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Posted by on Sep 16, 2015 in Blog | 10 comments

The Top Ten 30 for 30 Episodes on ESPN

 

30-for-30

 

If you’re not watching ESPN’s award-winning “30 for 30” series, you’re missing some great television.

 

Debuting in 2009 and broadcasting new subject matter continuously ever since, these 1- to 2-hour full-length feature documentaries crafted by several top filmmakers aren’t about sports so much as the fascinating people who play the games and transform themselves into cultural icons, along the way experiencing staggering heights and breathtaking joys, but just as often enduring unimaginable frustration, loss, and sometimes even tragedy.  Such are the risks of involuntarily assuming the role of a sports hero in the modern mass media age when the lens or the microphone is omnipresent, which as we see over and over again in so many heart-wrenching stories from all parts of the world — no matter what the endeavor — sporting fame and riches aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

The topics don’t matter much, really.  Even viewers with no sporting connections understand the seductive compulsion of watching people we come to care about as we hear their stories.  Whether it’s football, baseball, basketball, the business world, international soccer, skydiving, sports gambling, or a certain brave young man running across an entire continent — just about every one of these features plays out like a Hollywood movie, brimming with captivating stars, riveting stories, and unexpected twists and turns.  Many of these films include moments of tragedy, as well as extraordinary inspiration.  A warning:  Prepare to smile and laugh, and occasionally tear up.

I’ve seen most of the “30 for 30” segments.  Even if you missed a particular show you’d like to see, most are currently available (in their entirety) on YouTube.com.  Simply type the name of the program into the search box, and (in most cases) the complete show will be a click away.

What follows is my list of what I think are the ten best “30 for 30” episodes on ESPN through 2015.  I’ve also listed an “Honorable Mention” category, as well as a “Swings and Misses” list, which includes films I thought were disappointing in content.  Finally, note that I have not included either the special category of “shorts” (films of 30 minutes or less), nor any of ESPN’s outstanding series on soccer, which featured six different subjects broadcast on the eve of the 2014 World Cup.

Here’s my countdown, starting with #10 ranked all the way up to #1:

10.   “The Legend of Jimmy the Greek”

Many of us who grew up with Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder giving out his football picks every Sunday morning will remember a brash-talking wiseguy in a plaid checkered jacket with a thick gold chain hanging around his neck, who understood the real viewing audience for professional football games, which included millions of gamblers just like himself.  Jimmy the Greek talked just like us, he thought like we did, and he had his flaws too.  Indeed, he was just as susceptible to the pitfalls of the gambling trade, which were brutal losing streaks, states of depression, and financial ruin, which ultimately did him in with fans, friends, and even members of his own family.  Although Jimmy the Greek’s downfall was partially his own doing but also one of the first casualties of political correctness, nevertheless he comes across as a sympathetic figure in this remarkable first-person portrait of a man who personified quite a different era and a golden age, the likes of whom we shall not see again.

 

9.   “Small Potatoes:  Who Killed the USFL?”

Who remembers the blundering United States Football League?  Most of us don’t.  It’s a forgotten footnote and for some — an embarrassment.  The pro sports league lasted only three seasons and failed miserably when it foolishly tried to take on the NFL in popularity.  Ownership infighting, poor team management, out-of-control egos, and the formidable forces of all-powerful opposition killed the upstart league.  This documentary tells that largely forgotten story from a business perspective and includes a most timely segment and a sit-down interview with one of the former USFL team owners, Donald Trump.  Although this film was made long before Trump’s presidential aspirations were announced, it’s still worth watching to observe how the former owner of the New Jersey Generals fields tough questions and challenges to his role in this billionaires’ boondoggle.  The conclusion to the interview (and show) is priceless, not to be missed.  I won’t spoil it for you.  Something to see, especially given what’s happening now, some two decades later.

 

8.   “Catching Hell”

This is a mesmerizing case study on the psychology of mob mentalities and mass fanaticism.  Back in 2003, the lowly Chicago Cubs appeared destined for the World Series of Baseball championship and the prospect of breaking nearly a century of futility, that was, until a freak play in the front row of the stands at Wrigley Field late in the game.  A foul ball that appeared to be quite catchable was hit along the third-base foul line and seemingly should have been caught for the out.  However, a local Cubs fan named Steve Bartman instinctively reached towards the ball as it drifted into the seats and, to the horror of viewers who watched the replay over and over again, apparently interfered with the catch.  The opposing team took advantage of the mishap, scored several runs in the inning, won the game, and went on to win the series, denying the beloved hometown Cubs the shot of a victory.  During and especially after the game, Bartman was vilified, even receiving death threats.  This thought-provoking documentary not only breaks down the actual controversial play and sheds new light on what really happened, more importantly, it reveals the duplicity of jumping to conclusions, showing the ruinous dangers of mass anger, and the shamefully cruel practice of “scapegoating.”

 

7.   “The Fab Five”

Remember the five freshmen basketball players at the University of Michigan, who almost won the 1991 and 1992 NCAA national championships?  No other team in history was ever so young and so talented, so loved by some and reviled by others.  Many of us who remember watching this team and the individuals on it who went on to successful careers playing in the NBA recall our own mixed emotions at the time — in awe of the obvious raw talent and selfless team play but often appalled by such youthful arrogance and swagger.  This documentary which debuted in 2011 tells this remarkable story and imposes that very juxtaposition.  More importantly, the film somehow manages to change minds about these young men, explaining with powerful justification why they acted as they did, and the seemingly valid reasons behind such rebellion (hint:  not being able to afford to buy your own jersey being sold was a huge sour point and since then has rightfully ignited calls for these semi-pro athletes to receive compensation).  For me, the ultimate compliment to any filmmaker is conceding that one’s own previous opinions were changed following the viewing.  My opinion about this team changed dramatically after watching “The Fab Five,” (except for Chris Weber, who comes across as a spineless jerk throughout).  Yes, we know what’s going to happen in the story, including the infamous disaster in the closing seconds of the 1992 national championship game, the story remains every bit as riveting now, as then.

 

6.   “Angry Sky” 

Not many people have ever heard of Nick Piantanida, a man who dreamed of rising into the outer fringes of the stratosphere pretty much all on his own during the early days of space-age and then freefalling back to planet earth in what would have been the highest manned parachute jump in history.  Most remarkable of all, Piantanida wasn’t even an astronaut or a test pilot.  He was a truck driver from New Jersey.  He had no special training.  In fact, he financed the project partially on his own, did all of his own training, and actually attempted two jumps that required extraordinary skill and perseverance.  Was he crazy?  Was he amazing?  Was he selfish?  Was he courageous?  Yes, to all.  I won’t give away the story of what happened — you’ll just have to see the ending for yourself.  This is a stunning true-life tale of the power and danger of living and pursuing a dream, and the inspiration to do what seems impossible.

 

5.   “The U”

The University of Miami Hurricanes football program during the 1980s and 1990s stands as one of the most compelling transformations in the history of American sports.  In what became affectionately known within local circles as “the U,” this small, little-known, private school in South Florida somehow revamped itself into a national powerhouse for nearly two decades and, in the process, ended up changing the sport.  Miami’s football teams redefined on and off-the-field behavior and ultimately the very character of college athletes.  Indeed, if college football had a Muhammad Ali persona, it was the Miami Hurricanes who were “the greatest,” and knew it, and let everyone else know it, too.  Despite burning through four different head coaches and horrifying the NCAA and school administration, the ‘Canes won five national championships and arguably sent more star players to the NFL than any other school.  This is the story of race and economic class.  It’s the tale of how sports for some, becomes liberation.  At times, you’ll hate this team, and you’ll love this team.  You’ll be disgusted.  Yet, you’ll applaud admiringly.  In life and sports, nothing is ever quite as it seems, and the more we know about a story and its characters, the greater our capacity for empathy.  You don’t have to be a Miami alum to be a fan of “the U.”

 

4.   “Broke”

This jaw-dropping expose on the financial ruin of countless professional athletes in every sport can be viewed as a modern Shakespearean tragedy.  Admittedly it’s hard for many to have much sympathy for a boxer like Mike Tyson, who somehow plundered his way through $150 million in earnings or any other sports star who appeared to have their financial future set for life, then had everything crumble around them, ultimately ending up in bankruptcy court.  What causes so much needless waste and graft?  This documentary shows what happens to many of our favorite star players and reveals the real-life drama off the court, out of the dugout, away from the fields and stadiums, where life isn’t quite as easy as hitting a ball or shooting a basket.  Ill-equipped to handle their newly found fortunes, and pressured by a persistent infection of leeches who come disguised and family and friends, many of these millionaire athletes stand no chance at all in the real world.  Such is the dichotomy of being physically gifted but otherwise challenged.  Mimi-spoiler alert:  At the conclusion of the film, the documentary ends with a partial list of pro athletes who went broke.  When you see so many recognizable names and superstars on it, you’ll debate within yourself if these players were fools or victims.  Probably both.

 

3.   “Into the Wind”

There’s a remarkably poignant and powerful scene in “Into the Wind,” when Terry Fox is shown running along a lonely Canadian highway out in the freezing rain, hobbling step-by-step with great difficulty accompanied by nothing other than the sound of his own heartbeat and the indifference of traffic and the nameless and faceless drivers who must have wondered why a one-legged man would subject himself to such appalling conditions.  Such is the memorable journey and final brave act of a young man, stricken with bone cancer, who utterly refused to assume the role of victim.  In 1980, Fox announced his intention to run from Newfoundland in the east to British Columbia in the west, a grueling journey of 3,339 miles on a prosthetic leg, while continuing his treatment for metastatic osteosarcoma.  What makes “Into the Wind” so compulsory as viewing isn’t the obvious tale of personal struggle and instinctive tendency to apotheosize the hero so much as showing Terry Fox as a real human being, with every bit of the same personal flaws as anyone.  Indeed, this makes him all the more real, and his story all the more imperative that we remember.  The story of what happened to Terry Fox will not be revealed here.  You’ll just have to see it for yourself.  I dare anyone to watch even the short trailer below without taring up.

 

2.   “Once Brothers”

Sports and war do strange things to people.  From 1986 to 1990, Vlade Divac (who’s Serbian) and Drazen Petrovic (who’s Croatian) starred on the Yugoslavian National Basketball Team, which competed in the Olympic Games.  When the Eastern Bloc dissolved, the two close friends took their considerable talents on the hardcourt to the United States and the NBA, where the duo with odd-sounding names became popular players on their respective teams — the Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets.  The friendship continued until 1991 when Yugoslavia fell into utter chaos during a bitter civil war fought along ethnic lines.  Divac and Petrovic’s close bonds were ripped apart by the conflict and the two didn’t speak.  Then, tragedy struck and ultimately brought these two boyhood pals together once again, in spirit.  A tale of tragedy, of love, of regret, and of the external powers beyond our control which ultimately shape our lives.  War and sports do share at least one commonality — the capacity to bring people together, as well as tear them apart.

 

1.   “The Two Escobars”

In the early 1990s, the South American nation of Columbia was a very troubled place.  A deadly drug cartel ran certain parts of the country, while ordinary citizens tried desperately to retain some sense of normalcy, their national pride manifested in the hopes, dreams, and expectations of the national soccer team, set to compete in the 1994 World Cup as one of the favorites.  Two men, so utterly opposite in every way, came to define this ongoing struggle — and both were named “Escobar.”  Although they were not related, their two stories are intertwined.  Pablo Escobar, the notorious drug lord was said to have threatened and even murdered soccer referees for making the “wrong” call against his favorite team in a soccer match.  Things got so bad in Columbia at one point, referees couldn’t be found to officiate the games, so fearful so many were of the terror.  At this time Andres Escobar was the most popular sports star in the country and the captain of Columbia’s national team.  When the World Cup was played, millions of Columbians hoped that victory might erase the shame and embarrassment of the nation, usurped by the Medellin Cartel.  Then, disaster struck when Andres Escobar committed one of the most memorable blunders in the history of the sport, scoring an accidental self-goal which cost the national team advancement in the world’s biggest sporting event.  This startling and provocative film plays out like a suspense thriller, only the cast of characters and the stakes are very real.  “The Two Escobars” won multiple awards as a theatrical release and stands as one of the best sports documentaries ever made.

 

HONORABLE MENTION:

“The Marinovich Project” — This is the story of Todd Marinovich, a red-haired boyish-looking college football star at USC who was drafted and played for the (then) Los Angeles Raiders.  Marinovich was groomed from birth to be a pro football quarterback and had all the tools to be a great passer.  Trouble was, he was deprived of a normal childhood and self-destructed once he was given the freedom to be on his own and pursue his own curiosities.  Far more than a cautionary tale about the ravages of drug addiction, we see firsthand the devastating effects of single-minded myopia to the things that actually encompass being human, and they have little to do with sports or football.

“The Best the Never Was” — Marcus Dupree had all the extraordinary talent to be the best there ever was, and then some.  But devastating injuries and some hard lessons learned in life inevitably took their toll, leaving the prospective great running back out of the game finally, left to ponder what could have been.  Saddest of all, Dupree did most everything right along the way.  He’s shown as the victim of others who unscrupulously used Dupre’s dream as their own meal ticket.

“Survive and Advance” — Most sports fans know of the late Jimmy Valvano’s brave story as perhaps the ultimate inspiration, most notably his coaching days as the perpetual underdog at North Carolina State, and eventual demise from life way too early.  This wonderfully poignant documentary takes us through each memorable moment of one of the most remarkable basketball seasons and championship upsets ever, with the surviving players gathered around a table, remembering with tears in their eyes those great times, and their extraordinary head coach who certainly left his mark on more than just basketball.

“Big Shot” — Con men are often fun to watch, and no one conned more people in the National Hockey League than John Spano, who bought the New York Islanders for a short period, and essentially had no money to his name.  The fraudster showed up on Long Island promising to be the franchise’s savior and lived like a king for half an NHL season before his con game was finally uncovered and he was exposed as a nothing.  Hysterically unbelievable at times, this true-life tale of the power of brawn and balls stands as a sporting movie cross between “The Sting” and “The Grifters.”  Except that it really happened.

 

SWINGS AND MISSES:

“Ghosts of Ole Miss” — This film should have been much tougher given the incendiary subject matter, but inexplicably let the principles of the story off way too easily.  Ole Miss was a college football powerhouse during the early 1960s and during the civil rights era became a symbol of state pride for many White Southerners irritated by racial and social change.  Sadly, there were few if any brave souls on the Ole Miss team, which played under the stars and bars to the cheers of lots of bigots, remaining silent when their voices were perhaps needed the most.  Today, those same silent voices don’t seem to carry much shame with them, which in itself is shameful.

“You Don’t Know Bo” — Bo Jackson was surely a gifted multi-athlete, both a football and baseball player.  In his heyday during the late 1980s, Jackson became a franchise all his own, marketed as the world’s best all-around athlete.  Props to Jackson’s talent.  Nonetheless, I was disturbed by the ceaseless ass-kissing and phoniness of it all, this film little more than another fanboy marketing exercise that now seems so nauseatingly pervasive in all of sports and celebrity culture.

“Playing for the Mob” — Henry Hill was featured throughout this documentary of the infamous Boston College college basketball scandal of the 1980s.  The story is compelling to watch, it’s just that nothing Hill says is believable.  Full of narcissism and self-importance, much of what Hill described simply could not (and did not) take place.  He’s lying, or at the very least wildly exaggerating.  One gets the impression the filmmaker knew very little about sports gambling and organized crime going in and wasn’t prepared to do a proper investigative piece.  This was a huge disappointment and is arguably the worst segment of what’s an otherwise stellar series of “30 for 30” films.

10 Comments

  1. “June 17, 1994” is one of my faves. No narration — just video footage from the day of the World Cup starting in Chicago & Dallas, the Knicks/Rockets’ Finals Game 5, Arnold Palmer’s last round at the U.S Open, the N.Y. Rangers’ Stanley Cup parade, and… news of O.J.’s disappearance and the Bronco chase. A surprisingly comprehensive commentary on American culture, and completely gripping start to finish.

  2. Outstanding review of a priceless series of documentaries. I remember when the box set came out, I immediately asked for (and got) them for Christmas. An important piece to any sports fan’s library.

  3. The majority of these videos were intoxicating. Such lives some people lead is borderline insane.

    Seems like living in a tornado to BD. Pass.

  4. Four Days in October is in my top 5.

    I get that people don’t like Bill Simmons, but the real-time feel and footage is fascinating.

    Great article Nolan, it reminded me of some that I had forgotten about.

  5. I second June 17th, 1994. Gripping footage of an astonishing day.

    I’d also nominate ‘Elway to Marino’ for the behind the scenes insights provided.

    Agree with your 1 & 2 choices. Great article.

  6. I found “Survive and Advance” such a compelling work of art that I have watched it multiple times, each time seeing one more fascinating bit previously unnoticed, and each time enjoying it as much as the first.

  7. You did it, You finally pushed me to respond publicly to something that I always wanted to be private ( a difference of opinion ). We disagree on some things and they will stay private but please explain how “Survive and Advance” did not make your top ten when it should be in the top three. Watch it again, please , and tell me what emotion wasn’t touched. Hopefully you will , and maybe then you will evaluate it’s importance and give it a higher rating.

    • Nolan Replies: I gave it top-15 as it made the list as one of the better documentaries. My priorities were based on two things — learning something NEW about an event or the people, and CHANGING MY MIND about an issue because of the documentary. All of the Top Ten did that for me. I enjoyed “Survive and Advance” but I didn’t necessarily learn much that wasn’t known, nor did it alter my view of the moment. I thought that was an easy crowd pleaser, low risk, and well done. I just didn’t view it as cutting edge or challenging in the way the other films were made.

      — ND

  8. Four Days in October and The Two Escobars are my favorites. I thought I’d seen them all but there are a few I see I’ve missed.

    Oh, I also loved You Don’t Know Bo, but I do agree with your synopsis on that particular film. I just enjoyed watching it so much I was able to mostly look past the fanboi crap.

    Thanks so much for compiling this excellent list. I’d put several of them into my own top ten.

  9. “Slaying the Badger,” the story of teammates and rivals Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault at the Tour De France, is great. But then I’m a cycling geek.

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