Overview of '30 for 30' Season 2

30 for 30 (2009)

Documentary

30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.

Writing:

Bill Simmons
John Dahl
Connor Schell

Stars:

Release Date: 2009-10-06
Seasons: 1 2 3 4

7.5/10

Country: GB, US
Language: English
Runtime: 60

Season 2 Episode List

Episode 1 - Broke
Release Date: 2012-10-02
An exploration of the road to fortune in sports and the eventual detours (for various reasons) to financial difficulties and bankruptcy, as experienced by top athletes including Leon Searcy, Andre Rison, Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, and Cliff Floyd.
Episode 2 - 9.79*
Release Date: 2012-10-09
A profile of the Men's 100-meter final at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the lives of the eight men who participated, including Ben Johnson (whose world record of 9.79 seconds was annulled after he tested positive for anabolic steroids) and Carl Lewis (who was awarded the gold medal after Johnson's disqualification).
Episode 3 - There's No Place Like Home
Release Date: 2012-10-16
The story of one fan's obsessive quest to purchase, at a 2010 auction, James Naismith's original rules of basketball, perhaps the most important historical document in American sports history, and to bring it "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith taught and coached at the University of Kansas for 39 years. (70 mins in length)
Episode 4 - Benji
Release Date: 2012-10-23
The life of Ben Wilson, a well-regarded Chicago high school basketball star, and how his November 1984 murder (one day before the start of his senior season) had a wide-ranging impact.
Episode 5 - Ghosts of Ole Miss
Release Date: 2012-10-30
Mississippi native Wright Thompson explores tumultuous events of 1962, when the University of Mississippi campus both erupted in violence over integration and swelled with pride over its unbeaten football team, and how those incidents continue to shape the state 50 years later. (60 mins in length)
Episode 6 - You Don't Know Bo
Release Date: 2012-12-08
A profile of Bo Jackson and how his college and professional feats in two sports (baseball and football) captured the public's imagination and made Jackson a cultural (and marketing) icon.
Episode 7 - Survive and Advance
Release Date: 2013-03-17
A look at the NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team's successful and improbable championship runs through the 1983 ACC and the 1983 NCAA tournaments. (2 hrs in length)
Episode 8 - Elway to Marino
Release Date: 2013-04-23
A look at the 1983 NFL Draft and the six quarterbacks taken in its first round, specifically John Elway (the first overall pick) and Dan Marino (the last QB picked in Round 1). The film features the recollections of Martin Demoff, the agent for both Elway and Marino, who shares a personal diary he kept to chronicle teams' interest in his two future-Hall of Fame clients. This includes the indecision the Baltimore Colts had with drafting Elway with the first pick or trading it away, and how Marino's selection status plummeted after recording weaker senior year statistics and rumors of recreational drug use.
Episode 9 - Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau
Release Date: 2013-10-01
A chronicling of the life of Eddie Aikau, a big wave surfer and lifeguard whose death served as inspiration to an entire spiritual movement.
Episode 10 - Free Spirits
Release Date: 2013-10-08
The story of the colorful figures who made up the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis, and how Spirits owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna, with their team about to be left out in the ABA's merger with the NBA, managed to negotiate a deal that allowed the brothers' involvement in pro basketball to continue in a most unusual fashion. (60 mins in length)
Episode 11 - No Mas
Release Date: 2013-10-15
An inside look at the two boxing matches between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán in the 1980s, with insight from boxing experts, family members and the two fighters themselves.
Episode 12 - Big Shot
Release Date: 2013-10-22
The story of how young businessman John Spano struck a deal to purchase the New York Islanders in 1996, only to be later revealed as a fraud and being near financial insolvency.
Episode 13 - This is What They Want
Release Date: 2013-10-29
The story of a 39-year-old Jimmy Connors and his unexpected and extraordinary underdog run at the 1991 US Open, where he played as a wildcard entrant and reached the semifinals of the men's singles draw.
Episode 14 - Bernie and Ernie
Release Date: 2013-11-05
A profile of Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld, their decades-long friendship, and their on-court partnership on the University of Tennessee basketball team, better known as the "Ernie and Bernie Show".
Episode 15 - Youngstown Boys
Release Date: 2013-12-14
The stories of two Ohio State football figures connected with Youngstown, Ohio, running back Maurice Clarett (a native of the city) and coach Jim Tressel (former head coach at Youngstown State University), their football exploits at OSU (including a national championship in 2002), and their scandalous exits from the school. (2 hours in length)
Episode 16 - The Price of Gold
Release Date: 2014-01-16
A profile of a January 6, 1994, incident at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where an unknown attacker strikes entrant Nancy Kerrigan — an assailant that is later revealed to be a hit man hired by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, as part of a plan to prevent Kerrigan from competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Episode 17 - Requiem for the Big East
Release Date: 2014-03-16
A recollection of the original Big East Conference, from its simple beginnings and regional rivalries to its national prominence as one of the most successful college basketball leagues, and how it ended up fighting for its survival in the 2010s during conference realignment.
Episode 18 - Bad Boys
Release Date: 2014-04-17
A look back at the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Narrated by rapper Kid Rock, a native of nearby Romeo, Michigan. (2 hours in length)
Episode 19 - Slaying the Badger
Release Date: 2014-07-22
An examination of the competitive nature that teammates Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault exhibited in the 1986 Tour de France; a film based on Richard Moore's book of the same name.
Episode 20 - Playing for the Mob
Release Date: 2014-10-07
How Mafia associate Henry Hill orchestrated a point-shaving scheme involving Boston College basketball. Narrated by Ray Liotta, who portrayed Hill in Goodfellas.
Episode 21 - The Day the Series Stopped
Release Date: 2014-10-14
A 25-year retrospective of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck just before the scheduled start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.
Episode 22 - When the Garden Was Eden
Release Date: 2014-10-21
A look back at the New York Knicks' championship teams of the 1970s.
Episode 23 - Brian and The Boz
Release Date: 2014-10-28
Former linebacker Brian Bosworth unveils a storage locker to his son Max that contains memorabilia from his college and brief professional career. The elder Bosworth reflects on his life and career, making note of a emerging second persona, The Boz, that had begun to subsume his life.
Episode 24 - Brothers in Exile
Release Date: 2014-11-04
The story of Liván and Orlando Hernández, half-brothers who fled Cuba separately and became successful major-league pitchers.
Episode 25 - Rand University
Release Date: 2014-11-11
An exploration of former NFL receiver Randy Moss and his humble (and humbling) origins in Rand, West Virginia.
Episode 26 - The U Part 2
Release Date: 2014-12-13
A sequel to The U profiles the Miami Hurricanes football program and its rise from scandal (and calls for the school to drop the sport) to a national championship, only to see new controversy after booster Nevin Shapiro is revealed to have given improper benefits to the program.
Episode 27 - Of Miracles and Men
Release Date: 2015-02-08
An exploration of the Miracle on Ice from the point of view of the defeated Soviet Union team. The film features defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov returning to Lake Placid to recollect his team's defeat.
Episode 28 - I Hate Christian Laettner
Release Date: 2015-03-15
A look at the life and basketball career of Christian Laettner and the intense dislike some fans still harbor for the former Duke University and NBA star.
Episode 29 - Sole Man
Release Date: 2015-04-16
A profile of Sonny Vaccaro, who rose from steel town roots in Pennsylvania to become an influential force in both basketball and the athletic shoe industry.
Episode 30 - Angry Sky
Release Date: 2015-06-08
The story of Nick Piantanida, a New Jersey pet store owner and truck driver whose love of parachuting and skydiving puts him on a quest to break the record for the highest recorded parachute jump.