Tonight, the critically acclaimed Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel returns to HBO with three stories, two new ones and an update.
The two new stories include a profile of suspended Houston Rockets forward Royce White whom you may know has been in a dispute with his team since making demands over his fear of travel due to an anxiety disorder. It’s led to the Rockets suspending him over failure to perform to his contract.
And the other story is on Uncle Luke Campbell of the old group, 2 Live Crew. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Campbell was a constant presence at the University of Miami’s football games. HBO Real Sports will take a look at his efforts to get underprivileged kids to college.
The final story is a repeat from 2011 which focuses on coaches Jim and John Harbaugh. Topical as both will be coaching in the Super Bowl next week.
Here’s the official press release from HBO.
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
PROFILES SUSPENDED HOUSTON ROCKETS ROOKIE ROYCE WHITE; CHRONICLES THE TRANSFORMATION OF AP LEGEND LUTHER CAMPBELL; AND REVISITS ITS INSIDE LOOK AT THE HARBAUGH FOOTBALL FAMILY WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS JAN. 22, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBOEntering its 19th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most honored sports journalism program, presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 190th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JAN. 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: Jan. 22 (2:55 a.m.), 24 (5:30 p.m., 11:55 p.m.), 27 (8:00 a.m.) and 30 (noon, 8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 2 (10:00 a.m.), 5 (11:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 7 (1:55 a.m.) and 16 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Jan. 23 (5:00 p.m., 2:00 a.m.), 26 (3:00 p.m.), 28 (2:35 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) and 31 (9:00 a.m.), and Feb. 4 (11:30 p.m.) and 10 (8:00 a.m.)
HBO On Demand® availability: Jan. 28-Feb. 18. The show will also be available on HBO GO®.
Segments include:
*Sidelined. Royce White, the 16th overall pick in last summer’s NBA draft, has yet to play for the Houston Rockets. The 6’ 8” power forward’s absence isn’t due to lackluster performance or injury, but an anxiety disorder that, among other things, makes air travel extremely difficult for him, something no NBA franchise has had to face before with such a high-profile individual. Determined to ensure that the club, league and players association accommodate his needs, the Minnesota native refused to report to the team last fall until a “mental health protocol” was prepared and signed by all parties. The situation reached a tipping point Jan. 6 when White was suspended for failing to perform his contract. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Bernard Goldberg travels to Houston to meet the engaging and thoughtful 21-year-old for his first TV interview since the controversy erupted. White details the depth of his anxiety disorder, how he copes with it and what he feels needs to be done to ensure he is provided a safe work environment.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*2 Live Crew to First and Ten. In the late 1980s, Luther Campbell, aka Uncle Luke, became a household name as frontman of the controversial rap group 2 Live Crew. In 2013, the Uncle Luke persona still exists, but he is an uncle of a different sort. Since the group broke up years ago, Campbell has embraced his role as a mentor to disadvantaged youth of Miami with hopes of guiding them to college and beyond. As Coach Luke, the 52-year-old helps raise boys from depressed neighborhoods as a high school football coach in Liberty City, his native Miami neighborhood. Campbell’s connection to the youth of Miami dates back to the height of his popularity, when he was a high-profile superfan for the University of Miami football team. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel visits South Florida to chronicle the rap legend’s extraordinary transformation as he shares stories of celebrity, community activism and goodwill.
Producer: Jordan Kronick.
*All in the Family. Manning. Griffey. Ripken. These are some of the multi-generational families in sports that are household names. But a new family is making history, not as players, but in coaching. The Harbaugh boys, John and Jim, have followed in their father’s footsteps and are the first brother act to serve simultaneously as head coaches in the NFL. Jack Harbaugh coached college football for 45 years and taught his only sons the ins-and-outs of the game from an early age. His eldest son, John, is the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach and has led the team to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons at the helm. Jim, after a successful NFL career as a quarterback, reenergized the Stanford University football program and was hired in January 2011 to take over the underachieving San Francisco 49ers. Correspondent Andrea Kremer joined the family on vacation in the summer of 2011 to find out what makes them tick and why they have so much to be thankful for. The Harbaugh brothers will meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 when the Ravens and 49’ers take the field at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Producers: Joe Perskie, Josh Fine.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 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. In Jan. 2012, 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. In April 2012, the show received the Emmy® in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg’s 2011 report on the college bowl game money trail.
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The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.
That will do it.
