Jonathan Hock
Features several of the sport's major stars, past and present, including NCAA record-setting wide receiver Jerry Rice, national championship-winning head coaches Barry Switzer and Nick Saban, Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware and many more.
In the early 1990s, the future of basketball belonged to a young Dominican immigrant named Felipe Lopez. Featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 17, Lopez's story is the ultimate profile of the American dream.
The Class That Saved Coach K is a 90-minute documentary that tells the story of Duke Basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and how his 1982 recruiting class overcame a bumpy start to change the narrative -- turning the Blue Devils around and setting its coach on an historic course.
Maine-Endwell didn’t just win the 2016 Little League World Series. By beating the favored team from Seoul, South Korea (2-1) in the championship game, they completed a perfect season, ended Asia’s string of four straight titles and put the “Little” back in an event that began in Williamsport in 1947 with regional teams and now attracts a worldwide audience of more than two million viewers. How did they do it? In the words of the Seoul Little League team coach, “They brought their dreams with them.”
Examines 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.
Since 1912, baseball has been a game obsessed with statistics and speed. Thrown at upwards of 100 miles per hour, a fastball moves too quickly for human cognition and accelerates into the realm of intuition. Fastball is a look at how the game at its highest levels of achievement transcends logic and even skill, becoming the primal struggle for man to control the uncontrollable.
The story of one of the greatest upsets in sports history has been told. Or has it? On a Friday evening in Lake Placid, New York, a plucky band of American collegians stunned the vaunted Soviet national team, 4-3 in the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympic hockey competition. Americans couldn't help but believe in miracles that night, and when the members of Team USA won the gold medal two days later, they became a team for the ages. In the 30 for 30 film "Of Miracles and Men," director Jonathan Hock ("The Best That Never Was" and "Survive and Advance") explores the scope of the "Miracle on Ice" through the Soviet lens. His intense focus on the game itself gives it renewed suspense and a fresh perspective. But the journey of the stunned Soviet team didn't begin -- or end -- in Lake Placid.
The Great Alone is a feature length independent documentary film that tells the inspiring comeback story of Iditarod Champion Lance Mackey.
In 1983, the NC State Wolfpack, coached by Jim Valvano, stayed alive in the postseason by winning nine do-or-die games in a row -- seven of which they were losing in the final minute -- beating the likes of Michael Jordan and three-time National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. The unlikely squad made it to the national championship game against No. 1 Houston, aka Phi Slama Jama, a team featuring future NBA Top 50 all-time players Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. NC State was one of the biggest underdogs ever in the final game, one that went down as possibly the best college basketball game in history-ending with one of the most well-known plays of all time.
A massive effort is currently under way to reshape ground zero into an expansive 16-acre complex the likes of which has never been seen before. To document this historic effort, we are on the ground alongside the men and women who are making this vision a reality until the nationally televised unveiling of the new ground zero with President Barack Obama on Sept. 11, 2011.
The story of a Native American family in Oregon that leaves the reservation in pursuit of the American dream on behalf of one of their 8 children, a 16 year-old girl who is one of the best high school basketball players in the country. Four generations of strong Native American women from the Umatilla Nation struggle together to preserve their traditions with the unforgiving world of big-time American high school sports.
In 1981, college athletic recruiting changed forever as a dozen big-time football programs sat waiting for the decision by a physically powerful and lightning-quick high school running back named Marcus Dupree. On his way to eclipsing Herschel Walker’s record for the most touchdowns in high school history, Dupree attracted recruiters from schools in every major conference to his hometown of Philadelphia, Miss. More than a decade removed from being a flashpoint in the civil-rights struggle, Philadelphia was once again thrust back into the national spotlight. Dupree took the attention in stride, and committed to Oklahoma. What followed, though, was a forgettable college career littered with conflict, injury and oversized expectations. Eight-time Emmy Award winner Jonathan Hock will examine why this star burned out so young and how he ultimately used football to redeem himself.
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.
After 46 years in exile, former major league baseball star Luis Tiant returns to Cuba, where he encounters unexpected demons and receives unexpected gifts from his family.
The story of Florida's Brandon High School's wrestling program, which holds the longest winning streak in American sports history with a perfect record of 451-0 record spanning 34 years.
"Through the Fire" chronicles the journey of Coney Island basketball star, Sebastian Telfair, from famed Lincoln High School straight to the NBA.
Filmmaker Marc Fafard examines the historical and cultural significance of the seafaring Vikings.
Perhaps more than any other sport, basketball is a star-driven event: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O'Neal--the list could go on and on. But it's not necessarily these athletes' overall careers that we remember as much as the breathtaking individual plays these illustrious men have given us. Is it possible to break down a hundred of these greatest moments in NBA history? The NBA's 100 Greatest Plays certainly tries.
This documentary showcases basketball player Michael Jordan's awe-inspiring moves, providing behind-the-scenes and on-the-court action, including footage of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls going head-to-head against the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA Finals. Phil Jackson and Bob Costas are interviewed (among others), and the awesome soundtrack includes songs by Earth, Wind and Fire, Fatboy Slim and Freddie King.
It was the season of their lives. In 1998 Major League Baseball had its greatest year, and more fans in more cities than ever before took in the thrill of big league baseball. But in the end, only one town could claim its place at the top, and only one team could call 1998 its championship season. The 1998 Official Major League Baseball World Series Video takes the fan through the drama of the Playoffs to the most inspired National League Champion San Diego Padres, led by veteran outfield Tony Gwynn and big-game ace Kevin Brown, try to steal history from the powerhouse American League Champion New York Yankees, whose 125 wins in 1998 were a testament to true team greatness. Manager Joe Torre and team leaders Derek Jeter and David Cone fight one final battle in their quest to establish themselves as perhaps the finest group to ever put on the pinstripes.
