30 for 30 running thread

Ole Miss and Miss State played a lot of games in Jackson, all the way through the '80s. Off-campus sites - somewhere I hear "Taps" playing for Legion Field - just aren't en vogue anymore.

 

Yes, but homecoming has always been on-campus regardless of where the team played other games. That's what makes it "homecoming."

The reason Ole Miss and MSU often played in Jackson and Bama often played in Birmingham was that those stadiums were far bigger than the ones on campus (and there were also contractual obligations, at least in the case of Alabama and Legion Field). But that's no longer true.

 

Finally watched Benji today, and I agree with Drip on a couple of points, but the "peacocking" statement has some merit to me too. My take on it is that Wilson was a good kid, but he was a bit cocky and had some swagger to him (not necessarily in a bad way). Some of his childhood friends mentioned it in the doc, but they managed to keep him out of trouble. And whether they were mugging him or there was a confrontation and words exchanged, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is a sad story.

I also don't think it's fair to say that this was basically the Without Bias or the Hank Gathers Story. All three are tragedies, but the circumstances are far different in all three. Just because they were all accomplished young black basketball players doesn't make it the same story any more than if you said documentaries on Clemens/McGwire/A-Rod would be the same story, even though those have more similarities than the ones that were previously compared.

 

Finally was able to watch the latest on Ole Miss. I thought it was for the most part well done. My complaints are the same as previously mentioned - although I also could have done without the History Channel treatment of "re-enactments" (and please, writing of notes - how f*cking set up is that crap). Still, I learned some things and the people they got to talk on camera were great (and a good explanation of why the fullback didn't appear).

1. Ghosts of Ole Miss; 2. 9.79*; 3. Benji; 4. Broke; 5,000,000. No place like home.

 

I tried hard to be moved by Ghosts Of Ole Miss, but I wasn't. Didn't feel all that new. Felt very forced.

 

Thought Ghosts of Ole Miss was excellent, and the notes and Thompson's pretentious clothing at hat aggravated me. I understand he is close to the situation, and I love him as a writer for the most part, but I could have done without seeing him nearly as much as we did. Thought he was good as narrator, though.

Also watched No Place Like Home, and it was far better than I expected. Even though I knew the KU bid would be the winner, they managed to build tension, and the guy pulling it all together was pretty good. Though I think he could have changed out of his scruffy adidas for a meeting with a millionaire booster.

 

Thought the same thing... Posted this on the other thread... Not sure which one of these will be more read...

I thought it was very well-done.

Thompson did a great job as a narrator, but I really could have done without the first-person stuff. Journalists should not be the story, especially in something like this. As another writer friend said, "They sure seemed to make it look like someone who was born 15+ years after 1962 could give a firsthand account of what happened.

Thompson is almost certainly my favorite sportswriter, but I was at a loss as to why they had so many shots of him in this otherwise brilliant film. I found it very distracting...

 

Did someone ship you back to the Shoals in chains?

 

Agree with the consensus here, for the most part. One thing I'll add is, having lived far away from the Deep South for the past two years, I'd forgotten all about that soft drink with the three-syllable name:

Co-Cola.

 

My grandfather was born in 1925 and died in 2008, and he said it that way til the day he died.

 

My guess...

His story was not exactly a "video rich" story.

Think back to the Pony Express story (my personal favorite in the 30/30 series). That had video from SMU games, the entire SWC and the scandals itself seemed to play itself out on Dallas TV news stations in 1985-86. "9.79" was very similar -- all that Carl Lewis/Ben Johnson footage and interviews.

Compare that with the black and white highlights of the 1962 Rebels squad and whatever newsreel footage came from the Meredith/riots. There probably wasn't much to work with from a "b-roll" standpoint. I wish Ghosts of Ole Miss would have included more video of today's Mississippi -- not just the campus but the region.

The romanticism of the Deep South makes my eyes roll. I've tried to get into it from the Grisham novels but, "I got nuttin'". I grew up in a split family -- one parent in a Midwest city and one in the Deep South. Between the horrific summers, the hazy stench in the air, seeing poverty all over the place and those ear-splitting accents, I said "no thanks" and went to college as far north as I could.

 

Just finished watching Ghosts of Ole Miss, and I agree with Mizzou, the whole part of Thompson interjecting himself just seemed clunky.

The other thing I wasn't crazy about was how the team was portrayed. It seemed like they were being made to look almost heroic for finishing unbeaten under the circumstances. Circumstances which were caused by their racist classmates and their racist state.