REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
PROFILES THE MCDONOUGH FAMILY;
MEETS FORMULA ONE SENSATION LEWIS HAMILTON;
EXAMINES THE CONSEQUENCES OF GUARANTEE GAMES IN COLLEGE SPORTS; AND
REVISITS THE WORLD OF OBSESSIVE RUNNERS
WHEN A NEW EDITION DEBUTS TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most-honored sports journalism series, with a record 18 Sports Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Sports Journalism, returns for more enterprising features and reporting when the show’s 246th edition debuts TUESDAY, SEPT. 26 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
For up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports.
Segments include:
*Family Ties. As a longtime columnist for the Boston Globe, Will McDonough became one of the most prominent sportswriters of the 20th century and a pioneer for journalists making the transition to TV broadcasting. While the late McDonough’s legacy is felt throughout sports media today, his three sons are doing their part to advance the family name as well. Sean is the voice of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” Ryan is general manager of the Phoenix Suns and Terry is vice president of player personnel for the Arizona Cardinals. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel meets the brothers to hear their stories about growing up in the sports world and learn how each risen in his field.
Producer: Beret Remak.
*Team Hamilton. At age 32, Lewis Hamilton is arguably the most dominant Formula One driver in the circuit’s 65-year history. A native of Stevenage, England, Hamilton’s prowess is admired worldwide, but his biggest fan is his 25-year-old younger brother, Nicolas. A race car driver in the Renault UK Clio Cup series, Nicolas is relatively unknown, but it’s extraordinary that he is behind the wheel at all, given the physical challenges he faces from cerebral palsy. Host Bryant Gumbel meets the brothers and learns of their inspiring journey to the heights of international racing.
Producer: Naimah Jabali-Nash.
*The Guarantee Games. A mainstay in the college sports economy, they have quietly become a part of college football and basketball culture: the so-called “guarantee games” that pit some of the weakest teams in NCAA Division 1 against some of the strongest ones for money. The payers are elite programs with budgets as high as $100 million, who sell out home stadiums and arenas for a lucrative blowout victory. The payees are often historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, struggling to keep their doors open, and easily outclassed on the field and court, but sent off with a needed paycheck. What happens when such mismatched competitors collide?
REAL SPORTS correspondent David Scott investigates the truth and consequences of the guarantee games, exploring why they have become so essential to black college sports and why no one seems to be heeding the warnings about the health and safety risks or the academic impact on HBCU student-athletes.
Producer: Josh Fine.
*Running For Life. REAL SPORTS revisits the intense world of obsessive runners, who don’t just enjoy running, but are consumed by it. Correspondent Mary Carillo first met some of these fanatical athletes in Oct. 2011, looking into what kept them going and how it affected their everyday lives. Among them was Robert “The Raven” Kraft, who had run eight miles every day since 1975, all without leaving South Beach. Carillo reconnects with Kraft following Hurricane Irma, which did not interrupt his routine.
Producers: Chapman Downes, Nisreen Habbal.
On May 9, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL received two Sports Emmy® Awards for production excellence in 2016. The series was honored for Outstanding Sports News Anthology for the third time in four years and for Outstanding Sports Journalism for the 18th time, more than any other sports journalism TV program in history. REAL SPORTS has now won 31 Sports Emmy®Awards for production excellence during its 22 seasons on HBO.
The show received the Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism for its acclaimed exposé on the International Olympic Committee, which debuted in July 2016, days before the start of the Summer Games in Rio. The win marked REAL SPORTS’ third significant journalism honor this year for the comprehensive report.
REAL SPORTS also won a 2016 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for its IOC coverage, and received the inaugural Peter Jennings Award from the Overseas Press Club, which honors the best TV, video or documentary on international affairs.
Follow REAL SPORTS updates on HBO.com/realsports and facebook.com/realsports.
The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Rick Bernstein and Joe Perskie.
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