By April MacIntyre Jun 16, 2009, 3:31 GMT
HBO's award-winning sports series is back June 23.
Bryant Gumbel - Winner of 21 Sports Emmys in 14 years, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 147th edition, available in HDTV, debuts Tuesday, June 23 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. © Janet Mayer / PR Photos
Winner of 21 Sports Emmys in 14 years, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 147th edition, available in HDTV, debuts Tuesday, June 23 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Segments include:
*Legends. In an exclusive joint interview, host Bryant Gumbel sits down with two icons of the 1960s: Gridiron great Jim Brown and basketball immortal Bill Russell. Beyond their hall of fame achievements, both were also outspoken figures in a turbulent period of racism, social activism and profound change.
For this expanded segment, Brown and Russell reflect together on the extraordinary events of the era they helped shape, provide candid insights into present-day athletes and reveal the depth and importance of a previously untold friendship they’ve shared for nearly 50 years.
*Underwater Heroes. For many injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the road to recovery and reintegration into everyday society can be a daunting challenge. But for some, rehabilitation has been made a little bit easier and a lot more adventurous thanks to an unexpected and somewhat unorthodox activity: scuba diving.
In this Real Sports/Sports Illustrated report, correspondent Jon Frankel visits Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the culture of scuba diving plays an important role in facilitating an innovative and inspirational therapeutic program that’s helping some of the country’s wounded warriors through their rehabilitation, as well as providing other troops an escape from the stresses of the job.
*Broken Nails. If ever a major leaguer perfectly fit the personality of his team, it was animated outfielder Lenny Dykstra, who served as the “Energizer bunny” of two freewheeling World Series squads: the 1986 New York Mets and the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies.
When his baseball career ended in 1996, Dykstra took the high-energy, hard-work mentality he employed on the field and plunged head-first into the business world, embarking on another winning career as a remarkably successful stock investor, consultant and entrepreneur.
In March 2008, correspondent Bernard Goldberg profiled this unlikely, high-flying business mogul in one of the show's most popular pieces ever. Now, more than a year later, Goldberg takes another look at Dykstra, discovering that last year’s economic crisis significantly changed his life.
"Real Sports" recently won the Sports Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg’s piece “Running for Their Lives.” The show has won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Journalism 12 of the last 14 years, in addition to being the first sports program honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.
Other HBO playdates: June 23 (3:45 a.m.), 25 (11:00 a.m., 11:45 p.m.) and 27 (11:00 a.m., 5:35 a.m.), and July 1 (1:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m.), 5 (10:00 a.m.), 7 (7:00 p.m.) and 10 (5:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 26 (8:30 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 28 (8:00 a.m.) and 30 (noon), and July 3 (5:00 p.m.) and 6 (5:00 p.m., 11:45 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: June 29-July 20
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