i don't think i'll ever get that back. >> where should a parent draw the line. >> now that she's recovered, why take the risk she could end up in a dark place like that again? >> also tonight, harry smith on the unbreakable bond between a man and his horse forged in a terrible fire that could actually carry them both to the pinnacle of their sport. >> he's as unlikely an olympic contender you would imagine. a horse destined for the dog food factory and the man who rescued him from the slaughterhouse and later from a burning barn. >> he should be lying down dying. i knew he'd be all right. >> more than all right, he's in the running for this year's olympic equestrian team. you saved that horse's life, and now it seems to me that horse is saving your life. >> i think both of us love the idea of proving people wrong a little bit maybe. >> and 50 years after the beatles stormed onto the scene, we have discovered an nbc news documentary from back then that got one very big thing wrong. >> rock 'n roll music in the united states is dying. also tonight we meet a man with a singular approach to his daily commute to work. that and more as "rock center" gets under way. good evening, and welcome to "rock center." as you know the news has been full of concussion stories lately. many of them involving head injuries to nfl players, though in truth no one is ever fully surprised to learn that helmet-to-helmet contact between two men at high speed can result in a head injury. our first story is different, however. it's about girl's soccer, and after you see this you will realize parental responsibility for these athletes is not limited to driving to practice and games and being the snack family every few weeks. girl's sommer players are second only to football players in the number of reported concussions. there are reasons for it, and we are just learning a lot more about this. hear now what kate snow has found out about this purr substitute that everyone needs to remember is every bit a contact sport. >> good job, casey. way to go. >> in the suburbs just outside of philadelphia, girl's sock is way more than a game, it's an identity. >> everything was soccer, soccer, soccer. >> to just win and be with the girls. it's a lot of fun. >> when you're out there, it doesn't feel like a game. it feels like a way of life. >> and the girls' game looks more and more aggressive every year. just economic out youtube or go to your neighborhood field. the girls are tough, fierce, fearless. >> i love shoving people to the ground. >> you might hurt the other girl. you might injure yourself, but you have to go for it. >> there's a steep price to going all out for this generation of girl warrior athletes. we found a group of 14 and 15-year-olds in chester springs, pennsylvania, with a remarkable story to tell. how many of you have had a concussion? how many of you have had more than one concussion? how many have played through a concussion, you had a concussion and kept going? these girls have been playing together since they were about 8 years old, most on a team called the shock. how many of you have headaches right now? all of you? >> yeah. >> scale of 1 to 10? >> 6. >> 7. >> 6, 7. >> while most kids fully recover from concussions, some don't. three of the girls here, kimmy, jenna and allison, have had such bad brain injuries they were forced to give up the sport they love. >> i lost my identity. i lost my will for a game. i lost my social life. i don't think i'll ever get that back. >> kimmy's first concussion was more than two years ago when she was just 12. >> i took another head ball, and then i don't remember the next thing. i got -- apparently i got elbowed in the back of the head, but the coach asked me if i wanted to come out. i was like, no, i'm going to stick it through. >> in another game kimmy's teammate general teammate jenna made the same choice. >> i didn't want to quit and let me team down because so many had concussions on the team. >> when jenna and kimmy finally quit soccer, that didn't end their problems. neither girl has been able to consistently make it through a full day of school for almost two years because their symptoms are so bad. headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vision problems. as a result they have trouble concentrating and remembering things. >> okay. if at any point in time you feel dizzy or discomfort, let me know. >> their days were filled with xer stiz and activity. now it's therapy and doctors' visits. >> if you looked at me right now, do i look sick? does it look like i have a headache? it may not look like it, but i really do. i have a headache 24/7. >> what we have today is a concussion crisis in this country, but it's worse in young lady thansies than guys. >> dr. bob cantu is a neurosurgeon and leading concussion researcher who's worked extensively with the nfl. >> people who think of concussions as only being present mostly in guys and mostly in the sport of football are just plain wrong. soccer is right at the top of the list for the girls. >> studies show girls are reporting nearly twice as many concussions as boys in the sports they both play. >> girls as a group have far weaker necks. the same force delivered to a girl's head spins the head much more because of the weak neck than it does to the guys. >> and provocative new research suggests some body types may be more at risk than others. >> we believe that individuals with very long, thin necks may be at greater risk. >> this will make a lot of parents look at their daughters. >> i would hope it would make parents look at their daughters but make every parent have them on a neck strengthening program if they're playing the sport. >> we sat down with the girls. >> she hit her head on the ground and didn't move. >> allison kasacavage's parents karen and rex can't forget their daughter's first severe concussion a year ago. >> i fold my friend she wasn't moving. >> allison was a star player since she was six years old working up to one of the fop teams in the state of pennsylvania. after she recovered from that concussion, she went right back out. she played for a full season taking headers because she felt she had to. >> i didn't want to head the ball. >> we interviewed allison in her bedroom lit only by soft blue light, which reduces her nearly constant headaches. >> my coach said he would take me out of the gain if i didn't head the ball because if you didn't head the ball, you were like the weakest link. >> in her final season allison suffered yet another concussion from soccer followed by two more off the field because her balance was so impaired. now her parents control the light as much as they can at home. they eat dinner by candlelight. >> it's really hard to see it, and that's sad. allison was such a uphappy child. with the concussion, her whole world was upside-down. >> everyday life is a struggle. once a straight "a" student her grades have dropped dramatically. she can only go to school for a few hours and they don't know if she can live independently. >> it's like a break. it's visible, but it's almost like i need a sign on my back saying, my head is broken. i mean, you can say you understand, but it's like you don't. i'm sorry, you don't. >> it's why allison, kimmy and jenna spend a lot of time together now. >> my main friends are actually people that have head injuries. i've become so close with them because i can relate with them. they understand bha i'm going through. >> despite all they've been through, they've not telling their friends to quit soccer. >> i talked to some of you that have been through so much and you're out would be like, don't do it, but it's the opposite. you feel jealous and wish you could be them. >> i still cringe when i see them hit a ball with their head. i do that with anyone, though. >> speaking for all of us we would do anything to play one more game. >> to be like two of their friends, casey and hanna, both of whom have had concussions have been cleared by docktors to play in season. you saw what happened to your friends, so why take the risk? >> i actually think about that. i think about kimmy when i -- when i'm out on the field and when i head the ball. i think about her. so i'm, like why am i still playing? i just love it. there's no point in stopping. >> when we return, we'll follow that young woman as she goes back on the field despite the known risks and kate snow will ask her parents the question you may be asking yourself. >> where is the line where you cross over and say, it's not worth it anymore? it's just a game? >> i think that our family is standing on that line right now, and it's very scary. ♪ ♪ ♪ three, six, nine ♪ ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ ♪ pat it on your partner's hand ♪ ♪ right hand ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ ♪ cross it with your left arm ♪ ♪ pat your partner's left palm ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand pat your partner's right palm ♪ [ male announcer ] it's back. the volkswagen beetle. that's the power of german engineering. pull on those gardening gloves. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with certified advice to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. ...and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. brighten mom's big day with colorful hanging baskets and color bowls. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm going to use my two hands ♪ ♪ i'm going to move a mountain ♪ ♪ i woke up to a light bulb on ♪ ♪ every little thing is possible now ♪ [ female announcer ] at kraft we're stretching our cheese as far as it can go. so go ahead make something amazing. ♪ life is amazing with the love that i've found ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back, and we're going to get back into the story tonight about head injuries in girls' soccer. second only to football in the number of the reported concussions. as we've seen, these concussions can have terrible, long-lasting consequences, as kate snow now continues her report, she asks the parents of female players where they draw the line. >> for these soccer families in suburban philadelphia, every weekend is the same drill. how much of your social lives were built around soccer? >> almost all of it. all year-round. >> some places football is big. soccer is huge here. >> this is hard core. >> it is hard core. >> very. >> do you think you made soccer too important? >> i think that we were blind on to what was going on around us because, yes, it was about the team or about the winning. >> while they were out there winning, something disturbing was happening. one by heone year by year their daughters were all suffering concussions, an alarming number of them for one small group of friends. >> i've had three concussions. >> i've had two. >> i've had three. >> i think i've had like seven or eight. >> and the damage from those head injuries is not physical but psychological, too. how many of you have been on antidepressants? when hanna thomas couldn't play soccer for mom momnths after her concussion she lost hope. it's hard to hear. >> i didn't want to have to live. it was really hard. >> you didn't want to live? >> it was really hard. >> what does that mean, hannah? that you thought about taking your life? you make me cry. >> i just didn't know how i was going to like live through what i was going through. it was so much put on you to have to deal with socially and mentally. like everything just piled in, and it was like so hard to deal with. >> i see you crying, too, casey. >> yeah. >> why? >> because i just feel what she's going through. it's happened to me as well. >> you felt the same way? >> knowing that you can't really do anything, and it's just -- you can't even connect with your friends through text or call them because you can't look at your phone because it hurts so bad. >> the tough decision as a family is it's either risk the brain or be socially miserable with no identity. that's a tough choice. >> sports psychologist richard ginsberg says the growing enthusiasm for soccer from parents and coaches may actually be making matters worse. >> we get wrapped up. we want success for them, so sometimes we lose perspective. it doesn't make us terrible people. it just makes us human. >> over the years i got so involved with it, it really became something we shared. >> jim thomas started to coach his daughter, hannah's team when she was just five. he's excited she's recovered from her injuries and has just been cleared by a doctor to play again. >> it was like a whole new horizon we were having a chance to get back in and rejoin an activity that was such a big part of our lives prior to the concussion. >> interesting you use "we." that's both of you? zool absolutely. >> i'm a soccer mom and i have two kids that play soccer and i love it, but it's a game. >> it is a game. >> at some point you wonder whether you have to say to a kid, this is just a game. it's not worth your health. >> i've said that. i've asked her if she agrees with the statement. she says yes, it is just a game, but, dad i think i can do it. dad, i really want to do it. >> she said she got some depressed at one point she thought about taking her own life. so now that she's recovered, why take the risk that she could end up in a dark place like that again? >> i keep going back to the same answer, and it's just -- it's hard to imagine that she would get there again. i'm not -- no, i'm not overly concerned about that. but the thought doesn't escape me. >> of our group, casey biddle is the only other one still playing, but after two concussions she says she's avoiding headers. >> i use my chest more now. >> but you can't totally asteroid itavoid it? >> if it's a small kick, if you hit it right it won't hurt. if you hit it wrong, it kills. >> the number one symptom is just a blank stare. >> casey's parents mike and angie biddle remember her first concussion and admit they're tense watching her games now. >> you're watching her play, and you see a ball coming her way. we do take a little bit of a -- >> we do. >> a deep breath and hope she doesn't get hurt. >> the night before our big group interview, she played in a game and took a hit to the head. >> i got hit in the head again. that's hard, taking it. >> were you heading the ball? >> no. it just hit me. >> how are you feeling? >> i have a really bad headache right now. i don't know. >> she had told me na she hadthat she had a mild headache. she said if wasn't that bad. >> after telling her mom that, we filmed casey scoring two goals in back-to-back games but the next day her headache became unbearable. it turns out that hit four days earlier caused a concussion. you told your mom you had a little bit of a headache, but you didn't think it was related to the hit? >> yeah, i didn't think it was. >> did you think maybe it was, but you didn't want to square your mom? >> a little bit of both. >> also maybe not wanting to accept it yourself? >> yeah. i didn't want to be hurt again. >> i did have some suspicions and i wish i went more with my gut. i wanted it to trust the fact that she knew she was okay. >> best case scenario, i would take heading out of soccer under the ages ofaltogether? >> i'd take it out, yes. >> dr. bob cantu says eliminating heading would reduce the number of concussions in youth soccer. >> more than 50% of concussions are occurring in the act of heading the ball. what's happening is the young ladies collide heads as well as elbows, shoulders, so it's other body parts hitting the head as well as head to head in the act of heading. >> soccer purists are not going to like that. >> they're not going to like it at all, and they argue you need to teach the skills of the sport. >> soccer champion brandi chastain helped the u.s. women's team win the world cup. why not just ban headers? >> it's a part of the game, and it's an important part. i think it's a beautiful part of the game. >> she says girls need to be taught to create protective space around theirs bodies. she says heading isn't dangerous if it's done correctly. >> okay, good. arms are out. you hit it right in the middle of the sweet spot right above your eyebrows in the middle of your forehead like that. you almost don't feel it. >> casey says she knows where that sweet spot is, but with this latest concussion she didn't see the ball coming and now she's out of soccer for the rest of the season. >> where is where is the line where you cross over and say, it's not worth it anymore? it's just a game? >> i think that our family is standing on that line right now, and it's very scary from a parent looking at your daughter with a concussion. when you see the blank stare, and if it can happen again, we want our daughter back. >> now casey's parents say they're going to convince their daughter to give up soccer for good and switch to a noncontact sport like track. >> she is just my sunshine. she is -- she lights up the room when she walks in the room, and that's the light that you want to see every day. you don't want to see the blank stare. >> as for hannah thomas, she's getting ready to try out for another travel soccer team. >> i really want to play. like, it's not that i don't want to. it's just scary. >> you don't have to, right? nobody is forcing you? >> i want to, though. that's the problem. >> hannah, here's the ball. >> her dad says he'll be watching her closely. >> we're at the point where if we -- if she does have another head injury, soccer is over. >> that's it? >> that's it. >> so one more concussion. >> one more concussion and she's not going to play. >> she's out? >> kate snow here with us in the studio. we should point out we're all in this together. my daughter's former high school captain of the team, and this was every weekend of our lives and you'll be there this weekend. >> i have two kids playing soccer and my husband played through college and he's a coach. we're a huge soccer family. we're not down on soccer. none of the people are down on soccer. they're saying, let's be smart about it. if you see anything. you heard the girls say, brian, they don't necessarily tell you how they're feeling. they don't necessarily -- they lie to their coaches and parents. if something looks wrong, like my mother said my gut told me something was wrong, take the kid out of the game and wait it out. it's better to be safe than sorry. the other thing these girls did is played through concussions, which meant once you have one, if you get hit again, you can do remarkable damage, life-altering damage to yourself with subsequent concussions. >> by the way, how representative is this team? that shot where all the hands went up in the air? >> they have a larger con concentration of concussions, but they're reflective of the problems on teams across the country. if you went to girls teams all over the country, many have had concussions. >> if you suspect your daughter has had a concussion, what should parents -- >> there's signs. we put them all on the website. there's a great center for disease control page on "rock center" center"'s website. dizziness, the glassy-eyed look they talked about, disoriented, can't answer simple questions. things seem off. those are all signs. and definitely see a doctor if you have any question at all. >> kate, thanks. i hope parents are watching closely. by the way, during her reporting kate asked you saw soccer star brandi chastain to give a lesson in how players should protect themselves heading the ball. tonight for parents of soccer players we put that video of that drill on our website. our thanks to kate snow. later tonight, harry smith reports on a horse and rider trying to make the olympic team in london. they've already been through hell on earth. >> you get outside, then, and you get a chance to look at neville. what did he look like? >> you couldn't recognize the horse. you saw his eyes, and everything else is just black. we love the sun 'n water so we use new coppertone wet 'n clear. it sprays clear on wet skin while most sprays go on white 'n messy. we get broad spectrum protection when we splish 'n splash with new coppertone wet 'n clear. coppertone. embrace the sun. implts implts. you're watching "rock center" live tonight. in a moment we're going back to correct something one of us got wrong over 50 years ago, and you don't see that kind of thing very often. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ whistling: upbeat pop ] ♪ live it up, live it up ♪ [ announcer ] the leap list. get going on yours in the all-new cr-v. from honda. welcome back. as we've shown you on occasion the nbc news archives are an endless source of treasure for us. we have found something else. it's from 50 years ago. this was an nbc news magazine like this one among the first on the air. it aired once a week, and in fact it aired on wednesday nights. it was hosted by "nbc nightly news" co-anchor david brinkley who on the week in question chose to make a bold prediction that turned out to be spectacularly wrong. >> good evening. those who are inclined to peevishness and pessimism might feel better if they considered the following three facts. the salt vaccine is eliminating polio and someone invented a chemical that kills crabgrass and rock 'n roll music is dig. >> this was david brinkley's journal in november of 1961. kennedy was in the white house and brinkley was in a bad mood over what passed for popular culture. more on that. first, the commercials are aa sule of modern marketing a half century ago beginning with this gem for secret underarm anti-perspirant. >> it keeps underarms dry. >> it would be a relief. >> and another for denture cream. >> now there's a toothpaste especially for denture wearers. >> back to david brinkley on his fake desk made for tv. he doesn't attempt to hide his sooeting disdain for modern music. >> we saw rock 'n roll is dying on the authority of disk jockeys and other experts. exactly why, nobody else. nobody else knows where the 17-year locust goes away. >> in brinkley's defense rock 'n roll was on the ropes a bit right then. the first big wave of stars, elvis, jerry luluieu lee lewis, little richard and chuck barry were no longer the new thing. the davis show aired a young singer song writer bob dylan was in a studio in new york recording his first album, which would later change everything. ♪ i'm out here a thousand miles from my home ♪ >> right then all seemed lost to david brinkley, who we should point out was a big tommy dorsey fan and clearly the musicians of 1961 didn't come close. >> for about ten years we've seen rock 'n roll star after another, each more callow than the last at the microphone with a guitar he couldn't played learning a song that made no sense and which he couldn't sing if he did strumming and stopping and sings nonsense through his nose. >> the british invasion hadn't started yet in 1961. the beatles were playing in a bar many liverpool with a different drummer named pete best. that week it was elvis presley's "blue hawaii" and the number one song was about a coal miner. buddy holly, the big bopper and richie valanz were kimmed in a plane crash and maybe that contributed to the dark view of rock 'n roll music which he considered not just bad but a danger to society and the american way. >> lots of people are critical of rock 'n roll for a long time, but if i may say so i think for the wrong reason. because they thought it was bad music. actually, it is worse than that, as here used it is a cynical, commercial, exploitation of the emotions of children. again, it is dying out here, but still loudly alive in europe. >> what brinkley couldn't control was this, rock 'n roll music had a strange hold on people. in this case women and this one woman in particular just cannot control herself in the presence of billy fury, a british rock 'n roller who borrowed heavily from elvis in the pelvic and hair department. but he was about to be eclipsed with the band playing in that bar in liverpool. they arrived in new york city two years after brinkley declared the death of rock 'n roll and nothing was ever the same. so respectfully if david brinkley had been paying any attention, the answer was right there in the danny and the junior song from 1958, rock 'n roll is here to stay. after a break, when we come back, the unbreakable bond between a rider and his horse carried them through the very worst time of their lives. could it carry them to the olympic games in london? [ man ] gillette wanted to see how far one proglide cartridge could go. so they sent me around the world to find out. i learned a few things along the way. first impressions do matter. fear is your enemy... and your friend. laughter needs no translation. never say no to a gift. one world. 5 weeks. the only thing that didn't change was my razor. [ male announcer ] up to 5 weeks of comfortable shaves with one proglide cartridge. great things start with gillette. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back. animal lovers out there know every animal has a unique personality, and if you've ever loved a horse you know it can be an intense relationship. the horse you're about to meet is a larger than life character like the man that rides him. they have been bonded together in life in a way they hope will now carry them all the way to the summer olympic games in london. harry smith has our report tonight on an intense display of horsepower. >> this is the u.s. equestrian federation's horse of the year. a horse that has cheated death not once, but twice. his name, neville bardos. he was a washout as a racehorse, so much of it all ran that when neville was three it looked like he was destined for slaughterhouse until trainer boyd martin, an australian turned american rescued him. >> i remember seeing a chestnut horse. a friend of mine was actually looking to buy for herself, gordon. gordon didn't think the horse was any good and he couldn't jump. i remember looking at the arena wall, and i said, i'll buy him. that sort of is how i bought neville. >> purchased for less than $1,000, the bargain was a burden. the horse had an attitude, and not a particularly good one. >> if you were talking about the personality of this horse, how would you describe him? >> i'd probably compare him to a bouncer at a nightclub that was throwing out people for disorderly conduct. >> so he named beast neville bardos after a gangster "chopper." along with the attitude he has a bad habit. he nibbles on anything he can sink his teeth into. it's called wind sucking. >> this is how much of an attitude this horse is. once you take this off, you you'll notice that this horse's instinct is to -- to nibble on the door. >> to nibble on the door. it's definite not the type of behavior associated with a champion. >> for a long period of time i thought i might have bought a lemon. i was stuck with him, basically. >> in time his nevislle's nervous habit would be a blessing in disguise. if neville wouldcould talk, how would he describe you? >> a bit wild and out of control as a young man growing up, and somehow learned to channel that excitement into something positive. >> australian by birth and now american by choice, the 32-year-old is currently one of the top ranked u.s. riders. but then boyd himself is a bit of a thoroughbred. his mother was an american speed skater, his father a cross country skier for australia. they met at the 1968 winter olympics. boyd was a bust at school, but he had a way with horses and a need to compete. do you both thrive on adversity? yeah, i think both of us love the idea of proving people wrong a little bit, maybe. >> through thousands of hours of training boyd transformed the failed racehorse into a supersfar in a sport called three day eventing. it's the equestrian equivalent in a triathlon and is considered to be the ultimate test of true horsemanship. it demands they perform three distinctly different disciplines. cross country, show jumping and vasage, that tests balance, precision and harmony. for neville it's like teaching a football play how to pirouette. >> unfortunately the dressage is where you try to tone it down and be quiet and relaxed and he finds that difficult. >> while neville is feisty and a bit of a hot head, he's touch as nails and outrageously athletic, gobbling up the cross country fences like he did carrots for breakfast. >> he has no quit in him, and i think that's something that separates him from the rest. >> these days neville's living the good life, pampered like a rock star. he has round of clock care and his own personal assistants who waits on him hand and hoof tending his every need. he even has hi ownss own chiropractor. not shabby for a horse once destined to be become dog food. since moving to the u.s. they have taken the equestrian world by storm, winning a 2009 u.s. nationals championships and finishing 10th at the world equestrian games, the top ranked american payor that year. after midnight last memorial day a fire broke out in boyd's barn in pennsylvania. >> i remember driving out there, and there was this massive, yellow glow in the sky. and i remember that exact moment i thought to myself, you know, this is real bad, and my life's about to change. >> the blaze had been burning for more than 30 minutes by the time boyd arrived at the scene. seven of his horses including neville were still trapped inside. >> you could see down the aisleway of the barn, and i remember the first sight i could see was a horse dead. >> the next thing boyd remembers was fighting his way past the firemen as he raced into the flames and smoke. >> i found a stable door, and i remember hearing a noise in there. it was like a gurgling noise. i think i had my shirt over my head, and i remember running in there and then i could feel like a horse carrying up in the corner. and i put my hands on the horse, and then i felt this collar, this wind sucking color. >> remember neville's vice? that night it became his virtue. boyd was able to drag the horse out of the stable by his wind sucking collar just moments before the roof collapsed. >> you get outside then and get a chance to look at neville. what did he look like? >> you couldn't recognize the horse. you could just see his eyes, and everything else was black. >> only five of his horses made it out alive. the survivors were rushed to a nearby hospital. incredibly the burns to his flesh were minimal, but he had been in the fire for a better part of an hour. he suffered severe smoke inhalation and was in critical condition. did people think the horse would make it? >> the vets told me he was going to struggle for his life. she said we had to take a second blood test because the blood results showed that he should be lying down dying. and the horse is wind sucking in the stall. >> and chewing on the -- >> eating hay. i laughed. i knew he'd be all right. >> true to form neville the devil was once again defying the odds. released from the hospital a week after the fire he started daily treatments in a hypersbaric chamber. his conditions improved so rapidly his results seemed miraculous. >> the horse every day got fresher and stronger and more antsy, and that's when i started to talk to my coach and my veterinarian and i said, well, why don't you hop on him and start walking him. i did that, and the horse's ears pric k pricked up. >> a trot turned into a -- >> a cantor, yeah. >> it had always been a dream of boyd's to compete in england in the burley's horse trials. by the time neville was on the mend, only eight weeks remained to get the horse ready. yet, just as things got back on track, boyd suffered another serious blow. his father died suddenly, the result of injuries from a bicycling accident. >> i think if it wasn't for neville or something to focus on, i think i would have probably hit deep depression or spun out of control a little bit. it was something that made me get out of bed in the morning and work towards and think about and dream about. >> when you decided to take neville to burley in england, did some of your friends think you were crazy? >> yeah. i had a lot of experts tell me that it was a dumb idea and why would you do that? but what people dinltdn't understand is how much i knew this horse, and what i was feeling every day and what i was reading as the trainer. i knew before i got to burley that this horse was ready to go. >> and, boy, did he go. rocketing around the cross country course like a bat out of hell against the very best teams in the world, boyd and neville finished 7th, a remarkable performance just three months after the fire. >> it confirmed, you know, me as a person and neville as a horse can make it happen and can do it when everything is going against us. >> would it be too much to say you saved that horse's life, and now it seems to me that horse is saving your life? >> i think if it wasn't for neville, i often question where i'd be now. >> this story already has enough of a happy ending, but the two old mates have now set their sights on what would be the ride of their lives, competing at the olympics this summer. what will it take for you and neville to be together at the olympics in london? >> all i can do is try my very hardest, and all neville can do is try his very hardest. if it's meant to be, i think it's going to happen. >> harry smith here with us in the studio who informs me the movie rights have indeed been sold to this story. >> because we were there, that was one of the issues, we needed to make sure to clear it with those folks to tell the story. >> i'm cautioned because your last profile, roulan gardner, would he wrestle in the olympics, what are the chances for in duo in london? >> the short list is in june and the final list is in july. boyd is one of the best riders and neville is one of the best horses. if you put money down, it would probe be a good bet. >> this is not an inexpensive pursuit. they have a tricked-out horse and rider. where is all the money coming from? >> some of neezthese horses that participant in the three-day event go for half a million dollars or more. this horse cost less than a thousand. a syndicate came together and said to boyd we'll help you out. we'll take the financial burden off your hands. ten members of the syndicate -- just like a racehorse, the horse is a gelding. there's no payoff the at the end for this thing. they're doing it for the love of the sport. >> all right, for the love of the sport. harry, thanks. that was a great, great story. beautifully shot. when we come back tonight, when we first saw the man you're going to meet this evening, we had to find out more about him. we're glad we did. ♪ ♪ ♪ i woke up to a new day ♪ ♪ every little thing gonna go my way ♪ ♪ i woke up to a light bulb on ♪ ♪ every little thing is possible now ♪ [ female announcer ] kraft singles have no artificial flavors and they're always made with milk so all you taste is something amazing. ♪ life is amazing with the love that i found ♪ ♪ ♪ does your phone give you all day battery life ? droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does. with verizon, america's largest 4glte network and motorola whatever you want to do... droid does. some places i go really aggravate my allergies. so i get claritin clear. ♪ i can see clearly now the rain is gone ♪ look! see that? this is all bayberry and bayberry pollen is very allergenic. non-drowsy claritin relieves my worst symptoms for 24 hours... you guys doing good? ... including itchy eyes runny nose, and sneezing. and only claritin is proven to keep me as alert and focused as someone without allergies. ♪ it's gonna be bright bright sunshiny day ♪ live claritin clear with non-drowsy claritin. welcome back. our final story tonight begins one mo recently whether a staff member of ours was headed to work and saw something you don't see a lot, a unicycle changed to a street sign which is even in new york city an unusual sight. we set out to find him, and we asked him to tell us his story. as you listen think about your own worst commute to work. >> this is my daily commute. i'm riding in central park. that's one of the highlights of day. my name is benjamin kiefer. i'm 30 years old and live in new york city and i work for an investment bank. you have to be careful when you cross lanes. every day i ride my unicycle to work. it usually takes about ten minutes. i started rideing in 1990 in france. instead of soccer practice i signed up for cycle school, which is not very common. that's how i learned to ride a uni cycle and acrobattics and juggles. i kept on riding because it's difficulty to practice a trapeze in new york. when i moved to new york, i look for different commuting option. one is the subway and the taxi but it costs a lot of money every day. i guess it's pretty boring, so i had to settle for a unicycle. i have to be pretty careful and try to stay on the right side. my commute on my unicycle the part of the day i enjoy most. one must as a growing commuter, i guess i'm pretty lucky. it's pretty fun to have your moments of fame every morning. sometimes during my commute i go through the park to go out to have some french mackaroons to bring back to my american colleagues at work. you can't beat them for breakfast. i ride every day except when it's icy. you don't know to know what happens when you ride a unicycle on the ice. then it's to the left on 52nd. there's my office. i have to find a space to spot. here we go. >> we're figuring he must know they make a two-wheel version of that and there are helmets available as well. with our thanks having said that to benjamin kiefer, your ordinary new york city unicycle daredevil on his daily commute. that is our praud castbroadcast forthis evening. we're preempted for the next couple of weeks during this brief time, and, of course, i hope you continue to join me tomorrow night and every weekni