OT- Muhammed & Larry
October 28th, 2009 at 12:20 AM ^
Yeah. That was a pretty fantastic documentary. The secret neurological test that the Nevada boxing commission made Ali go through (and the sad result) was almost unbelievable.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:24 AM ^
ESPN's best 30 for 30 documentary so far. Although, it may be trumped by that 'jimmy the greek' doc they have coming up.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:45 AM ^
I'm a little surprised. ESPN normally is just white noise to have on while I'm busy with something else, but the 2 docs I've seen, the Baltimore Colts and the USFL, were both very good.
October 28th, 2009 at 1:23 AM ^
I've seen the other two - this Ali one and the Gretzky one. Phenomenal, particularly tonight's - it's just stunning when they juxtapose images and video of Ali against Holmes and just 5ish years earlier. In a terribly depressing way, but still.
This is the best thing ESPN has done in some time by a wide margin.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:11 AM ^
the series that was so realistic, the NFL had it cancelled lest ESPN lose its broadcast rights to the NFL.
The Pissman Cometh.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:24 PM ^
It was sad to see the guy from Wild and Crazy Kids as a crackhead, though.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:31 AM ^
It was hilarious when Holmes' wife said that when they first met, he drove her car and stole the money out of her ashtray.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:10 AM ^
Really captured the despair the entire nation of Canada entered into and gave you a sense that all parties involved now in retrospect have tinges of regret for letting Gretzky go. I thought the filmmakers did a good job of also really getting just how spectacular this trade was... you have the greatest player of all time, who just won the championship, MVP trophy, IN HIS PRIME, traded for a lot of pieces and cash.
I missed the USFL one-- really hope to catch that on replay. Looking forward to the Jimmy the Greek doc as well.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:35 AM ^
I'm a young guy, and didn't really know anything about the league. The star power in that league was amazing to me, Anthony Carter, Doug Williams, Herschel Walker, Steve Young, hell Steve Spurrier coached in it! The Trump angle was also very good, you really get a good idea of the dynamic between the big players behind the scene of the leagues end.
October 28th, 2009 at 1:03 PM ^
Damn. I really want to see this episode but 30 for 30 hasn't made it to the UK.
I had the best job ever in high school. I worked for the guy who had the contract to provide pre-, post-game and halftime entertainment for the Memphis Showboats. I, along with a handful of carefully selected friends, got to spend every home game on the sidelines (next to the Dreamboats) of the Liberty Bowl and run the occasional riser with microphone to the middle of the field for the national anthem or the ever popular Ol Man River. Before and after the game, we hung out in the pressbox and occasionally raided the owner's suite for a beer.
I managed to get a sweatband from Anthony Carter once and got to say hi to Reggie White every game. Oh the memories.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:27 AM ^
or DVR the things. I saw the entire USFL episode and half of the Gretzky one, but I haven't been keeping up to watch the others.
Not that I had a rooting interest in the USFL (too young to remember), but Donald Trump is now even more of a joke to me.
October 28th, 2009 at 8:52 AM ^
I caught that last night. Have really been impressed with the 30 30 junk. ESPN? wtf? gee. i didn't know they had it in 'em. Of course, they'll probably do a Farve or Tebow thang and ruin their own redemption, but whatever.
I always liked Larry Holmes. Heck of a boxer. Probably better than Ali even. Boxing sewks any more. Too bad, to, cuz it used to be great. Oh Well. Now we got that unlimited mortal combat stuff and that is....bloody.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:59 AM ^
Did anyone else detect a Mike Tyson-ish quality to Holmes' voice?
It's clear the fight never should have happened and the fact that Ali fought AGAIN after that is amazing and sad.
There have been comments expressing surprise that ESPN is doing such a good job on these. They get credit for engineering and overseeing the project but have clearly given creative license to the top-notch outside filmmakers, including Barry Levinson, which I think explains the quality.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:34 PM ^
anything about Ali is a win. i didn't realize that he was boxing still at that age though, that was really sad to see him get his ass kicked like that.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:15 PM ^
I think it proves how short-sighted television has become with certain producers controlling just about every bit of creative original work that could appear on their network. The main change in this is that the directors all signed on with promises of minimal intrusion from outside sources.
And what do you know, it's excellent.