I bought ESPNs 30 for 30 DVD collection. It was on sale one day. I figured I could watch it and sell it and it wouldn’t cost that much.
The below ratings are
1 – meh
2 – pretty good
3 – must watch
“King’s Ransom” (2)
I didn’t follow hockey in the ’80s. I didn’t realize the effect Wayne Gretzky leaving Canada had on Canadians. It’s like if Tom Osbourne left Nebraska to coach at Oklahoma in 1998. This isn’t a great one (no pun intended) but it’s worth watching just for the ’80s haircuts and clothes.
“The Band that Wouldn’t Die” (2)
The story of the Colts moving from Baltimore to Indy. From the perspective of the band? Strange. But it’s about football, so it’s an automatic 2.
“Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?” (3)
If, like me, you’ve always wondered why nobody can create a football league to compete with the NFL, you’ll like this one. I forgot how close they got.
“Muhammad and Larry” (2)
Boxing is a pure, although brutal, sport. That is, until you get to this level. Then it’s corrupt and brutal. Ali and Holmes are interesting figures, though.
“Without Bias” (2)
Len Bias signs with the Celts and dies of a drug overdose. I remember when this happened. They spend a little too much time on how great a guy Bias was. They don’t sugar-coat the fact that he died doing drugs, though. It’s an interesting story about an interesting guy.
“The Legend of Jimmy the Greek” (3)
Do you remember The NFL Today with Mussberger, the Greek, and that blonde chick? Network TV used to talk about point spreads. This is, by far, my favorite one so far.
“The U” (3)
The story of Miami football. This seems to be the universal favorite of everyone I know from Nebraska, but I didn’t like it as much as Jimmy the Greek. It’s a good film, but they’re a little too complementary of the Hurricane’s program, which we all know is the most despicable program except for Notre Dame.
“Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks” (1)
The Pacers and Knicks had a rivalry of sorts for a time, or so I’m told. I can’t relate to New Yorkers or NBA fans, so I had trouble getting into this one. I want to like Reggie Miller, but he’s just a douche.
“Guru of Go” (2)
Paul Westhead’s coaching tenure at Loyola Marymount University. More basketball, but this story was completely new to me and pretty interesting. I guess this guy was a visionary basketball coach.
“No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson” (2)
Three basketball films in a row? Iverson’s story is painted as a black vs. white thing, and I don’t have the historical perspective to know if that’s true. What I like about this film, and all the films so far, is that they aren’t posh pieces. They may have a slant or bias, but they aren’t sickeningly one-sided. Nor or they factless bullshit like you see during College Gameday.
“Silly Little Game” (1)
The story of fantasy baseball. If you like fantasy baseball, you might rate this a 2. For me, it was a waste.
“Run Ricky Run” (2)
Ricky Williams likes to smoke the gange and it cost him an NFL career. They portray him as a thoughtful, introspective guy who just likes to get high. I’m not sure that’s totally true. Worth a watch.
“The 16th Man” (1)
This is a great story about South African rugby. If you haven’t seen Invictus, put it on your queue. If you have seen Invictus, you probably don’t need to watch this. If Invictus had never been made, this would be a 3.
“Straight Outta L.A.” (1)
Didn’t I say that football stories automatically get a 2? Didn’t I say that these films aren’t factless bullshit? Welcome to the exception. This story of the Raiders moving to LA makes two points: Rappers like the Raiders, LA will never sustain a football team because they turn on you the minute you lose a game. If you watch this one, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Worst one yet.
“June 17, 1994″ (1)
Supposedly a bunch of sports related stuff happened on this day. Nope. If you want to get a feel for what counts as ‘sports related’, one of them was a parade. They should have told the OJ story (the white Bronco chase was this day), but chose to turn it into something pretty unwatchable.
“The Two Escobars” (3)
This is a fascinating story of Pablo Escobar’s brother and his soccer career. I know that doesn’t sound great, but trust me, it’s one of the best.
“The Birth of Big Air” (2)
I can think of little that is less interesting than a story of BMX. But the story of Matt Hoffman breaking a lot of his bones and other necessary internal organs is pretty good.
“Jordan Rides the Bus” (2)
MJ plays minor league baseball. I always thought that he really sucked at baseball, but his former teammates and coaches say differently.
“Little Big Men” (1)
The 1982 Little League World Series where the Americans win. To me, it’s a sad tale of people who peaked when they were pre-teens.
“One Night in Vegas” (1)
Tupak Shakur is murdered while attending a boxing match. How is this sports related?
“Unmatched” (2)
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova talk about their rivalry. I enjoyed tennis back in the day and I was very familiar with the rivalry. It was interesting to hear it from the two people involved. The thing I didn’t like about this film was the format. It was staged, obviously, but staged in a way that they wanted it to look spontaneous. It was a little fakey, but still a good film.
“The House of Steinbrenner” (2)
Nobody can stand to listen to New Yorkers alternate between bragging about the Yankees and bitching about the new stadium for an hour. How can so many people who think they’re better than everyone else live in such proximity to each other? The highlight of this film was the interview with Hal Steinbrenner. He’s an introvert. He likes checklists (he’s a pilot). He likes budgets. He spoke about his gregarious sister with what seemed like a mixture of jealousy, disdain, and contempt. I like this guy – despite the fact that he’s a Yankee.
“Into the Wind” (3)
Listening to Canadians is easy compared to New Yorkers. This is a compelling, inspirational story. Very compelling. I don’t remember this when it happened so it was all new to me.
“Four Days In October” (1)
The Red Sox win the pennant over the Yankees in 2004. Oh, they won the World Series that year, but I guess that’s not a story. I don’t care about Boston. I don’t care about New York. How many films about New York do I have to watch?
“Once Brothers” (2)
Surprisingly interesting story of Dražen Petrović and Vlade Divac, two NBA players from Yugoslavia. One was Serbian and the other Croatian so they hated each other. But they didn’t hate each other until the Communists left Yugoslavia. In fact they liked each other. Is Communism the cause of brotherly love? I’m not sure if I’m Serbian or Croatian by heritage, but the Serbs come off like douchebags in this film.
“Tim Richmond: To the Limit” (2)
A NASCAR driver I never heard of before watching this. He was Jeff Gordon before Jeff Gordon. That is, he was a good driver but not a redneck, so nobody in the sport liked him. They make it sound like he was going to be the greatest driver of all time, but I can never tell how accurate that is.
“Fernando Nation” (2)
The story of Fernando Valenzuela’s rookie year, in which he won the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young. Not a gripping tale unless perhaps you lived in LA at the time.
“Marion Jones: Press Pause” (2)
I’m not a big track and field fan, so while I knew of the Marion Jones story, there was a lot I didn’t know. She won a National Championship in basketball at North Carolina. She’s fairly hot. She went to prison for six months. She now plays in the WNBA. All things I didn’t know. This show was about 20 minutes too long, but still a good show.
“The Best That Never Was” (3)
Marcus Dupree played for the Sooners and looked to be one of the greatest of all time. But like most 19 year olds, he makes bad decisions, particularly about who associates with. He ends up in the USFL. Now he drives a big rig for a heavy equipment rental place. What struck me in this film is how honest everyone is. Dupree freely admits his mistakes. Switzer admits that his handling of Dupree was regrettable. And Dupree’s entourage? You can tell who got rich and who didn’t. Oh yeah, and everyone got paid to play football. You know, unlike today.
“Pony Excess” (3)
How is Craig James rich and famous? One of life’s great injustices. Apparently he was the only player at SMU that wasn’t on the payroll. That either makes him uber-moral, uber-stupid, or a liar. Anyway, SMU paid athletes to play football, got caught, kept paying, and got caught again. It changed the face of college football. They got the “death penalty” from the NCAA and their football program is just now become relevant again. This film could have been better, but the story is just so good it’s worth it.
I finally got through them. If you’d like to borrow the set before I sell them, say so the next time you see me.
