The Best Episodes of 30 for 30 Season 2
Every episode of 30 for 30 Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of 30 for 30 Season 2!
30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.
Season 2 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "30 for 30" season 2 is "Broke", rated 6.9/10 from 1672 user votes. It was directed by Billy Corben and written by N/A. "Broke" aired on 10/2/2012 and is rated 0.7 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "9.79*".
6.9/10 1,672 votes#1 - Broke
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 10/2/2012
An exploration of the road to fortune in sports and the eventual detours (for various reasons) to financial difficulties and bankruptcy, as experienced by top athletes including Leon Searcy, Andre Rison, Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, and Cliff Floyd.
Director: Billy Corben
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 1,020 votes#2 - 9.79*
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 10/9/2012
A profile of the Men's 100-meter final at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the lives of the eight men who participated, including Ben Johnson (whose world record of 9.79 seconds was annulled after he tested positive for anabolic steroids) and Carl Lewis (who was awarded the gold medal after Johnson's disqualification).
Director: Daniel Gordon
Writer: N/A
5.9/10 628 votes#3 - There's No Place Like Home
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/16/2012
The story of one fan's obsessive quest to purchase, at a 2010 auction, James Naismith's original rules of basketball, perhaps the most important historical document in American sports history, and to bring it "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith taught and coached at the University of Kansas for 39 years. (70 mins in length)
Director: Maura Mandt, Josh Swade
Writer: N/A
7.3/10 818 votes#4 - Benji
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/23/2012
The life of Ben Wilson, a well-regarded Chicago high school basketball star, and how his November 1984 murder (one day before the start of his senior season) had a wide-ranging impact.
Director: Coodie Simmons, Chike Ozah
Writer: N/A
6.7/10 608 votes#5 - Ghosts of Ole Miss
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/30/2012
Mississippi native Wright Thompson explores tumultuous events of 1962, when the University of Mississippi campus both erupted in violence over integration and swelled with pride over its unbeaten football team, and how those incidents continue to shape the state 50 years later. (60 mins in length)
Director: Fritz Mitchell
Writer: N/A
8.1/10 1,693 votes#6 - You Don't Know Bo
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 12/8/2012
A profile of Bo Jackson and how his college and professional feats in two sports (baseball and football) captured the public's imagination and made Jackson a cultural (and marketing) icon.
Director: Michael Bonfiglio
Writer: N/A
8.5/10 1,389 votes#7 - Survive and Advance
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 3/17/2013
A look at the NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team's successful and improbable championship runs through the 1983 ACC and the 1983 NCAA tournaments. (2 hrs in length)
Director: Jonathan Hock
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 1,166 votes#8 - Elway to Marino
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 4/23/2013
A look at the 1983 NFL Draft and the six quarterbacks taken in its first round, specifically John Elway (the first overall pick) and Dan Marino (the last QB picked in Round 1). The film features the recollections of Martin Demoff, the agent for both Elway and Marino, who shares a personal diary he kept to chronicle teams' interest in his two future-Hall of Fame clients. This includes the indecision the Baltimore Colts had with drafting Elway with the first pick or trading it away, and how Marino's selection status plummeted after recording weaker senior year statistics and rumors of recreational drug use.
Director: Ken Rodgers
Writer: N/A
6.9/10 589 votes#9 - Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 10/1/2013
A chronicling of the life of Eddie Aikau, a big wave surfer and lifeguard whose death served as inspiration to an entire spiritual movement.
Director: Sam George
Writer: N/A
6.7/10 607 votes#10 - Free Spirits
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 10/8/2013
The story of the colorful figures who made up the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis, and how Spirits owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna, with their team about to be left out in the ABA's merger with the NBA, managed to negotiate a deal that allowed the brothers' involvement in pro basketball to continue in a most unusual fashion. (60 mins in length)
Director: Daniel H. Forer
Writer: N/A
7.1/10 792 votes#11 - No Mas
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 10/15/2013
An inside look at the two boxing matches between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán in the 1980s, with insight from boxing experts, family members and the two fighters themselves.
Director: Eric Drath
Writer: N/A
7.2/10 754 votes#12 - Big Shot
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 10/22/2013
The story of how young businessman John Spano struck a deal to purchase the New York Islanders in 1996, only to be later revealed as a fraud and being near financial insolvency.
Director: Kevin Connolly
Writer: N/A
7.1/10 596 votes#13 - This is What They Want
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 10/29/2013
The story of a 39-year-old Jimmy Connors and his unexpected and extraordinary underdog run at the 1991 US Open, where he played as a wildcard entrant and reached the semifinals of the men's singles draw.
Director: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Writer: N/A
7.0/10 562 votes#14 - Bernie and Ernie
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 11/5/2013
A profile of Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld, their decades-long friendship, and their on-court partnership on the University of Tennessee basketball team, better known as the "Ernie and Bernie Show".
Director: Jason Hehir
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 653 votes#15 - Youngstown Boys
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 12/14/2013
The stories of two Ohio State football figures connected with Youngstown, Ohio, running back Maurice Clarett (a native of the city) and coach Jim Tressel (former head coach at Youngstown State University), their football exploits at OSU (including a national championship in 2002), and their scandalous exits from the school. (2 hours in length)
Director: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist
Writer: N/A
7.4/10 1,241 votes#16 - The Price of Gold
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 1/16/2014
A profile of a January 6, 1994, incident at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where an unknown attacker strikes entrant Nancy Kerrigan — an assailant that is later revealed to be a hit man hired by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's rival, Tonya Harding, as part of a plan to prevent Kerrigan from competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Director: Nanette Burstein
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 717 votes#17 - Requiem for the Big East
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 3/16/2014
A recollection of the original Big East Conference, from its simple beginnings and regional rivalries to its national prominence as one of the most successful college basketball leagues, and how it ended up fighting for its survival in the 2010s during conference realignment.
Director: Ezra Edelman
Writer: N/A
8.2/10 1,963 votes#18 - Bad Boys
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 4/17/2014
A look back at the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Narrated by rapper Kid Rock, a native of nearby Romeo, Michigan. (2 hours in length)
Director: Zak Levitt
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 921 votes#19 - Slaying the Badger
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 7/22/2014
An examination of the competitive nature that teammates Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault exhibited in the 1986 Tour de France; a film based on Richard Moore's book of the same name.
Director: John Dower
Writer: N/A
7.1/10 835 votes#20 - Playing for the Mob
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 10/7/2014
How Mafia associate Henry Hill orchestrated a point-shaving scheme involving Boston College basketball. Narrated by Ray Liotta, who portrayed Hill in Goodfellas.
Director: Cayman Grant, Joe Lavine
Writer: N/A
6.9/10 815 votes#21 - The Day the Series Stopped
Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 10/14/2014
A 25-year retrospective of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck just before the scheduled start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.
Director: Ryan Fleck
Writer: N/A
6.8/10 582 votes#22 - When the Garden Was Eden
Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 10/21/2014
A look back at the New York Knicks' championship teams of the 1970s.
Director: Michael Rapaport
Writer: N/A
7.3/10 1,014 votes#23 - Brian and The Boz
Season 2 Episode 23 - Aired 10/28/2014
Former linebacker Brian Bosworth unveils a storage locker to his son Max that contains memorabilia from his college and brief professional career. The elder Bosworth reflects on his life and career, making note of a emerging second persona, The Boz, that had begun to subsume his life.
Director: Thaddeus D. Matula
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 516 votes#24 - Brothers in Exile
Season 2 Episode 24 - Aired 11/4/2014
The story of Liván and Orlando Hernández, half-brothers who fled Cuba separately and became successful major-league pitchers.
Director: Mario Díaz
Writer: N/A
7.2/10 787 votes#25 - Rand University
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 11/11/2014
An exploration of former NFL receiver Randy Moss and his humble (and humbling) origins in Rand, West Virginia.
Director: Marquis Daisy
Writer: N/A