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Post by Mighty Jack on Oct 23, 2009 2:29:34 GMT -5
I've been reminiscing about my old Packer's and thoughts I'd try out some of the NFL films releases. I watched the Complete History of the Green Bay Packers and while there are some gems, it was pretty disappointing. Lombardi and Favre get a lot of time but for die hard Packer's we have a lot of history to celebrate. They say nothing of the Infante/Majikowski "Cardiac pack" season - many great players and highlights are forgotten (Walter Stanley's Thanksgiving punt return with seconds left vs Detroit? The Monday night win against the championship Redskins which saw record points scored. Marcoles blocked FG he picked up and returned for a TD in the first win over the Bears in ages). Lets put it this way, the Jets History DVD runs an hour and 40 minutes and covers EVERY era pretty thoroughly. The Pack has around since 1919 and their DVD doesn't even run a FULL HOUR! Boo I supplemented it with a disc called "Packer Heroes" and that had a lot of nice features, they even covered some obscure players. BUT - Where are the NFL film shorts they did for Travis Williams and Clark Hinkle? I'd love an extensive video History that mentions ALL the greats - Hell go through the record books and show us the longest kick returns, pass receptions TD runs etc. Cover EVERY coach, good or bad. (and package up and release all those old video yearbooks while your at it)  Disappointed with NFL Films - I picked up a book about the history of the team and it's very good. There are gaps (No mention of Carol Dale to name one, only a small sentence about the amazing Roadrunner, Travis Williams) But it is a lot more extensive. Guys like Lavie Dilweg and Bobby Dan Dillon, who are sadly often forgotten (and who damn well should be in the Hall of Fame) are each given sidebar articles along with the well knows like Starr and Reggie. It's been a fun trip down memory lane. So any one else wanna talk books, DVD etc, old or new? |
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Post by Mod City on Oct 25, 2009 13:53:17 GMT -5
I enjoy documentaries and histories on sports, but I don't make a habit out of purchasing or renting that kind of material. I'm especially averse to NFL Films, partially for the style of presentation, but also for the fact that I hate the NFL. So I really can't comment on that front. If I'm going to take in a good non-fiction sports story, it mill most likely be on HBO or ESPN, both of which do a fairly good job with the subject matter (although ESPN can get pretty melodramatic at times). I watched Ken Burns' Baseball when it aired on PBS and loved it, even though I kind of understand why some people don't enjoy Burns' style. And yes, it was long, but worth watching. And very few baseball fans would go through the whole thing without finding out something new about the sport they didn't know about before. One of my all-time favorites was a documentary on the CCNY basketball scandal in 1951, City Dump: The Story Of The 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal. As a big college basketball fan, this was a story I barely knew anything about. I don't even know if it's available on DVD, but if it is I should pick it up. I also don't read much on the subject of sports, but of what I've read, I loved Raw Recruits by Alexander Wolff and Armen Keteyian. It's not quite as revealing today as it was 18 years ago, but it's still good read on college basketball recruiting. I'm also parital to any boxing documentary, of course. There are many I need to watch  |
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Post by davelinajolie on May 24, 2010 7:11:12 GMT -5
I've read a few football books now and the one that stands out head an shoulders above the rest is "When the Game Stands Tall." Fantastic book about the De La Salle Spartans and their record-setting win streak. Speaks a lot to the mental fortitude of the kids and the work those coaches do. I'd recommend that one to any fan of football.
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Post by Mod City on Dec 13, 2010 23:47:59 GMT -5
I had no idea where to post this, but I remembered this thread and thought it was as appropriate a place as any. I think you can pick it up on DVD, but if you can't you will be able to soon. It's also on ESPN a few more times this week. Broadcast schedule is on link below. 30for30.espn.com/film/pony-excess.htmlPart of the 30 for 30 series that just wrapped up on ESPN, it's a documentary on the Southern Methodist University football scandal in the 80s. I knew about it, but I learned a lot. Nicely put together, and it appears to be one of the first films the director has done. The "death penalty" makes it a college sports story like almost no other. And ESPN aired it right after the Heisman Award show where Cam Newton won - wow. I hear the whole series is good, but I honestly can't remember seeing another one right off hand. I'll have to check them out. |
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Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 15, 2010 19:08:15 GMT -5
I saw most of the "30 for 30" films, and a couple of them were outstanding. The one on Reggie Miller was a lot of fun. The USFL documentary brought back a ton of memories from my childhood. I never knew Donald Trump essentially killed the league.
But my favorite one was the documentary on the events of June 17, 1994. The O.J. chase, the U.S. Open, the World Cup, the N.Y. Rangers' Stanley Cup parade, the NBA Finals, and some baseball. I remember that day well. I helped a friend move all day. We gathered around a tiny 17-inch TV we threw on the floor of his vacant living room in the new house to watch the chase.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Dec 16, 2010 10:23:54 GMT -5
Does The Curious Case of Sidd Finch count? ;D I love that book.
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Post by Crowfan on Feb 13, 2011 21:18:00 GMT -5
I really love the book and movie "Friday Night Lights". And having watched the game on tape delay I also highly enjoyed "Miracle" about the US Olympic hockey team beating the heavily favored USSR. Most people don't realize that was the silver medal game, not the gold medal game in which the US beat Finland.
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Post by BJ on Feb 14, 2011 15:57:19 GMT -5
^I watched the USSR game over Thanksgiving, and the high quality of hockey always amazes me. That Russian team was such a great villain for international sports. Between the Summit Series and that Olympics, they just made things so damn interesting. That's one of the reasons I have a Vlad Tretiak jersey hanging in my closet right now. Off the top of my head, my favorite sports book is Andre Agassi's autobiography. He's had an interesting life, and does a great job of portraying what it's like to be a child sports prodigy who makes it as an adult. I'm a slow reader, but this one flew by. It helps that I've been a fan of his most of my life. Another favorite is a documentary film, called Once in a Lifetime, about the New York Cosmos. It gives an outstanding profile of the Cosmos team and the North American Soccer League as a whole. It's interesting to see just how close soccer came to making it in the US, with Giants Stadium at full capacity to see Pele and co. Even before I started surfing, I was a fan of the Endless Summer. It's a lighthearted look at 1960's surfing in locations around the world. There's also Riding Giants, which highlights the origins of surfing in Hawaii, and then goes into the history of big wave surfing. Both are highly recommended, and are well liked by people who have never even seen the ocean. Finally, there's the Man who Skied Down Everest. I wouldn't really call this a sports doc, but it does include Skiing. It's essentially about a Japanese skier's journey up Everest, preparing for the ultimate challenge. Most of it is about the climb itself (rock climbing) and his mental/physical preparations, and it has an almost surreal quality. It's also riffed during Godzilla vs Megalon, so there's that. Hockey, Tennis, surfing and skiing. I think I've become a stereotype of the jaded American sports fan. Oh, here's another that fits the bill. Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi. It's about the beginning of big air skateboarding, with young teenagers living drug and alcohol fueled rockstar lives. Many went on to become successful skaters as street skating took over. Tony Hawk went on to become a multimillionaire. Jason Lee became an actor. Christian, possibly the best of the bunch, wound up in federal prison. An interesting "behind the music" style story. |
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Post by ElectricPeterTork on Feb 15, 2011 1:11:36 GMT -5
Regarding the NFL DVDs...
The problem with the Packers History DVD, Or the reason why it's so short compared to the Jets DVD is probably all based on when each documentary was produced.
The Packers documentary/DVD was produced in 2003. The Jets DVD was 2007.
Somewhere between those two releases, NFL Films got it right, and most all of the "complete history of" documentaries run two hours or more at this point. In fact, the Colts history DVD is split into two discs... an hour on the Baltimore Colts, and an hour on the Indianapolis Colts (pre-Super Bowl win, since that's when the DVD was released).
So, they eventually got it right... you just happened to pick up one of the earlier efforts that was kind of pitiful. But for teams like the Browns or the 49ers, the Documentaries run over two hours, without counting the bonus materials.
Anyway, 30 for 30... great series, picked up the first DVD collection, which had the most recognizable and interesting episodes (the first 15 documentaries), and I plan on picking up the second collection when it comes out on the strength of the Tim Richmond documentary alone.
The first set has great stuff like Who Killed the USFL, The Band that Wouldn't Die (about the Baltimore Colts Marching Band), June 17, 1994, Muhammad and Larry, Without Bias... they really loaded the first 15 episodes with great stuff.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 14, 2011 23:51:36 GMT -5
It finally arrived this week!  Nice highlight for the season, with a collection of slight but fun extras. |
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Post by Mod City on Mar 15, 2011 2:05:38 GMT -5
Sweet. There's a nice comfort to team championship season films. I love Twins Win and Simply The Best, the two video stories of the 1987 and 1991 Minnesota Twins. Not sure if they're even on DVD or not.
In honor of March Madness, I should say I also saw The Fab Five, a doc on the two-time national runner up Michigan team that featured five freshmen starters. It served as a reminder of how much that team influenced the college (and really, pro, though they don't talk about it much) game. I still remember watching the Michigan/North Carolina final and being giddy about Webber's gaffe with the time out (I'm an Indiana fan). Watching the press conference footage after that game I felt bad for the guy, though.
Still, they seemed to mug for the camera in good times and threaten to beat up the press after a bad loss. They were young and crazy. It's a significant piece of film for any fan of modern college basketball.
Incidentally, HBO apparently aired a doc on UNLV's basketball program last weekend. I dropped HBO recently and I'm kicking myself for missing it. Hope to catch it at some point.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 15, 2011 3:29:43 GMT -5
I liked those Twins teams. I liked Frank Viola... I don't watch much Baseball, but I got into the Mets again in the mid to late 80s. So 86 Mets, 87 Twins was a fun 2 years. And then the 91 Twins. There are DVDs from Amazon for both. They used to go for $70, now you can get them for $23 or so. Here's one... www.amazon.com/Minnesota-Twins-1987-World-Collectors/dp/B000KJU1G4Anyone remember "Let's go Mets go!" Ha Ha No more crying about this Boston, your championships finally came |
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Post by Crowfan on Mar 15, 2011 19:35:47 GMT -5
I remember MTV played that video all the time.
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Post by ElectricPeterTork on Mar 15, 2011 21:21:01 GMT -5
I liked those Twins teams. I liked Frank Viola... I don't watch much Baseball, but I got into the Mets again in the mid to late 80s. So 86 Mets, 87 Twins was a fun 2 years. And then the 91 Twins. There are DVDs from Amazon for both. They used to go for $70, now you can get them for $23 or so. Here's one... www.amazon.com/Minnesota-Twins-1987-World-Collectors/dp/B000KJU1G4[/i] [/quote] That's how I've gotten most of the World Series collections... used (or new from third party sellers) on Amazon. Most of them are 20 bucks are less. Some, like the '77 Yankees World Series, are as low as 10 bucks for a 7 disc set. However, one that is continually out of the price range I want to pay is the 2004 Red Sox set. I suppose that's one of the most popular sets, though. |
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