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Benched
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN; 10 a.m., ESPN2)
Michael Abraham is the founder, director, and coach of one of the country’s most successful AAU girls’ basketball programs, Portland, Ore.-based Team Concept. Starting this year, Abraham cannot coach from the bench at any NCAA certified tournament because he is a felon who served time in federal prison for cocaine trafficking. A change in NCAA policy this year prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from coaching in NCAA certified girls tournaments. This means Abraham must be in the stands or on the sidelines while his team competes. Shelley Smith reports.
“I make sure if there’s a guy with a felony, my kids aren’t going to play for him. I just think they need positive people around and positive role models around them. If they sold drugs and been convicted of those things, what is that telling the kids that you’re coaching?” — Chris Morrison, AAU and St. Anthony’s High ( Long Beach, Calif.) girls basketball coach
A Second Chance
Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
Despite the NFL lockout, Draft Day was supposed to be one filled with rejoicing for former Notre Dame defensive lineman Ian Williams. Projected to be selected by the fifth round, Williams’ NFL dreams were potentially crushed when no team called. Then the lockout ended, and what followed was one of the most intense 48-hour periods in the undrafted rookie’s life. Williams tells his story of a second chance at an NFL career.
NFL Camp Chaos
ESPN.com (to be posted Friday)
Training Camp 2011 means cramming five months of a lost offseason into two weeks, and moving faster than any NFL player has ever gone. Elizabeth Merrill visits the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp to see how the rookies and veterans are dealing with life after the NFL lockout.
Ugandan Little Leaguers: Baseball Winners, Bureaucracy Losers
SportsCenter and Little League World Series coverage
Last July, in its third attempt to win the Middle East Africa Little League Regional, Uganda beat 11-time defending Regional champ Saudi Arabia, to become the first African team to qualify for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn. However, just a week before they were scheduled to leave, the U.S. State Department denied their visas, citing “discrepancies in their documentation.” While the young players had the talent to compete, their country’s infrastructure kept them from fulfilling their dreams of playing against the world’s best teams in America.
Deportes E:60 1987 Yugoslavian World Cup Team; Roberta Mancino
ESPN Deportes E:60 (Tuesday, 9 p.m., ESPN Deportes)
https://youtu.be/S37C8ugJjMg
Topics include what became of the 1987 Yugoslavian U20 FIFA World Cup Championship team and how the civil wars of the former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s impacted its players. Also a look at Roberta Mancino, the Italian fashion model considered one of the sexiest athletes in extreme sports. Jorge Ramos, Jose Ramon Fernandez and David Faitelson host.
Encores of Emmy-Nominated Pieces; Josiah Viera Update
E:60 (Tuesday, 7 p.m., ESPN)
In addition to presenting four pieces which received Emmy Award nominations this year, E:60 will update the status of seven-year old Josiah Viera from Hegins, Penn., who suffers from an extremely rare genetic disease called progeria, which prematurely ages children at 10 times the rate of a healthy child. Josiah and his mother, Jennifer, visit the E:60 roundtable and discuss what he has been doing in this report which includes new footage of him playing baseball.
The show’s other segments: Children of Bhopal (children playing cricket on the still-toxic site of the worst industrial disaster in history); Jordan Burnham (former star high school pitcher and golfer survives nine-story fall in King of Prussia, Penn.); Survival (amputees, victims of a 14-year civil war, play soccer in Liberia); Chelsea Baker (13-year old girl dominates Plant City, Fla. Little League).
Signs of Trouble in Toronto
ESPN.com (posted now)
ESPN The Magazine (on newsstands Friday)
The Blue Jays deny they’re stealing signs — evidence may lead to another conclusion.
