Surreal Sports Stories

Professional Wrestling is an elaborate, fantastical charade, a combination between schlocky soap opera and scintillating stuntman spectacular. But what happens when the people backstage decide to make things "real"? They certainly succeeded...in making a real disaster. Our host dives into WWF's infamous "Brawl for All", an event that has been called, unironically, "the dumbest %$#^ing idea" in professional wrestling history.

Years after he took his last snap in an NFL game, Colin Kaepernick remains as relevant as ever. But how far have we progressed from the first time he took a knee? And what's changed since then? In the final bonus episode, our intrepid host digs into the latest in the story of Colin Kaepernick.

It's the most controversial and surreal sports story of the past decade. Did taking a knee cost a man his NFL career? And what was the story behind him taking that stance in the first place? And how does a President of the United States factor into this story? In the second of a three-part bonus series on race and sports, our intrepid host dives into the story of Colin Kaepernick.

An athlete takes a stand. He is denigrated, threatened, and then ostracized. Years later, he is remembered as a symbol of standing up for your principles. Only it isn't who you think it is. Our intrepid host dives into the story of a forgotten protest, whose legacy would be felt years later.

It's a classic story of hero overcoming personal tragedy to attain glory. It's a classic story of sports and the real world colliding in ways that defie logic. It's a classic story of being too good to be true...because it wasn't. On the season finale of Surreal Sports Stories, dig into the tale of an All-American boy, a legendary football program, and a hoax unlike any other. This is the story of Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua.

This story comes from a land down under (where women glow and men plunder), featuring one of the oldest and most popular sports in the world: cricket. Join our fish-out-of-water host as we discover how national pride, cultural differences, and major blow-ups over minor calls created an incident that threatened Australian-English relations. (And had nothing to do with beer flowing and men chundering...)

In this tale of two fighters, it was bad versus evil. One man vilified for his past, another hated for the choices he would go on to make. Their first bout was the stuff of legends, but it was their second bout that would forever enshrine their legacies. This is the story of the final time Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali crossed paths in the ring, and after the controversial ending...neither man would be the same.

Who doesn't love watching a trainwreck? In this episode, meet a couple who had a simple dream of owning a professional sports team. Listen in shock and awe as they lived life like the bill was never gonna come due...and when it did, hear how they took part in the most expensive divorce in California history, humiliated themselves in front of a national audience, and dragged one of Major League Baseball's most-storied franchises through the mud with them.

Backstage fights, gossip, and plots of betrayal...all before anyone set foot in the ring. This is a story of pettiness played out before a worldwide audience. This is a story of a scheme that saved a company at the cost of a man's personal pride. This is a story of professional wrestling. This is the Montreal Screwjob.

In 1953, America's greatest athlete up to that point in history passed away. What happened to him afterwards separated a family, forever changed a town, and eventually caused the US Supreme Court to get involved. This is the story of Jim Thorpe's body.

In 1970, a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher threw a no-hitter, one of the most difficult feats to accomplish in professional sports, while allegedly high on LSD. Who was this man, and was this even the most memorable story about him? Our intrepid host digs into the story of Dock Ellis.

A story of jealousy, football, and the dark side of competitiveness in Northern Colorado.

Facing cultural irrelevance and financial ruin, did a young, headstrong commissioner of the NBA rig the odds in his (and the league's) favor? Dig into one of the biggest (and most surreal) stories in NBA history: was the 1985 Draft Lottery fixed?

To what lengths would you go to support a teammate in need? In this episode, learn about how a baseball player channeled his inner Bruce Willis in order to rescue a teammate from suspension. Yippee Kay-Ay!