With the current shortage in live-action, SuperSport has converted its channels to themed content focusing on the best historical moments – offering viewers the chance to ‘ReLive’ some of the greatest sportings action of all time – as well as fascinating documentaries and a film festival featuring the greatest sports movies of all time.
SuperSport 1 is the feature channel in this regard to all three of these aspects and DStv subscribers should settle in for some amazing viewing on the channel from 11 to 14 May 2020.
Monday 11 May’s ‘ReLive’ highlights area headlined by some epic tennis action from the Australian Open in recent years (11:10 to 02:10 WAT), starting with the 2012 Men’s Singles final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, which is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, before a FIFA World Cup Classic from 2010 (02:10), with Germany romping to a 4-1 win over old rivals England in Bloemfontein.
This match featured a hugely controversial moment when England’s Frank Lampard had a legitimate goal disallowed by the officials. “It was one of the most important things in the game,” said England manager of the time, Fabio Capello. “The goal was very important. We could have played a different style.”
Monday’s documentary offerings open with ‘43.03 The Wayde van Niekerk Story’ (04:00) which takes a closer look at the South African sprint king and Olympic champion, and is followed by ‘Undaunted Dovizioso’ (05:00) – a behind-the-scenes look at the Italian’s brave efforts to try and win the 2019 MotoGP championship.
SuperSport 1’s feature film festival continues on Monday night with ‘Blue Crush’ (07:30), a surfing movie in which Anne Marie (played by Kate Bosworth) puts her hopes and dreams on the line in a big-wave surfing contest while trying to balance being a bread-winner and a budding new romance. “The surfing sequences are exhilarating,” wrote film review website Rotten Tomatoes of ‘Blue Crush’.
Tuesday 12 May’s ‘ReLive’ offering is the Men’s Football final from the 2016 Olympic Games (01:00) where Brazil defeated Germany on penalties to claim the Gold medals, as well as the 2012 Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix (02:00) – an incredible race in which saw Jenson Button claim victory, while Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion.
“I think everything that could go wrong went wrong. As a matter of fact, though, I think we always kept believing,” said Vettel post-race. “I think they tried everything to make it even harder for us, not just the others but also the circumstances: as I said, with the damage on the car, losing radio, in these conditions when communication is so crucial, stopping just a lap too early, not having the tyres ready because communication wasn’t there. Where do you start, really? I think you guys had your show and we had to really fight until the end.”
Tuesday’s documentary offering are headlined by an ESPN 30 for 30 special, ‘Deion’s Double Play’ (04:00) which tells the story of how Deion Sanders played an NFL game for the Atlanta Falcons in between two MLB games for the Atlanta Braves in a 24-hour window, as well as ‘SEC Storied: Lolo’ (05:10) which explores the trying journey of Olympic athlete Lolo Jones thus far: rising from poverty and homelessness to be catapulted into world stardom, including a spot on the USA Olympic Track and Field team and celebrity status.
The feature sports film for Tuesday 12 May is ‘Mr. Baseball’ (07:30), a 1992 comedy which depicts a tumultuous season in the career of veteran New York Yankees first baseman Jack Elliot (played by Tom Selleck), who is traded to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League during Spring Training, and forced to contend with overwhelming expectations and cultural differences during the Dragons’ run at the pennant.
“The character of Jack, whose being sent to Japan is the impetus for ‘Mr. Baseball’, provides Mr Selleck with something unusual: a movie role that actually suits his talents. Mr Selleck’s easygoing, self-deprecating manner works particularly well when he lets himself look silly, as he often does here,” wrote the New York Times in their review of the film.
Wednesday 13 May’s ‘ReLive’ focuses in on African stars and their quest to win glory at the Olympic Games (11:05 to 01:00), including closer looks at Maria Mutola, Zola Budd, Caster Semenya and Vivian Cheruiyoy to name but a few, before viewers have the chance to relive on the great upsets from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as hosts Russia put mighty Spain out of the tournament (01:15).
SuperSport 1 then switches focus to documentaries, including the chance to see Lewis Hamilton drive Juan Manuel Fangio’s Mercedes W196 car (04:05) which won the Formula 1 world championships in 1954 and 1955, and closes out with ‘Soccer Stories: Hillsborough’ (05:40), an ESPN and BBC co-production which chronicles the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, the investigations, and their lingering effects.
“I have been in several crushes myself and a lot of the dead were my age, so I knew that could have been me,” said Director Daniel Gordon. “Even as recently as 2008, a lot of people still wanted it brushed under the rug but I knew there was an untold story.”
Wednesday’s sports film is chapter 1 of ‘Arnie’ (07:30), a three-part testimonial to golf legend Arnold Palmer. This episode, entitled ‘Relationships (Arnie and his Army)’, introduces the viewer to Palmer (played by Tom Selleck) and reveals the details of his life and relationships in and around the sport.
Thursday 14 May’s ‘ReLive’ is opened by the 2013 UEFA Champions League final between German sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (12:30) and is followed by highlights from the weekend’s UFC action (02:30 to 19:30) – one of the earliest sports to resume its schedule in the wake of recent world events.
Thursday’s documentary offering is ‘Camps to Champs’ (06:30), which follows Olympic athletes as they meet displaced people living in Jordan, Kenya, Greece, and Colombia and explores how sport is changing their lives for the better, before the sports film ‘Mystery, Alaska’ (07:30).
This 1999 comedy-drama, starring Russell Crowe and Hank Azaria, is about an amateur ice hockey team, from the fictional small-town of Mystery, that plays an exhibition game against the National Hockey League (NHL)’s New York Rangers.
Now is your chance to tell us what you want to see on SuperSport 1. Every weekday, from 1 pm to 5 pm, we will be reliving the greatest sporting moments of our time, as chosen by you, our viewers.
Using the hashtag #SSRELIVE on social media platforms, you decide what to watch! See your name up in lights, have your say and relive the sport you want to watch. Relive your favourite moments every weekday on SuperSport1 with Viewers’ Choice.
Sign up now! SuperSport remains your best choice for all the top action from around the world and will be the first and best source of entertainment for when sporting codes return to fields, tracks and rings around the world. For more information on your Channel of Champions and the best ways to subscribe, visit www.dstv.com. And while you’re on the move, you can stream the action on DStv Now.
