ESPN's 30 for 30 Program

[dabvu2498]

Originally Posted by MWM

It wasn't a knock on the quality of the documentary. It was more a topic I couldn't care less about. And I really don't see how it was a topic worthy of being included in this kind of undertaking. Maybe I'm missing something, but I still don't get why it's so newsworthy.

On the surface, I might have thought the same thing. But that was forgetting how freaking good they were. Throw in the cultural aspects of what they did, and yeah... it was worthy of its' own documentary.

Bill Corben's "personal statement" on ESPN's website sums it up best:

Long before hip hop superstars and thug culture filled our airwaves, shopping malls and iPods, the Miami Hurricanes brought street values and hood bravado into America’s living rooms. If the ’Canes didn’t invent the end zone celebration dance, they certainly popularized and perfected it.

By the late 1980s the Miami Dolphins were no longer capturing the collective imagination of South Florida as they once had. The Hurricanes had become Miami’s team. My team. I remember my father paying 10 bucks to park on somebody’s front lawn and then following the crowd a couple of blocks to the Orange Bowl. I remember watching these young warriors emerge through that smoke to the bloodcurdling roar of Miami football fans. They were not the steeped-in-tradition choirboys of Notre Dame, but they were our hometown heroes: diverse, brash and dangerous. Just like the city of Miami itself.

They spoiled us with national championships: 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991. And then a fifth in 2001. We literally expected to win a national title every year. Beano Cook called the ’Canes “the greatest dynasty since Caesar,” and he was right. I watched this team, over the course of a generation, pump out some of the most thrilling, controversial and brilliant players in football history: Jim Kelly, Michael Irvin, Vinny Testaverde, Cortez Kennedy, Warren Sapp, Jerome Brown, Jessie Armstead, Ed Reed, Bernie Kosar, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Jon Vilma, the list goes on.

http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-u.html

[blumj]

Our friends at NBA Entertainment wanted to make a film about how Yugoslavia's basketball team was ripped apart by the Bosnian War--not just because it was a terrific story, but because they were sitting on a treasure chest of footage that nobody had ever seen. The talented crew from Rakontur Productions wanted to tackle University of Miami in the same spirit with which they nailed "Cocaine Cowboys". How do you say "no" to any of those stories?

And that's how it went. We thought we would be shaping "30 For 30" like matchmakers on Harmony.com--let's give this idea to him, and this idea to her, and this one to them--but, really, the filmmakers shaped the series for us.

http://30for30.espn.com/bill-simmons-essay.html

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by MWM

It wasn't a knock on the quality of the documentary. It was more a topic I couldn't care less about. And I really don't see how it was a topic worthy of being included in this kind of undertaking. Maybe I'm missing something, but I still don't get why it's so newsworthy.

That's what I've found interesting about this. Quite a few of the ones I've watched have been about things I would have thought I couldn't care less about, and they ended up being outstanding. Really the only one that didn't wow me was the fantasy baseball one, and they did all they could there, the subject matter was just a little too dry for me. And even that one I'd still call an hour decently spent.

[Chip R]

I've enjoyed pretty much every one. The only ones that I didn't really enjoy as much as the rest were The Birth of Big Air and Fernandomania. I did find it interesting that Chavez Ravine was once a home for Mexican immigrants and them getting forced out was a big reason the Dodgers weren't popular with them. My girlfriend doesn't really care for sports but she watched the Roto documentary with me and she liked it; probably because it was so goofy and we both like that.

I thought The Two Escobars was fantastic. The Terry Fox one made things get awful dusty when I was watching it. I thought the Tim Richmond one was fascinating and I don't even care for NASCAR. He reminded me of those flamboyant pro wrestlers of that time.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

That's what I've found interesting about this. Quite a few of the ones I've watched have been about things I would have thought I couldn't care less about, and they ended up being outstanding. Really the only one that didn't wow me was the fantasy baseball one, and they did all they could there, the subject matter was just a little too dry for me. And even that one I'd still call an hour decently spent.

I agree, except that I really enjoyed the Rotisserie baseball one. I liked the humor they added to punch it up a bit.

Another one I really enjoyed was the one about the Baltimore Colts marching band that continued to play together long after the team moved to Indianapolis. That episode also had some interesting insight into the volatile Jim Irsay.

[redsfanmia]

Originally Posted by RichRed

I agree, except that I really enjoyed the Rotisserie baseball one. I liked the humor they added to punch it up a bit.

Another one I really enjoyed was the one about the Baltimore Colts marching band that continued to play together long after the team moved to Indianapolis. That episode also had some interesting insight into the volatile Jim Irsay.

I think you meant the volatile Bob Irsay, Jim is the son who owns the team now. Bob was the owner who moved the franchise and had some serious issues.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by redsfanmia

I think you meant the volatile Bob Irsay, Jim is the son who owns the team now. Bob was the owner who moved the franchise and had some serious issues.

Yep, Bob's the one I meant.