Can't Win 4 Losing

"Showboating Fighters Get KTFO" — that's knocked the F out — is a popular, and delicious, YouTube genre. But even before the internet, Anthony "Hollywood" Hembrick practically invented the form. An undefeated light-heavyweight contender, Hembrick danced up a choreographed storm with his cornermen before getting KO'd in the first round of a fight on national TV. The former U.S. Olympic captain did eventually challenge for the world title twice, but he'll always be best remembered for that one humbling night. Originally published Dec. 9, 2017.

Diego Luke was a promising youth hockey player in Minnesota—"The State of Hockey"—until kidney disease forced him to step away from the game. His comeback was interrupted by a bout with cancer. Yet he returned to the ice again. Interviewing his mom and a teammate along the way, Luke recounts his traumatic journey back to hockey, which included a bench-clearing brawl in the hospital that brought the cops. "Every game I'm playing," he says now, "I'm winning." Plus: King Kaufman introduces a new song by his former band The Smokejumpers: "If My Heart Was an Elbow, I'd Need Tommy John." Originally published Dec. 2, 2017.

Weight cutting. It's hard. It's painful. It doesn't really give fighters a competitive advantage. And it can be deadly. Andrew Stelzer on some fighters' toughest battle, the one fans never see. Plus: King Kaufman on Billy Conn, "The Pittsburgh Kid," who gave Joe Louis all he wanted — and then gave him a little too much. Featuring the Bible Code Sundays. Originally published Nov. 25, 2017.

New York Giants fans—and almost no one else—remember Trey Junkin. He was a long-snapper in the NFL longer than anyone, ever. For 19 years he was an anonymous perfectionist working in the game's trenches. Until his very last snap. In the playoffs. As host King Kaufman reports, Junkin's been living with that bad snap for 15 years. He owns it. But there's more to him than that. Originally published Nov. 4, 2017.

Zippy Chippy ran 100 races and lost 100 times. But he was a star, one of People magazine's 50 Most Intriguing People. And so many fans bet on him that he routinely went off as the favorite. Now, in retirement, champion thoroughbreds who earned millions of dollars owe their lives to this ornery old cuss. King Kaufman reports from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Originally published Oct. 28, 2017.