Not by the Playbook

There's no business, like show business, like no business I know! Whether it be sport or art, books or movies, we're all looking to occasionally escape from our daily life and be entertained. So, sit back and enjoy as we introduce you to the stars of sport who have also made it onto the big and small screen.
Stranger Things has been one of the most popular television shows of the last decade. Although set in Indiana, most of the filming was done in Atlanta, Georgia. So, when Aimee Mullins turned up to set on the first day of filming, it represented something of a full circle moment. Aimee was playing the role of Terry, the biological mother of lead character Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown. Atlanta is a special place for Aimee. Born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs beneath the knee when she was young, she went on to represent the USA at the 1996 Paralympics Games in Atlanta. Now she was back there fulfilling her lifelong dream of acting.
The Oscar nominated Hollywood hit Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet, tells the story of a table tennis player and hustler. Chalamet says he spent roughly seven years training for the role, performing many of the fast-paced matches on screen himself. No CGI needed. To add to the authenticity many of the other players in the film were professionals, like Yasiris Ortez. Yasiris came to the USA from the Dominican Republic in 2018 and set up "Spin and Learn" a project that goes into schools in New York and provides kids with the opportunity to learn and play table tennis. As for the movie, Yasiris didn't really know what she was getting into when she turned up on the first day of filming!
Vicky Anstey whose life changed when she agreed to appear on a survival style television show - testing physical and mental stamina in the harshest conditions going. Since her TV appearance Vicky has become an adventurer and rowed across the Pacific Ocean. It's a far cry from the Vicky that had wandered through the first forty years of her life. That change is charted in her new book "Other People Are Like The Weather" and when we chatted, she started by explaining what her life was like before taking to the small screen.
In the 1990s, the biggest clubs in English football decided to form a new league. Spearheaded by the ‘big five’ of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, the top teams broke away from the Football League. The Premier League began in August 1992, having securing a $500 million TV deal. David Dein was the vice-chairman of Arsenal at the time and was one of the main drivers of the new league.
PHOTO: Timothée Chalamet attends the "Marty Supreme" New York Premiere (CREDIT: Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)

American Football is back and won't stop until the Super Bowl champions are crowned in Los Angeles on Valentines day. But maybe you are more of a baseball or BBall fan. Maybe it is the action on the ice that really does it for you. This week, one athlete from each of America's most popular sports details the amazing and inspiring stories of their lives on and off the field of play
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said: "Winners never quit and quitters never win". American Football is a tough physical sport played in all weathers, with nuances and strategy. Only a tiny percentage ever make it to the NFL. Shaquem Griffin did. He was a Linebacker for the Seattle Seahawk. When he made his debut in 2018 he made history, becoming the first known one-handed player in NFL history. Born with a condition that caused him great pain in his left hand, by the time he was four years old, he had attempted to cut off his own fingers with a knife. Eventually he had surgery to amputate his hand and never looked back. Shaquem's journey to the NFL was always going to be an extra ordinary struggle, but this is not just his story, it's the story of his twin brother and fellow NFL star Shaquil. Both attended UCF (University of Central Florida) and after many years of struggle Shaquem and Shaquil took to the field together, first at College and then in the NFL.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". So said ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky and it is that philosophy that propelled Zoe Boyd to become a professional ice hockey player for the PWHL Hamilton, an expansion team in the Professional Women's Hockley League. She has grown up in a sports mad family - encouraged to get involved with anything and everything. In 2005, aged just five years old, everything turned upside down. Zoe's mum Tammy was involved in a car accident that left her with brain damage that irrevocably changed both of their lives. Zoe is part of a new generation of players with the opportunity to make a career in Ice Hockey, a responsibility she takes very seriously. She hosts a podcast called No Straight Answers and wants to be a role model and show others what is now possible.
Michael Jordan said "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed". But you have to have the opportunity to play to get that chance. Not something that was afforded to Connie Hawkins. A once-in-a-generation basketball superstar, in the early '60s he was blackballed from the NBA for a crime he did not commit. His downfall? His association with Jack Molinas, an ex-NBA All-Star turned mob fixer. The story is the subject of a new podcast called Connie and Jack: A Rigged Game.
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” So said Babe Ruth and Tommy John certainly proved that. Back in 1974 baseball pitcher Tommy John suffered a serious elbow injury. His career was over, until he underwent a revolutionary surgery that was named after him. He became known as the Bionic Man. Tommy passed away just a few weeks ago, aged 83. A couple of years ago he told his story
(Photo: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on after the preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on 22 August, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Andrea Jaeger takes us the behind the scenes and reveals the secrets of her remarkable rise to stardom as one of the youngest players to make a Grand Slam final. How she beat Billy-Jean King, in what was the legends final grand slam match, and the conversation they had after! Andrea's star burned exceptionally bright, but it was a shooting star, retiring at the age of just 19. What the early end of her career allowed her to do was pursue what has become a lifetime's passion. Charitable work supporting children with cancer!
Joanne Schickerling is a racquet wizard. Born in South Africa it was her tennis ability that brought her to the USA. In 2023 she became a Racketlon World Champion, and if you don't know what that is, you are not alone!  All you need to know is that you have to be very very good at many sports played with a racquet. Joanne explained what's needed to win and also how Street Squash, the non-profit she is part of run is helping the children of Harlem not only discover the joy of squash, and provides a safe place to be.
Sport is by definition a cutthroat business, but is it "The Cruellest Game" there is? Well, that's the question author and tennis journalist Matt Futterman has set out to answer in his new book of the same name. Is there something specific about tennis that seems to demand more than any other sport - and why do so many players walk away from the sport?
Nearly thirty years ago Australian tennis player Pat Rafter was the surprise winner of the Men's US Open. Dismissed as a “fluke” victory by John McEnroe, Rafter returned to Flushing Meadows the following year and retained the title, becoming world number one in the process. He tells his story.
Photo: The US Open at Flushing Meadow Credit: Joel Hammer/BBC)

The 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln once said "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." So this week, with the Paralympics starting in LA in exactly two years time, we can't wait to talk about para sport bringing you some truly outstanding stories from those who hustled their way to the top.
Kathrin Marchand is an athlete who has done something no one else has ever achieved. She rowed for Germany at two Olympics, no mean achievement in its own right. She stepped out of the boat for the final time in 2016 and embarked on a career as a doctor, then aged just 30, and without warning, she suffered a stroke. Sport became part of her rehabilitation and she went on to join an exclusive group of athletes to compete at both the Summer Olympics and Paralympics when she rowed again in Paris. But that wasn't enough for Kathrin! When she took part in cross-country skiing at the Winter Para Games in Milan she became a true one-off!
Pioneering Matt Scott is a 5-time paralympian. He picked up two golds and a bronze as part of the USA's wheelchair basketball team. Having left the court for the final time he is now fully focused on his "Fly Without Limits" foundation. It provides opportunities and adapted wheelchairs for individuals living with physical disabilities who want to compete in sport.
In Spain para sport is now on the rise and it all starts at the grass roots. The Tambien Foundation was set up twenty-six years ago with the aim to provide opportunities for those with disabilities to take part in adaptive sport. And it's starting to show in the medals table! Skier Audrey Pascual Seco, who won two golds at the recent Winter Paralympics, first visited the Foundation when she was eleven years old. This year they launched an adaptive climbing program aiming for more medal success at the Summer Games. Para climbing is making its debut in LA.
The story of US Navy bomb disposal officer Brad Snyder who a year after being blinded by an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan won Paralympic gold in the swimming pool.
Photo: Kathrin Marchand of Team Germany competes during the Women's 10km Para Cross-Country Skiing Standing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games (CREDIT: Luke Hales/Getty Images for IPC)

The future of one of the most progressive Polo clubs is under threat. For over twenty years Catherine Cairns has run Polo Africa on her farm in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. Over the years she has not only enhanced the lives of hundreds of children in the local community by introducing them to the sport of polo, she's helped reshape the sport itself.
Often seen as a sport for royalty and rich people, Polo Africa has made the sport accessible and changed the lives of many of those who had the chance to play... but now the work Catherine has put in over the years is under threat as she looks for alternative revenue streams... So she has enlisted former British army officer and Polo player Mark Cann who amongst many things has produced a stunning visual documentary of the farm, the surroundings and the lives of those that have been improved.
Cricketer Ross Taylor who has achieved legendary status in New Zealand. His list of record and achievements is immense. A former captain of the national team, he played more than a record 450 times and is the only person in the world to have played more than 100 times in all three formats of cricket. The son of a New Zealand father and Samoan born mother, Ross grew up immersed in both cultures and wore the New Zealand cricket jersey with pride. Ross retired from the sport in 2022 but as it turned out his career in international cricket wasn't entirely over, when a chance to represent Samoa in 2025 he couldn't but help to answer the call! Now having finally retired, (we think!) Ross was looking for opportunities to use the platform that cricket gave him to influence the next generation. He explains why he wanted to join the "ALL IN" initiative a high-level panel pushing for the funding and political will to end violence against women and girls.
Imagine competing in the same sport as your brother but having to watch him compete at the Olympics, but you can't. Why? Well the sport of Nordic Combined remained the last discipline at the Games not open to women. Well that's what has happened to Annika Malacinski. Nordic Combined is a combination of ski jumping and long distance endurance skiing. Now 25, Annika has fought hard to establish herself as one of the world's leading female Nordic Combined competitors but from the very first Winter Games in 1924 right up to and including the last Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina a few months ago, women are not allowed to compete.
70 years ago at the 1956 Olympics, the Czechoslovak discus thrower, Olga Fikotova, caused a scandal by falling in love with an American hammer thrower called Harold Connolly. Despite winning her country's only gold medal, Olga was treated as a traitor by the communist government and her achievements were ignored. A few months later, Harold Connolly visited Prague to marry Olga and take her back to America with him.

PHOTO: One of the players benefiting from the Polo Africa project (CREDIT: https://www.poloafrica.com/ © 2026 Poloafrica Development Trust)