ESPN's 30 for 30 - Page 2

The glorious Olbermann 'stache also appears in Ice Cube's "Straight Outta L.A."
about the Raiders' influence on L.A. rap culture.

Just saw 'The Two Escobars', what an amazing (and depressing) documentary.

So far I've seen King's Ransom, Winning Time and Small Potatoes. All three have been fantastic.

Still annoyed that ESPN's releasing them separately on DVD.

I finally got to see "The U" last night.. after HBO's premier of "Public Enemies."

"The U" was much much more entertaining.

ESPN's 30 for 30 about Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur was pretty good. Not really a lot of information that I hadn't heard before since I'm a fan of both, but a pretty good watch nonetheless.

Absolutely LOVE 30 for 30. They always cover really interesting stories you dont really hear about elsewhere in the sports media....which I like.

Had the one Vlade Divac did, Once Brothers, on my DVR for a while and kept putting off watching it. Finally gave it a shot and was stunned how compelling it turned out to be. It dealt with Vlade's friendship with Drazen Petrovic, how they both came into the NBA together, and eventually their estrangement when their native Yugoslavia split up and war broke out between Serbia and Croatia.

Not ashamed to say that by the end there was some moisture in my ducts.

Also features a brief glimpse of Arsenio Hall at the LA Forum cheering the Lakers on while wearing a Rhythm Nation jacket.

Amazon has a deal going: the first box set (15 in all) for $49.

Seriously, I'd consider it.

One of my favorite episodes as well. Good to be reminded of how awesome Drazen Petrovic was.

There looks to be a good one coming on Saturday about the death of Southern Methodist football.

There's also the one still to air about Steve Bartman that was supposed to run in October but has been postponed to sometime next year. Still dying to see that one.

The way Vlade talked about his regret over grabbing that Croatian flag, and how gigantic that ended up being, really made you feel for the guy.

That footage of the Croatian team walking off the stage when the Serbs won some European championship was pretty wild.

Oh, and I found a pic of the same Rhythm Nation jacket that I spotted on Arsenio in the episode:



Arsenio pulled it off.

Anybody else watching Catching Hell tonight?  This thing is GREAT.

I did, and it was indeed great.  As a Cubs fan watching on TV when it happened, I still found myself hoping the outcome would somehow be different while watching tonight.  There was just this great feeling of dread that occurred right as Alou missed the ball, even with the 3-0 lead.  It's inexplicable.  You just knew something bad was about to happen.  The aftermath was just terrifying, and Bartman deserves none of the public humiliation he's gotten for acting like a fan would act.  Any baseball fan sitting in that seat would have done the same thing.  I really hope we see a day where Bartman throws out the first pitch at Wrigley someday.  It just depends on if he wants it or not, and as the filmmakers suggested, that sure as shit won't happen until the Cubs win a World Series.  It would have been so easy for him to become an overnight millionaire and it's pretty telling that, in a world full of people dying for their fifteen minutes, he's fallen off the face of the earth.

 

I never cared for Dusty as a manager and I forgot about him accusing Bartman of being a secret Marlins fan.  Still hate the guy.  He's not the one who gave up eight runs in an inning, Dusty.

 

Dan Patrick's phone "interview" with Bartman still cracks me up.

Agreed, excellent stuff.  I know it got crazy in the stands, but for his friends to abandon him in the tunnels of Wrigley afterwards?  I could never do that to anyone I call a friend.  And forget the billy goat, the Cubs will never win a world series until all Cubs fans have forgiven Bartman.  Which, judging by the attitude of some of them I know, will probably be never.

I truly hope people in Chicago feel ashamed.  Like the director said, the question is about whether Bartman can forgive Chicago for what they did, not the other way around.

Recorded this, watching it tonight. Does it address the other dude (dudes?) who also stuck his/their arm out for the ball, but missed? Cause Bartman was hardly the only fan reaching, and even if only for that reason I always thought his persecution was ridiculous.

I have "Catching Hell" on my tivo and can't wait to sit down and watch it.

 

As for the series itself, I've watched a few of them and some were good, others not so much. Liked the 'Two Escobars', but I thought the one on Len Bias' death was not very compelling was also disappointed about Tupac's death in Vegas after the Tyson fight. But I still need to check out several of the other ones that they've made.

 

I would like  to see someone make a sports Doc. about the absolute tragedy that was Ken Caminiti. What a waste.   http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/10/11/bc.bbo.obit.caminiti.ap/

Not only are they addressed, they're INTERVIEWED.  I can't wait for you Tivo-ers to watch this, because I've been dying to talk about this with people.  Talked about it with my dad and he couldn't believe what happened after Bartman was escorted away.  I'd ever heard that story before, either.

So I just watched "Unguarded" on Chris Herran's drug and alchohol abuse and the depths that his life had sunk too. Really, really touching and emotional.  Nice to see the guy has gotten his life together, though as the film shows at 3 years sober every single day is still a struggle for him.

 

One thing that has bugged me about these ESPN docs, at least most of the ones I've see, is lack of a narrator. The Steve Bartman doc was so good precisely because it did have a narrator. The filmakers dropped the ball on that one.  

 

Because I don't watch ESPN, I never have any idea when these docs actually air. Consequently, there quite a few that i've missed, the real-life 'Rocky' story comes to mind.

Herren's story is truly remarkable.  The podcast he did with Bill Simmons is a nice companion piece.

 

Earlier I watched 'On the Dotted Line' about agents in sports. The fact that it was a Morgan Spurlock directed, produced, and narrated film kinda made me wish I had watched it sooner (I had it on my DVR for months). When I pondered going to law school years ago it would have been to eventually become a sports agent. This film showed what an incredibly cutthroat, brutal, and just flat-out lucky an intustry it can be. It's certainly not an industry for everyone. Nice work, once again, by Spurlock!

 

Oh man, that one was SOOOO good. 

 

Basically it gives you the feeling that the entirety of NCAA D-1 should get the death penalty.