Sports Documentaries

[Dave Gray]

I usually like 30 for 30 films, regardless of the content.  Human interest is what drives this stuff.  I recently saw a documentary called "Knuckleball", following the last 4 guys to really use the pitch through the majors.  Interesting.  Any other good sports documentaries?

[Phishfan]

I find it interesting because you have repeatedly said you don't care for the human aspect of sports reporting and want X's and O's. I agree on the 30 for 30 films and expect you have seen most of them. I can suggest a series that tells sports stories, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

[Dave Gray]

I find it interesting because you have repeatedly said you don't care for the human aspect of sports reporting and want X's and O's. I agree on the 30 for 30 films and expect you have seen most of them. I can suggest a series that tells sports stories, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

You're absolutely right.  I have very little interest in human interest in regard to sports reporting.

However, documentaries (which I like) are all about the human interest and not at all about the content. It's not live sports reporting -- it's old stories.  Maybe that's why I like it.

[Brian Fein]

My favorite was the one called BROKE about all the players who lost all their money.  They were all on there whining about how miserable their lives are, when they made more money in a year than I will ever see in my lifetime.

[Dave Gray]

^ I saw a similar thing about M.C. Hammer.   

BROKE sounds interesting.

I saw this documentary on Showtime or HBO or something where they gave a bum $100,000 and followed him around for a year to see if he could get his life on track.  He squandered all the money in less than a year.

[masterfins]

I liked the one on Bo Jackson.  He was a phenomenal athlete, without all the bragging that you get from current athletes.

[Dave Gray]

I saw one about Todd Marinovich that was interesting.  Drugs are a hell of a drug, man.

Also, I think it was called "From Elway to Marino" that covered that awesome QB class of '84 was great...but maybe because I have a vested interest in the subject in that case.

[Phishfan]

Pony Excess is a good one. I'm sure we all watched Run Ricky Run. Youngstown Boys gave me an entirely new perspective on Maurice Clarett. Big Shot is a great one (I'm an Islanders fan so I found it very interesting as it was a period where I was cut off from hockey. Turns out a con man convinced the NHL he was purchasing the NY Islanders.)

[Brian Fein]

Also, I think it was called "From Elway to Marino" that covered that awesome QB class of '84 was great...but maybe because I have a vested interest in the subject in that case.

I saw this one too - this was a great one.

Dave have you ever watched A Football Life on NFL Network?  You'd like it.  I saw one about Bill Bellichick that made me hate him a bit less.  Also, same with Ray Lewis.

[Dave Gray]

I've seen clips of a football life (I think about Bellichek) and I liked it.  I saw Shula's as well, I believe.  Good stuff.

[Spider-Dan]

My favorite was the one called BROKE about all the players who lost all their money.  They were all on there whining about how miserable their lives are, when they made more money in a year than I will ever see in my lifetime.

Have you heard about how frequently lottery winners end up losing all their money and are worse off than before?

I think there's two things behind this phenomenon:

1) People who have had perpetual financial struggles (and/or are very young) have never acquired solid financial management skills
2) People who are from a lower income background owe many debts (not necessarily financial) to friends and family who have helped them in the past, and have a hard time telling those friends and family to stuff it after a big payday

I can't imagine it's easy to simply cut all your friends and family out of your life just when you make it big.

[el diablo]

I tend to enjoy the 30 for 30 series on ESPN.  I liked the one about Ricky Williams ("Run Ricky Run"). But my two favorites were about The Big East & The Detroit Pistons.  The Big East brought back memories of Big East Night on ESPN. I was a huge Georgetown fan back then. The one on the Pistons was a blueprint on how to build a team. Unfortunately, in these times that will never happen again in professional sports. They had ten years to build a core.  On a side note, if the Rick Mahorn part doesn't get to you, then you don't have a heart. Just saying.

[Brian Fein]

Also there was one on around the time of the 2012 London Olympics about the Dream Team.  That one was also quite interesting.

[Sunstroke]

The amount I like a sports documentary is pretty much based on how close I am to the subject matter. A documentary on Jerry Rice? Hell yeah!! A documentary on some Brazilian soccer star? Eh...not so much.

I really like music-based documentaries more than sports...