30 for 30 running thread

http://30for30.espn.com/

There might be some misses, but I have a feeling there will be some big, big hits.

The USFL topic is the 30 minutes I am looking forward to the most.

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

 

I'm pumped to watch these things. I watched some of the trailer videos yesterday. The one on Gretzky is on tonight.

I'm really interested in the ones on Len Bias, Jimmy the Greek and Allen Iverson. I have a feeling they'll all be damn good.

But let the ESPN bashing begin....

 

I would be shocked if these failed. They hired people who knew what they were doing and reportedly gave them full creative freedom to pursue projects they were passionate about.

This will be the "man on the moon" for ESPN (as in "they put a man on the moon, but can't cure the common cold.") It will be "How can the same network do 30-for-30 and (fill in name of horrific idea)?"

 

Allen Iverson's doc is the one I'm most looking forward to. Same guy who did Hoop Dreams is doing it and AI's trial has been one of the most quietly-racist moments of our modern era.

 

Of all the crap ESPN feeds us, this feels like the most worthwhile endeavor by the network in recent memory.

 

Watched the one tonight, "Kings' Ransom". Fairly well done. Love the old video -- although, as a hockey fan from that era, I could see where they did 'splice' in some extra video to keep it moving. (i.e. some old Kings at the L.A. Forum video portrayed as happening at the Northland Coliseum in the early 1980s, for example -- the lighting was far different in the stands of the buildings).

Very well done production -- like their work 2 years ago of the 1977 Yankees - which was the pinnacle of their original productions.

 

Boy, I thought this was very ordinary. Pretty much like a regular "Sports Century" except a little more disjointed, and with the director inserting himself front and center as a character in the film.

The Gretzky-Jones wedding video was good to see but, overall, I was disappointed, in part because my expectations were high.

 

I caught most of it... I disagree that it was like a Sports Century - there was no narration, for one thing. And the main interview was shot on a golf course.

As a mark of a good doc, I always look for something revelatory, and I had never heard about the call to McNall from Pocklington when Gretzky was in McNall's office-- the one where Pocklington was on speakerphone. That seemed to change everything for Gretzky.

Interesting... can't wait to see the one on Jimmy the Greek.

 

Lovin' Barry Levinson's The Band That Wouldn't Die. Hard to believe the NFL was once like this - with fans like these and teams actually really part of the community.

 

I didn't think I could learn to hate a man in 30 minutes, but Irsay really seems like a dirty SOB.

 

The bar-fight civil trial? How so?
I do agree that Ives would make a great doc. lens through which one could explore the subjects of image and marketing.

 

Levinson made Art Modell seem like a decent guy. That airport press conference was unbelievable. Also enjoyed the interview with Jim Irsay. I could see a real movie being made about the band - the stealing of the uniforms, the good guys, the bad guys. The scene at Annapolis when various musicians come walking from different streets playing the fight song, coming together on the steps.
One thing they'd never get quite right is the looks on the faces of people. The footage of the governor outside the capitol with the band was priceless.