Mon, Aug 18, 2008
Woodward is a 425-acre action sports camp located in central Pennsylvania amid rolling countryside and horse-drawn carriages. What was originally a dairy farm, has been transformed into an action sports mecca in the middle of Amish farmland. With enormous indoor and outdoor riding parks, Woodward's facilities are world renowned and have attracted the top pro riders in BMX.
Mon, Aug 3, 2009
In his first two seasons in Major League Baseball, 23 year old Tampa Rays third baseman Evan Longoria has emerged as one of baseball's most popular and complete players. A two time All-Star, Longoria was unanimously voted American League Rookie of the Year in 2008. Last October, Longoria played a major role in the breakout performance of the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays; setting a rookie record for most homeruns in the postseason by hitting 6 in his first nine games. With a deceptively casual yet lethal swing, Longoria makes the game look easy however, his path to stardom was anything but a sure thing. After high school he was not among the 1480 players selected in the 2003 amateur baseball draft; nor was he recruited to play division one college baseball. From unheralded junior college prospect to burgeoning superstar, Longoria has utilized a cerebral approach to baseball, employing various psychological tools to maximize his focus and performance.
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
Makua Rothman, from Sunset Beach, Hawaii, first stood on a surfboard when he was three years old, and by the time he was 11, he was learning the ins and outs of tow-in surfing from legends Darrick Doerner and Laird Hamilton, two of the sport's pioneers and most accomplished competitors. In Nov. 2002, he caught a 66-foot wave at the surf break off Maui known as Jaws. The epic ride won him the top prize of $ 66,000 in the 2003 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.
Mon, May 3, 2010
Less than a year after playing his final NBA game, the hall of famer created Michael Jordan Motorsports. As the owner of two teams that compete in the American Motorcycle Association, the sport is more than just a hobby to Jordan. In an E:60 exclusive, viewers are granted unprecedented access to the Michael Jordan few have ever seen.
Mon, Aug 16, 2010
She is the highest-paid female athlete in the world. She is a Grand Slam champion, has her own fashion line, endorsement deals, and a life of glamour in Los Angeles. But tennis superstar Maria Sharapova says her life would have been very different if the worst nuclear reactor explosion in history had never happened. Sharapova's parents were living less than an hundred miles from Ukraine's Chernobyl power plant in 1986. Within a few months of the disaster, her parents discovered they were pregnant. Fearful of the birth defects caused by radioactive materials in the area, Sharapova's parents fled to western Siberia. Five months after moving there, Maria was born. Now, for the first time in over a decade, Maria Sharapova returns to the place that was once her family's home...to the place she was conceived...to the place where decisions were made that ultimately shaped her life...to Gomel, Belarus and the area surrounding Chernobyl. From Wimbledon to Russia, in an E:60 exclusive, follow along with the four-time Grand Slam Champion on her journey back.
Mon, Nov 8, 2010
During the 2010 off-season, the San Diego Chargers parted ways with one of their most popular players of all-time, LaDainian Tomlinson. Not only was "L.T." a touchdown machine, he worked with several charities in the community including the homeless. Incredibly, the player taking his place in the Chargers backfield used to be homeless himself. Ryan Mathews' mother, Tricia gave birth to him when she was 16. Born mulatto to a Caucasian mother and African American father who was more than twice Tricia's age, the child's father abandoned them. At the time, Tricia's mother was addicted to methamphetamine, and an aunt had thrown her out of the house. With no place to go, the family was homeless living out of Tricia's car. For four months she stood in soup lines for food, bathed Ryan in parks and slept with her son in the back seat of her 1969 Oldsmobile. Ryan Mathews grew up in Southern California idolizing Tomlinson. In 2009, Mathews led all of college football in rushing as a junior at Fresno State. After the Chargers released Tomlinson, they traded up 16 spots in the first round of the 2010 draft in order to select Mathews as Tomlinson's heir apparent. E:60 chronicles Mathew's remarkable journey to the NFL and special bond he shares with his mother.
Mon, May 2, 2011
Even as he put up solid home run and RBI numbers in 2010, Cincinnati's Jonny Gomes also led his team in hit-by-pitches and hits with runners in scoring position; indicators of the scrappy, grinding style that saw Gomes become a key part of the Reds' rise to the championship of the National League Central. It's a style rooted in Gomes' personal history, and a road to the Major Leagues that encompassed tragedy, deprivation, and almost literally heartbreak. E:60 examines the life and times of an intense, gritty fan favorite who has never forgotten how lucky he is just to be alive.
Mon, Oct 31, 2011
While most kayakers are content navigating frigid, white water, Tyler Bradt seeks higher adventure. Bradt, 25, is a thrill seeker who holds the world record for the largest waterfall run in a kayak at 186ft. E:60 looks at Bradt's rises and falls as one of the world's best kayakers, including a harrowing adventure when he broke his back during a controlled plunge down a 90-foot waterfall earlier this year, and how he miraculously survived and came away with the ability to pursue his passion.
Mon, Aug 27, 2012
For Jamil Pollard, one of the nation's top prep defensive tackles, the chance to play football at Penn State meant everything. It meant so much that during his senior year of high school, against the advice of family and friends, he became the first recruit in the country to commit to Penn State in the wake of the university's child sex abuse scandal. Despite the firing of iconic head coach Joe Paterno, Pollard stood firm-even as players who had previously committed to Penn State changed their minds. For Pollard, the blow to Penn State was just the latest twist in a life full of uncertainty and unthinkable loss. Still haunted by the memories of a horrifying personal tragedy that forever changed his life, Pollard knows all too much about suffering and loss. E:60's Lisa Salters on the decisions Jamil Pollard has faced in his young life - especially those he was confronted with as he navigated the fallout of the Penn State scandal.
Mon, Oct 8, 2012
This was supposed to be a season of triumph for Patrick Larimore, a 22-year-old middle linebacker for UCLA. Captain, defensive MVP, and team leader in tackles in 2011, Larimore was projected as an NFL draft pick. That was before he suffered multiple concussions in spring and fall practices that forced him to the sidelines - forever. In August, Larimore quit football for medical reasons. In a collaboration of E:60 and ABC News, correspondent Bob Woodruff, who suffered brain trauma covering the war in Iraq in 2006, takes viewers inside Larimore's story with his own personal understanding of head injuries.
Sat, Feb 2, 2013
It happened; it actually did. There were people there who saw it; the teenage boy lived it. The most remarkable day of baseball anywhere...ever. It was 16 year old Jaydin Goldenstein's day - an afternoon of baseball just short of perfection - at the plate and on the mound - made for the stuff of movies and celebration, were it not for the fact that few would believe. Two days after his mother died, Goldenstein threw a no hitter and went 4-4 with multiple homeruns in a must win double header in Wray, Colorado just a few miles from the Nebraska border. Inspired by the loss of his mother not so much for what she had done through the years, but for what she had failed to do Goldenstein's day was one of tragedy and triumph. E:60 profiles the pain and glory of Jaydin Goldenstein and his unthinkable day of baseball.
Sat, Mar 9, 2013
As in so many small towns in America, the high school football team is the one thing, above all else, that brings people together in Manheim, Pennsylvania. When the Manheim Central Barons are on the field, everything else is secondary. Like most of the boys of Manheim, Caleb Walton had always hoped to play for the Barons-and on September 2, 2011, he took the field for the first time as their starting quarterback. Only eight months earlier, Walton had watched four of his teammates die. The boys had been driving recklessly at high speeds on a country road when tragedy struck. E:60 examines the impact of this shocking loss on a small community and its powerhouse football team while exploring the issue of young adults and driving safety.
Mon, Mar 25, 2013
When the USA and Mexico step onto the pitch of Azteca Stadium for their World Cup qualifier on March 26th, it will be the latest chapter in one of the most intense rivalries in sport. But nowadays, the battle between these eternal foes is starting long before they even take the field. The USA and Mexico are in a fight to secure the talents of young players that hold dual citizenship. It is a growing group, and on both sides of the border the scramble is on - by club teams and national federations - to have players commit to one side or the other. E:60 looks at the young men who live and play in two worlds, and who have to decide whether to suit up for the Stars and Stripes or the Tri. It is a battle that could reshape the rivalry for years to come.
Mon, Oct 7, 2013
Davan Overton was born with a rare condition that slowed his brain and physical development. School and sports were harder for him than the other kids. In his small Oregon town he grew up feeling so different and alone that he contemplated suicide. Until, that is, he found his salvation. It came through words that gave voice to his pain, and through a sport that allowed him to belong. Most of all it came from Davan Overton's indomitable spirit. E:60 reports on one boy's faith in the power of hope.
Mon, Oct 14, 2013
She was dubbed "peace girl" by the international community. An orphaned little girl from Sierra Leone with a sweet smile and an amputated arm, a poster child for the atrocities committed by militia in her homeland's civil war. Now a teenager, Memuna Mansaray, is a star high school athlete living in Washington DC with the American family that adopted her. Today she plays high school sports without drama or fanfare, which is just the way Mansaray likes it. Her journey from the horrors of war to international celebrity to a "normal" life is the subject of a collaboration between E:60 and ABC News. Veteran war correspondent Bob Woodruff shares the story of a girl who charmed presidents and helped sway world opinion.
Mon, Nov 4, 2013
Born with cerebral palsy, Johnny Agar was denied the physical gifts that made his father, Jeff, a Detroit Tigers prospect in the 1980s. He would never know the strength and agility that has made his sister Annie a star catcher and avid runner. As he grew up he struggled with everyday activities. But he combined a sharpness of mind with a strong spirit and love of sport, and when his father offered to push him in a jogger, to compete in road races, he was eager to participate. Together, the Agars ran everything from 5Ks to marathons, cheered on by Annie and the mother, Becki. And then, suddenly last summer, as a race unfolded, at the age of 19 Johnny Agar rose to his toughest challenge. E:60 profiles the story of a young man's pursuit of competition and the fulfillment of a family's life-long dream.
Tue, Oct 14, 2014
Defensive tackles in the NFL are supposed to be intimidating. They are supposed to be angry, vicious, border-line uncontrollable. Then there is Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yes, he is an All-Pro that has made a living blowing up offenses and bringing down quarterbacks. But you are just as likely to find him making teammates, opponents or even unsuspecting referees laugh. "I don't have to be angry to play the game," McCoy says. "I can have a good time and smile and still be that physical dominating presence on the field." It is just who McCoy is, who he has always been - from his childhood in Oklahoma City, to his days starring for the Sooners, to being picked number three in the 2010 NFL Draft. McCoy always finds the lighter side of life. Remarkable, perhaps, for someone in his line of work. More remarkable when you learn of the losses he has endured. E:60 tells the story of Gerald McCoy, the NFL's gentle giant.
Mon, Oct 27, 2014
"Rob Ryan" profiles the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. "Catching Kayla" profiles North Carolina high-school runner Kayla Montgomery who continues to compete despite a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. "Carmen: A Survivor's Story" talks to domestic abuse survivor and Patriots fan Carmen Tarleton.