The Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine, Real Sports returns to HBO tonight with three new stories and an update. As always, the show is extremely compelling and one of the best bastions of sports journalism today.
In tonight’s edition, we get a profile of Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, another on Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and a look into big-mountain back country skiing.
The update is on former race car driver Alex Zanardi who lost both of his legs in a horrific accident, but didn’t allow that to define him. Bryant Gumbel goes back to talk with Zanardi who is now training for the Paralympics in London.
All fascinating stuff. Here’s the press release from HBO Sports.
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
PROFILES TAMPA BAY RAYS MANAGER JOE MADDON;
VISITS LAKERS FORWARD PAU GASOL;
EXPLORES THE DEATH-DEFYING WORLD OF BACKCOUNTRY SKIING; AND RECONNECTS WITH FORMER RACE CAR DRIVER ALEX ZANARDI WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS APRIL 17, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBONow in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 181st edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 17 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: April 17 (2:10 a.m.), 20 (1:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), 22 (9:45 a.m.), 26 (5:00 p.m., 12:30 a.m.), 28 (11:00 a.m.) and 30 (9:30 a.m., 6:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 18 (9:30 p.m., 4:15 a.m.), 24 (10:55 a.m., midnight) and 27 (8:00 a.m.), and May 1 (7:00 p.m., 2:30 a.m.), 4 (7:55 a.m., 3:30 p.m.), 6 (noon) and 12 (9:00 a.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: April 23-May 14
Segments include:
*Joe Maddon. Since they went to the World Series in 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays have been a constant force in the playoff race, despite having one of the league’s lowest payrolls and competing in the American League East against the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox. Much of the credit should go to Rays skipper Joe Maddon, who has led the team to three playoff appearance in six years, in the process capturing two A.L. Manager of the Year Awards. REAL SPORTS correspondent Armen Keteyian talks to the charismatic 58-year-old, who recently received a three-year contract extension, as he prepares once again to battle for a post-season berth.
Producer: Joe Perskie.*Pau Gasol. Seven-foot Spaniard Pau Gasol is arguably the most athletic big man in the NBA today. After setting nearly every franchise record during seven seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, he was traded to the storied the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed with superstar Kobe Bryant to win back-to-back NBA championships. Entering the shortened 2012 NBA season, Gasol was the subject of constant trade rumors, but with the trade deadline behind him, the four-time all-star can now focus on playing deep into June. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel sits down with the 31-year-old Gasol to discuss being a Laker and the pressure that comes with the Hollywood spotlight.
Producer: Maggie Burbank.*Backcountry. Skiers who conquer a slope routinely seek out a taller, faster and more challenging mountain. But some raise the stakes by taking on unchartered terrain in big-mountain backcountry skiing, where unforeseen cliff drops, unexpected turns and avalanches are among the risks. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Jon Frankel meets three backcountry enthusiasts who have risked life and limb skiing fresh-powder slopes, and asks why they find death-defying activity so enticing.
Producer: Tim Walker.*Alex Zanardi. In 2001, Italian race car driver Alex Zanardi was involved in a horrifying crash at a CART race in Germany that instantly severed both legs. Although it appeared the two-time CART champion’s driving career was finished, he embarked on a remarkable comeback, taking an active role in designing prosthetics that allowed him to resume such everyday activities as walking, swimming and driving. Eventually, he raced again, driving a specially equipped race car that allowed him to shift and accelerate with his hands. More recently, the 45-year-old has turned to handbiking, a form of Paralympic cycling. REAL SPORTS reconnects with Zanardi as he trains for this summer’s London Paralympics in the hills of Tuscany. Host Bryant Gumbel reports.
Producers: Jake Rosenwasser, Ezra Edelman.REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times and has received 22 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. On Jan. 19, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. On March 20, the program received four Sports Emmy® Award nominations for the 2011 programming season, including two in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism. The winners will be announced April 30.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That is all.
