The past few years I’ve given ESPN a lot of crap for the things they do, one of which is constantly showing poker on the flagship channel. But I don’t want to always point out the negatives, so here’s one thing I am impressed with… ESPN 30 for 30, which is a documentary series featuring thirty films based on sports from 1979 to 2009.
About a week ago I watched the episode “Four Days in October” which tells the story of the Boston Red Sox coming back to beat the Yankees after being in a 3 games to none hole in the 2004 American League Championship series. I’m sure baseball, and specifically Red Sox fans, enjoyed the episode. Yankees fans… probably not so much.
Tonight I watched the episode “Once Brothers” which tells the story of Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac. Those of you that are either basketball fans or fans of the Los Angeles Lakers probably recognize Vlade Divac. On the other hand, Drazen Petrovic isn’t as recognizable, mostly because he died in a car crash in his late 20′s, just as he was starting to make his mark on the NBA in the early 90′s. I remember trying to mimic his jump shot playing high school basketball and attempting to go by the same moniker, Petro. Of course, I could mimic his shot all I wanted, that didn’t mean the ball was going to go in. It was an interesting episode, which brought up the friendship between the two players in Yugoslavia and the end of their friendship as a result of the civil war in Yugoslavia. Check it out the next time it’s on TV. The episode is scheduled to show again on Halloween at 9 PM, in the event you have no other plans that night… or you can just set it to record on the DVR.
I like the 30 for 30′s as well. I like the one they ran on Terry Fox, the amputee who attempted a run across Canada in the early 80′s. I remember that when I was a kid. K – You might not have been born yet – no wisecracks.
One complaint I do have though is that I have the 30 for 30′s set to auto tape on my DVR, but ESPN seems to schedule them around live sporting events, which can often run late (especially football games) . This creates problems, as my 30 for 30′s often are clipped at the beginning, somethimes chopping off half the program. I was not able to catch the “Four Days in October” episode because of this and I tried to tape it 3 times! Very frustrating.
Also – on a side note – the Jets totally deserved that game vs Denver. The last pass was a clear interference.
I can’t get over your references to “tape” the show, like you’re recording the show on a VCR. How’s your Walkman working these days?
I do like the idea though, just set my DVR to record Fernando Nation on Tuesday night.