a 30 for 30 thread

WE WELCOME OUR NEW ESPN OVERLORDS

anyway, i'm watching the USFL one and it's really awesome! so i'm starting a thread even tho i know all of them don't deal with football, but well post & read this regularly so what the hey

it's awesome to see all these guys like jim kelly & steven young & charlie steiner getting to shit on donald trump. i wish that they wouldn't dance around the fact that trump has made TONS of awful business decisions since then.

another ~weird~ part of this is seeing these old ass dudes back inna the day, like, steve young was smashable! what??

anyway, 30 for 30. dope.

lmao i really didn't mean to type "steven young"

"STEVEN BIRMINGHAM YOUNG IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN HERE FOR DINNER RIGHT THIS INSTANCE I SWEAR I'M THROWING THAT PONG MACHINE IN THE TRASH"

haha @ safari autosuggeting "birmingham" - i'm gonna cut off my fingers & pour water all over my keyboard

peace bros

can i just say that i FUCKN love jim kelly

it's in my childhood & my roots but i would still kick it w him & his awesome accent

jim kelly is the absolute best. "i mean i never threw for that many yards again but who does"

this is actually making me want to murder donald trump.

seriously the guys is rich and all but he has SO MANY bankrupt buildings & general shitstormery in his past - kinda wish they wouldn't let it slide

what a d bag

i mean yes he inherited a ton of money and then pissed it away because he's dumber than a fucking headless chicken. he's making burt reynolds look like a reasonable, charming man.

can you imagine if football was still on in the spring? i would watch the shit out of this, even if it was modern doug flutie playing with modern hershall walker!

There's some chatter about this in the week 7 thread too, but my favorite part (besides hate-generated deathrays through Trump's testicles) was Steve Young's fumble...

crowd: "40 Million Down-the-drain!"
Young's mom: "It's an annuity!"

missing u usfl >:(

god the dude choking up at the end :(

would like... kevin kolb be tearing up the modern day USFL? this sounds pretty dope imo

yeah that ending montage - it was like everyone talking about their last year of college

the one about the baltimore band is pretty heart-ripping too if you missed that one. so dedicated!

xpost the usfl should've succeeded by all purposes and it's upsetting that we had that ripped from us like a lindbergh baby quite frankly! i mean a league w kelly, young, walker, white, flutie...!! all playing top of their game!

i mean unrelated to all this usfl jibber jabber, the gretzky > la one made me so nostalgic - i had the SI cover on my wall (which doesnt make a lotta sense but i was 9 yrs old & a hueg oilers fan on the east coast and it was pre media saturation age) i feel like they really downplayed that edmonton still won the fuckin cup 2 yrs later idk i just enjoyed it a lot and would like to go golfing w/ wayne and peter berg, basically

I haven't seen the documentary, but I watched quite a few USFL games, especially their first season.

Beyond the guys that became legendary players like Young, Reggie White and Kelly, I got to give a shout out to Sam Mills as I doubt he would have gotten a shot in the NFL as a 5-9 linebacker without proving it in the USFL first to Jim Mora who then brought him into New Orleans. That guy is probably never going to get into the Hall of Fame, but Sam Mills is really one of the coolest players in my time following football.

guys i didn't see this ;_; will espn rerun it??

steve young would still be smashable imo were he not scary and insane

http://30for30.espn.com/film/small-potatoes-who-killed-the-usfl.html

thank you!!

god the dude choking up at the end :(

― everyone kills people (the schef (adam schefter ha ha)), Wednesday, October 21, 2009 10:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

this KILLED me. that guy ruled.

am halfway through it...I lol'd at that slow motion footage of rookie Steve Young flubbing that pass.

also, the first episode, the Peter Berg doc on Wayne Gretsky was really good too. I'm loving this series SO much.

Larry Holmes is my new favorite guy.

This one was mega-sad.

i can never watch these because of class, gonna try and catch a re-run at some point

Yeah, I feel bad for Holmes. Not too bad, because he seems genuinely content with his own life, but he really deserves more respect.

seriously the guys is rich and all but he has SO MANY bankrupt buildings & general shitstormery in his past - kinda wish they wouldn't let it slide

what a d bag

― u madoff (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:53 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i mean yes he inherited a ton of money and then pissed it away because he's dumber than a fucking headless chicken. he's making burt reynolds look like a reasonable, charming man.

can you imagine if football was still on in the spring? i would watch the shit out of this, even if it was modern doug flutie playing with modern hershall walker!

― everyone kills people (the schef (adam schefter ha ha)), Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:56 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

loving u guys for this - its like some sort of media secret that trump inherited all his money and is not close to being a billionaire or whatever bullshit he claims - it should lead every story sbt him DONALD TRUMP, WHO INHERITED ALL HIS MONEY AND IS A SHITTY BUSINESSMAN NOT WORTH NEARLY WHAT HE CLAIMS, SAID...

Without Bias sure to be equally frustrating and sad.

yea, candidness of brian tribble is welcome but ruff

Tribble just seems like that guy... the one who gets everyone around him into trouble.

i'm def watching this one tomorrow

i saw the usfl one and was reminded that my dad took me to a generals/federals game @ rfk once lol

just tivo whole seriesed this

I was not as blown away by the Len Bias one yesterday for most of it, since it seemed so hyperbolic in discussing how good a player he was, and how huge the impact of his death was--although I did like that they addressed that with the Wilbon talking head about how, even though older people and younger people don't really understand it, to people of a certain age (and probably of a certain region of the country), it was a giant world-stopping event. But yeah, I'm too young to remember it, so it was really hard not to be like, "Really? You're putting it with JFK and 9/11?"

But then that clip where they interviewed his father after Jay Bias was murdered, and his father used Len's name instead of Jay's, then caught himself and couldn't continue the interview...that was just devastating. It might be the image that sticks with me the most out of all of these docs so far.

I was 12 when Len Bias died and didn't even follow basketball, but I remember the news coverage of his death and all the controversy that followed crystal clear.

same here; there was a science times weekly tabloid that they gave out to all the kids that had a cover story on bias and the PLAGUE OF DRUGS

My husband doesn't follow basketball at all and he remembered Bias' death vividly. I hadn't heard of him, but I didn't follow sport til later in life (and grew up on the other side of the globe). But I found it pretty fascinating, and so sad. His mom, wow what a rock. And the footage of his actual playing was no joke. Great episode. It didn't overdo the message, because 'the message' is just so clear in Bias' story, it tells itself.

The Ali/Holmes episode was great too. Again, not having followed sports much til the last 10 years or so, and being quite young when a lot of this 80's stuff was happening, I'm learning so much from this series. Looking forward to the Jimmy The Greek episode next week.

i actually had no idea who jimmy the greek was until tonight--dude was before my time. but that was a sad fucken story.

I remember the statements that got him fired, but I wasn't watching The NFL Today yet at that age.

Phyllis George = hot.

are these available to watch online?

the other day the tv guide said that they were going to be playing the bias one but they let horse racing coverage bleed into it

i don't think they're online but they're repeating them a lot on 2 and classic

caught the last half of jimmy the greek one, probably the best one yet :(

I could've done without the Jimmy-as-narrator angle.

totally, that was weird

not a great decision but i'll let it slide

I was hoping this would be back tomorrow night, but it doesn't return until Sunday night 12/12. That's the bad news. The good news is that it returns with "The U."

I found Jimmy The Greek really interesting...I really didn't know much about that story at all. But as mentioned upthread, the Jimmy narration and weird 're-enactment/blurry Jimmy' scenes were way too much cheese. Reminded me of History Channel's penchant for re-enactments of everything. BLEUCH.

Favorite so far has been the Len Bias story. Damn that was sad.

oh man The U is gonna be sweet.

just saw the ad. will watch The U if there's that much miami bass music in it. sweet!

i cannot WAIT for the U tho i really wish it didn't premiere on the weekend.

the u was a good one

I didn't know it was going to be 2 hours. It was really good, though. I love that about 90% of the things you can't do in college ball now are because of Miami.

Bernie Kosar is lookin' rough these days.

Man, this one is really awesome.

I mean, if the plan was to get me to fall desperately in love with the Miami Hurricanes, mission accomplished.

Did you guys see Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) in the Texas/Miami victory celebrations? Totally forgot he played there.

and LOL at that line about running up the score: "It's football, it ain't badminton"

And yeah...definitely an awesome episode. It felt more like a complete 'documentary', compared to some of the others. It's unbelievable the amount of players that come out of there when you sit down and look at the list.

Did you guys see Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) in the Texas/Miami victory celebrations?

Yeah, I paused and rewound because I thought I'd seen him. I never knew he played there until now.

Miami used to be in the Big East and always kicked our asses with impunity. I remember a game in 2003 when Miami had both Clinton Portis and Frank Gore in the same backfield; the final score was something like 45 to 3. It was hard to love the Canes on that day, but in retrospect what a collection of talent. Those dudes invented the modern college game.

Portis was already in Denver in 2003.

It was pretty magical. I was an undergraduate at U.M. from 1986 -- 1990. The football team lost two, maybe three, games during the regular season in the four years I was there.

Sad I missed the documentary.

loved schnellenberger purposely leaving his pipe @ most-prized recruits houses

young jimmy johnson sounds & has a lot of the mannerisms of coach taylor in FNL

Watching that kind of makes me sad to see Jimmy trapped behind a desk at Fox on Sunday mornings. I don't know that he needs to go back into the NFL, but I'd love to have him take over another college team.

I don't think he has any interest in coaching anywhere, at any level.

He is an all-time great coach, but he's apparently v. happy in retirement.

Daniel, it's going to play two more times:

* The U by Billy Corben
* Sunday Dec 20
* 12am ESPN 2

* The U by Billy Corben
* Sunday Dec 27
* 1pm ESPN

Portis was already in Denver in 2003.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 13 December 2009 15:49 (6 hours ago)

Johnny's right, make that 2001. I think the Canes had Jeremy Shockey in 2001 too.

Thanks, Michael. I'm on it.

We're going to have a very good team next year, but I miss the days when we routinely stomped Top 10 teams into the dirt.

and LOL at that line about running up the score: "It's football, it ain't badminton"

― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, December 13, 2009 3:40 AM

yesss, also loved the stories about them fuckin w/ ~the boz~

the stories about them fuckin w/ ~the boz~

^^ fave bit of the whole thing!

dunno if anyone knows but did the UM baseball program become as good thru similar recruiting methods? or was it just cuz UM football made all other sports programs better, etc? or neither?

I don't follow baseball, but especially not college baseball. zzzzzzzzzz

i feel like sarge might know how long til hes back

oh did he get sb'd out? ffs.

I think the baseball team became good-to-great at an earlier stage than the football team. A stretch of Ponce de Leon Blvd. was renamed Ron Fraiser Way when I was an undergraduate (or shortly thereafter), giving you some idea of when the baseball team began winning and/or competing for championships. I never heard about discipline or recruiting problems involving the baseball team.

(Ponce de Leon Blvd. is the street that runs in front of the main U.M. campus).

that is sorta what i woulda guessed ~ just curious, thanks

man these shits are like nowhere in the internet

I KNOW

so i watched the u on lol regular tv last nite and ehh it had its moments but the promise to deliver a higher standard than yr typical outside the lines typa shit was largely unfulfilled

It was definitely not a well-crafted film, but the subject matter was awesome, and the soundtrack (which was like 90% 2 Live Crew) was great.

yeah it got pretty redundant tho u must admit - an occasional great anecdote surround by endless ol mamai dudes being all WE WERE BAAAAD then vague unedifying season summaries and some fairly delightful footage of end zone celebrations - i found the whole thing quite credulous - it desperately needed dissenting voices

must say uncle luke was the best of the talking heads by far

Yeah it was too long. But the farther along it got, the more likely I was to have watched the games in question, so that helped hold my interest.

There was a scene from a SDSU-Miami brawl that I definitely watched live, and that was thrilling.

shouldve interviewed opposing players - shouldve uncovered evidence that the whole university was funded by coke money etc etc

Yeah, I would have loved soundbites from humiliated coaches and players on other teams. Also, no Testaverde interview? He's finally not busy playing football anymore, so he should've made time for this.

also lol @ the complete incoherence of the erikson section - hes a players coach, no they hate and disrespect him, when they go all nuts under johnson its cause he allows it when they do it to erikson its cause hes losing them, its the decline of the program but o yeah they won two titles under him to johnson and schnellenbergers one each - i mean i know hes not as good an interview but try to make some semblance of sense

omglolwtf drunk ass kosar

shouldve uncovered evidence that the whole university was funded by coke money etc etc

Shh! FFS are there no secrets anymore?

btw for anyone who hasnt seen it this movie is amazing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_Cowboys

part 2 sux tho fyi

omglolwtf drunk ass kosar

Seriously!

btw for anyone who hasnt seen it this movie is amazing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_Cowboys

― ice cr?m, Monday, December 14, 2009 1:57 PM

Music by Jan Hammer

Cocaqine Cowboys is crazy fun. The first two minutes are some literal WTF-idness bad filmmaking but make it past that and it's pretty sweet

enjoying this reg miller episode

its basically a sports "i love the 90s" tho, idk if im learning much that i didnt already know but its still cool 2 recall

yeah it's def dope imo

can't wait for steal to come up

that was good! i agree not overly enlightening but it's fun to remember those weird no-jordan years.

I HATED that Knicks team. Pat Riley schemed to win with what he had, but that was the fuggliest team to watch play. I think it set basketball back ten years.

watchin dis now

<3 John Starks

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/19/1537030/the-u-sequel-on-um-rebirth.html

YESSSSSS

i'm geeked as hell about that but it's gonna be a letdown obv after the incomparable first entry

Yeah, tbh, the best thing about The U since 1992-ish is the players who have come out of the system and gone on to the NFL.

love that reggie miller doc so much

loyola doc was fantastic

damn, when was that one on

the iverson one was tremendous

this one on roto baseball is godawful

this is what i heard

the target audience is p. much someone who has no idea what fantasy baseball is & they do insane re-enactments w/ WACKY #s & GRAFIX flying around the screen nonstop

idk maybe that was y espn aired it on 4/20

true -- i don't get why they would do reenactments, like, at all

I watched the Gretzky one on ESPN UK, thought it was OK. Apparently the one we get next week is a Barry Levinson one about Baltimore. Is that any good?

i think i missed that one? idk i also missed the AI one

The Baltimore one is FANTASTIC. xp

another pretty great one -- always loved ricky, so glad i still get to root for him

looking fwd 2 watching that one, i loved the AI one btw, had honestly forgotten abt a lot of that history

I dvr'ed the Ricky one. Watching it in the morning.

both the ricky one & the AI one benefit greatly from the insertion & analysis of the director

Ricky one was great; dude comes off like a dick and a vvv bright guy and a man intrigued with himself and his world.

yea loved the ricky one. it's fairly nuts that those dudes he happens to bro down with while he was living in cali burn down like an oz per poker game

yeah that can't be healthy in any sense of the word

Just watched the Ricky Williams one.

I think it's odd that they left out the fact that my high school played his high school in the city championships and we won 13-0, holding him to 46 yards.

I guess there are some truths that are still too painful for him.

i didn't plan on watching all 2 hours of The U (for the third time) tonight BUT HERE WE ARE

tonight's ice cube directed one on the raiders/nwa/80s la is pretty good. it doesnt really go beyond "hey these things happened all at the same time" but it really is a crazy time that can hold up a doc. plus al davis is o_O in hd y'all

oh and bonus snoop dogg is hilarious

is this on at the same time as the cavs game

they show it again on espn2 @ 11 iirc

Pretty sure I saw Cube give a look of straight fear in one of cutaways. Davis is the scariest human lizard corpse I've ever seen.

^ha just coming here 2 say that

Oh hey, my cousin is one of the people who speaks in this episode.

The OJ one was fucking incredible.

yeah, really amazing. I couldn't watched five hours of that.

* could've

damn iPhone

Wow, "The Two Escobars"

I watched the World Cup game between Colombia and the US in '94, and it was kind of a big deal to me. The US team was staying in the hotel where my sister worked, so I met a bunch of those guys on that team. But meanwhile, in Colombia...

Just saw that one last night...blew my mind. So used to the meme of sports triumphing over struggle, and just seeing the way that played out...I can't stop thinking about it. I knew a little, but I never knew the full story of the team or Andres Escobar.

The OJ story was pretty incredible too.

This series...man, they should be getting a sackful of Emmys for some of these stories.

yeah "two escobars" was absolutely fantastic

zero emmy nominations

smh

wtf I hate the Emmys

MJ one was cool

really interesting in the wake of the lebron thing tho

yeah it was rad

i like how everyone was like "yeah he would've made the majors"

is this the one that just aired?

yeah

next week's looks great too, about the US team at the little league world series that beat some unbeatable taiwanese team

I really want to see it -- hopefully I'll catch it later this week

yeah i had no idea he showed that much improvement. actually if you look at his stats from that year the one encouraging sign is that he walked quite a bit for someone who had never played.

yeah i noticed that too

you could just tell from the video clips -- i mean, obv it was selective but towards the end he was really staying back on the ball whereas in the beginning he was almost falling on his face

Best ones so far for me have been the two escobars and run ricky run

top 5 (nb I'm canadian and havent seen them all)

1. two escobars
2. winning time
3. the u
4.. guru of go/ loyola
5. allen iverson

yeah, winning time was also completely priceless

two escobars was some real cinematic shit

i'm biased for 'the u' so i'm gonna exclude that -- my top 5

1 iverson
2 run ricky run
3 two escobars
4 winning time
5 len bias

its impossible to pick between 2 escobars and winning time - escobars was the most moving, but winning time was the most entertaining. the one i really want to find on torrents is the OJ/day in June movie.

yeah i never saw that one -- should be on dvd soon

OJDay was pretty great; I remember that day really clearly. I was waiting tables in a restaurant and people were slipping me cash to keep them updated on the chase from the bar in the next room.

as a vancouver canucks fan, i'm prob gonna have to skip past the ny rangers parade footage - watching mark messier's stupid face is just too painful

2 escobars is popping up in oct a couple times--check the schedule site

another good one tonight

your boy the ump had the eric gregg strike zone working in that last inning tho

last 30 mins are better than i thought they would be

not a huge fan of directors explicitly telling stories in docs tho

unless it's werner herzog

god "one night in vegas" looks soooo fucking good

I'm just glad his teammates didn't get all resentful and jealous. Or maybe they did at the time, and as adults realize they had no reason to.

Who the fuck spits at a 12 year old kid, though?

man, child athletics are worse than the real thing

it's interesting to me how all the teammates talk about the game like it's in the present, using baseball cliches and what not

this was really well done tho -- did a good job of making you ride the same roller coaster

he sounds like john kruk!

I kinda would have preferred like 45 minutes of the aftermath of the championship. I guess there wasn't nearly as much footage of all the ridiculous crap that happened to Cody Webster et al after they won, but that segment was just so sad and so fascinating. The prior 30 for 30s have spoiled me to the point where this and Jordan Rides the Bus both came off kind of like "Eh this was interesting but it could have been a little better than it was".

One Night in Vegas seems like it could go either way. I am afraid they will spend a ton of time being like "Tupac's death was a truly significant moment in American history because blah blah blah metaphor" instead of being more like June 17, 1994, and just letting the story and the footage do all the work.

one of the things i really like about these is that they're (with some exceptions) only an hour long so you can watch them every week w/o feeling like you're going to film class or something, but i'm sure that's prob a bit of problem for the directors

Watching the Jordan ep finally...stupid Surewest guide kept lying to me.

I was never a huge Jordan fan, or baseball fan or anything but fuck that dude was everywhere back then, scary godlike to so many people...but I forgot how cool it is just to watch him move. Even when his swing is way off, just the...I dunno, beauty in his motion, the way he was *in* the moment of the swing...you forget that it wasn't just hype. Well, I forgot.

Getting the Little League ep tonight too, excited. Can't wait for Vegas.

I was living in Alabama the whole time he was in Birmingham. My dad tried to get us tickets when the Barons came up to play the Stars in Huntsville, but there was no way in hell to get any. I'd already kind of cooled on baseball at that point, so I really didn't remember the whole "Jordan Plays Baseball" thing being such a joke, but I was also in a place where just about everyone wanted to see him be awesome...so maybe a lot of the national scorn never made it my direction.

Bob costas looked like an infant

this wuz the 1st one that struck me like some major studio biopic that rly ddnt need 2 b made

The Jordan one was kind of a missed opportunity, I think. The story is great, but I didn't like the doc very much.

jordan is such an impenetrable subject

Little League ep felt out of place...i think it ties the Jimmy the Greek ep for overtelling what could be a good story. The narration was so distracting & cliched it kind of ruined the story...and I wanted to know the whole team a little better, not just how they felt abt Cody. It's like I could see the doc it should have been, but it tried too hard to tug at heartstrings. Which is dumb because the story seems like it almost tells itself, and I liked the kids and the coach...the director just seemed to persist in pulling me out of the story by trying to drag me in. Lots of great footage of the kids and the games though.

couldve done w/out the comic book style & poetry slam stuff but thought this was decent, not great

maya angelou was great in it

i do really remember at the time not thinking pac would die

also cant believe the coda at the end that tyson fought holyfield TWO MONTHS LATER?

yeah, this was kinda wack.

This Martina/Chris Evert one is much more interesting than I thought it would be based on the commercial. I hadn't even turned 10 yet when they were at the top of their game, so they always seemed a little before my time. I'm learning a lot.

yea despite feeling like it was made by lifetime, it was p good...made me think how male rival/friends could nvr be that open probably

there is really zero redeemable content in the steinbrenner one

didnt even consider that one

I'm halfway through it and I'm kind of torn. Part of it feels like a promotional film made by the Yankees...but then on the other hand, I kind of liked seeing such a loving portrayal of a team that so many people flat out hate. I dunno. I don't think it's all bad, but it's definitely pretty low down in terms of favorites.

Oh, and I finally saw the Martina/Chris Evert one. Didn't like the 'chick flick' feel at all, but loved the conversations between the two of them. Forgot how much I admired them both as a kid (my family were all tennis freaks, so I was pretty much born on a tennis court)...great footage. But yeah, could have done without the driving down a country road/rugged up in cozy sweaters sipping coffee...looked like a Tampax commercial for the most part.

I thought the Steinbrenner one was good! I liked that they included criticism of the new stadium's pricing, the sight lines, brought up the issues that let to his disassociation with the team, brought up concerns about the younger Steinbrenners, frequently talked about how the team is both loved and hated, talked about how divisive and impulsive Steinbrenner could be ... while at the same time creating a portrait of what exactly the fans were losing in both the stadium and in George.

idk ive heard all that stuff a billion times. think some reporter from teh post or somewhere mentioned with the incredible access kopple had she really couldve/shouldve come up with some more original content & i could not agree more

it's not been very good lately? Like since the little league ep.

idk ive heard all that stuff a billion times. think some reporter from teh post or somewhere mentioned with the incredible access kopple had she really couldve/shouldve come up with some more original content & i could not agree more

Oh, I agree with that much. But I liked all the footage of the workers and fans and stuff. I got a little verklempt. :(

But yeah, it has not been so hot lately.

lol deadspin link

http://deadspin.com/5646013/bengals-turn-into-actual-tigers-after-satanic-pact-maul-steelers-yeah

This fucking series.

The Terry Fox story?...holy cow. I didn't know anything about him before this. Incredible story. And of course I cried like a baby.

Yeah, the Terry Fox episode was a definite return to form. I had also never heard of him, guess I'm a little young.

the red sox one struck me as something that should be packaged and sold on nesn, not really fitting w/ the rest of this series imo. course, that is only from the like ~7 minutes of it i could bear to watch

Halfway through it. Wish it came with an optional 'no soundtrack' option. It's chopped up all to hell too, but I like the players talking abt the game. I'm trying to watch around all the bells and whistles.

i "liked" it because it's a classic turn of events but it didn't really add much of anything -- it was pretty much a highlight video that could've been sold by mlb, oh yeah with added bill simmons. there was like a total one minute of player interview footage.

The Red Sox one was brutally boring to me, especially after just having watched that same series of events in the equally boring Baseball documentary.

looking forward to the fernandomania one.

the petro/divacs one was great; as good as this series has been.

the two escobars is screening in nyc! forget where..

cinema village, i think

I was talking to a dude at a party about how I loved The Two Escobars and it turned out that he edited it!

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la7i8qd07b1qe9rcro1_500.jpg

was looking at some stuff on espn.com about the jimmy the greek 30 for 30 and this is from the director's "personal statement"....anyway check the part in bold...have i COMPLETELY missed something in Bull Durham in the 30+ times I've seen that on cable???

Twenty-five years later I have the good fortune to look back and try to figure out the man, whom I first found so jarring and later came to feel a genuine affection for. More recently I have so many questions about “The Greek”—his rise to power as a commentator on that iconic pregame show and his swift fall from grace after his fateful remarks concerning African-American athletes. How was this odds maker and gambler able to make his profession seen so legitimate, almost the way Susan Sarandon made prostitution seem innocent in “Bull Durham?” How did he make his way to “The NFL Today show?” What was his appeal and how did the NFL feel about his presence on the show? But most importantly, how did he bring odds making and gambling out of the shadows to mainstream America?

Nah, she isn't a prostitute. She's a groupie.

lazy zing imo

the petro/divacs one was great; as good as this series has been.

― Brick Frog! (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, October 12, 2010 9:42 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^otm

i suppose waiting for the series to end is appropriate before polling, but man it's tough to pick three from this collection, much less one.
a healthy dose of filler, sure; still one of the best regular series on tv tho'.

I've only seen about 3/4ths of the eps, so I don't feel like I judge fairly. Especially since I missed a couple that people really seem to like (Petro/Divacs and The Two Escobars among them).

2 escobars is among the very best

No doubt.

Wow. That Vlade ep was so powerful. Definitely right up there with Two Escobars.

Vlade walking in Zagreb was intense. Like, you know it's come along way that he can do that at all, but...wow.

Ugh I sound like a teenager. Words failing me left and right.

obv. no guarantee that it's well done but I would urge you to leave any possible anti-NASCAR feelings you might have aside and watch the 30 for 30 on the racer Tim Richmond, it has a lot of potential, his saga is some serious crazy tragic stuff

totes

I read that it is poorly done so I dunno.

Drazen was so dope.

yea i might let this thread sound off on this nascar 1 b4 i consider watching

I'm interested. But I like Nascar so w/e

The Richmond episode was quite good.

just watched the drazen/vlade and tim richmond docs back to back. they were great but i'm feeling pretty low now.

richmond was kind of a douche? like in every video prior to his contracting HIV. and his sister seems like a class-a jackass.
dude was totally within his rights to keep his illness out of the public eye, but he could've saved a lot of lives and been a real hero if he'd have been a stronger man.

word he kinda struck me as what a real life kenny powers would prob be like at times

would watch 30 for 30 ep about rl kenny powers

then u will like the tim richmond one.
"he had a special chair.... let's just say it was ADJUSTABLE into "DIFFERENT POSITIONS"

O_O

Like the George Clooney, "Burn After Reading" chair?

Someone should really do a huge, sprawling documentary series on the history of NASCAR (at least up through the early 90s). You wouldn't believe how seedy that world was. Richmond doc didn't spend enough time on the nasty shit like how he knowingly passed AIDS onto a bunch of women, or how the NASCAR old guard conspired to kick him out of the sport.

well, they touch on the POSSIBILITY that he knowingly passed AIDS along
and it's worth noting that doc is produced by NASCAR and reads like a preemptive strike, right down to the muted louganis interviews.
just can't get over the hubris of the sister saying something like "these days if you have HIV it's like you're a HERO"

Yeah I think as mild as they made the Richmond doc, it's def an advertisement for awareness/activism. It doesn't go far enough, but it reminds you of how weirded out everyone was about AIDS, I was only little but I remember being terrified of it bc of commercials and news stories.

Made me think about the choice to educate & be an activist, like Lougainis or Magic, versus the road Richmond & others took, hiding and being ashamed. The people he was surrounded by, that sport especially, I understand he felt he had to, and you see what a huge leap of faith it would be for him to be open. Especially if maybe he didn't understand it himself. the way his sister talks about "the AIDS" I got the impression she didn't learn more than she needed to know about it during or after. There's that undercurrent of "why did it have to be that".

It just really gets to me how much shame a *disease* could bring to a person's life, you know? You think about how long did he wait to get tested, maybe he was afraid to, or feared it being public, but fuck... It kills me thinking of him just hiding with it, dying with it. I know there's been millions like him, fuck...it just really gets to me, no matter who it is.

Sorry for rambling

Would love to see a NASCAR documentary series btw.

Lol, "Ken Burns' NASCAR". If only.

Fernando Valenzuela one was excellent. I never knew the circumstances around which Dodgers Stadium was built, but that was a hell of a way to treat people.

I was pretty much guaranteed to like it, but the Fernando one was up in that group where I would have happily watched a three hour version.

A doc on old school NASCAR would be great. NO WAY would today's NASCAR be involved, I guarantee they would try to find a way to kill it behind the scenes. To its credit, the Richmond doc did take some shots at NASCAR.

Definitely. I think for a Nascar produced doc, it was a lot more in depth than I expected. Within the realms of what they were allowed to do, I think they did a good job.

The Fernando one was another that I wish had more visual style. The boilerplate ESPN production style bums me out.

Also, it didn't seem like they knew what to do with it after the excellent first half hour.

I find myself getting really annoyed by the "cue dramatic music" or "insert dramatization" stuff like in that Nascar one, or the RedSox one...it's like, hey guys, you HAVE a story. You don't have to create more of a story with all this extra crud.

I'm looking forward to the Steve Bartman one.

Marion Jones was kind of wtf. I didn't like that Singleton put himself in the doc...it felt like a 60 Minutes interview. Especially since it felt like she was controlling the direction story, not Singleton.

Agreed, that one is way down the list, possibly at the bottom. I thought they really missed a great opportunity with the Raiders in LA one, that kind of sucked. That is a good story that was poorly done.

really? i kinda liked the jones one. Sure it was part of her public rehab but didn't bother me. maybe cuz i always thought she was awesome and am happy she's back in the public eye.
i also agree with singleton's all-but-stated point that it's ridiculous that she served jail time

I didn't mind the Raiders one (wow shockah lol). Cube is a Raider kool-aid drinker all the way, so it was more like a, ahem, love letter than anything. It was a puff piece for the most part, but I thought it had some good stuff in it.

I think I liked the content of the Marion Jones...I mean I find her as a subject fascinating, and I like her story. I just expected something else, I guess.

I didn't mind the Raiders one (wow shockah lol). Cube is a Raider kool-aid drinker all the way, so it was more like a, ahem, love letter than anything. It was a puff piece for the most part, but I thought it had some good stuff in it.

― That is the stench of tyranny (VegemiteGrrrl), Thursday, November 4, 2010 1:55 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Makes sense. As a non-Raider fan, maybe I just wanted a little more depth, but I could see if I was a fan that i would enjoy it. I'd love to see one on the 70's Raiders and their relationship to Oakland. I just read that new book about them, I guess they were the one group that brought the Hell's Angels and the Black Panthers onto common ground. Now that would be a killer doc.

I absolutely agree. Something on the relationship between Oakland Raiders and Oakland the city would be awesome, especially in the context of the Panthers and the Angels as you mentioned.

I would like to see something about the relationship between teams and cities in general, along the lines of the Baltimore episode they did, but across the league. Like talking to original Rams fans, and how they felt when the team left, or what it was like for Browns fans to have their team leave and then come back in a different form...or for teams that have stayed, how the organization relates to the city, and how in the early days the teams sort of took on the identity of the city somehow. I dunno, it's something that's always interested me.

What was the book you read, Bill?

Right here:

http://www.amazon.com/Badasses-Legend-Maddens-Oakland-Raiders/dp/0061834300

The author is a total Raider kool-aid drinker, so there is no objectivity. Still, it's a fun read. That was certainly a different era! Some of the stuff they pulled (getting loaded every night during training camp is just one example) couldnt really happen today with such heavy competition for roster spots. Plus i think some of his interview subjects embellished their stories, but thaat's cool. I recommend it.

I'll check it out. That's my favorite Raider era, no contest.

Best part of it: the discussion of the Soul Patrol defensive backfield, more specifically the penchant of Skip "Dr. Death" Thomas to check himself into the hospital on a weekly basis for fun.

Nice! Haha

just discovering these through the (awesome) bill simmons podcast about them, do u guys listen to it?

gonna watch a bunch soon

the 1 tonight on marcus dupree (had nvr heard of this dude) looks good. then the next 1 to air is abt smu & the 'death penalty' which ive been ~anticipating~

aw, only two more of these.

how many are there in total, and what span of time does the entire project cover?

"30 programs for 30 years of ESPN coverage"

you're so huggable sometimes slocks

:D

only 2 left?

(cries)

can't they throw the premise out of the window and just do a story for every year starting in, say, 1930? there's a sportsperson for every year. I know it in my heart. This series needs to be ongoing. NEEDS. TO. BE.

yeah i agree. i wonder if the ratings reflect that.

Besides, this is for the public good!

This Marcus Dupree one is EXCELLENT. I never knew the story before, so I'm on the edge of my seat.

(Also, some of that game film, especially the grainy b&w stuff, is phenomenal! I've never seen someone break tackles like that.)

he looked like walter payton in that footage

just discovering these through the (awesome) bill simmons podcast about them, do u guys listen to it?

gonna watch a bunch soon

― irritable bol syndrome (s1ocki), Tuesday, November 9, 2010 10:52 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

Ya its a good 'cast, depends a lil on the guest and the topic.

I wish they re-ran more of these, or just had a 30 for 30 channel where they aired constantly. I watched a lot of the early ones, but missed quite a few more recently. Really need to see the Vlade and Two Escobars eps.

just watched the jimmy the greek one cuz i enjoyed the podcast ep

The Jimmy the Greek one is great!

Seems like a topic Cousin Sal would have a lot to say about~

i liked it alTHO i kinda wish i listened to the ep after

Jimmy the Greek was good, except for the chintzy dramatized bits. Its my #1 complaint: if you have a great story, you don't need "devices" to make it more interesting.

I loved the Gretzky one, but where I grew up that trade was a remember where you were when you heard the news event.

I wish they did more hockey ones.

This Marcus Dupree one has ended up being one of my favorites, at least of the football-related films.

Ones that weren't made by Peter Berg

my god the dupree one was so good, definitely in the top five
the whole thing was worth it for the moment where marcus watches his high school self with this mix of awe and sadness and wonder and confusion and it's all right there on his face.

xpost what's wrong with Berg?

Canada should do an all-hockey 30 for 30 series. Would watch.

Would also like a NASCAR 30 for 30 series, and some horseracing stories would be cool.

Kings Ransom was not that great but it was pretty good compared to some of the worst episodes. The footage from the era was terrific.

xpost what's wrong with Berg?

Canada should do an all-hockey 30 for 30 series. Would watch.

Would also like a NASCAR 30 for 30 series, and some horseracing stories would be cool.

― That is the stench of tyranny (VegemiteGrrrl), Tuesday, November 9, 2010 11:06 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

Eh nothing, he's made some good movies, just felt like he dropped the ball on that doc.

Would kill to see Ken Burns' NASCAR.

30 for 30 site doesn't list anything beyond the SMU one. Which is so sad!

Also I kinda want to see a meta 30 for 30 on what the hell happened to the Bartman doc, because it vanished.

think i read its still gonna air but in 2011 maybe?

According to Wikipedia there's 3 off the original list that are not yet confirmed:

Steve Bartman: Catching Hell
Charismatic- abt the horsey & the 1989 triple crown
Right to Play: johann olav koss, Olympic speed skater

Would love to see the Bartman doc

god yes, the bartman needs to happen

also smu

jesus god this marcus dupree 1 was a+++++

think i want 2 read the courting of marcus dupree book they showed

bartman still happening, they're keeping this going sorta like they did w/ sportscentury. some of these have been meh but i do like that they each have a distinct voice and that they pretty much cover undercovered sports stories (unlike hbo in both respects)(still love hbo docs but glad this is a different approach).

o man can't wait to see the charismatic one, such a great horse

Here's a local report on the Marcus Dupree doc: http://www.wtok.com/news/headlines/Philadelphia_Leaders_React_to_Marcus_Dupree_Documentary_on_ESPN_107093798.html

"I can't even put it in words. When they came to me about the film, I was all for it," exclaims Dupree.

And many residents and leaders in Philadelphia feel just as proud as Dupree does.

i took the courting of marcus dupree book out from my library -- i thought it was gonna be like a 80 pg expanded magazine article o something, its freaking 450 pages & just from leafing thru it, the writer doesnt meet marcus til page ~175

seventeen bucks on kindle what the fuck

Thomas (Washington, D.C.)
Whatever happened to the Cubs/Bartman 30 for 30? Will it ever air?

Bill Simmons
(3:19 PM)
We moved it out of the series because the director (Alex Gibney, who is brilliant) wanted more time with it. On the one hand, it was a shame because it would have been one of the 3 best docs of the series and possibly No. 1. On the other hand, the fact that he's spending MORE time on something that was already great has us really excited. PS: We're spinning off the "30 for 30" series next year into something that will probably be called "30 for 30 Presents" or something like that... we're going to be putting out 4-5 sports docs per year on the level of the best "30 for 30" docs and getting the best filmmakers to do them. Same creative team is involved. We have some terrific ideas in the hopper. So even though the SMU doc will be the 30th one (right after the Heisman ceremony) don't think the spirit of the series is going away.
Bill Simmons
(3:21 PM)
PS: the first fifteen 30 for 30s are being released in a box set on December 7th. http://www.amazon.com/ESPN-Films-Gift-S ... 1290543621

matt (Denver)
So when will the Bartman documentary be shown? Sometime next year?

Bill Simmons
(3:24 PM)
Next spring. It's outstanding. I can't say enough about it. For the record: it's about the concept of scapegoats in sports more than it's about Bartman.

More! Yay!!!!! <3

good stuff

is fitting as hell the SMU 1 is premiering after cam wins the heisman

lol otm

Finally saw the Marcus Dupree ep. Damn. Just...what all of those self-interested adults did with, or to, this amazing, talented kid...it just tells you so much. If he had just had one good person close enough to him to guide him right...damn. That Rev made me so hopping mad. Not just over the money but that Marcus genuinely trusted him as a friend & he used that trust for his own gain.

But what a cool guy Marcus grew up to be. Just humble & open & good. Glad he could see his story told on such a caring, respectful way. Fuckin top notch.

Sorry, tl:dr as always

naw, I agree in full. That reverend guy was a total asshole. Marcus might not have had as much trouble dealing with Switzer at OU if Mr. Rev hadn't been planting all kinds of shit in his mind.

Totally. It gives a lot more weight to the Reggie Bush & Cam Newton discussions, when you see what forces are at work on a kid that talented. And they're still kids, that's what bothers me about all the money & cars & houses that get bandied about. It's sort of evil to me.

And it made me think about other stuff too, like Ricky Wiliams breakdown, and Vince Young, or ...just that it's so easy for shit to get out of control when you blow up so big so quickly. Hard to say how to stop it, bc sometimes it just happens...but the tragedy in Dupree's story is it might have been avoidable, to some extent.

Looks like they're showing one of these every night in December on ESPN classic in the UK - http://www.espnclassic.com/gb/ecuk/espn-news-updates/espn-news/espn-films-presents-30-for-30

Gibney-Bartman sounds v promising

just saw eric dickerson & craig james talk abt the smu 1, gawd it's gonna be good -- dickerson seemed still defensive abt a trans am his grandmother bought him & they fwded a few good conspiracy angles on y the ncaa gave smu the death penalty

really does make me think they should finance like a 6 hr doc abt the history of the ncaa

would watch

who should play sherwood blount in the live action movie im going 2 write of this

I'm sure most schools were just as dirty as SMU in the 80s, but SMU seemed to have the highest concentration of complete boobs in positions of authority...thus, they're the ones who got caught.

But DAMN. They were low down.

this shit was awesome, also ending on OMG WE WON THE HAWAII BOWL was lol

college football was responsible for all the best 30 for 30s

luv that the ncaa investigator fainted after giving smu the death penalty

Wow. I'm still learning abt colllege sports, and just starting to get into college football: I didnt know anything about this story til now. Craziness! Boosters sure seem like shady dudes. Though tbh all I think of when I see "booster" is Buddy Garrity from Friday Night Lights. And it seems to hold up, lol!

OMG WE WON THE HAWAII BOWL was lol

^this paired w/ mythologizing, low-angle camera shots of JUNE JONES as savior had me dyin

Fab Five, anyone?

we talked a lot about it in the rolling bball thread

p much from here on down they reminisce over yao -- 2010/2011 regular season second half thread

yea this was v good, <3 jalen

Grant Hill is pretty great:

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/grant-hills-response-to-jalen-rose/?ref=sports

i understand the need for a response, but i thought the doc made it very clear that they were describing how they perceived duke and hill at the time--and yeah it was ugly and wrong, but jalen especially was upfront about how it came from his own resentment.

Yeah, I'd agree with that.

wow eloquent as hell

haha grant hill talking about how duke players totally aren't uncle toms and lists Tommy Amaker in his defense

That's a pretty serious thing to say. Why, because he coaches Harvard?

it wasnt a serious thing to say, it was a joke

grant hill thing is worth it for the kicker

Fab Five couldnt hold a candle to UNLV for early '90s baddassness.

my god the dupree one was so good, definitely in the top five
the whole thing was worth it for the moment where marcus watches his high school self with this mix of awe and sadness and wonder and confusion and it's all right there on his face.

― Zombie Chekhov's Significant Hacksaw (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, November 9, 2010 9:09 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

saw the Dupree one last night...jesus what a talent...yeah that part you mentioned was really heartbreaking but sweet at the same time.

the thing that really got me, that just showed how some of these kids have such a small worldview and are thrown into these high pressure situations..it's like when he finally decides to listen to his mom and friends and ask for something from oklahoma, all he can think to ask for with all that money being thrown around is a double wide trailer in mississippi

really looking forward to the long discussed bartman.
Fab five was good, but without webber felt incomplete. That dude is NEVER gonna talk on this, is he.

well in hindsight it looks like weber might have been smart to stay out of it!

i didn't know they were doing a bartman one! crazy.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/03/chicago-cubs-fan-steve-bartman-catching-hell-again-at-tribeca-festival/1

Cant wait to see the Bartman one.

I will stop what I'm doing and watch that Marcus Dupree one every time I see it's on. Just saw it the fourth time and it's still just as good as the first time I saw it.

yea i got caught up in it again for a while too

just watched the smu one for the first time. college football as a system is so fucked up and fascinating. it was briefly touched on in the documentary how the whole paying kids to play thing isn't partic clear-cut morally: the players come from poor families and college football generates tons of money. i don't really know anything about it, so i'm sure this is a total noob question, but what if they just starting paying the players legitimately? i guess it fucks with the whole college is supposed to be about education thing, but i doubt those players are getting great educations under the status quo.

there's litigation underway right now to do just that but the ncaa is a goliath
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-and-march-madness/ncaa-lawsuit/

thank you! do you guys have *thoughts* about this lawsuit or compensation for student athletes more generally?

all student athletes should be paid a flat fee across the board with a structured bonus schedule for personal and team achievements. doesn't have to be a ton of cash but players should absolutely receive compensation and better players should receive better compensation. It can be regulated by the NCAA and flat across the board so big colleges don't get a leg up. But that would harpoon colleges that are already paying their players and would screw up some legacies so

the new batch of docs

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. – Catching Hell (Alex Gibney/Gary Cohen) *120 minutes
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 8 p.m. – Renée (Eric Drath) *90 minutes
Tuesday, Oct. 11, 8 pm. – The Dotted Line (Morgan Spurlock/Jeremy Chilnick)
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 8 p.m. – Unguarded (Jonathan Hock/Philip Aromando)
Tuesday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. –The Real Rocky (Jeff Feuerzeig/Mike Tollin)
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m. – Charismatic (Steve Michaels/Jonathan Koch)
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m. – Roll Tide/War Eagle (Martin Khodabakhshian)

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/07/27/espn-films-announces-tv-schedule-for-new-documentaries/99047/

Catching Hell is the Bartman one, right?

o man is the charismatic one on the horse?

yes & yes

awesome awesome awesome
really looking forward to these.

Looking forward to all of them, but especially the last one for obvs reasons. SWEET HOME ALABAMMY!

:D

this bartman 1 kinda sucks

at least these aspie lawyers who wrote the "bartman report" (lol) probably really like baseball; gibney does not seem like an actual fan, not that it matters

u kinda need da bartman 2 talk 2 make this worthwhile imo

aw that's too bad tho i guess i don't feel bad about forgetting to dvr it.

i missed the first hour

buckner stuff was pretty unnecessary

the aspie attorneys should have been the whole show.

in retrospect, unless you're getting bartman or his family on camera, it's prob hard to do the story w/o it feeling a bit repetitive

altho the stuff w/ the security guard was interesting

I missed it, and i dont have DVR anymore cuz im in the process of moving to Atlanta. Im sure they'll replay it.

My brief thoughts on the Bartman doc:

Cubs fans are savages.

We have met the enemy, and he is us

Renee doc was pretty interesting. I didn't know much about that story.

It was really depressing. She seems to regret the sex change

I think it's more that she wishes it didn't have to happen. It was inevitable, but still fucked a lot of things up.

charismatic one was good. i wonder what poster dmr thought of it

This documentary on Scott Hall is pretty sad.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7124904

Anybody see the Wepner one? I liked it, but they really didnt need to connect it with "Rocky" so much. the story stands on its own. And the video of him and Ali on the Mike Douglas show and Ali telling Douglas that Wepner called him a n----r, is mindblowing.

some of the effects like when they insert spurting blood out of a still photograph is dumb but i guess you work w/ what you have

I thought Wepner was dead for some reason. But I think I got him mixed up with Jerry Quarry.

didnt realize the story is also gonna be a biopic, notably w/ a writing credit by jerry stahl

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1932720/

so can anyone who followed college bball in the mid 90s tell me if chris herren was actually a thing? i had never heard of this guy but he was def from the period when i was paying the least attention.

lol @ harvey updykes hat collection. i enjoy thinking abt how he reacted 2 their loss 2 lsu last wk

Having been a Bama fan my entire life, I was mildly irritated at some of the play calls. Updyke is the type of fan who was probably calling for Saban's head (those people were out there!).

I realize that doc had an objective, and it was to play up the die hard nutso fan aspect, but there are many more reasonable, agreeable fans of both teams all over the state and the whole southeast. Finebaum's radio show is to Alabama sports what Glenn Beck's show is to political discussion.

so can anyone who followed college bball in the mid 90s tell me if chris herren was actually a thing? i had never heard of this guy but he was def from the period when i was paying the least attention.

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, November 1, 2011 8:29 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes

so what are the best of these?

My top ten of those that's I've seen:

1. The Two Escobars
2. June 17, 1994
3. The Best That Never Was
4. The U
5. Once Brothers
6. Muhammad and Larry
7. The Band that Wouldn't Die
8. Renée
9. No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson
10. The Fab Five

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/espn-doubles-up-on-30-for-30-documentary-series/

YAY

My faves of these in order:
The Two Escobars
The Best That Never Was
Without Bias
Run Ricky Run
Marion Jones: Press Pause
Once Brothers
Pony Excess
The Fab Five
June 17, 1994
No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson
Tim Richmond: to the Limit
The Birth of Big Air
Little Big Men
Muhammad and Larry
Winning Time: Reggie Miller v The Knicks
Into the Wind
Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?
Guru of Go
Unmatched
Jordan Rides the Bus
Four Days in October
The 16th Man
Fernando Nation
Silly Little Game
The Legend of Jimmy The Greek

awwwwwweeeesome!!!!!

June 17 1994 keeps coming up in my mind every now and again, I can't get over how powerful that one was.
Once Brothers made me bawl so hard, but yeah Two Escobars was just wow. And that Dupree one was fantastic.

I was disappointed with Unmatched. Such a good story but they shot it like an Oprah special in that stupid beach house with their sweaters tied around their necks, it was like frickin Waiting to Exhale or something. Wished it had been more along the lines of the Fire and Ice, Borg/McEnroe doc on HBO.

I hope they do some more tennis ones.

ESPN had a big marathon going on one of the networks this evening and I caught the ones on Marcus DuPree and the U. The DuPree one was excellent and the one on the U pretty good.

We're back baby!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEGUHdRW0CA
"Broke" Billy Corben October 2, 2012
The documentary explores the road to fortune in sports and the eventual detours to bankruptcy, as experienced by top athletes including Bernie Kosar, Andrew Rison and Cliff Floyd.
Note: This film premiered at the the Tribeca Film Festival.

"9.79*" Daniel Gordon October 9, 2012
The 100-meter men's final at the 1988 Seoul Games was the fastest sprint in Olympic history. But within 48 hours, gold medalist Ben Johnson had tested positive for anabolic steroids and scandal trumped thrilling as the way to describe the race. More than two decades later, that race still haunts the eight men who took part and the film will take a look at what brought the men to the starting line and what happened to them since.

"There's No Place Like Home" Maura Mandt and Josh Swade October 16, 2012
On December 10, 2010, Sotheby’s auctioned off the most important historical document in sports history: James Naismith's original rules of basketball. There’s No Place Like Home is the story of one fan’s obsessive quest to win the artifact at auction and bring the rules "home" to Lawrence, Kansas, where Naismith coached and taught for more than 40 years.

"Benji" Coodie and Chike October 23, 2012
In 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a beloved, sweet-natured youngster from the city's fabled South Side, and America's most talented basketball prospect. His senseless murder the day before his senior season sent ripples through Chicago and the nation.(78 minutes in length)
Note: This film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

"Ghosts of Ole Miss" Fritz Mitchell October 30, 2012
In 1962, the University of Mississippi campus erupted in violence over integration and swelled with pride over an unbeaten football team. Mississippi native Wright Thompson explores the tumultuous events that continue to shape the state 50 years later.

"You Don't Know Bo" Michael Bonfiglio December 8, 2012
Bo Jackson hit 500 ft. home runs, ran over linebackers, and—for a short period—he was the best athlete we had ever seen. You Don’t Know Bo takes a closer look at the man and marketing campaign that shaped his legacy. More than 20 years later, myths and legends still surround the famously press shy athlere, and his impossible feats still capture our collective imagination.

I'm moving this thread to ILE now; not really just ilnfl specific

Yeah, I just saw this on ile and I was all "what is going on? the world is ending!"

But okay, you just moved it. No probs.

I've watched three now.

Once Brothers had a very compelling story, but I thought it was a little stiltedly directed. I also found it hard to read Vlade... I could tell that he is now genuinely sorry to have been separated for so many years from his former teammates, but he seems maybe a bit tone deaf (esp. at the time) to the fact to the pressures this war put they and their families under. And while Vlade's explanation now about the flag thing makes some sense it's not clear how contrite he was at the time (and frankly given the events that were going on at that point I think he'd have to be really really contrite to make a difference). Also it's not clear what kind of public statements Vlade made about the war at the time either. Anyway still good, but definitely felt it could have been stronger.

The Allen Iverson Trial I really liked (I guess it might be a little dry for some folks. It manages the difficult feat of humanizing Iverson while at the same time not making him an object of pity (or even particularly likeable) which I think is a real trick. And the stuff on the trial is uniformly well done. Very honest filmmaking.

Birth of Big Air was definitely the lightest of the three and the thing that most stuck with me was how I felt incredibly sorry for Matt's wife. I also wondered how badly in debt this guy was from all his medical bills.

Pony Excess is worth watching for the Eric Dickerson content alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f7MHvDgNMc

<3

tonight

so psyched

wtf this is like a vh1 show

Well...yeah.

yeah i didn't really dig the format

The reveal of braces on Carl Lewis's teeth after the 1987 World Championships is one of my favorite things from this series ever.

otm

damn that was fascinating. Lewis should be in politics...and his coach gives me the creeeeeeeeeeeeps

whats the braces = roids connection? are they known for fucking up ur teeth?

this was a p good one

the roids historian (or someone else) says that steroids can cause a misalignment of the jaw and that braces in yr 20's can be but is not necessarily a sign of roid use

hm i must'ev zoned out for that few seconds

HGH is known for causing enlargement of the jaw (really the whole head; one of the more frequent charges against Barry Bonds was that his head became gigantic during his career).

bonds shouldve worn full-on 80k orthodontic head gear & then a massive helmet over it

just saw that marion jones one it was the worst shit ever wtf

that one legged canadian runner one was p great tho

The marion jones one ended up being a puff piece. Disappointing.

Well Singleton's always been a softie at heart, I'd argue. (I might be alone.)

Been watching a slew of these off and on over the past couple of weeks. A couple of editing decisions aside The Two Escobars probably ranks as my favorite -- in retrospect I'm surprised something so openly nuanced about brutal social conditions and populism in Colombia made it to a massive US network like that.

The one with the news broadcasts on the day of OJ Simpson's arrest looked great but the decision to add in the backing music sucked. Unless it was some sort of metacommentary on typically overblown music for sports profiles, but even then.

yeah the music didn't bother me, that 1994 one is one of my favorites of the series.

man 9.79* was fantastic, calvin smith is a hero

this buying the rules of bball one is really repugnant

not sure i can even hate-watch it

ok alternatively the benji wilson 1 is p dope

why do i have the feeling that klostermann was intimately involved with these corny animations

Ghosts Of Ole Miss was GAAAARBAGE.

i finally watched the benji wilson ep the other weekend, it was really good

I knew zero about him or that story so I found it really interesting/sad/crazy

Bo was great. Even growing up in Alabama, nobody really knew what was real and what was legend about that guy. The doc didn't peel away any of the mystery, and it was all the better for it.

Broke sucked, 9.79* was great

Watching 9.79 now, loving it.

Bo was fantastic. Loved it. Johnny Fever otm -- keeping the myth around him made it better. He still came away seeming like Superman, lol.
And of COURSE he hunts with a bow and arrow. I said to Mr Veg I'm surprised he doesn't chase them down and choke them with his bare hands :)

Actually the doc triggered a vague memory - I *think* I saw Bo play at Comiskey Park with the White Sox in 1993. we had a 2 week exchange trip through high school, and we went to a White Sox game while we were in Chicago. I was bored out of my mind at the game though so even if I saw him I didn't 'see' him, lol.

god the animation in the bo doc, why

Just watched the Loyola/Westhead doc and it was great. I didn't like some of the filmmaking and music choices but the story is so good.

Have also seen the yugoslav team one, the reggie miller, the two escobars, the allen iverson, loved all o them

Broke sucked

Just watched this one (and Benji, which was sad/good). I understand there are some socioeconomic background factors at play with many professional athletes, and I agree with the one guy in the doc who said the universities the players come from should absolutely be preparing these kids for the cash windfalls that are about to come their way, but blowing millions of dollars on straight up bullshit in just a few years is such an alien concept to me. I want to feel sorry for a few of them, but it's hard to.

it's really less that the story was uninteresting and more that it was a poorly told doc. i think the story is actually really interesting!

watched the terry fox story on the bike this morning, highly recommended.

it's weird, netflix streaming said it's not available for streaming, then it showed up as a recommended/option from another 30 for 30 film which was available.

yeah I loved that Terry Fox episode

ha, at breakfast my kids asked what i had been watching on the trainer, and as i explained the story to them, i got so choked up i had to stop talking for a few secs. they were sorta "?????"

;_;

jimmy v one is good, prob didnt need to be 2hrs but w/e

never really noticed but a young valvano looks sorta like a very italian joe namath

pre shot clock game strategy was a trip. you can also tell this was a diff world cuz the final 4 is in ALBUQUERQUE

yeah I'm halfway through the Jimmy V -- it's funny for me because I don't actually know the story. I sort of know about Jimmy V, with him passing on from cancer and that great speech but I don't actually have the backstory. So it's kind of cool building it backwards so to speak. Love learning about this stuff!

its kinda crazy the # of missed free throws by opposing teams that gives state even the chance to move on

elway in a yanks uni looks a lot like mark teixeira

they need to go back to the corded helmet phones as the teams only means of communication on draft day

otm

that lawyer had the most insanely detailed notes.

not sure i wouldnt prefer bill simmons doing this voice over instead of kev connelley jfc

yeah that was terrible

I haven't seen this week's yet -- the No Mas one last week was pretty good, except for the cheeseball meeting where they had to stand in a boxing ring and talk to each other. So dumb.

did anyone else watch the Tonya Harding ep?

pretty good retelling, though not really a whole ton of new info. I think the best thing it did was get you right in on side of being sympathetic towards Tonya, leading you up to that last 20 minutes where she basically undoes all that goodwill right on camera. Just that couple of bitter remarks and that's all you need to keep right on wondering

But no matter what her involment was, Gilooly sounds like a grade A creep. And her mom? jesus.

i liked it a lot

yeah, it was excellent. real american story. just wish they'd have gotten kerrigan to talk. she looks like the embodiment of the early 90's to me.

this was great. amazing that tonya still gets unhinged so easily about perceived slights from 20 years agp.

she reminds me of girls from my high school

i was trying to be cool with her and then she got furious about kerrigan not wanting to talk with her at the rink and it's like wow

yeah that was a v. revealing moment

she dropped that "princess" and it was all over, gloves are off

when she said she went up to nancy at the training session & apologized & was so spitting mad that nancy didnt say anything to her
that was unsettling, because it seemed to suggest that she had no emotional understanding of what happened. that moment to me she really underlined the suggestion that maybe she had fabricated her own reality out of whole cloth, like her friend suggested at the end.

pretty good retelling, though not really a whole ton of new info. I think the best thing it did was get you right in on side of being sympathetic towards Tonya, leading you up to that last 20 minutes where she basically undoes all that goodwill right on camera

came here to post this exactly

really enjoying this big east doc, so many fun characters

john thompson is an amazing dude

yeesh the hillsborough one, what a horrible story

I'm just starting this and already getting emotional

excited for bad boy pistons one in a couple days

should be a good contrast

xxp yeah i was v. emotional by the end, it's just so needlessly sad.

Well that was kinda awesome

damn they were good looking, isaiah, laimbeer, salley

ok the raiders thing made me laugh

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2010_images/pistons-hated.jpg

Can't believe the bullshit Isiah had to go through for concurring w/ Rodman on Bird. Especially infuriating that the Boston media got all butthurt about it -- that city was openly and relentlessly racist towards Bill Russell, and now they start whining about "reverse racism"?

god laimbeer is glorious in this thing

otm

more of these

63
20 Playing for the Mob[7] Joe Lavine and Cayman Grant October 7, 2014
How Mafia associate Henry Hill orchestrated a point-shaving scheme involving Boston College basketball. Narrated by Ray Liotta, who portrayed Hill in Goodfellas.

64
21 The Day The Series Stopped[7] Ryan Fleck October 14, 2014
A 25-year retrospective of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck just before the scheduled start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.

65
22 When The Garden Was Eden[7] Michael Rapaport October 21, 2014
A look back at the New York Knicks' championship teams of the 1970s.

66
23 Brian and The Boz[7] Thaddeus D. Matula October 28, 2014
The rise, fall, and post-football life of Brian Bosworth.

67
24 Brothers in Exile[7] Mario Diaz November 1, 2014
The story of Liván and Orlando Hernández, half-brothers who fled Cuba separately and became successful major-league pitchers.[5]

68
25 Rand University[7] Marquis Daisy November 11, 2014
An exploration of former NFL receiver Randy Moss and his humble (and humbling) origins in Rand, West Virginia.

69
26 The U Part 2[7] Billy Corben December 13, 2014
A sequel to The U profiles the Miami Hurricanes football program and its rise from scandal (and calls for the school to drop the sport) to a national championship, only to see new controversy after booster Nevin Shapiro is revealed to have given improper benefits to the program.

god laimbeer is glorious in this thing

so good

http://sportschump.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/laimbeer.jpg

vmuch looking forward to the randy moss one.

loma prieta shd be good too

quake story is great, as per that lengthy oral history that appeared somewhere about a year ago -- will ride as far as the archival footage goes, assuming the interviewees are the same.

yes that is Noo Yawk actor Michael Rapaport who did the Knicks one

Would consider viewing all of these except for Bosworth (who gives a shit) and The U pt 2 (new scandal <<<<<<<< old scandal).

Rapaport's Tribe Called Quest doc was GREAT

Bc doc tonight was really good

boz seems like a thoughtful dude, obv rick reilly is detestable but I prob lean toward believing reilly that boz loved/went along w/ the book and playing on disfunction at OU to move units at the time. overall, wish this was a touch less polished, maybe go into his family life more now but def watchable

moss's highlights from marshall are dope, there was previously a penalty for hurdling a dude? idgi

i finally saw this today

yeah i thought that was pretty lol that you couldn't hurdle guys, like why it's dope

I love Randy and I always will. I have always had a soft spot for him, and I really dug seeing his backstory laid out and contextualized a little better.

all of those highlight clips, every single one, he's fucking MAGIC. we got to see him play a few early games with the Raiders before he got mad & bent out of shape, it was pretty rad to see him play even then. and my favorite thing is that he'd always give props to the linemen who blocked for him after a touchdown

also: OMAR LITTLE

oh shit and Randy doing Denny Green impersonation was all-time, i died

greg olsen owns

"(Whats your name?) G-Reg. (What you do?) Get head. (How you do it?) Drop my drawers, let her see my third leg. Chillin' on the 7th floor, I gotta let these chickens know Big Greg is in the house, and I'm gonna to make these hoes choke. On my balls, on my dick then I bust a nut quick. On her face, on her chest, stick my dick between her breasts. Come on fellas, let's get weird. Stick your dick up in her ear. While I'm laughin at these guys, a second nut all in her eyes. (Wait a minute...in her eyes?) In her eyes."

Is it wrong that I wanted to punch Randy Phillips every time they cut to him talking about...anything?

I swear in that U Part 2 episode, I have never noticed until now that Antrel Rolle has a head/neck shaped like a celery stalk with ears. He looked like a veggie tales character! so weird

I didn't like this episode much. The first hour+ felt like a recruiting video, like okaaaaaaaaaaay we get it jesus fucking christ
and constantly playing the music in the background drove me nuts

idk

maybe you have to buy into the U to be into it, idk

laettner one tonight was pretty good. i'm not even sure a player like him could exist in the internet age.

So many good memories watching it tonight.

dvr'd it, looking forward to watching

p amazing & ahead of its time trolling by Christian w/ the whole pretending to be gay w/ brian davis

i loooooved Laettner

hated him, but UNC fans honestly hated Bobby Hurley more at the time.

Laetner has always been an asshole, he enjoyed playing the role as much as anyone ever has. Great episode too.

i'm not even sure a player like him could exist in the internet age.

ok, plz explain to the old man what the HELL this means

i just love how much laettner leans into his assholishness. it makes him even more hateable because he's so blasé, but the fact that he knows THAT too...he's got it down to an artform, like he's made of douche. as a wrestling fan you just gotta love a heel as meticulously honed as he is

and goddamn he was cute. that made it so much worse lol

morbs i was exaggerating but i just cannot imagine the amount of thinkpieces and social media volume a white, good-looking, arrogant, dirty, skilled basketball player whose love of being the villain bordered on the perverse would generate.

now will always be someone else's simpler time
http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/nodding_clint_eastwood.gif

nd coach gerry faust looks exactly like george c scott

not a 30 for 30 but the Lawrence Phillips doc on showtime fits the bill. very tragic, the letters he writes from prison def show his intelligence

Watched the LMU/Westhead/Gathers "Guru of Go" again last night, such an amazing story. Feel like if Moneyball could be made into a film, then this whole saga could be adapted for the big screen.

Anyone else watch pt1 of Vick yet?
Aired Thurs, part 2 up next week.
Pretty good so far.

sidebar: I had NO idea about this:

Chris weinke playing college football at 27 will never not be funny #30For30 #Vick pic.twitter.com/2NwZVrjKWQ

— craw (@notthefakesteve) January 31, 2020

However: They didnt cover this in the doc & i still want to know if it’s really true

Vick is right handed. But throws left. Cuz the kids in his neighborhood made him throw left cuz that was the only way he wasnt unfair.

— Beyonce has an uncle named Larry Beyince. Bruh.... (@DragonflyJonez) November 9, 2014

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2020 season is nominated in the 2020 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2020 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 29, 2021

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

You know, funny you should bring this thread up -- earlier this morning I was all "Am I wrong? Was he in that one episode?" So I rewatched Broke, from 2012, and:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/RbfL78RT3_tuj4OkIbxAxsM3LkwfYul6fxhSgHcS6uAQn3YJ0f4c2PE1LvDnl12AfteMLHCuWGVnVdx68mEef_xvV8R9H6PBqnrEz2DgDFtcVExHurBx-UYITrs8phvZwA

And if you don't recognize him, google Ed Butowsky, then google Seth Rich. And I thought having Curt Schilling in this episode was the guy whose profile tanked the worst after this!

Sounds like Disney is breaking out the Moff Tarkin tech for this one

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/2/5/22267485/al-davis-pete-rozelle-deepfakes-30-for-30

i watched it
the deepfakes were terrible
so bad. whoever did the pete rozelle voice sounded like Andy Richter.

It was uncanny valley hall of presidents crossed with Salvatore Leone from GTA Liberty City. Weird. Bad.
Those bits felt like I was watching, idk, a Doritos Superbowl commercial. Like “let’s waste a bunch of money to badly execute an empty gimmick”

i saw of miracles and men last night. it's probably the best documentary i've ever seen in my entire life. definitely a must-watch for all hockey fans.

i haven't seen a lot of 30 for 30 documentaries, so i don't know how it compares to the rest. but in terms of other, non-30 for 30 documentaries, it's better than russian five. i'll probably watch red army later.

i'm also excited to watch into the wind. it's a little trite to say as a canadian, but terry fox has been an inspiration to me my entire life.

“Once Upon A Time In Queens” four-parter about the 86 Mets is up now on ESPN

as an outsider it’s pretty great.
i dont have much of a frame of reference for the Mets except the stuff i’ve gleaned from Morbs, Jon Stewart & the Simpsons, & other bits and pieces that i’ve tangentially absorbed, so its been cool piecing it all together

the music is really good

Would watch that for sure--just bought an oral history of the '86 team.

All the current Keith Hernandez interview of him
chilling at home with his cat was such a great flex

i give schiraldi credit for participating, wouldve liked to hear from more red sox; also maybe some broadcasters? like could they not get costas who was in those nbc dugout shots when prepping for the sox celebration

overall it was p solid

NOT including Costas was a blessing imo but thats just me

Loved the mid 80s Mets, finally got around to watching this today. In some ways, this probably could've been shrunk to three episodes instead of four, but also feel like it could've gone far more in-depth than it did even with four hours to fill. Still hate Dykstra.

the wrap-up-everything ending, post series, felt a little whiplash-y to me as a newbie