Favorite sports documentaries

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nickhawk

Well-Known Member
There have been quite a few of the ESPN 30 for 30 shows that I have enjoyed watching, but for pure entertainment value, I enjoyed the Fab 5 documentary the best - I was in my teens when that group burst on the national stage and it was pretty cool to think that the Hawks beat them. I also found it interesting to see that Russ Millard was ranked as the 42nd best recruit in the nation the year that the Fab 5 was recruited (ahead of Ray Jackson who was in the 50's nationally).

There was also recently a documentary about the UNLV basketball team that ran on HBO that was very cool to watch. That '87 loss to the Running Rebels in the Elite 8 is still my most painful Hawks sports memory.
 


If you liked the 30 for 30's you should check out the free podcasts on every episode. Bill Simmons hosts with guests like either the filmmakers and/or journalists. For example for the one on the Miami Hurricanes he has Dan LeBatard on. You can get them free on itunes by searching for 30 for 30 in the podcast section.
 


I had several that I really liked.

"The best that never was" - Marcus Dupree
"No crossover: the trial of Allen Iverson"
"Four days in October"- 2004 ALCS comeback
"Jordan rides the bus"
"Run Ricky, Run"- Ricky Williams (one of the most misunderstood athletes of our time, IMO)

Several other just miss the cut for my top 5. Greatest thing ESPN has ever done, IMO.
 


tm3308 said:
I had several that I really liked.

"The best that never was" - Marcus Dupree
"No crossover: the trial of Allen Iverson"
"Four days in October"- 2004 ALCS comeback
"Jordan rides the bus"
"Run Ricky, Run"- Ricky Williams (one of the most misunderstood athletes of our time, IMO)

Several other just miss the cut for my top 5. Greatest thing ESPN has ever done, IMO.
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Spot on. And I would throw in the Miami Hurricans: All About the U.

Even though I really despise Nebraska football, I think the epic game between Nebraska and Miami is portrayed in an awesome way. The way Nebraska, a bunch of hard working farmboys, went down there and beat them in the orange bowl is cool. The manner in which they did it was so pure. But that's a sidenote, I think ESPN did a great job showing these films.
 




I liked the Miami Hurricanes one and the USFL one as well too.

Also, the Ken Burns baseball series is good too though it's ******* long.
 


my top 5 30 for 30
1. unguarded- just goes to show that drugs and alcohol can affect anyone
2. fab five- I was 5 when the game vs unc happened but I remember it somehow. hated how webber ducked out on interviews for it though.
3. catching Hell- as a cubs fan I remember that 8th inning like it was an hour ago. damn u Alex gonzalez.
4. the U- soo damn cocky but It's hilarious. "if you don't want us to dance, don't let us score."
5. the best that never was- Marcus dupree was destined for greatness until he quit college. his highlight videos from high school are insane.
 
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I second the mention of Baseball by Ken Burns.


I really enjoyed Catching Hell, even though it brought back extremely painful memories. I was a 20 year old kid riding sky high through that postseason until Game 6 of the NLCS. I think I was past the point of being ****** when that happened and just in complete shock. Even though the Cubs took the lead a couple times in Game 7 with homers from Alou and Wood, it never felt like they were going to win the game.

Red Sox fans have said is the feeling they had in Game 7 of the '86 World Series after the Buckner game.
 




iahawks912 said:
Catching Hell the 30 for 30 with Bartman is my hands-down favorite so far.
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That one is very well done, even for a guy who's not much of a baseball fan.
I also liked the Marcus Dupree, "The Best That Never Was."
And the SMU one, whatever that was called.
 


1. Unguarded- The story of Chris herren and how drugs ruined his life
2. The reggie miller/spike lee one
3. The fab five
4. The u
5. Smu
 


The Last Game- High School Football in Penssylvannia, CB West High School. In this documnetry Kirk Ferentz, Pat Flaherty, and Ed Hinkle are all in it true story an intense sports documentry. Also the New York Jets DC is a head coach for one of the schools.
 






I also like Power, Passion and Glory The real story of Texas High school Football Madness. The story of Celina, Texas and their 80 game win streak.
 


HBO has a lot of good sports docs.

Two recent ones that are very good are the Magic/Bird rivalry and the McEnroe/Borg rivalry.
 


Watching Hoop Dreams for the first time was the realization for me that there was no chance in hell I would play Division 1 basketball.

Ken Burn's Baseball is awesome, you couldn't sit and watch it all at once but broken up over a couple weekends it is pretty good viewing, but you need to really love the game to get that into it.

"When We Were Kings" is pretty good too, if you still consider boxing a sport.
 


Best sports documentary, hell best documentary period--ever--IMO, is "Hoop Dreams". I also like "One Day in September", the Kevin McDonald piece about the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of the Israeli athletes/coaches.

Of the ESPN stuff, I really liked the Wayman Tisdale story, along with "Into the Wind", the one Steve Nash produced about Terry Fox (the kid who tried to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research).

"The Marinovich Project" was surpsisingly good, as was "Unguarded". The most painful, interms of heart-wrenching, is a toss-up between "Into the Wind" and "Without Bias".
 


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