Well folks, here we are. No major sports to watch for weeks.
No March Madness. No baseball opening day (yet), and a delay on the NBA and NHL regular seasons and, as a result, postseasons.
Locally, the high schools are taking time off due to school closures, too.
So what are we sports fans left to watch? Aside from scrounging YouTube for old game clips and such, ESPN’s 30-for-30 documentary series (and its spin-off, ESPN Films Presents), available on ESPN+, provides a good outlet for the sports junkie.
With that said, here are my personal top five favorite 30-for-30 documentaries to watch.
No. 5: Four Falls of Buffalo
Sorry, local Bills fans.
Four Falls of Buffalo takes you back to some of the most fun — and then most painful — experiences Western New York had in the early 1990s as the Buffalo Bills made, but lost, four consecutive Super Bowls.
The documentary hears from players on those Bills teams — most notably the likes of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Darryl Talley — and takes viewers inside some of the most famous plays from those days, including an emotional interview with Scott Norwood, who missed what would’ve been a game-winning 47-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXV.
His interview takes place on the steps of Buffalo City Hall, the site where, at a rally upon the Bills’ return from that game, Buffalo faithful gave Norwood a raucous cheer of support to show unity.
No. 4: The Last Days of Knight
Once a shining example of how to run a college basketball program, Bob Knight found himself engaged in turmoil at — and eventually fired from — Indiana University in 2000.
During his tenure in Bloomington, Knight, nicknamed “The General” for his tough coaching style, won three national titles, posted an unbeaten season and won 11 Big Ten titles.
In addition, all but four of his players completed their degrees, and his graduation rate was well above the NCAA’s average for a Division 1 men’s basketball program.
With all of that success, he earned an almost cult-like following in the Hoosier State.
But in what ended up being his final season at IU, a video surfaced of Knight grabbing a former player, Neil Reed, by the neck during a 1997 practice. That set off a series of events that eventually culminated in the coach’s dismissal.
The Last Days of Knight takes you inside the IU program during that time, and also discusses the riots after Knight’s firing, how former players felt about the coach and more.
No. 3: Four Days in October
Once the lovable losers of baseball, the Boston Red Sox found themselves on the wrong end of the Curse of the Bambino, having not won a World Series since trading famed player Babe Ruth to their arch rivals, the New York Yankees.
The “curse” lasted 86 years until 2004, when the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 ALCS deficit to top the New York Yankees and then went on to win the World Series — just a year after those same Yankees had swept Boston in the ALCS.
Four Days in October takes you behind the scenes to each of the four games the Red Sox won in their historic comeback, including videos from within the Sox locker room and interviews with local die-hards around Boston.
By the end of it, you’ll be left feeling a sense of hope for the underdog, no matter who your team is.
No. 2: Catching Hell
And speaking of lovable losers and baseball curses, Catching Hell takes you back to one of the MLB’s most infamous nights — the Steve Bartman incident at Wrigley Field.
With the Cubs leading the Florida Marlins 3-0 in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, Chicago pitcher Mark Prior had a shutout going into the eighth inning, and had given up just three hits on the night.
And then in the eighth, with just five outs to go for the Cubbies, a fateful foul ball went down the left field side and into the front row of the seats.
Bartman — as well as several other fans — reached out for the ball, preventing Cubs outfielder Moises Alou from making a catch. The batter on the play, Luis Castillo, subsequently drew a walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count, and by the end of the inning, the Marlins scored eight runs and eventually won the game 8-3.
Then, the Cubs dropped Game 7 and missed out on a World Series opportunity. In the midst of it all, Bartman became the target of both media attention and anger on the part of Cubs fans, and had to be escorted away from Wrigley under disguise the night of the game.
Catching Hell takes you inside the play and inside Wrigley Field security’s scheme to get Bartman to safety, as well as the aftermath of the incident.
No. 1: The U
Remember how much you loved to hate the Miami Hurricanes back in the day?
The U takes you inside the transformation of the University of Miami’s football program, from being among the worst college football programs in the nation to becoming one of the most successful — and most hated — in the course of just a few years.
The documentary re-lives some of Miami’s biggest wins and downfalls, both as a city and a college football program, explores the “bad guy” reputation the team started receiving and takes you behind the scenes of some of the program’s most iconic — and infamous — moments.
Remember those fatigues The U wore when it got off the plane before falling to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl? How about Randall Hill’s “six shooter” celebration when the ‘Canes blew Texas out in the Cotton Bowl?
You also get to hear from the men who guided the program, including Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson.
If you enjoy The U, be sure to also check out Catholics vs. Convicts, which takes you inside the notorious 1988 football game between Notre Dame and the Hurricanes and also gives you the backstory on the infamous shirt that earned the game its nickname.
So there you have it, the five documentaries I’ve most enjoyed from ESPN. It was tough to cut the list to five, and a few that I really enjoyed — like Rand University and The Day the Series Stopped — just missed the list.
Have any of your own 30-for-30 suggestions you think I missed or should check out? I’d love to hear them.
(Joel Whetzel, a Bradford Era sports reporter, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)
