On Tuesday, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel returns. There are three new stories and one update. One story of interest is one on former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber who is attempting a comeback to the NFL. The story also chronicles Barber’s bout with depression after losing his NBC gig following the end of his marriage and subsequent stories in the tabloid press. Here’s a preview from HBO Sports.
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL PRESENTS TIKI BARBER’S FIRST EXTENDED TV INTERVIEW SINCE HIS COMEBACK ANNOUNCEMENT; TELLS THE STORY OF FORMER NO. 1 NBA DRAFT PICK LARUE MARTIN; REPORTS ON SAADI QADDAFI’S STINT IN PRO SOCCER; AND RECONNECTS WITH BOXING TRAINER ANN WOLFE WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS JUNE 21, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 171st edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JUNE 21 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: June 21 (2:45 a.m.), 23 (9:30 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 25 (10:00 a.m.) and 28 (noon, 8:00 p.m.), and July 3 (8:15 a.m.), 7 (5:00 p.m., midnight) and 11 (2:00 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 22 (11:00 p.m.) and 26 (7:45 a.m., 9:30 p.m.), and July 1 (1:00 p.m.), 5 (7:00 p.m., 2:25 a.m.) and 16 (12:30 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: June 27-July 18
Segments include:
*Tiki. Rarely does a great athlete walk away from competition at the peak of his abilities, but in 2006, after ten seasons with the New York Giants, Tiki Barber hung up his cleats to pursue a career in network TV. The Virginia native landed at NBC as a sports analyst and “Today Show” correspondent, but after his TV career fizzled and his marriage fell apart in public, Barber was transformed from prince of the city to tabloid casualty. Now, at age 36, he’s seeking redemption with a return to the gridiron next season. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Armen Keteyian goes one-on-one with Tiki Barber in his first extended TV interview since announcing his NFL comeback.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*The Big Bust. There is an exclusive club reserved for first overall picks in the NBA draft, including names like Magic, Shaq and LeBron. LaRue Martin, another member of the club, is famous for being the biggest bust in draft history. Selected first by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1972 draft, the former Loyola University (Ill.) center averaged a disappointing five points a game and retired after only four years in the league. Martin began drinking heavily and struggled for years with shame and depression on his rocky path to redemption. REAL SPORTS host Bryant Gumbel returns to De La Salle High School in Chicago, where he and Martin were schoolmates, to tell the story of how LaRue Martin went from dejected basketball retiree at age 26 to successful UPS executive.
Producer: Maggie Burbank.
*Saadi Qaddafi. As the turmoil continues in Libya, REAL SPORTS chronicles the strange quest of Saadi Qaddafi, third son of Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, to become an international soccer player. Although his skills were limited, Saadi used his family’s wealth and power to buy his way onto some of the world’s best soccer teams. Sparing no expense, he recruited a team of professionals that included everything from a nutritionist to a physiotherapist, but nothing could transform him into a pro-caliber athlete. After a failed drug test, he eventually returned to Libya and now serves as commander of special forces in his father’s regime. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel travels to Italy, where Saadi Qaddafi played on several clubs, to tell this bizarre story.
Producers: Chapman Downes and Josh Fine.
*Ann Wolfe. Ann Wolfe dominated women’s boxing for almost a decade after turning pro in 1998, holding world titles in four different weight classes simultaneously. However, she suffered devastating blows outside the ropes, including a stretch of homelessness. When HBO’s cameras previously caught up with Wolfe, she was about to become the first woman in boxing history to train a man for a world title. Those plans were derailed when her fighter, James Kirkland, went to prison for 18 months. When Kirkland returned from his stretch behind bars, he hired a new trainer, but in April was knocked out in shocking fashion, suffering the first loss of his pro career. REAL SPORTS correspondent Andrea Kremer reconnects with Ann Wolfe, who is back in James Kirkland’s corner, as they set out to make history together.
Producers: Zehra Mamdani, Nick Dolin and Chapman Downes.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times, in addition to being the first sports program honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism. On May 2, the program received the 2010 Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism for last August’s report revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. Overall, REAL SPORTS has collected 22 Sports Emmys® in 16 years.
The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That will do it.
