Distant Replay

When Michael Jordan's father went missing in August of 1993, it became one of the lead news stories nationally. The body of James R. Jordan Sr. was ultimately found and his death was eventually prosecuted, which shocked the country and changed the course of Michael's career. On this True Crime edition of the podcast, we'll take you through the details of that case and what authorities believe happ...

Most sports fans are at least aware of the 'The Rumble in the Jungle.' The epic heavyweight fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali took place in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30, 1974 and is widely considered to be one of the most iconic sporting the events the world has ever seen.  The young Foreman was a 4-1 favorite over the cagey veteran Ali, and the fight that would ensue would be one of...

It's playoff time for John Mosley and East LA College on Last Chance U and we're here for it.  Today we're recapping episode 6 of the Netflix series and it's down to crunch time. ELAC earned the two-seed and has a matchup with Saddleback on the horizon, which is a team they have some history with.  Join us as we go back through this episode and talk about what we saw. Will this team make get a cha...

We're past the midway point of the Last Chance U series on Netflix featuring East LA College and episode 5 might be the best one yet.  What's so great about this episode isn't what happens on the court but what happens away from the gym at Colby Ranch. And it seems, at least in the immediate days following that field trip, that this was exactly what the team needed.  Join us as we recap the fifth...

Every baseball fan knows about Pete Rose and his lifetime ban from Major League Baseball. It's a topic of debate for many people but the league hasn't budged on their stance.  But do you know how the entire scandal played out?  Today we'll take you through Pete Rose's relationship with the MLB front office and how the investigation into his gambling habits led to one of the greatest players of all...

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest has been a popular event for many years but you might be able to go back to February 6, 1988 to find the night it really became a big deal.  That All-Star weekend in Chicago featured a classic competition between seven players but Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins stole the show. Those two eventually squared off in the finals and four of their combined dunks would earn...

It's time for episode four of Last Chance U featuring East LA College, and we finally start getting a the background we were hoping for on head coach John Mosley. Join us as we recap this episode, which ends with one of the best speeches of the entire series.  We'd love to hear what you thought about the show so connect with us on Twitter or leave us a comment on our YouTube channel. Thanks for li...

Mookie Blaylock was a popular NBA players during the 90s thanks to a great personality and lockdown defense. The Atlanta Hawks' star made a name for himself during a tremendous decade in the NBA. But off the court, Blaylock has struggled with alcohol. With multiple arrests for DUI, his life and that of two others changed forever when he crashed into a couple after suffering a seizure.  On today's...

The 2015 Final Four matchup between 1-seeds Kentucky and Wisconsin was a rematch of the classic national semifinal game from 2014. The Wildcats came into the game with a perfect 38-0 record and it marked the first undefeated Final Four team since the UNLV team of the early 90s.   While the 2015 roster for the Wildcats was almost completely different, the Badgers returned the core of their team inc...

We're on to episode 3 of Netflix's reality series on East LA College. This Last Chance U season is ramping up and we learn a lot more about Deshaun Highler off the court, find out why Joe Hampton missed a few days of practice, get a peak inside the film room, and much more. For more episodes, visit us online at http://distantreplaypodcast.com  

The story of former UConn athlete Eric Naposki involved sex, money, adultery, betryal that we have come to expect from our most scandalous true crime cases.  Naposki along with his lover Nanette Johnston were accused of conspiring together to plan and carry out the murder of Nanette's fiancee Bill McLaughlin, a wealthy Orange County California entrepreneur. This case would take over 15 years to re...

The 2005 Elite 8 matchup between Arizona and Illinois is thought of by some to be one of the best regional final games in NCAA Tournament history. It's one of those games where all of the stars aligned for a great March Madness moment that fans of the sport live for.  The Fighting Illini had its best season in school history led by the legendary backcourt of Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther H...

The hit Netflix show Last Chance U takes to the hardcourt of East LA College (ELAC) in the first installment of Last Chance U Basketball. Our plan is to recap every episode and we'll start with episodes 1 and 2 on today's show.  In these episodes we are introduced to head coach John Mosley and begin learning the stories of some of the ELAC players like Deshaun Highler, KJ Allen, Joe Hampton and Ma...

Darryl Henley was a former All-American at UCLA and a 2nd round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams, but his football career came to an abrupt end when he was arrested for his involvement in a drug operation.  Things got even worse for Henley when he was set up by another inmate in prison and eventually got sentenced to 41 years.  Today we'll take you through the life and crimes of...

As we get ready for the return of the NCAA Tournament after a one-year hiatus, we picked a game from the first round that featured two teams that are very relevant to this tournament: defending champion Virginia and the current favorite Gonzaga. The 2001 South Regional matchup between the 5-seed Cavaliers and the 12-seed Bulldogs might seem like just another first round matchup on paper, but it we...

Len Bias is still a household name nearly 25 years after his sudden death in 1986.   The ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Without Bias covers the unique impact Bias had to people of all ages both on the basketball court and off of it.   We went back to watch the film, which debuted in the first season of the 30 for 30 series, and we'll recap it all on today's episode.   Here are some of the things we di...

Kellen Winslow II appeared to be on his way to a long and successful NFL career when he left Miami in 2004. While he had a handful of good years, his career is more known for what happened off the field.  Just before we recorded this episode, Winslow was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In this episode, we discuss the crimes that led to his sentencing, a crime resume that spanned 15 years with a v...

The 1996 Big East Tournament Championship Game between #3 UCONN and #6 Georgetown was the type of matchup that the conference tournament was all about.  Legendary coaches Jim Calhoun and John Thompson and All-American players Allen Iverson and Ray Allen were the headliners, but there were unsung heroes on both sides that performed at a high level in front of the sellout crowd at MSG.    On this ep...

The documentary we picked this week comes from the series 'A Football Life' produced by NFL Films and the NFL Network and focuses on Reggie White and Jerome Brown.  These two dominant defensive linemen first met in 1979 at a University of Tennessee football camp -  White a coach/counselor  and Brown a football player attendee at said camp.  It was the birth of a beautiful friendship which made the...

Denny McLain was on top of the sports world in 1968. Pitching with the Detroit Tigers, McLain won 31 games and helped lead his team to a World Series title. Along the way, he added the AL MVP and Cy Young to cap off one of the greatest seasons for a pitcher. But just five years later at the age of 29, he was out of baseball completely.  Today we'll tell you that story involving gambling, bookmakin...

More than 40 years ago, a bunch of college kids from the USA squared off on a sheet of ice in Lake Placid, NY at the 1980 Winter Olympics against a heavily-favored Soviet Union squad. These two teams played an exhibition just a month earlier that ended in a 10-3 Soviet victory so many didn't give the Americans a chance. But this game that would turn out to be arguably the most important sporting e...

In 2011, ESPN produced a series called The Year of the QB.  One of the installments of that series was 'The Brady 6' and it gave one of the better under-the-hood perspectives of Tom Brady's career.   Specifically, the pre-draft and NFL Draft process before he became a member of the New England Patriots was phenomenal . It provided a look at his early career path that led to becoming the starter af...

In the early morning hours following Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, two men were fatally stabbed outside of the Cobalt Lounge in Buckhead.  Four-year NFL linebacker Ray Lewis was among a group that were involved in the brawl that left these two men dead. Lewis was charged with murder soon after along with two other guys in his entourage, but he eventually had his charges dropped.  We'll take you thr...

The 1979 NCAA Tournament Final between Indiana State and Michigan State is still thought of by many people to be the most important college basketball game in history.  It was also the first installment of the Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson rivalry which would dominate the basketball landscape for the next decade. These are just a couple reasons why we felt it was a must watch for the podcast.    Thi...

Eddie Johnson was an all-conference player at Auburn and was selected to two NBA all-star teams, but that didn't even begin to tell his story.   Fighting mental illness and drug addiction during his career Johnson would spiral out of control during his career and after his retirement.    How far was his fall? He was arrested around 100 times and would eventually land a sentence of life in prison....