Bryant Gumbel’s ‘Real Sports’ marks 20 years of hard-hitting journalism

Bryant Gumbel’s “Real Sports” focuses on the NCAA this week during March Madness. As is typical of the HBO newsmagazine that marks its 20th year on air, the focus won’t be on jump shots or bracket busting.

Scheduled reports will discuss the lack of long-term medical care for athletes injured during college sports, and the pressure placed on students to perform or lose their scholarships. A roundtable discussion to follow will feature Kirk Schulz, chairman of the NCAA board of governors.

“We wanted to do something that is not a sycophantic look at what is going on,” Gumbel said Monday. “We wanted to take a critical look at the NCAA’s relationship with its athletes and the extent to which it is functioning properly.”

That’s typical territory for “Real Sports.” Gumbel was still a “Today” show anchor when the HBO program began in 1995, airing four times a year initially. It bumped up to six and now is once a month. “Real Sports” has taken a lead in coverage of concussions in sports and won awards for stories about racism at European soccer matches, baseball recruiting in the Dominican Republic and boys forced to be camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.

February’s edition had a typical mix: a David Scott report on the dangers faced by Sherpas guiding inexperienced tourists up Mount Everest, a Soledad O’Brien story on injured athletes who shift from painkillers to heroin and a Jon Frankel profile of snowboard star Amy Purdy, a double amputee.

“The mandate is pretty much the same — to tell good stories, to highlight social issues involving sports,” Gumbel said. “But I think we’ve become better at doing it. Like anything else, you figure out how best to get to where you want to get. Our correspondents are far better.”

The January episode, with former Chicago Bears talking about the physical toll of playing in the NFL, was seen by 3.8 million people, the biggest audience the show has had in eight years.

Increased ratings come despite the oddity that “Real Sports” has no set time slot; it will premiere on a Tuesday night each month, it’s just never clear which Tuesday. While HBO has raised the profile of John Oliver’s weekly show by pushing out his segments online, rights clearances prevent “Real Sports” from getting the same attention.

Gumbel, 66, is in the second year of a four-year contract for “Real Sports.” He shuttles between homes in Florida and New York, and besides anchoring the show, does six to eight stories a year. His interviewing skills are most readily apparent when he debriefs correspondents in the studio after their stories air. When asked how long he wants to continue, he draws a comparison between a phenom pitcher and a veteran working on guile.

“The older you get, you’re not as sharp as you were,” he said. “You’re just not. That’s a plain and simple truth … When I was younger pitcher, I’d not only throw nine innings, I’d tell you what’s coming and throw it right by you. Now I know I can’t go nine. I can maybe give you three innings. I can get a batter out every now and then. I’m a bit more savvy. I’m more of a pitcher than a thrower, but I’m not nearly the pitcher I used to be.”

The difficulty is knowing what he’ll be like at 69, when his current contract is up.

“I never want to be a burden to the staff or to the viewers,” he said. “I never want to be the guy who’s there because he used to be Bryant Gumbel.”

David Bauder, Associated Press

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.