NEW YORK (AP) — For the last few years of its life, HBO’s “Real Sports” taped its episodes in the same Manhattan building where CBS’ “60 Minutes” is based. They shared a sense of the neighborhood.
But as “60 Minutes” heads into its sixth decade, the monthly sports magazine is taking over Bryant Gumbel He calls it quits in his 29th year. The 90-minute finale airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
Sport was the lens through which the magazine looked at all kinds of issues, winning awards for articles on corruption in the International Olympic Committee, labor abuses during Qatar’s World Cup preparations, concussions in sports, and children being forced to participate in camel racing in Qatar. The Middle East.
“Real Sports” told some inspiring stories, such as Mary Carrillo’s biography of the Hoyts, a father who ran marathons pushing a wheelchair for his son with cerebral palsy, and showed a sense of humor.
Who won or lost? There were other men for that.
“I’m fine,” Gamble said before the final episode taped. “I’m sad, but everything has to end sometime, and this is the time for this to end.”
Backstage, a cart filled with champagne was pushed through the lobby. Reporters, producers and their families walked around the offices and said goodbye. Gamble’s wife, Hillary, and grandchildren sat in control room seats to watch the final recording.
A long-term endeavor
Gamble is 75 years old, at the end of the decade, and HBO is now controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery, in pursuit of cost savings. While the program’s exit makes sense, the fear is that a form of sports journalism is gone forever as well.
“This has been the gold standard in sports journalism on television for the last three decades, and it’s a really big loss,” said Mark Hyman, director of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland. “It ticks all the boxes – timely, ambitious, well-funded and independent.”
Sports news increasingly comes from outlets owned by the leagues, such as the NFL or Major League Baseball networks, or networks whose businesses depend heavily on winning rights deals, he said.
“The program tried to do some things in sports journalism that no one else had done,” Gamble said. “I think it was one of the few avenues that she could explore issues honestly without having to worry about assessments, care or relationships.
“I’ve been on the other side of that coin,” he said. “I worked with networks that were now called the ‘broadcast partner’ of a sports entity. You’d only be a fool to think you could follow any story wherever you wanted if it conflicted with that relationship. Life doesn’t work that way.”
When athletes agreed to appear on “Real Sports,” Carrillo said, they knew they were agreeing to a tough interview, just as “60 Minutes” guests know what they’re signing up for.
Athletes can now control their own messaging through social media or outlets like The Players’ Tribune, she said.
“I wish we could keep going,” she said. “But times have changed.”
The stories – and the controversies – that rippled through
Carrillo has been with Real Sports since 1997. Other notable reporters include John Frankel, Andrea Kramer, Armen Ketian, Soledad O’Brien and David Scott. The late sportswriting legend Frank Deford was around from 1995-2014.
Bernard Goldberg was a prolific correspondent until a bitter exit in 2020. He said he was angered by something Gamble, who is black, said about the extent of racism in society and abruptly quit the show after 22 years.
Goldberg said he canceled HBO the day he resigned, hasn’t watched a minute of “Real Sports” since then and won’t watch the finale. He declined further comment.
Ask Gamble about the stories he did that stuck with him, and he mentions one that led to the release of athlete Marcus Dixon from prison and another about a recruiting scandal at St. Bonaventure University in which a university official committed suicide.
“We focus on how athletes impact their sport,” he said. “What’s most important to me, what’s most lasting to me, what’s most interesting to me is how sports affect the people who try to play it, who try to run it, who try to control it.”
Gamble prides himself on not missing a show in 29 years despite a divorce, two bouts with cancer, seven surgeries and a horrific facial injury that — he showed a photo on his phone — required 68 stitches.
He recalls conversations with Deford about age diminishing people’s ability in their field. “Frank used to say to me, ‘I can still turn a phrase.’ “I can’t do it as often as I used to,” Gamble said.
He can relate. Gamble thought about what many athletes face at the end of their careers.
“I always thought I would rather leave a year early than a day late,” he said. “I never wanted to be the guy who overstayed his welcome.”
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David Bauder covers media for The Associated Press. Follow him on http://twitter.com/dbauder
After nearly three decades of delivering thought-provoking and groundbreaking sports journalism, Bryant Gumbel and HBO’s Real Sports aired their final episode. The long-running program, which first premiered in 1995, has become a staple in the sports media landscape, known for its in-depth reporting and unflinching examination of various issues within the world of sports. As the show bids farewell, it leaves behind a legacy of impactful storytelling and fearless journalism that has left an indelible mark on the sports media industry.