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ESPN 30 for 30 (1 Viewer)

Chase Stuart

Footballguy
Just sitting down to watch Kings Ransom, about the Gretzky trade. I know tonight they have one on the band for the Baltimore Colts.

Cool ideas, and ESPN has the resources to do this correctly. Not sure if they will, though.

 
King's Ransom was ok. I thought they could have done a lot more with the subject matter. I would have liked to seen more Gretsky teammate interviews on how they felt about him as a player and the trade.

 
A bunch of these sound good:

Kings Ransom Peter Berg October 6, 2009 Wayne Gretzky's trade to Los Angeles

The Band that Wouldn't Die Barry Levinson October 13, 2009 The departure of the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis

Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? Mike Tollin October 20, 2009 Rise and fall of the United States Football League

Muhammad and Larry Albert Maysles October 27, 2009 The October 1980 fight between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes

Without Bias Kirk Fraser November 3, 2009 The life of Len Bias

The Legend of Jimmy the Greek Fritz Mitchell November 10, 2009 The life of Jimmy the Greek

The U Billy Corben December 12, 2009 University of Miami football team in the late 1980s

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks Dan Klores March 14, 2010 Reggie Miller's impact on the Knicks in the 1990s

Guru of Go Bill Couturie 2010 Paul Westhead and Loyola Marymount

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson Steve James 2010 Iverson's high school race trial

Into the Wind Steve Nash 2010 Terry Fox

Jordan Rides the Bus Ron Shelton 2010 Michael Jordan's career in minor league baseball

Charismatic Stephen Michaels, Joel Surnow and Jonathon Koch 2010 Charismatic's run for the Triple Crown

One Simple Gesture Cliff Bestall 2010 South Africa and the 1995 Rugby World Cup

The Two Escobars Jeff Zimbalist 2010 The murder of Andres Escobar

June 17, 1994 Brett Morgen 2010 The various events of June 17, 1994

Birth of Big Air Jeff Tremaine 2010 The life of Mat Hoffman

Silly Little Game Adam Kurland and Lucas Jansen 2010 The development of Rotisserie Baseball

Steve Bartman: Catching Hell Alex Gibney 2010 The relationship between Chicago Cubs fans and Bartman

Unmatched Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern, with Hannah Storm 2010 The friendship and rivalry of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova

One Night in Vegas Reggie Rock Bythewood 2010 The night of Tupac Shakur's death and his friendship with Mike Tyson

Marion Jones: Press Pause John Singleton 2010 The rise and fall of Marion Jones

Straight Outta L.A. Ice Cube 2010 The relationship between the citizens of Los Angeles and the L.A. Raiders

The Steinbrenner Family Business Barbara Kopple 2010 A look at the family behind the New York Yankees

Right To Play Frank Marshall 2010 The life of Johann Olav Koss

The Best That Never Was Jonathon Hock 2010 The life and career of Marcus Dupree

 
last night I finally got around to watching some of these on the DVR...Watched both the Len Bias Story and the Larry Holmes vs. Ali story... Liked both of them.

Bias was so good. I was so shocked when I heard he died.

 
the gretzky one has been the best, i think. berg got the tone just right. the interviews - especially with wayne - were pretty fantastic.

 
Gretzky: I thought it did a very good job of capturing just how much Gretzky meant to Edmonton. But I don't think the filmmaker pressed Wayne enough -- they're together on the golf course and the director has a chance to ask Wayne some pretty tough questions, but all he does is act like a fanboy.

Baltimore: the parts about Irsay were fascinating, but the parts about the band were pretty boring. Also, I thought that the film glossed over the irony of stealing a team from Cleveland after complaining that Indy stole a team from Baltimore.

USFL: The film couldn't decide if it wanted to focus on the individual characters of the USFL (a la "Loose Balls", the story of the ABA), or if it wanted to focus on Donald Trump and the downfall of the league. I would have preferred more focus on the former and less on the latter.

Muhammad And Larry: it was so obvious that Ali was a shell of his former self -- why didn't anyone say anything?? I wish the filmmaker would have asked that question.

 
I saw maybe the last 15 min of Gretzky... liked what I saw... but am just not that interested...

I watched all of the USFL story and really liked it. I remember the USFL... but I was young enough that when everything was happeneing with the law suits... I didn't really pay attention at all. All I knew was... it was there... there was a bunch of clips of guys in suits going to court and news reports... and it was gone. I never knew the story... so I was really interested in hearing it... and thought it was good. Exciting... not really... informative / interesting... to me yes.

I recorded and watched Without Bias last night. They talked about how people remember where they were when he died. I remember where I was... but I didn't know a thing about the guy at the time. I was at a summer camp and some kid comes in saying "Oh my god... Len Bias died..." and I was like... "who is he...". Immediately after his death... and in the following years I would hear bits and pcs about how good he was... and how incredible he was going to be... and so on. But similar to the USFL... I didn't know hardly ANY of the story of why he was gone... and I didn't know anything about his background. I found that one very interesting too... but also very sad... that was definitely a sad one...

I think they are re-playing these... might want to check the weekends... I think the USFL one I saw was a re-play... and I think I saw the Gretzky one being broadcast on multiple nights...

 
I recorded and watched Without Bias last night. They talked about how people remember where they were when he died. I remember where I was... but I didn't know a thing about the guy at the time. I was at a summer camp and some kid comes in saying "Oh my god... Len Bias died..." and I was like... "who is he...". Immediately after his death... and in the following years I would hear bits and pcs about how good he was... and how incredible he was going to be... and so on. But similar to the USFL... I didn't know hardly ANY of the story of why he was gone... and I didn't know anything about his background. I found that one very interesting too... but also very sad... that was definitely a sad one...
I attended a summer camp with Bias when he was a rising soph in HS. If you had asked me then how good I thought he'd end up being, I'd have answered "not very". He could leap out of the gym even then, but he couldn't shoot or dribble. The only reason I remembered him when he got to Maryland was that he had been an incredible dunker during that camp, so I sort of followed his HS career through the newspaper. I never thought he'd turn into what he did and, in fact, it wasn't until he was a Jr at MD that he really blossomed. Bias is one of the great "what-ifs". If he and Reggie Lewis had both lived, the Celts may have added some titles in the 90s.That camp, by the way, was a blast. It was run by Morgan Wooten, the legendary DeMatha coach, and was a who's-who of local HS stars along with some national guys. There were also some high-profile college players working as assistants. Both Al King & Gene Banks were there. I remember Derek Whittenburg (at DeMatha then) beating them both in a dunk contest.
 
A bunch of these sound good:Kings Ransom Peter Berg October 6, 2009 Wayne Gretzky's trade to Los AngelesThe Band that Wouldn't Die Barry Levinson October 13, 2009 The departure of the Baltimore Colts to IndianapolisSmall Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? Mike Tollin October 20, 2009 Rise and fall of the United States Football LeagueMuhammad and Larry Albert Maysles October 27, 2009 The October 1980 fight between Muhammad Ali and Larry HolmesWithout Bias Kirk Fraser November 3, 2009 The life of Len BiasThe Legend of Jimmy the Greek Fritz Mitchell November 10, 2009 The life of Jimmy the GreekThe U Billy Corben December 12, 2009 University of Miami football team in the late 1980sWinning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks Dan Klores March 14, 2010 Reggie Miller's impact on the Knicks in the 1990sGuru of Go Bill Couturie 2010 Paul Westhead and Loyola MarymountNo Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson Steve James 2010 Iverson's high school race trialInto the Wind Steve Nash 2010 Terry FoxJordan Rides the Bus Ron Shelton 2010 Michael Jordan's career in minor league baseballCharismatic Stephen Michaels, Joel Surnow and Jonathon Koch 2010 Charismatic's run for the Triple CrownOne Simple Gesture Cliff Bestall 2010 South Africa and the 1995 Rugby World CupThe Two Escobars Jeff Zimbalist 2010 The murder of Andres EscobarJune 17, 1994 Brett Morgen 2010 The various events of June 17, 1994Birth of Big Air Jeff Tremaine 2010 The life of Mat HoffmanSilly Little Game Adam Kurland and Lucas Jansen 2010 The development of Rotisserie BaseballSteve Bartman: Catching Hell Alex Gibney 2010 The relationship between Chicago Cubs fans and BartmanUnmatched Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern, with Hannah Storm 2010 The friendship and rivalry of Chris Evert and Martina NavratilovaOne Night in Vegas Reggie Rock Bythewood 2010 The night of Tupac Shakur's death and his friendship with Mike TysonMarion Jones: Press Pause John Singleton 2010 The rise and fall of Marion JonesStraight Outta L.A. Ice Cube 2010 The relationship between the citizens of Los Angeles and the L.A. RaidersThe Steinbrenner Family Business Barbara Kopple 2010 A look at the family behind the New York YankeesRight To Play Frank Marshall 2010 The life of Johann Olav KossThe Best That Never Was Jonathon Hock 2010 The life and career of Marcus Dupree
Thanks. I hope they replay them. Missed the Bias and Ali ones. I liked the USFL best of the others.
 
1st one I caught, and the one who's subject matter interests me most , was the Len Bias episode.

Thought it was very good ... I will definetly set the DVR to catch the rest of the series.

 
1st one I caught, and the one who's subject matter interests me most , was the Len Bias episode.Thought it was very good ... I will definetly set the DVR to catch the rest of the series.
I thought it was nicely done however I don't feel like I learned anything "new".With the others so far I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes etc etc. This one I felt like it was just a rehashing of the news events.It was still put together nicely and I remember the actual event vividly but this one was the "worst" so far.It was still very good but if I were ranking them I enjoyed the others more.
 
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These are great. Saw the USFL story and the Bias one. I was only 8 when the USFL started but vaguely remember my parents having a party when the Michigan Panthers played in the championship game. It was cool to learn about how the league got started and how greed and, to a large extent, Trump (at least that is how it was portrayed and I can see why he wasn't exactly in the nicest mood for his interview) ultimately killed it. I had just gotten done watching a documentary on the AFL so it was neat to contrast how Lamar Hunt made some great decisions that allowed the AFL to prosper whereas the USFL overexpanded and tried to take the NFL head on way too soon which ultimately led to its demise. If the league owners had more patience and continued to build a good brand of football, the USFL could have really given the NFL a run IMO. At the very least, I think we would have seen a merger of some sorts as the AFL and NFL ultimately did.

The Bias piece was interesting although I wish they had spent more on what happened that night and the aftermath of what happened to those that were with him that night. Didn't know a lot about his college career (only knew he was good and that the Celtics drafted him) so it was interesting to learn about that.

I wish I had seen the Gretzky one and hope they replay it. Have the Ali/Holmes episode on my DVR right now and am looking forward to Jimmy the Greek next week.

 
Loved the USFL film. Trump was desperately trying to spin it as "The league would have died sooner if I hadn't pushed for a fall schedule and a lawsuit!"

 
just finished watching on DVR the 30 for 30 on the "U"... Didn't search hard enough to see if there was a thread just on this one, but... eh.

Must say i was disappointed. thought it was strange how the story focused more on how good they were rather than on how bad they were off the field. So far, the U is toward the bottom of the barrel for me... Not below the Baltimore Colts Band one, but still down the list.

 
I liked the Len Bias, USFL, and Ali/Holmes episodes the best.

The U was way too long and didn't do much for me. The Gretzky trade episode was also pretty bad.

I didn't watch the Colts episode yet but don't really have any interest in seeing it.

Looks like the show takes a hiatus until March as the commercial I keep seeing now is for the Reggie Miller v Knicks documentary in March.

 
I am enjoying these. I saw the one on the "U" the other night. While it was interesting on several levels, I love when they lost to Penn St and almost all of them kept saying "we were the better team".

You lost. Penn St won. End of story.

 
The Bias piece was interesting although I wish they had spent more on what happened that night and the aftermath of what happened to those that were with him that night. Didn't know a lot about his college career (only knew he was good and that the Celtics drafted him) so it was interesting to learn about that.
I saw that as well. It's funny how the first place he went in his brand new (leased) Mercedes was to the crack block.
 
so watched the June 17, 1994 piece last night.

So far that is the worst one. Even worse than that Baltimore Colts Band one. In fact, I don't know if it's even close - what a snore fest.

I'm looking forward to next weeks documentary - The Two Escobars (http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-two-escobars.html)

 
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so watched the June 17, 1994 piece last night. So far that is the worst one. Even worse than that Baltimore Colts Band one. In fact, I don't know if it's even close - what a snore fest.
I thought it was the best one so far. The idea was to put you back into June 17, 1994, and not have it broken up by a bunch of talking heads.
 
These have all been great, at least the ones I saw. The U was pretty funny even though I hate Miami and most of it's players. If I had to rank them on the ones I saw i'd probably go:

1. The U

2. Kings ransom

3. Jimmy the Greek

4. June 17 1994

5. Run Ricky run

6. Reggie Miller vs. The knicks

Being only 12 years old in 94 I forgot about how crazy of a day that was and some of the details of the OJ Simpson ordeal. NBA finals game five. Rangers victory parade. The first day of the world cup. Arnold Palmers final rd of the US open at oakmont. Junior Griffey ties the babe for most HR home runs before June xx( can't remember the date) with his 30th HR.

 
so watched the June 17, 1994 piece last night.

So far that is the worst one. Even worse than that Baltimore Colts Band one. In fact, I don't know if it's even close - what a snore fest.

I'm looking forward to next weeks documentary - The Two Escobars (http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-two-escobars.html)
Interesting...I thought that was one of the better ones myself. I like seeing actual news footage of those events again intertwined together, rather than a bunch of talking heads talking over clips as someone else also mentioned.

 
Don Quixote said:
The Two Escobars is getting pretty good reviews. Looking forward to this one tonight.

AV Club
Sweet, can't wait to see this one!The Iverson episode was far and away the best one in this series IMO. I also liked the Ricky Williams one.

 
so watched the June 17, 1994 piece last night.

So far that is the worst one. Even worse than that Baltimore Colts Band one. In fact, I don't know if it's even close - what a snore fest.

I'm looking forward to next weeks documentary - The Two Escobars (http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-two-escobars.html)
Interesting...I thought that was one of the better ones myself. I like seeing actual news footage of those events again intertwined together, rather than a bunch of talking heads talking over clips as someone else also mentioned.
Presenting the raw footage without commentary was a daring choice for the June 17 filmmakers to take and probably a smart one. A bunch of talking heads trying to place the OJ chase in some kind of historical context would have killed the film.
 
I have missed a couple of these and they don't seem to replay them. Hopefully a marathon will happen at some point.

 
Run Ricky Run, The U, USFL, Iverson, Reggie Miller, I have enjoyed a lot of them. You can't like them all equal and I think these have been quality endeavors by ESPN and the filmakers.

 
I think The Two Escobars was the best of them all. I was riveted from start to finish.
Agreed. It was fascinating watching the entire nation first hunting for Pablo Escobar, then getting behind the Colombian National Team at the World Cup.But it was almost karmic that the team did poorly at the WC seeing how the team had been built on the drug/blood money.

One of the best of the 30 out of 30 I have seen

 
It was very well done. The filmmakers did a balanced job of presenting the points of view of a bunch of interview subjects with varying motivations. Andres Escobar wasn't a particularly interesting subject but the characters and events surrounding him sure were

 
The two Escobars replays July 2nd at 1:30Am on espn 2. Already got the DVR set.

 
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Not only was "The Two Escobars" the finest 30 for 30 yet (by a mile), it is perhaps the best documentary I've ever seen, PERIOD.

Absolutely incredible. :thumbup:

 
The two Escobars replays July 2nd at 1:30Am on espn 2. Already got the DVR set.
Or you can watch it here http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-two-escobars.html.If you guys liked the Pablo stuff, definitely read Killing Pablo. The footage though was awesome. ESPN really outdid itself here. Great timing with the World Cup going on. :thumbup:
I read Killing Pablo and loved it -- the footage shown in the movie of what was described in that book (like his "prison" and reign of terror and #### like that) was the best part of this doc IMO. I thought it could have been 15 minutes shorter, but it didn't suffer as much as The U from being too long. I'd put this in my top 3 to 5 of the 30 for 30 docs, not sure where exactly though.On an unrelated topic, On Demand is trying to get people to spend $8 on "The Birth of Big Air" which is one of the (upcoming?) 30 for 30 docs. This one looks interesting.

 
I've also seen many of these 30 for 30 episodes, and The Two Escobars is by far my favorite. Most of it is subtitled, but I was riveted. Interviews with friends, family, team members, government officials. Such a vivid picture was painted of Colombia in the 80's and 90's. It was also very sad, knowing the entire time that it does not end well for Andres.

I remember the WC in 1994, and I remember the game between the US and Colombia and the own goal. Obviously I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes and back in Colombia at the time. When Escobar scored the own goal, you really get the sense that his teammates knew he was a dead man. He comes across as such a nice guy, and it is just very sad. Although he was stupid for going out in public.

Great episode.

 

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