Joe Maddon

Joseph John "Joe" Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago Cubs. Maddon began his coaching career with the California Angels in 1993 and served under managers Buck Rodgers, Marcel Lachemann, John McNamara, Terry Collins, and Mike Scioscia. He served two stints as interim manager during this time. He managed the Tampa Bay Rays from 2006 through 2014, winning the 2008 American League pennant. After opting out of his contract following the 2014 season, he joined the Cubs, led them to the 2015 National League Championship Series and was named the 2015 National League Manager of the Year.

Early life and career

The son of an Italian father, Joe Sr.(who shortened the family name from Maddonini), and a Polish mother, Albina (Beanie), Maddon grew up in an apartment over his father's plumbing shop. His father died in 2002. His mother is still a waitress at the Third Base Luncheonette restaurant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Maddon attended Lafayette College, where he played baseball and football. He graduated in 1976. He is a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Lafayette College on September 2, 2010.

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a members of the National League (NL) Central division; the team plays its home baseball games at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are also one of two active major league teams based in Chicago; the other is the Chicago White Sox, who are a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is currently owned by Thomas S. Ricketts, son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.

The team played its first games in 1876 as a founding member of the National League (NL), eventually becoming known officially as the Chicago Cubs for the 1903 season. Officially, the Cubs are tied for the distinction of being the oldest currently active U.S. professional sports club, along with the Atlanta Braves, which also began play in the NL in 1876 as the Boston Red Stockings (Major League Baseball does not officially recognize the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players as a major league.)

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is a monthly sports newsmagazine on HBO that debuted on April 2, 1995. The show was "spawned by the fact that sports have changed dramatically, that it's no longer just fun and games, and that what happens off the field, beyond the scores, is worthy of some serious reporting," according to Bryant Gumbel, the host.

Overview

Format

Each has four stories, all of which are about society and sports, famous athletes, or problems afflicting sports. The show also has investigative reports, interviews, and interesting stories that don't necessarily occur in the professional leagues. This show goes beyond traditional sports reporting, like box scores and statistics, and presents exclusive stories that other networks don't usually cover.

The show has been honored with 26 Sports Emmy Awards and won a Peabody Award in 2012.

Real Sports was the inspiration for two other HBO shows, On the Record with Bob Costas and Costas Now.

Reporters

Correspondents include Mary Carillo, Frank Deford, Jon Frankel, Bernard Goldberg, Andrea Kremer, Soledad O'Brien, Carl Quintanilla, David Scott and Bryant Gumbel.

HBO World Championship Boxing

HBO World Championship Boxing is an American sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events since then.

WCB's first event was fought in Kingston, Jamaica, where George Foreman defeated Joe Frazier in two rounds to win the world heavyweight championship.

Memorable events

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league. A total of 30 teams now play in two divisions, the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams in each. The AL and NL operated as separate legal entities from 1901 and 1876 respectively, until 2000, when they were merged into a single organization known as Major League Baseball. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, in 2000 the leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. The organization also oversees minor league baseball leagues, which comprise about 240 teams affiliated with the major-league clubs. With the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament.

Baseball's first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era; players rarely hit home runs during this time. Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression and World War II. Shortly after the war, baseball's color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson.