60 Minutes has done plenty of sports stories through the years. So doing a monthly sports show with 60 Minutes branding makes a lot of sense.
60 Minutes Sports is bringing out the heavy hitters for the debut on Showtime (tonight, 9 p.m. ET). Scott Pelley will have more bad news for Lance Armstrong; Bob Simon has a feature on Lionel Messi; and a report from Lara Logan on rock climbing.
I’m all for more sports journalism on TV.
Here’s the official rundown from Showtime:
The first edition of 60 MINUTES SPORTS will feature a rare interview with Lionel Messi, the record-breaking soccer player considered by many to be the best of all time. Bob Simon went to Spain to talk to Messi, an Argentine who plays for FC Barcelona, to interview the man who just broke the 40-yr.-old record for scoring the most goals in a calendar year. Messi is only 25 years old. The profile will be featured on the series premiere of 60 MINUTES SPORTS, a new magazine program from the makers of the iconic CBS News series 60 MINUTES, the originator of the television genre. The monthly, one-hour 60 MINUTES SPORTS premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME and represents the first time original 60 MINUTES content will air on premium television.
Messi was already being compared to soccer legends like Pele and Diego Maradona and last Sunday scored his 86th goal of 2012 to break the record set by Germany’s Gerd Muller in 1972. Messi tells Simon he’s hungry for goals and, given his appetite, more records should fall. “I always want more. Whether it’s a goal or winning in a game I am never satisfied… I always push my limits. And I always try to get better every day,” says Messi, who has years ahead of him in an already historic career.
Also on the 60 MINUTES SPORTS premiere will be a Scott Pelley report that looks inside the case against Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team that led to the stripping of the cyclist’s seven Tour de France wins.
A third story will feature Lara Logan’s update of her 60 MINUTES story on free solo climber Alex Honnold, who climbs rock walls using only his hands and feet.