Sport and Cinema.com

According to an Associated Press report, NBC, bidding against ESPN/ABC and Fox, has retained the U.S. Olympic television rights in a four-games deal through 2020 worth more than $4 billion.

Celebrating their 30th anniversary by engaging well-known filmmakers to create documentaries centered on the last 30 years in sports, ESPN’s ambitious project takes to the air beginning in the fall.
Airing on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET beginning October 6 and running through November 10,the series features notable directors and producers from Hollywood exploring topics ranging from the end of the USFL to the title fight between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes to the story of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band which continued to march even though the team had moved to Indianapolis. Peter Berg’s film exploring the effects of the shocking trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988 will kick off the series Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The Hokies simply have got to run better to go deeper in the bowl season. Frank Beamer has done it with defense, ranking in the Top Ten for the last 5 years garnering two ACC titles and 31 wins. Darren Evans, Tyrod Taylor and redshirt freshman Ryan Williams hope to provide some much needed offensive punch.

It is a massive campaign, breaking down the conferences to see who stand the best chance to upset the Florida Gator’s bid to repeat as national champions. So in and around other news from the worlds of sport and cinema, we’ll take a look over the next couple of weeks at the very best and what they offer that just might allow them to vie for the BCS crown.

The world’s greatest sports league, the English Premier League, began its latest campaign began over the weekend as Arsenal slammed Everton 6-1, Tottenham topped Liverpool 2-1, while Chelsea took care of Hull City 2-1 reigning champion Manchester United got into the winning column with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City in the major games.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal returns to ABC with a new reality series.

Debuting August 18th, in “Shaq TV” the 15-time NBA All-Star will pit his athletic skills against an interesting array of opponents in their sport specialty.