A couple of months ago, I noticed a great deal on Groupon. If I spent $30, I could get the entire 30 film collection of the original ESPN 30 for 30. For those who don't know, ESPN decided (on the occasion of their 30th anniversary) to make 30 films about various sports stories that have taken place over the last 30 years. So far, I have watched 18 of the original films, and I have been very impressed by their quality. ESPN has gone on to make other films in this vein, but these 30 are the originals. There are a lot of things about which to comment on, but one thing is certain. Sports are incredibly important not only to Americans, but to all people. Sometimes, as some of these films show, they are far too important, but that is part of what makes sports so captivating. They can be a reflection of the triumph of the human spirit. They can speak of the longing we have as a race for something deeper that connects us to others. They can also show how deeply sick and depraved we are as a race. All of these things come together in the different films, which are expertly directed and realized by some renowned film makers. The films also cover many different sports, so there is much to learn and also much that can be familiar to a casual sports fan.
As a baseball fan, I am drawn, of course, to the films which focus on my favorite sport. One film that proved very close to my heart was "Fernando Nation", an hour long film tracing the rise of Fernando Valenzuela in Los Angeles. I saw Fernando pitch at Dodger Stadium for the first time in 1980, with my dad, at the age of 5. The film does a great job of showing how important to it was to the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles to have a wonderful ball player to cheer. The sad history of the Chavez Ravine property (the sight upon which Dodger Stadium was built) is brought to light, complete with footage of poor families being forcibly evicted for their shanties in order to make way for the new ballpark. With this bitter past, the Hispanic community in LA was not too keen on the Dodgers. When a Mexican who spoke no English shut out the Houston Astros on Opening Day in 1981, the Hispanic community in LA had a new hero. This film does an outstanding job of tracing that deep history, but also of showing the triumphs of Fernando's early career, as he led to Dodgers to a World Series victory in 1981.
Another baseball film that is great is a film entitled "Four Days in October". This film recounts the dramatic rebound made by the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series. The Boston Red Sox found themselves down to the three games to none to the New York Yankees, their hated rivals. As it was a best of seven game series, the Red Sox found themselves in a situation where they had to win four games in a row against the Yankees, or their season would be over. Through footage of the games and interviews with players and Red Sox fans, the dramatic reversal of fortune is recounted, and it makes for an enthralling story. As someone who watched these games and was caught up in the drama at the time, living through it again in this movie was a great experience.
Some of the stories I have seen involve sports about which I know very little. For instance, in "The Birth of Big Air", filmmakers take a look at the life and career of Mat Hoffman. Hoffman is a BMX daredevil who brought his sport to prominence. His influence is seen in the ascendancy of the X Games and BMX riding in general. I had never heard this man's name before I watched this film, but I found his story to be very engaging. Through interviews with other riders, his wife, and Evel Knievel, his bravery (some would say insanity) is chronicled. Also chronicled is his claim to have been the first BMX rider to achieve 20 feet of air off a jump. This is a great story, with all of what makes sports stories great, but in a different sport than I am used to watching.
Finally, one film truly show the hold the sports have on humanity. In "The Two Escobars", the tragic story of Andres Escobar is told. Andres Escobar was a member of the 1994 Columbian World Cup team. This team had been funded in large part through drug money, especially from the wealth of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The film, though about soccer in many ways, spends just as much time showing the political situation in Columbia in the 80's and 90's. Pablo Escobar offered help to the poor, and through the soccer team that Columbia put together, a sort of national unity. The team went into the '94 World Cup in the USA as heavily favored. However, when they lost their first game, everything rode on the next game that they had against the host American team. The Columbians lost that game the the USA, in part due to a goal that Andres Escobar accidentally kicked into his own goal. My late father and I happened to be spectators in the crowd that scorching day in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl, and all I knew to do was go nuts that my home country had pulled off such an upset. Only days after this loss did the tragic news come that Andres Escobar had been murdered back in Columbia due to his mistake. All people tend to get judgmental after something like that. Truly this was a case of fanaticism. But, don't many of us take sports too seriously?
For someone like myself, sports are a wonderful past time, but they also are something deeper. For me, as my dad has been gone a couple of years, sports are a connection that I had with him, and that I have now with my kids. He was with me at Dodger Stadium when I was 5 years old and I saw Fernando confound the Astro hitters. He was going nuts in the crowd with me at the 1994 USA/Columbia match. These stories (and, as the title suggests, there are many others), are a great way to study our devotion to sports and what they mean. They do mean too much to us at times. We all need to monitor how much time, energy and money we devote to them. At the same time, just like other forms of entertainment (art, music, film), they offer a human connection. They give us camaraderie. They give us a drama that whose ending is a surprise not only to those who watch them, but also to those who participate. This is a great series of films.
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