30 for 30 complaint

[Steak Snabler]

I don't recall it being brought up then. But Bo does theorize in his book "Bo Knows Bo" that he thought Culverhouse's Alabama allegiance might have played a role.

 

[fishwrapper]

Of course I understand the criticism. It struck me watching, too.
With that said, I thought Chuck was pretty-damn good. (As was Heisler.)

 

[Diego Marquez]

What makes 30 for 30 work, IMO, is the quality of what is said rather than the source of the quotes used. It is similar to putting together a takeout where you work like heck to amass all the great stuff you can find, then combine it into a stirring tale. You might bust your butt to find the perfect source, only to get hooey from him. So you use what works. In this case, I thought Klosterman worked quite well. Although I agree there are many sources out there with great insights into Bo.

Sort of sad to see G. Brett aging. He will always be in his 30s and striving for .400 to me.

I thought Brett looked great... I'm pretty sure he's 59.

.390, pine tar, and the '80 World Series, yet he's a Hall of Famer in my book for this:

 

[Mark2010]

I don't recall it being brought up then. But Bo does theorize in his book "Bo Knows Bo" that he thought Culverhouse's Alabama allegiance might have played a role.

The theory doesn't make any sense to me. If he didn't want Jackson, why waste a No. 1 overall pick on him?

 

[Steak Snabler]

I don't recall it being brought up then. But Bo does theorize in his book "Bo Knows Bo" that he thought Culverhouse's Alabama allegiance might have played a role.

The theory doesn't make any sense to me. If he didn't want Jackson, why waste a No. 1 overall pick on him?

Culverhouse did want Jackson, but he flew him to Tampa on the team plane to negotiate. That was an NCAA violation, and cost Bo his baseball eligibility for the rest of his senior season. Whether or not he did so on purpose is the issue.

 

[Small Town Guy]

It's fun seeing the Klosterman chatter because I can compare it to some talks I've had with a friend who's an academic historian and I always love hearing his stories about who's considered an expert, who gets to be a talking head on the TV shows or documentaries, etc. It's the same things we debate, only about history. The Times had a story about the historians Obama invited to the White House for chats, and my friend said one of the guys was an absolute joke and became known because he has nice hair and gets on TV. And when I went to a panel for the New Yorker festival, a woman named Annette Gordon-Reed talked about Jefferson and he was...not impressed that she'd be the one asked.

 

[ringer]

I was watching the Bo Jackson 30 for 30 and they kept interviewing Chuck Klosterman. I think he probably was interviewed more than any other writer/expert

Don't get me wrong, I think Klosterman is brilliant, but I'm watching it and I'm thinking, "I could have sworn Klosterman is basically my age, why is he being interviewed like he's a Bo Jackson expert?"

Bomani Jones was another one featured pretty prominently in documentary. How in the fork is he an authority on Bo Jackson? I get Jeremy Schaap, since his dad wrote Bo's autobiography. I get Boomer Esiason, I get Mark Gubicza, I get George Brett, I get his former coaches. I loved seeing deck Kaegel on there, but apparently he's not nearly the Bo Jackson expert that Klosterman or Jones is...

I understand why they do this for guys who played in the 1950s.

I felt similarly about watching a 36-year-old wax poetic about the 1962 Ole Miss football team.

I had the same thought.

Since when is Klosterman the authority on Jackson? If there was any tie whatsoever, it was lost on me. And I agree, he ate up far too much time. Imo, the best interviews were with Bo himself and his old coaches. The show would have been fine with those alone -- and Harold Reynolds. But wait, did they even interview Reynolds? (Sorry, I watched it a while ago.)

Also, interviewing a biographer is WEAK when your subject is still alive (and quite lucid).

Bottom line: I think ESPN mis-assigned this one. The producer picked some poor sources and relied far too much on talking heads in general.

 

[Small Town Guy]

I don't think it's weak to interview a biographer when a subject is alive. Should Maraniss never be asked about Clinton or Obama? Should Kriegel never be interviewed about Mancini or Namath (well, with Joe you might have the lucidity angle...)?

And even if you do have the subject alive and talking on the project, a biographer can examine issues the subject might not be willing to talk about. It's the difference between reading an autobiography and a biography. Roland Lazenby wrote a Jerry West bio, then West wrote his own book. West would obviously have things that Lazenby wouldn't, but at the same time, Lazenby - or any biographer - will have talked to all kinds of people who can offer new information.

And I did like Klosterman's contribution. Mark Ames would surely disagree with me, but I do think he's a guy you can talk to about pop culture phenoms, which is what Bo was back in the day.

 

[Versatile]

I haven't liked any of the 30 for 30 specials. If I am going to watch a documentary, I want it to involve new reporting or new footage, not a bunch of guys sitting around and talking about something that happened 20-30 years ago with nothing new to say. Hoop Dreams was a great documentary.

 

[playthrough]

I was watching the Bo Jackson 30 for 30 and they kept interviewing Chuck Klosterman. I think he probably was interviewed more than any other writer/expert

Don't get me wrong, I think Klosterman is brilliant, but I'm watching it and I'm thinking, "I could have sworn Klosterman is basically my age, why is he being interviewed like he's a Bo Jackson expert?"

Bomani Jones was another one featured pretty prominently in documentary. How in the fork is he an authority on Bo Jackson? I get Jeremy Schaap, since his dad wrote Bo's autobiography. I get Boomer Esiason, I get Mark Gubicza, I get George Brett, I get his former coaches. I loved seeing deck Kaegel on there, but apparently he's not nearly the Bo Jackson expert that Klosterman or Jones is...

I understand why they do this for guys who played in the 1950s.

I felt similarly about watching a 36-year-old wax poetic about the 1962 Ole Miss football team.

I had the same thought.

Since when is Klosterman the authority on Jackson? If there was any tie whatsoever, it was lost on me. And I agree, he ate up far too much time. Imo, the best interviews were with Bo himself and his old coaches. The show would have been fine with those alone -- and Harold Reynolds. But wait, did they even interview Reynolds? (Sorry, I watched it a while ago.)

Also, interviewing a biographer is WEAK when your subject is still alive (and quite lucid).

Bottom line: I think ESPN mis-assigned this one. The producer picked some poor sources and relied far too much on talking heads in general.

Reynolds was not interviewed, and I thought that was a pretty big whiff. Gotta be a backstory there, either the producers didn't want to go after him due to his ESPN history, or Reynolds refused for the same reason.

 

[exmediahack]

What makes 30 for 30 work, IMO, is the quality of what is said rather than the source of the quotes used. It is similar to putting together a takeout where you work like heck to amass all the great stuff you can find, then combine it into a stirring tale. You might bust your butt to find the perfect source, only to get hooey from him. So you use what works. In this case, I thought Klosterman worked quite well. Although I agree there are many sources out there with great insights into Bo.

Sort of sad to see G. Brett aging. He will always be in his 30s and striving for .400 to me.

I thought Brett looked great... I'm pretty sure he's 59.

Yup, George is 60 in May. I saw him at the All Star Game from a close range. Very tan. Thick around the belly. Probably playing lots of golf and "being George Brett".

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I would expect the nation's leading dork-chic hipster writer to ruin a sports documentary by talking endlessly about a Nintendo game.
Chuck Klosterman will still be talking and writing about this stuff when he's 60 years old.