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30 for 30 Season 3 Episodes
Season 3 Episode Guide
32 Episodes 2015 - 2019
Episode 1
Trojan War
Tue, Oct 13, 201578 mins
When Pete Carroll took over the football program at USC after the 2000 season, the once-great Trojans were under siege. But thanks to his football knowledge, upbeat personality and recruiting skills, Southern Cal was soon back atop the college football world as home attendance skyrocketed, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush won Heismans and the Trojans put together a 34-game winning streak. As it would be later discovered, though, the program was committing sins that would result in lost scholarships, victories and one of those Heismans. But those revelations didn't come until after the national championship game in the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and the University of Texas. Featuring interviews with Carroll, Leinart and others inside the USC program at the time, "Trojan War" looks at Carroll's nine-year USC reign through the prism of that game, considered one of the greatest in college football history. It was also the beginning of the end.
Episode 2
The Prince of Pennsylvania
Tue, Oct 20, 201550 mins
Back in the 1980s, the road to the Olympics was long and hard for an amateur wrestler. But then along came John du Pont, an eccentric heir to the family fortune with a passion for wrestling. His 800-acre 'Foxcatcher' Farm outside Philadelphia became the hub of the sport, with state-of-the-art training facilities, free accommodations, generous stipends and the support of America's best freestyle wrestlers, brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz. It all seemed too good to be true - and tragically it was, with a savage ending. Featuring new testimonials and never-before-seen footage, "The Prince of Pennsylvania" is the story of a paradise lost to the madness of its creator, a man who had the means to buy anything except for the one thing he truly wanted.
Episode 3
The Gospel According to Mac
Tue, Nov 3, 2015101 mins
Football is a religion to many people. But few know the depths of both faiths as well as Bill McCartney, the former head football coach of the University of Colorado and the founder of Promise Keepers, a Christian men's ministry. "The Gospel According to Mac" tells the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of Coach Mac's controversial national championship run - two seasons that followed multiple arrests and strife between his mostly African-American players and the Boulder police, continued with McCartney's own daughter becoming pregnant by the team's quarterback before seeing that same quarterback struck by cancer, and culminated in consecutive Orange Bowl match-ups against Notre Dame. Bill McCartney's passionate and often polarizing beliefs have made him many enemies and many admirers, but it's difficult to deny that he embodies the essential issues facing football in America to this day.
Episode 4
Chasing Tyson
Tue, Nov 10, 201587 mins
With his outsized personality and ferocious punches, Mike Tyson cast a commanding shadow over boxing in the 1980s and '90s. Even when "Iron Mike" was in prison, the heavyweight division belonged to him. Meanwhile, like Ahab patiently waiting to reel in his giant whale, Evander Holyfield endured years of delay for the opportunity to take down Tyson. Though Holyfield captured the heavyweight title when he knocked out Buster Douglas, the prevailing view of the mild-mannered Holyfield was that he was a journeyman -- the heavyweight champion but never a truly great one. Though Holyfield dramatically lost and recaptured the heavyweight crown, and then lost it again, even he understood that his career would ultimately be defined by how he stood up to Tyson -- if he ever got his chance. By the time of their much-hyped and oft-delayed heavyweight title bout in November of 1996, Holyfield was 34 and considered past his prime. Four years younger, Tyson was heavily favored to be standing over another meek and easily vanquished opponent at the end. Instead, we got two of the sport's most memorable fights -- but for very different reasons.
Episode 5
The Four Falls of Buffalo
Sat, Dec 12, 2015102 mins
While chronicling quarterback Jim Kelly's battle with cancer, this documentary examines the American obsession with winning and losing through the spectrum of the early 90's Buffalo Bills teams that went to four straight Super Bowls and lost every time. They've been seen as football's ultimate "losers," who if circumstances were different, may have been remembered as the ultimate winners.
Episode 6
The '85 Bears
Thu, Feb 4, 2016101 mins
One of the greatest football teams ever assembled, the 1985 Chicago Bears were a team of big talent, big egos, and big success. This documentary explores that success and the players behind it, as well as the questions surrounding the lack of a repeat performance.
Episode 7
Fantastic Lies
Sun, Mar 13, 2016102 mins
A documentary examination of the accusations of sexual misconduct against the Duke University lacrosse team that were ultimately found to be baseless
Episode 8
This Magic Moment
Thu, Apr 14, 2016101 mins
In the mid-1990s, Orlando was the center of excitement in the NBA. The young franchise, led by mega-stars Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, beat the mighty Bulls en route to the 1995 NBA Finals. While it was clear Orlando was a dynasty in the making, the Magic's moment on top was never fully realized.
Episode 9
Believeland
Sun, May 15, 201677 mins
There's a special place on the southern shore of Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Known as Cleveland, it is the site of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the home of the Indians, the Browns and the Cavaliers. But it's also the home of an agonizing losing streak. Of all American cities that have at least three major sports franchises, Cleveland is the only one that has failed to win a championship in the last half-century. Those sports teams, and the hearts they've broken over and over again, have inspired a different name for the city, and the title for this 30 for 30 film: Believeland. Directed by Ohio native Andy Billman, this evocative documentary will take you on a trip that goes back 50 years and captures the seminal ups and downs of the once-thriving metropolis - Superman, after all, was created there. Despite the economic and athletic misfortunes, and the T-shirt that reads "God Hates Cleveland," the people still believe and worship Jim Thome and Jim Brown and LeBron James. But they also can't forget Edgar Renteria and John Elway and Michael Jordan, the men who extinguished their dreams of a long-awaited championship. Painful as it is, Believeland is a celebration of faith, a testament to how much sports mean to Cleveland, and how much Cleveland means to sports.
Episode 10
Doc & Darryl
Thu, Jul 14, 201678 mins
When former New York Mets superstars Dwight "Doc" Gooden and Darryl Strawberry were good, they were great. They were the biggest stars on a team that captured the imagination of New York City and won the 1986 World Series. But when life spiraled out of control for both men, they broke the hearts of Mets fans. The pitcher and the power hitter look back on the glory days of the mid-80s and the harrowing nights that turned them from sure Hall of Famers into prisoners of their own addictions.
Episode 11
Phi Slama Jama
Tue, Oct 18, 201678 mins
They were the most popular fraternity on the campus of college basketball in the early 1980s. Led by a Nigerian soccer player named Hakeem Olajuwon and a lightly recruited hometown kid named Clyde Drexler, the University of Houston Cougars not only electrified the NCAA Final Four with three straight appearances (1982-84), but they also helped transform the game itself. In this 30 for 30 film, director Chip Rives brings back the high-flying circus act under ringmaster Guy V. Lewis and spins a tale of true greatness and crushing heartbreak. But while exploring that larger narrative, Rives also focuses on the disappearance of enigmatic role player Benny Anders and the lasting brotherhood that compels teammates and 1981-82 co-captains Eric Davis and Lynden Rose to try and find him after more than two decades of mystery.
Episode 12
Hit It Hard
Tue, Nov 1, 201650 mins
The popular but polarizing former golfer John Daly is the subject of the latest in ESPN's 30 for 30 series.The documentary covers his career and subsequent struggles.
Episode 13
Catholics Vs. Convicts
Sat, Dec 10, 2016102 mins
On October 15, 1988, Notre Dame hosted the University of Miami in what would become one of the greatest games in college football history. It was tradition vs. swagger, the No. 4-ranked Fighting Irish versus the No. 1-ranked Hurricanes, one coaching star, Lou Holtz, versus another, Jimmy Johnson. But the name still attached to the contest came from a t-shirt manufactured by a few Notre Dame students: "Catholics vs. Convicts." In this 30 for 30 documentary, director and narrator Patrick Creadon (Wordplay, I.O.U.S.A.) doesn't just look back on the epic game. He explores the deeper narrative as a Notre Dame senior at the time, a close friend to the young men in the middle of the "Catholics vs. Convicts" controversy (Joe Fredrick and Pat Walsh) and a fellow classmate of the player behind center for the Fighting Irish (quarterback Tony Rice). The coaches and players open up about the fight that started the game, the highly debatable calls that are still being talked about and the insensitive aspects of the irresistibly popular t-shirt. As compelling as the tale of Notre Dame's dramatic victory is-even losing quarterback Steve Walsh calls it "a helluva ballgame"-the backstory is just as riveting.
Episode 14
This Was the XFL
Thu, Feb 2, 201777 mins
A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies - NBC and WWE - captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come. Bringing together a cast of characters ranging from the boardrooms of General Electric to the practice fields of Las Vegas, "This Was the XFL" is the tale of - yes - all that went wrong, but also, how the XFL ended up influencing the way professional team sports are broadcast today. And at the center of it all - a decades long friendship between one of the most significant television executives in media history and the one-of-a-kind WWE impresario. This film will explore how Ebersol and McMahon brought the XFL to life, and why they had to let it go.
Episode 15
One and Not Done
Thu, Apr 13, 2017102 mins
The life and career of John Calipari, one of the most polarizing figures in modern college basketball, weaving his story around that of his 2015-16 Kentucky team.
Episode 16
Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies
Tue, Jun 13, 2017101 mins
This entry in ESPN's 30 for 30 series looks at the origins of the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s that revived - and saved - the NBA.
Episode 17
Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies, Part 2
Tue, Jun 13, 201751 mins
The 1984 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers cause a nation to take sides.
Episode 18
Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies, Part 3
Tue, Jun 13, 2017100 mins
The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers continues, after the 1984 NBA Finals and the likes of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson retired.
Episode 19
Mike and the Mad Dog
Thu, Jul 13, 201750 mins
Mike Francesa and Chris Russo's 'Mike and the Mad Dog' radio show ruled afternoon sports talk from the New York studios of WFAN 660 for 19 years-not bad considering they didn't think they'd last 19 days together. Even though they both brought Long Island accents and encyclopedic sports knowledge to the microphone, they were distinctly different personalities who often clashed on and off the air. But when all was said and done, they changed sports radio forever.
Episode 20
George Best: All by Himself
Thu, Jul 20, 201792 mins
Maradona. Pelé. Best. Northern Ireland's legendary star remains one of the most naturally gifted footballers there has ever been. Famously called the 'best player in the world' by Pelé, George Best galvanized Manchester United's five-year recovery from the tragedy of the Munich air crash. His skill and exuberance inspired them to win league titles and the European Cup, even though he was little more than a teenager. Tragically, his career in the upper echelons of sport was over before he turned 29, the result of his bruising battle with alcoholism and the crushing pressure of modern fame. (After all, this was Britain in the frenzy of Beatle-mania and 1960s youth culture, where Best was dubbed 'El Beatle' by the world's media.) Producer John Battsek (2016's Oscar-nominated Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom, The Imposter, Project Nim) and director Daniel Gordon re-team after their acclaimed, Emmy-nominated Hillsborough to deliver a heart-breaking portrait of one of the world's truly great sporting talents, whose extraordinary gift was decimated by his own addiction.
Episode 21
What Carter Lost
Thu, Aug 24, 201777 mins
In the fall of 1988 a Texas high school fielded the football team that many consider the greatest ever, yet chances are good you have never heard their story. What Carter Lost is not about the team immortalized in Friday Night Lights - it's about the team that beat them. It's about the year Dallas Carter dominated Texas high school football, never losing a game, but walked away with little more than an asterisk in the state's history books. It's about the legal battles that accompanied every Carter playoff game, the string of inexplicable crimes that forever altered six players' futures, and the community that rallied to support its team, only to find itself tarred with scandal. In the tradition of the best 30 for 30 documentary features, What Carter Lost is a story about the intersection of forces bigger than any game - except for football in Texas.
Episode 22
Year of the Scab
Tue, Sep 12, 201778 mins
Two weeks into the 1987 season, the NFL's players went on strike. For the first time in the history of professional sports in the United States, replacement players would take the field. Crossing the picket line to play in the NFL changed their lives, but not in the way they'd expected or hoped. The moment they crossed the picket line, they were no longer athletes; they were scabs. By the end of the strike, Washington stood alone as the only replacement team to go undefeated- ultimately setting up returning strikers for a triumphant run at a Super Bowl. For those replacements, the experience of 1987 should have been a badge of honor. Instead, it became a scab that never healed.
Episode 23
Tommy
Wed, Sep 13, 201777 mins
It was a remarkable and compelling rise to the spotlight. But then came the stunning, confounding, and ultimately tragic fall. In the 30 for 30 film "Tommy," directors Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby explore the story of one-time heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison in a tale that's unlike any other. Born into a troubled family in the American heartland, Morrison's initial emergence as a fighter was bolstered by a starring role in Rocky V. A few years later, he beat George Foreman for the WBO heavyweight title, and seemed primed for more stardom, even in the face of blown opportunities and upset losses. But then everything changed in early 1996, when he tested positive for HIV, forcing him into retirement. From there, Morrison's life spiraled further and further downward, plagued by drug problems, jail time, and most alarmingly and bizarrely, an eventual denial that he had the virus at all. There have been other boxers, and other sports stars, whose stories ended sadly. But rarely is the loss of potential as poignant as the case of Tommy Morrison.
Episode 24
Nature Boy
Tue, Nov 7, 201777 mins
Widely considered the greatest wrestler of all time, ESPN focuses on one of the most gifted and celebrated professional wrestlers of all time, Ric Flair. A unique journey documenting his peaks, valleys and longevity in the wrestling business.
Episode 25
The Two Bills
Thu, Feb 1, 201877 mins
Bill Belichick. Bill Parcells. We know them individually, but how will history define them as a duo? For 50 years, the answer has been an ever-changing study of two very different men born for the same job. They started as associates, with the young Belichick asking the elder Parcells, then just a friend of his father's, for a coaching job at the Air Force Academy. They became co-workers at the New York Giants. A Big Brother / Little Brother relationship blossomed as Parcells took control of the team. They became Champions and Big Apple heroes after winning two Super Bowl titles together. For a brief time, they were competitors, even facing off in a 1994 Browns/Patriots Playoff Game. Then, they were partners again, reuniting first in New England and then with the New York Jets. Like most long term relationships, they eventually went through a rough patch, when friendship turned to rivalry after Belichick left the Jets for the Patriots. It took too long, but they finally reconciled and today, stand together as legends. What if I told you...The Two Bills may have never gotten there without each other?
Episode 26
The Last Days of Knight
Thu, Apr 12, 2018102 mins
The previously untold, behind-the-scenes story of CNN Producer Robert Abbott's investigation into Bob Knight's Indiana University basketball program. The investigation ultimately led to Bob Knight's firing after 29 years at IU.
Episode 27
Seau
Thu, Sep 20, 201890 mins
Long before Junior Seau finally hung up his NFL spikes for good, he was a legend. Seau had everything an athlete could ever want: the adoration of millions, the admiration of his peers, the love of a beautiful family, and a sense of purpose beyond the playing field. And yet, on May 2nd, 2012, at the age of 43, Seau, alone in his bedroom at his home in Oceanside, California, shot himself in the heart. He left no suicide note, offering no clear answers to why he'd take his own life. Now, "Seau", a searing, revealing portrait of the Hall of Famer's life and death, seeks those answers, exploring his remarkable path out of an immigrant Samoan family to NFL stardom, and the many complications that ensued through two decades spent at the heart of a brutal and unforgiving game. Directed by Kirby Bradley, Junior Seau's tale of one of modern football's great icons, with a tragic end still reverberating through the sports world all these years later.
Episode 28
42 to 1
Tue, Dec 11, 201850 mins
This documentary chronicles one of the greatest sporting upsets in history, when James "Buster" Douglas handed Mike Tyson his first-ever defeat. Tyson was the 42-to-1 favorite, with most fans and pundits absolutely sure that he was invincible. But Douglas, motivated by personal tragedy, fought the fight of his life.
Episode 29
Deion's Double Play
Thu, Jan 31, 201950 mins
The story of how Deion Sanders played an NFL game for the Atlanta Falcons in between two MLB games for the Atlanta Braves in a twenty-four hour window.
Episode 30
The Dominican Dream
Tue, Apr 30, 201999 mins
A portrait of the Dominican immigrants of New York in the '80s and '90s, as seen through a loving family whose youngest son, Felipe Lopez, became the top ranked high school basketball player in the nation and was hailed as 'The Dominican Michael Jordan'. Lopez's prospects seemed limitless. Embraced as an immigrant hero, then cast aside as an American failure when he did not live up to the enormous expectations, Felipe Lopez would eventually find happiness not as a basketball player, but as the man he was always meant to be.
Episode 31
Qualified
Tue, May 28, 201978 mins
In 1977, a 39-year-old aerospace engineer attempted to qualify for the world's most famous race, the Indianapolis 500. In the face of scorn and skepticism, and saddled with subpar equipment, Janet Guthrie shocked the racing world. The reluctant feminist-turned-trailblazer became the first woman to earn a place on the starting grid at Indy, among 33 of the world's greatest drivers. But just as her career should have rocketed forward, it suddenly, inexplicably stalled. Qualified chronicles the mercurial rise of this barrier breaking auto racer and her equally rapid decline. What Janet Guthrie accomplished in the male bastion of mid-70s American motorsports, stands as a testament to one woman's determination.
Episode 32
The Good, The Bad, The Hungry
Tue, Jul 2, 201976 mins
The eye and mouth-opening tale of Takeru Kobayashi, the native of Nagano, Japan, who won the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest six consecutive times, and Joey Chestnut, the American who emerged to dethrone the Japanese legend in 2007 and become the face of the sport. It's a story that's at turns outrageous and poignant, exploring the origins of the careers of Kobayashi and Chestnut, every bite of their head-to-head battles, as well as the no-holds-barred promotional efforts of Major League Eating, the organization that oversees the contest. It may well be a sport like no other - but as the film reveals, the competition was as real as anything you'll ever see on a field of play.