News Information and Media Site: Sports: What to read and watch

September 18, 2021

What to Read This Weekend

Like many aspects of Muhammad Ali's life, this photo of him defeating Sonny Liston in 1965 transcended boxing. A new documentary assesses Ali's impact inside the ring and out.John Rooney/Associated Press

There has been no shortage of documentaries or biographies about Muhammad Ali in the last few decades, Finn Cohen writes.

But it took filmmaker David McMahon only a few archival clips to convince his team of the potential power of a wide-ranging Ali documentary. Sarah Burns, another filmmaker on the project, said that the more they dug into Ali's life, the more they realized "just how much there was to this story."

"Not just the boxing, obviously," Burns said, "but his relationships with Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, his family life, his marriages, his draft resistance and his courage and being willing to go to jail for his convictions, and also his battle with Parkinson's — you know, his later life, his post-boxing life."

The result is "Muhammad Ali," a new four-part documentary series premiering on Sept. 19 on PBS.

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What to Watch This Weekend

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will look for a different outcome against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who have beaten Baltimore in their last three meetings.Gail Burton/Associated Press

All times are Eastern.

Football

Only three N.F.L. games this week match teams that are both 1-0. The selection this week is Saints-Panthers. Emmanuel Morgan writes in The Times: "Jameis Winston began his tenure as New Orleans' full-time starting quarterback with a win in part because of a smothering effort from the Saints' defense against a Packers team that seemed to forget that the preseason had ended. Continuity could be an issue for Winston this week as eight members of the Saints — mostly offensive coaches — tested positive for the coronavirus." (Sunday, 1 p.m., Fox).

In college play, No. 1 Alabama, coming off a rout of Mercer, gets a test: a visit to No. 11 Florida. Alabama is more than a two-touchdown favorite (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., CBS).

Basketball

It's the end of the W.N.B.A. regular season and a chance to see two playoff teams in action as Las Vegas takes on Phoenix. It's also a chance to see A'ja Wilson of the Aces and Skylar Diggins-Smith and Brittney Griner of the Mercury (Sunday, 3 p.m., ABC).

Soccer

P.S.G. was always pretty entertaining, with Neymar and Kylian Mbappé in the mix week after week. Then the team went ahead and signed Lionel Messi. This week's victim for P.S.G. (5-0, unsurprisingly) is Lyon (Sunday, 2:45 p.m., BeIN).

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