I skipped the Marcus Dupree and SMU docs because I loathe big-time college football, which I consider a cesspool of overinflated macho nonsense, provincialism, and corruption. I watched both over the weekend on Netflix, and they were both terrific ... and confirmed that big-time college football is a cesspool of overinflated macho nonsense, provincialism, and corruption.

I'm sure Dayn has read it, but if you haven't read Willie Morris' "The Courting of Marcus Dupree," you're missing out.

Can see it on my shelf from where I stand. Great book by a great writer.

I thought the 2004 Red Sox installment was almost completely ruined by having Bill Simmons smirking in a bar for so much of it. Took away from the narrative and reminded me why I can't stand his shtick.

All the Alabama-Auburn one achieved for me was to depress me about the state of the stinking human animal.

I've seen virtually none of the series. Saw part of the one on the U-Miami & another on Reggie Miller. The Reggie Miller one was fun.

The U-Miami one was enjoyable, but they played fast'loose with the facts. I remember them talking about a Catholics vs. Convicts game and they complained about a bad ref call that cost them a TD, and how they barely lost that game and all. Made it seem like that call cost them. I was curious because I remember that game but don't remember that play -- turns out that a few plays after the bad ref call Miami scored a TD anyway, so they still got a TD on that drive. Didn't cost them the game - but that's not how it seemed in the video.

June 22, 1994. My wife and I, my buddy Chaz and other friends were sitting in the stands at the Rose Bowl watching USA vs. Colombia in the "Copa Mundial". It was my first World Cup match ever - I've been to several since and will be at more in the future (Brazil awaits in 2014!) - but when Escobar let in that own goal we were laughing stupidly "Oh my God, he probably wishes he was dead right now!" Never thinking for a moment that this one play would really cost him his life.

Imagine if Red Sox fans/zealots/crazy drugged-out gamblers were as unforgiving of Bill Buckner.

Scary.

as a very serious college football fan, and someone with a long memory, the U was disappointing for its POV. I wasn't expecting it to be overly critical, but it was basically, 'yeah we were bad dudes, but #### you we're the U'. Kosar seemed hammered during his appearances. A lot of pertinent information was ignored/glossed over. They totally ignored having a chance to win the '85 title after Iowa lost the Rose and OU (a team they beat in the regular season was beating PSU in the Orange), meanwhile Tennessee absolutely punked the Canes in the Sugar Bowl, like it never happened.

#16 is right though. On one hand it was very appropriate that they spent as much time on the '91 Cotton Bowl vs UT as they did, as it was the nadir of the 'U' in terms of total jackassery. From the opening kick off you could tell the Canes wanted to draw blood and out gain the Horns in penalty yards, they just missed 205 yds gained-202 penalty yards. They For some very strange reason, I still have the broadcast on videotape. The most memorable piece isn't a bit of taunting or cheap shots, but Jim Nantz and Pat Haden talking about Randall Hill and how he dreamed of running with cheetahs and being pulled over by the police for speeding (presumably on foot), this was around the time in the game when Hill ran all the way up the tunnel and started firing his guns.

re:#54, yeah, the Cleveland Gary fumble. It wasn't a fumble, he was down and ND did recover, but ND turned it over a few plays later and the Canes scored and were still gonna go for two anyways.

as a very serious college football fan, and someone with a long memory, the U was disappointing for its POV. I wasn't expecting it to be overly critical, but it was basically, 'yeah we were bad dudes, but #### you we're the U'. Kosar seemed hammered during his appearances. A lot of pertinent information was ignored/glossed over. They totally ignored having a chance to win the '85 title after Iowa lost the Rose and OU (a team they beat in the regular season was beating PSU in the Orange), meanwhile Tennessee absolutely punked the Canes in the Sugar Bowl, like it never happened.

They also made it seem like the team was lousy and never got good players til Kosar's class, but I was thinking "didn't Jim Kelly go to Miami????"

I really enjoyed the Allen Iverson story as well.

Canes played in their first bowl (Peach) game after the 1980 season since a '67 Bluebonnet Bowl appearance, so while yeah, Bernie's class was the first elite level class, Howard had sowed the seeds with Jim Kelly and others. Not certain why they didn't go bowling in '81 going 9-2 w/ losses at Texas by 7 and at Miss St. Miami was otherwise mediocre playing a mixed bag schedule as an Independent. Sleeping giant to be sure (same to be said for FSU and UF though, Fla had a pretty strong history (sans titles) pre-Spurrier.

i just want to mention the other baseball related 30-for-30 doc: fernandomania. i think that was a much more interesting doc than the red sox or steinbrenner or little league or fantasy ones, even though it's gone unmentioned to this point in the thread.

I don't think anyone can really understand how crazy it is that such an unsuccessful franchise (40+ years without a title, 7 years without the playoffs, and only 9 seasons with more than 50% wins in the past 50) can still pull huge attendance/TV/merchandise numbers.

One of the top teams in merchandise sales, just last year, was the Hartford Whalers.

A 30-for-30 on the NHL's seemingly-failed move southward, and its impact on the old and new host cities, could be compelling.

Did anyone watch The Guru of Go? I don't know if it was bad, but I was disappointed that it was almost all about Hank Gathers and barely about Westhead and The System at all.

I don't think anyone can really understand how crazy it is that such an unsuccessful franchise (40+ years without a title, 7 years without the playoffs, and only 9 seasons with more than 50% wins in the past 50) can still pull huge attendance/TV/merchandise numbers.

Any Cubs fans in here?

Did anyone watch The Guru of Go? I don't know if it was bad, but I was disappointed that it was almost all about Hank Gathers and barely about Westhead and The System at all.

I saw it and can't really remember much of it. Pretty blah.

I saw Catching Hell last night and even though its not officially a "30 for 30" I'd put it in the top five if it was. Really entertaining. The interview with the minister on origin of the word "scapegoat" and the examination of the film to see if Alou would have caught it and if others interfered were excellent.

I'd also like to see an outsider come into Toronto and do a doc about the unbreakable Toronto Maple Leaf fan support. I don't think anyone can really understand how crazy it is that such an unsuccessful franchise (40+ years without a title, 7 years without the playoffs, and only 9 seasons with more than 50% wins in the past 50) can still pull huge attendance/TV/merchandise numbers. Other legendary teams (Canadiens, Yankees, Red Sox) had down periods, but not the Leafs.

I would say the Leafs have had three distinct periods when they were quite good, each about a generation apart -- the Sittler Leafs (late 70s), the Gilmour Leafs (early 90s), and the Sundin Leafs (early 00s) -- were all minor contenders and forged a new generation of Leafs fans. People like to talk as if they've been constantly bad for 45 years, but that hasn't been the case.

A 30-for-30 on the NHL's seemingly-failed move southward, and its impact on the old and new host cities, could be compelling.

I totally watch that. I'd also watch one on the guy--John Spano--who bought the Islanders, even though he didn't have any money.

They could do a 30-30 on the conspiracy to rob Seattle of their NBA team. I'm pretty sure David Stern is evil. Actually, they could do a 30-30 on all the cities Stern has screwed over since he's been commissioner.

They could do a 30-30 on the conspiracy to rob Seattle of their NBA team. I'm pretty sure David Stern is evil. Actually, they could do a 30-30 on all the cities Stern has screwed over since he's been commissioner.

I wish they had the guts to do a 30-30 on the Tim Donaghy scandal and related NBA ref issues.

30-30: The Curse of Colonel Sanders

I'm surprised nobody has offered "Muhammad and Larry", the 30 for 30 show on the buildup to Muhammad Ali's comeback fight against heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, as being on of the episodes most worth watching. Growing up in Miami and eventually frequenting the same boxing gym shown in Ali's training footage, I'd heard so many eyewitness accounts to Ali's waning skill at this period, but to actually see the footage with my own eyes was nothing short of disturbing. As a historian it immediately recalled watching training camp footage of Jim Jeffries in 1910, preparing to face a prime Jack Johnson in Reno; the former champion, so magnificently and effortlessly athletic and brilliant in earlier footage is completely gone, replaced by some vaguely familiar neophyte clearly ready for slaughter.

What also struck me about the "Muhammad and Larry" footage was how gleefully the sports media bought in to the Ali hype and succumbed to his wishful thinking despite the clear evidence to the contrary on display right in front of them. I think the boxing and sports media at the time willed themselves to believe Ali had one more legendary comeback in him, but never gave Larry Holmes even a shred of the credit he deserved; in retrospect, with Larry Holmes almost universally considered a top-10 all-time heavyweight champion (and I'll gladly argue for top-5) and the signs of Ali's neurological demise so well-chronicled, I'd like to believe some of the covering media are quietly ashamed of their role in his horror.

I wish they had the guts to do a 30-30 on the Tim Donaghy scandal and related NBA ref issues.

There was an actual scandal? The whole thing seemed to go away pretty quickly.

I wish they had the guts to do a 30-30 on the Tim Donaghy scandal and related NBA ref issues.

There was an actual scandal? The whole thing seemed to go away pretty quickly.

IIRC, Donaghy promised that his soon-to-be-"disappeared" book was going to discuss specifics regarding how the league office pressured officials to protect certain high-value players and outcomes. That's what I most want to hear more about - I think the American public is ready for a full review of Michael Jordan and the extent to which his performance was overtly aided and assisted by league officials at every level.

I'd still like to know the truth of Jordan's first "retirement" and how Patrick Ewing ended up a Knick. When it comes to the NBA, I've become a crazy conspiracy theorist as I'm pretty sure David Stern is evil. I put nothing past the man.

I'd still like to know the truth of Jordan's first "retirement"

Yeah, I thought they'd spend more time on that for the "Jordan Rides the Bus" episode but they glossed over it pretty swiftly. "Jordan was the biggest star in the league, Stern was begging him to reconsider," was about as in-depth as the treatment of the issue got.

I would say the Leafs have had three distinct periods when they were quite good, each about a generation apart -- the Sittler Leafs (late 70s), the Gilmour Leafs (early 90s), and the Sundin Leafs (early 00s) -- were all minor contenders and forged a new generation of Leafs fans. People like to talk as if they've been constantly bad for 45 years, but that hasn't been the case.

Yes, there have been three different 2-year periods where everything suddenly clicked...and they still didn't make the cup finals.

Here is a list of the teams that haven't been to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1967, and the year they came into existence:


Columbus Blue Jackets (2001)
Minnesota Wild (2001)
Nashville Predators (1999)
Phoenix Coyotes (1980)
San Jose Sharks (1992)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1918)
Winnipeg Jets (2000)

That's it. Every other team has at least had a chance to play for the Cup in the last 45 years.

Considering Toronto's financial advantage over almost every other team in the league, this would be like if the Yankees didn't make it to the World Series for the next 20 years.

if the Yankees didn't make it to the World Series for the next 20 years.

Yes, please.

given espn's nba contract the chances of any work even remotely critical of the nba is nil

it's pretty pathetic on how their programming endlessly shill every minor nba event. espn didn't seem to acknowledge the baseball season until the all star game.

Bo was certainly big but if you're going to credit any individual, surely it's Jordan (and Spike Lee).

Bo Knows was huge in the late 80s (88/89) and that was 1-2 years prior to the Jordan/Spike/Nike commercials. Jordan eventually became a force bigger than Bo (especially after Bo was injured and dropped out of the limelight).

Bo Knows started running in 1989. Mars Blackmon ads started running in February of 1988. The Mars ad campaign came out at the same time as the Jumpman logo for Air Jordans.

Mars Blackmon ads started running in February of 1988

I thought Mars Blackmon was 89/90?

Considering Toronto's financial advantage over almost every other team in the league, this would be like if the Yankees didn't make it to the World Series for the next 20 years.

I REALLY need to introduce you to some Cubs fans.

She's Gotta Have It came out in 1986. Jim Riswold saw the movie and loved the character. Spent a good chunk of 1987 trying to convince Knight and the Nike top brass to get behind it and it aired as the campaign for Air Jordan IIIs which came out in 1988. Jordan wore the shoes during the 1988 Dunk Championship that took place February 7, 1988. You can do a google search of Air Jordan III and Mars Blackmon and you'll get a bunch of hit. Air Jordan IVs came out in February of 1989.

Trailer for the upcoming 30 on 30