New Episodes of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PRESENTED BY LEXUS Debut Today, 9/12

By: Sep. 12, 2012
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The second episode of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PRESENTED BY LEXUS on NBC Sports Network features the inspirational stories of DaRon Roberts, West Virginia University cornerbacks coach; Mike Powell wrestling coach for Oak Park and River Forest High School (Oak Park, IL) and Aazar Abdul-Raheem Head Football Coach for Washington D.C.’s Friendship Collegiate Academy. All, through great personal sacrifice and courage, inspire their teams and communities in ways that transcend the final score. The new episode debuts tonight, September 12, 9 p.m. with subsequent re-airs throughout the month.

Coach DaRon Roberts: While attending Harvard Law School, Roberts spent two weeks with then Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach researching a paper. And just like that he dropped his dreams of being governor of Texas or even making a run for president – he had found a new calling. Roberts sent 164 letters to coaches around the country and received one offer: a three-week unpaid internship from former Kansas City Chiefs football coach Herm Edwards. Not quite the Supreme Court clerkships his classmates were pursuing but enough of an opportunity for Roberts to leave for training camp on the day he was scheduled to take the Bar Exam. Today, he’s one of the sport’s most promising young coaches. Senior writer Andy Staples reports.

Coach Mike Powell: Powell wrestled from boyhood to college, a phenomenal athlete who achieved much but never seemed to reach his potential until he started coaching his old high school team. On the day OPRF won its first state championship, Powell noticed something wrong. A few weeks later he was diagnosed with polymyositis ? a rare disorder that makes the immune system attack the body instead of protecting it. The disease has no known cause or cure. Facing a grim prognosis with a rapidly deteriorating condition that will eventually cause him to lose vital physical capabilities, Powell continues to coach. Senior writer Chris Ballard reports.

Coach Aazar Abdul-Raheem: Since opening its doors in 2000, Washington, D.C.’s Friendship Colleagiate Academy has transformed itself into one of the most respected programs in the country, one that earned 19 college football scholarships for the class of 2012. The program is led by a fierce coach able to overcome a lack of resources ? no home field, locker room or weight room ? and the challenges of Ward Seven one of the District’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods. “Hey Coach there’s a dead body on the field,” is a recent scene that Abdul-Raheem recounts for us in the piece. Executive editor B.J. Schecter reports.

“Sports Illustrated” Presented by Lexus is, a monthly, hour-long sports magazine TV show produced by NBC Sports and Sports Illustrated. The show will deliver the magazine’s DNA of award-winning storytelling through feature segments, original reporting and commentary from SI’s trusted journalists. Emmy Award-winning Red Line Films has been tapped to produce the show.

When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the broad reach and storied history of NBC Sports united with Comcast’s 24/7 ability to super-serve fans to create the NBC Sports Group. The sports media company consists of an array of broadcast television, cable television and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports & Olympics, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel, 11 Comcast SportNets (regional sports networks), and their respective digital properties. Together, the assets of the NBC Sports Group possess an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, MLS, Tour de France, French Open, IndyCar, and many more.

The Sports Illustrated franchise is anchored by the weekly magazine—the most respected voice in sports journalism, reaching an audience of 30 million – and www.SI.com, the magazine’s 24/7 sports news website that delivers more than 300 original stories to its users each week. The franchise also includes Sports Illustrated Kids (www.sikids.com), a monthly magazine targeted to kids age 8 and up; GOLF Magazine and www.Golf.com; www.FanNation.com, a social networking and sports-news aggregation platform; SI Presents, the magazine’s specialty publishing division; as well as SI Books, SI Pictures, SI Productions, SI Digital and SI Events. Founded in 1954, Sports Illustrated is a division of Time Inc., the world’s leading magazine publishing company and a subsidiary of Time Warner.



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