30 for 30 running thread

[BTExpress]

I still miss South Florida. Even though it's August and hurricane season will be at its peak in another 3 weeks.

 

[Huggy]

I was a Dania Jai-Alai degenerate for a couple of years in the late 80s. Only made it to the famous Miami one once. It was the first day of the player strike, and the frontons rushed in a bunch of replacements. I didn't know it at the time and couldn't figure out why all these supposedly spectacular Miami players were so awful.

Back in the day the old man used to spend our Florida vacations blowing our college money at the horses and dogs at Calder and Flagler with the occasional trip to jai-alai at Dania. He knew nothing about it other than you could gamble on it and he was convinced it was fixed. "Why do you bet on it if it is fixed?" I asked. ""Who forking cares if it's fixed????!!!!!" he thundered in his barely decipherable Glasgow street thug brogue. "There has to be a forking winner!!!!"

 

[playthrough]

Back in the day the old man used to spend our Florida vacations blowing our college money at the horses and dogs at Calder and Flagler with the occasional trip to jai-alai at Dania. He knew nothing about it other than you could gamble on it and he was convinced it was fixed. "Why do you bet on it if it is fixed?" I asked. ""Who forking cares if it's fixed????!!!!!" he thundered in his barely decipherable Glasgow street thug brogue. "There has to be a forking winner!!!!"

I went into that 30 for 30 figuring that match-fixing had to figure into Jai-Alai's demise somehow. Just couldn't believe it when I'd see a guy make a catch that would put every SportsCenter Top 10 catch to shame, then five seconds later drop one that a 6-year-old would catch.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

How do you fail to mention that the president of your sport was shot and killed at his country club?

 

[CD Boogie]

How do you fail to mention that the president of your sport was shot and killed at his country club?

Especially since the trigger man, Johnny Martarano, was from Southie and a member of the Winter Hill Gang with Whitey Bulger. 30 for 30 was the brainchild of Boston Sports Guy Bill Simmons, who invented sports documentaries.

 

[Killick]

The 85 Bears were on TV today. Two things will stick with me: the deference (and love) Singletary still shows Buddy Ryan and, as corny as it may be, the line "... revenge is best served Refrigerated."

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Doc Gooden seems to be doing, um NOT, ok.

Frail-looking Doc Gooden refuses to say if he's using cocaine

 

[Riptide]

 

[albert77]

As a postscript to the 30 For 30 episode, "The Greatest Who Never Was," Rev. Kenneth Fairley, the "advisor" who allegedly ripped off Marcus Dupree of around $300,000 was found guilty in a Hattiesburg federal court Monday night on two counts of theft of government funds and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. When reached by the Clarion-Ledger this morning, Dupree's comment was that Fairley, "got what he deserved."

To which I would add a hearty "hear-hear." Fairley tried to get me fired from my job back around 2005 when he claimed I misquoted him in a story I did on a former local high school stud who he was, "mentoring," in his efforts to get the kid reinstated onto the team at Ole Miss following a suspension. So, no, I have no love for the good reverend.

 

[playthrough]

There's a great new 30-for-30 short on Friedman's Shoes, the downtown Atlanta store that served tons of big-footed athletes before the interwebs killed retail.

 

[Dyno]

There's a great new 30-for-30 short on Friedman's Shoes, the downtown Atlanta store that served tons of big-footed athletes before the interwebs killed retail.

I just watched it and agree that it was great. Thanks for posting about it. I need to remember to watch the shorts. I think I've enjoyed every one that I've seen.

 

[The Big Ragu]

There's a great new 30-for-30 short on Friedman's Shoes, the downtown Atlanta store that served tons of big-footed athletes before the interwebs killed retail.

I want to see that. Thanks for clueing me in. I once went in there with a bunch of friends, some of whom are former athletes (how they knew about the store) and have huge feet. I started looking around and found a pair of shoes I liked in my tiny size. One of my friends with a foot about twice the size of mine found the same exact pair in his sasquatch size, and he liked them too. I believe we got them together on a "buy one pair, get a second pair of shoes free" deal and we split the cost. I remember contending that he should have paid twice as much as I did because his shoes required twice the materials that mine did.