Best 30 for 30 Episodes

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

My favorite of the recent episodes was the one on the World Series Earthquake.

[Drillbit Taylor]

Elway to Marino is a good one.

[Sponsored by Groose Wipes]

Some of my favs are You Don't Know Bo, Pony Excess, June 17,1994, The U, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, The Two Escobars, The Day the Series Stopped and Free Spirits."

I've yet to see Elway to Marino or Brian and the Boz but I've heard good things about them. The only two I did not like were Straight Outta L.A. and The U: Part 2.

[Biggtone23]

Thinking about this it is almost amazing how bad the baseball docs have been. With the exception of the Bo Jackson and the 1989 world series they have all been super forgettable. I had to look them up to see which other baseball ones they have done. The 04 Red Sox, which was pretty much the MLB official world series video shown on ESPN, Jordan playing in the minors, a 1980s little league team, Fernandomania (the little of which I did see was good), Steinbrenner owning the Yankees/building the new stadium, Livan/Orlando Hernandez defecting. Even when they find good stories the execution just falls apart.

[karl100589]

Aug 30, 2015 15:51:06 GMT -5 Biggtone23 said:

Thinking about this it is almost amazing how bad the baseball docs have been. With the exception of the Bo Jackson and the 1989 world series they have all been super forgettable. I had to look them up to see which other baseball ones they have done. The 04 Red Sox, which was pretty much the MLB official world series video shown on ESPN, Jordan playing in the minors, a 1980s little league team, Fernandomania (the little of which I did see was good), Steinbrenner owning the Yankees/building the new stadium, Livan/Orlando Hernandez defecting. Even when they find good stories the execution just falls apart.

What about the Steve Bartman episode?

[Biggtone23]

I forgot that one, that one was good as well. So 3 and a half good ones.

[BRV]

Aug 30, 2015 12:03:11 GMT -5 Drillbit Taylor said:

Elway to Marino is a good one.

I just finished rewatching "Elway to Marino" earlier today and I've said it before but it bears repeating - I can't believe what a whiny little bitch John Elway was. That press conference he had following the 1983 NFL Draft, when he's got that smug, toothy grin on his face as he talks about how he only wants to play where it's warm and he'll play baseball over playing for the Cols, you just want to reach through the screen and ring his neck.

Eli Manning threw a hissy fit privately over potentially playing for the San Diego Chargers, but outside of looking glum while holding the Chargers' uniform as the top pick of the 2004 NFL Draft, you never would have known it. Elway, on the other hand, comes off looking like the most immature primadonna imaginable.

Aug 30, 2015 15:51:06 GMT -5 Biggtone23 said:

Thinking about this it is almost amazing how bad the baseball docs have been. With the exception of the Bo Jackson and the 1989 world series they have all been super forgettable. I had to look them up to see which other baseball ones they have done. The 04 Red Sox, which was pretty much the MLB official world series video shown on ESPN, Jordan playing in the minors, a 1980s little league team, Fernandomania (the little of which I did see was good), Steinbrenner owning the Yankees/building the new stadium, Livan/Orlando Hernandez defecting. Even when they find good stories the execution just falls apart.

I'll agree that "You Don't Know Bo" was largely disappointing, but much of that stems from the fact that Bo Jackson's life before becoming a dual-sport star with the Raiders and Royals wasn't really all that interesting. He just kind of led a regular life as a child, he was supremely talented and athletic, and he became an athletic deity.

30 for 30s that focus on one individual person need for that person to be a very unique and interesting character for the documentary to really shine. "No Crossover", "The Best That Never Was", and "Unguarded" are examples of documentaries that draw you in because the main character was so fascinating, while "Run Ricky Run" and "I Hate Christian Laettner" are a few examples of editions that fall flat because their topics are rather bland, uninteresting people.