination.

The eye and mouth-opening tale of Takeru Kobayashi, the native of Nagano, Japan, who won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest six consecutive times, and Joey Chestnut, the American who emerged to dethrone the Japanese legend in 2007 and become the face of the sport. It's a story that's at turns outrageous and poignant, exploring the origins of the careers of Kobayashi and Chestnut, every bite of their head-to-head battles, as well as the no-holds-barred promotional efforts of Major League Eating, the organization that oversees the contest. It may well be a sport like no other – but as the film reveals, the competition was as real as anything you'll ever see on a field of play.

He may be the most unlikely, most unpredictable, and most unconventional superstar the world of sports has ever seen or produced. On the basketball court, and in the celebrity arena, this film is an unfettered and definitive look at the life and career of Dennis Rodman. The story of Dennis Rodman is a study of the power and perils of fame, how complicated identity can be, and what can happen when who you are becomes who you were. This story serves as an appreciation for the exploits and accomplishments of its protagonist, it's also ultimately an unflinching look at the costs and realities of the path he's taken.

One was a kick-boxer, the other a wrestler. One looked like he'd been in a few too many fights, the other could have stepped off a movie poster. They were Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, frenemies from SoCal who brought millions of fans to mixed martial arts and supercharged the UFC. In this brutally honest 30 for 30 documentary about a brutal sport, director Micah Brown recaptures their glory days while chronicling MMA's unlikely history and success. Their legends became frayed in subsequent years, but their mark on the sport will live on forever.

In November of 2007, Michael Vick began serving what would be a nearly two-year sentence for crimes related to his involvement in a dog fighting ring. Vick had gone from superstar athlete to national pariah; from one of the most popular players in the NFL to a man as ostracized as virtually any public figure in America. The full story is chronicled in "Vick," the two-part 30 for 30 directed by the award-winning documentarian Stanley Nelson. A comprehensive look back at each chapter of Michael Vick's saga: the incredible rise, shocking fall, and polarizing return.

In November of 2007, Michael Vick began serving what would be a nearly two-year sentence for crimes related to his involvement in a dog fighting ring. Vick had gone from superstar athlete to national pariah; from one of the most popular players in the NFL to a man as ostracized as virtually any public figure in America. The full story is chronicled in "Vick," the two-part 30 for 30 directed by the award-winning documentarian Stanley Nelson. A comprehensive look back at each chapter of Michael Vick's saga: the incredible rise, shocking fall, and polarizing return.

LANCE is a fascinating, revealing, comprehensive, chronicle of one of the most inspirational – and then infamous – athletes of all time. Based around extensive interviews and conversations with Lance Armstrong, the two-part, four-hour film tells the story of the cyclist's rise out of Texas as a young superstar cyclist; his harrowing battle with testicular cancer; his recovery and emergence as a global icon with his seven 7 consecutive Tour de France titles; and then his massive fall after he was exposed in one of the largest doping scandals in history.

LANCE is a fascinating, revealing, comprehensive, chronicle of one of the most inspirational – and then infamous – athletes of all time. Based around extensive interviews and conversations with Lance Armstrong, the two-part, four-hour film tells the story of the cyclist's rise out of Texas as a young superstar cyclist; his harrowing battle with testicular cancer; his recovery and emergence as a global icon with his seven 7 consecutive Tour de France titles; and then his massive fall after he was exposed in one of the largest doping scandals in history.

In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents' homeland, Hong Kong. Over the next two years, he'd complete four iconic films that would define his legacy, a legacy cut short when he died, stunningly, in 1973. "Be Water" is a gripping and intimate look at not just those final, defining years of Lee's life, but the complex, often difficult, and seismic journey that led to Lee's ultimate emergence as a singular icon in the histories of film and martial arts. The film is told by the family, friends, and collaborators who knew Lee best, with an extraordinary trove of archive film providing an evocative visual tapestry that captures Lee's charisma, passion and philosophy.

In the summer of 1998, the St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa embarked on a chase of one of the game's most hallowed records, igniting the passion and imagination of fans and non-fans everywhere. The drama, excitement, and results would be remembered for generations. If we only knew then just how complex our feelings about it all would eventually become. Featuring in-depth interviews with both McGwire and Sosa, talking at length for the first time in over two decades, the intimate portrait carries viewers through every twist and turn of the sluggers' historic chase of Roger Maris's iconic record of 61 home runs in a single season.

Ultrarunning has exploded in popularity over the past decade, in large part because of the phenomenon of the book Born to Run, which chronicles the tale of the Tarahumara, an indigenous community in Mexico who refer to themselves as the Rarámuri. In the aftermath of the book, international runners were inspired to descend upon Urique, a town in the basin of the Chihuahua's rugged Sierra Tarahumara canyons, which subsequently became the site of a "bucket list" race for ultramarathoners. Soon, people all over the world were wearing barefoot-style shoes. Millions and millions of dollars were made – everyone profiting, it seems, except the Tarahumara. "The Infinite Race" explores what's happened to the tribe that inspired so much of the ultra-racing craze.

Former Raiders owner Al Davis and former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle were two of the most influential figures in the history of pro football. And for a quarter of a century, their long-running feud was a central storyline in the NFL's evolution into the most popular and successful league in sports. Beginning in the 1960s when Rozelle was the NFL's young commissioner and Davis led the rival AFL, and continuing through the 1980s when Davis waged a lawsuit against the league to allow him to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles, the two titans were constantly and very publicly at odds. This is the story of the colorful battle between Davis and Rozelle – as told by the two men themselves, their spirits "recreated" using deepfake technology.

Maya 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.