DOCUMENTARIES CAN FILL GAP FOR THE BORED SPORTS FAN
Relive the greatest stories ever told until live action returns, writes Matt Bonesteel.
Live sporting events are, at their essence, documentaries played out in real time, with only surface-level commentary from broadcasters. But seeing as how we can’t watch any of that right now, with nearly all sports on hold as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we’re left to watch actual sports documentaries.
Fortunately, there are plenty of good options available on the various streaming services. Here are a few of the best:
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA (ESPN PLUS)
Spanning five parts and 467 minutes, producer and director Ezra Edelman goes far beyond O.J. Simpson’s Ford Bronco chase in this compelling examination of race and celebrity in the United States. Biography, Los Angeles’ fraught history, true crime — it’s all in there in what the Washington Post’s Hank Stuever called “nothing short of a towering achievement.” The film won best documentary feature at the 2017 Academy Awards.
THE U, THE U: PART 2 AND CATHOLICS VS. CONVICTS (ESPN PLUS)
In the 10 seasons between
1983 and 1992, the previously undistinguished University of Miami football program lost more than two games in a season only once and won four national championships. Then, after a few seasons of being merely good, the Hurricanes would go 46-4 from 2000-03, winning another national title and having one more taken away thanks in part to a dubious pass interference call in overtime against Ohio State. These three ESPN documentaries tell that story in all its swaggering glory, including so much of what was going on behind the scenes.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? THE STORY OF THE 1980 U.S. HOCKEY TEAM (HBO GO)
Before ESPN cornered the sports documentary market with its 30 for 30 series, HBO was the television king of the format, and this is probably the best example. All the HBO hallmarks are there — the weepy music, the Liev Schreiber narration — but the subject matter overcomes any qualms about a cookie-cutter production. Hearing Al Michaels asking us if we believe in miracles is the cure for any quarantine blues.
HOOP DREAMS (HBO GO)
Filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx initially intended to spend three weeks filming kids on a Chicago playground basketball court for a 30-minute PBS short. Instead, they spent five years amassing 250 hours of footage about the tribulations of inner city high school basketball prospects William Gates and Arthur Agee. The result was nearly three extraordinary, heartbreaking hours of filmmaking.
WHEN WE WERE KINGS (HBO GO)
The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and
George Foreman in 1974 reportedly was watched on television by one billion people, about a quarter of the Earth’s population at the time. Leon Gast’s film, fuelled by witness recollections, footage from the fight and a propulsive soundtrack filled with songs from the musical festival that preceded the bout, shows you why.
BEYOND THE MAT (NETFLIX)
The internet has raised the curtain on the inner workings of pro wrestling, but Barry Blaustein’s 1999 documentary was released when the web was in its relative infancy. The scenes where Mick Foley is battered by the Rock with his wife and very young children looking in horror from the front row still have a visceral resonance.
OLD NFL FILMS VIDEO YEARBOOKS (YOUTUBE)
Hearing Al Michaels asking us if we believe in miracles is the cure for any quarantine blues.
Each year, NFL Films produces a highlight package for every NFL team, and the best ones are for the bad teams. “The playoffs loomed as a possibility,” the narrator intoned at the start of On the Prowl, the story of the 2001 Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, optimism was indeed running high after the Bengals beat the future Super Bowl champion Patriots ... in Week 1. That Cincinnati would finish 6-10 is beside the point. No sports documentaries have produced more hope amid utter hopelessness.
THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL (NETFLIX)
Receiving widespread acclaim upon its 2014 release — the Village Voice called it “fun as all hell” — filmmakers Chapman and Maclain Way tell the story of the Portland Mavericks, a proudly scruffy, independent minorleague team founded in the 1970s by their grandfather, Hollywood actor Bing Russell (father of actor Kurt Russell, who briefly played for the team and offers his recollections in the movie).