If you’re not a sports fan, you’ve probably missed ESPN’s “30 for 30” series, a series of 30 sports documentaries celebrating the 30th anniversary of ESPN’s existence. Missing these films, though, is a mistake, sports fan or not. They are uniformly insightful and profoundly moving. Sports is often just the framework for stories about real people struggling with their real lives. Editions to date have included subjects like a Canadian town mourning the loss of Wayne Gretzky to California, the racially charged trial of a high-school-aged Allen Iverson, and most recently, a film about Ricky Williams, a football player who, apparently, retired from football to be free to smoke marijuana.
7 comments
Alex says:
Apr 29, 2010
Being a Texas Longhorn fan, I've always rooted for Ricky. Thanks for the quote and the tip on the documentaries. We'll check them out. They seem right up our alley! -Emily
StampDawg says:
Apr 29, 2010
Thanks Nick. Are any of these available on Netflix? That's about the only way I watch TV and movies — Netflix or the movie theater.
Also, I followed the link you gave and was unable to find a complete list of all 30. It took me to a web site that did have a tab that said "ALL 30 FOR 30 FILMS" but when I clicked on it it just gave a schedule for when 14 of them were playing on ESPN. Do you know a way to see all 30?
It looks like all these documentaries were commission specifically by ESPN in the last year or two — is that right?
Matt says:
Apr 29, 2010
Did the Gospel save Ricky? Or did Buddhism?
Liza says:
Apr 29, 2010
Is Ricky Williams a Buddhist?
Nick Lannon says:
Apr 29, 2010
Stamp – You can pre-order them on DVD, I think, but they're just being aired on TV now. Yeah, they're all newly commissioned by ESPN.
Matt – I don't know anything about whether or not Ricky Williams is "saved." I think that grace saved his career.
Liza – Yup. Buddhist.
Matt says:
Apr 29, 2010
Nick – Grace saved his career…fair enough, but then what? I'm fine with these examples when we're talking about movies and novels, but this is a real person who has not been touched by the Gospel, and the whole thing is still – forgive me for showing my Baptist roots – lost. Some notion of common grace may have helped revive his career, but let's pray the story doesn't end there.
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[…] CommentsESPN Films is bringing back the acclaimed 30-for-30 series, which we’ve written about before, and is augmenting it with a series of web shorts. These are stories that they feel are […]