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  1. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Washington, DC
    Quote Originally Posted by DukieBoy View Post
    Watched "The U" last night and thought it was an awesome movie. I had heard, but not seen "The U" teams of the 80s. It was a great documentary.
    As a U Law alumnus, I loved the documentary...definitely the best one yet. Being at school there, I knew about a lot of the stories mentioned in "The U", but it was very well done and put together.
    Check out the Duke Basketball Roundup!

    2003-2004 HLM
    Duke | Mirecourt | Detroit| The U | USA

  2. #22
    On the whole, I thought it was an entertaining and well put-together film. That being said, I thought there were a couple of notable omissions. I realize the film was supposed to be more about the evolution and cultural impact of the Miami program in the 1980s and early 1990s, rather than just a chronicle of big games in which Miami played, but....

    They really glossed over the 1984 season, Jimmy Johnson's first year at the helm. That was an up-and-down year for the Canes -- they started 8-2 but lost their last three games to finish 8-5, just one year removed from their first national championship. From Miami's perspective, it was a step backwards and probably wasn't that noteworthy. But that season included some games that, while Miami fans might want to forget them, remain some of the most memorable of that decade, if not all of college football history.

    There was Miami blowing a 31-0 halfitme lead against Maryland and losing 42-40. There was a 39-37 loss to UCLA in the Fiesta Bowl, a wild seesaw game that saw the teams trade the lead back and forth multiple times.

    And of course, there was the Doug Flutie Game. Aside from its iconic final play, the sheer numbers of that game were just ridiculous. The two quarterbacks combined for over 900 yards passing. The two teams combined for over 1,200 yards of total offense and 92 points. Miami's Melvin Bratton scored four touchdowns.

    The film included footage and discussion of other notable Miami losses during that ten-year span -- Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame in 1988, BYU in 1990, Washington in 1994. I'd think that the Flutie game was as big a deal as those, but it wasn't mentioned.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    The Birmingham of the North
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom B. View Post
    On the whole, I thought it was an entertaining and well put-together film. That being said, I thought there were a couple of notable omissions. I realize the film was supposed to be more about the evolution and cultural impact of the Miami program in the 1980s and early 1990s, rather than just a chronicle of big games in which Miami played, but....

    They really glossed over the 1984 season, Jimmy Johnson's first year at the helm. That was an up-and-down year for the Canes -- they started 8-2 but lost their last three games to finish 8-5, just one year removed from their first national championship. From Miami's perspective, it was a step backwards and probably wasn't that noteworthy. But that season included some games that, while Miami fans might want to forget them, remain some of the most memorable of that decade, if not all of college football history.

    There was Miami blowing a 31-0 halfitme lead against Maryland and losing 42-40. There was a 39-37 loss to UCLA in the Fiesta Bowl, a wild seesaw game that saw the teams trade the lead back and forth multiple times.

    And of course, there was the Doug Flutie Game. Aside from its iconic final play, the sheer numbers of that game were just ridiculous. The two quarterbacks combined for over 900 yards passing. The two teams combined for over 1,200 yards of total offense and 92 points. Miami's Melvin Bratton scored four touchdowns.

    The film included footage and discussion of other notable Miami losses during that ten-year span -- Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame in 1988, BYU in 1990, Washington in 1994. I'd think that the Flutie game was as big a deal as those, but it wasn't mentioned.

    I would add to the list of omissions of big games the 1992 MNC game against Alabama in which they were thumped by three touchdowns as near-double-digit favorites.

    Overall, though, I appreciated the fact that the director (a Miami alum) presented things in such an even-handed manner. There was plenty of room to believe that many of the players were fairly unsavory characters led by overly permissive coaches, while still recognizing that a lot of the coverage of the program was racially tinged.

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by DukieBoy View Post

    Watched "The U" last night and thought it was an awesome movie. I had heard, but not seen "The U" teams of the 80s. It was a great documentary.

    One thing that struck me during the documentary was how rough Bernie Kosar looked and sounded. I ran across this article from July about Kosar -- sounds like things have gone really downhill for him. Sad that his life seems to have unraveled like this.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Watched "Winning Time" this weekend on the Miller-Knicks showdowns from the mid-90s. Fantastically enjoyable. Reggie Miller is a perfect screen personality for this kind of format.

    Does anyone know if the Kimble one is coming soon?
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by pfrduke View Post
    Watched "Winning Time" this weekend on the Miller-Knicks showdowns from the mid-90s. Fantastically enjoyable. Reggie Miller is a perfect screen personality for this kind of format.

    Does anyone know if the Kimble one is coming soon?
    Ditto....Winning Time was classic and highly entertaining. Reggie, Spike, Pat Riley...plus the personal anecdotes from sister Cheryl were priceless. Worth watching.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    York, PA
    I particularly liked the editing in Winning Time. I forget who directed it, but he did a great job of matching the video up with what was being discussed. I know that sounds basic, but when they talk about Spike Lee's wife sitting on the sidelines for the choking motion, I want to see it. And thankfully this film did that. Sometimes sports films/documentaries don't use the video vaults that are available to them.

  8. #28
    I pretty much watch no television other than live sports. Wolfpackdevil convinced me to watch the Reggie Miller one with him the other night. I was impressed with the quality of the film-making and really enjoyed the story. If that one was an indication of the quality, I'll be watching more.

  9. #29
    Anyone know if they'll be showing it again? I had been meaning to DVR "Winning Time", but forgot.

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Reisen View Post
    Anyone know if they'll be showing it again? I had been meaning to DVR "Winning Time", but forgot.
    Looks like it's on for last time TONIGHT at 10:30pm EST on ESPN Classic. You don't want to miss it.

  11. #31
    On now...worth flipping back and forth to NCAA's, believe me.

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Mount Kisco, NY
    As a Knick fan, it was bittersweet. Having been born the year before the last title, that era is obviously the golden years for me (with a shout out to Bernard King for giving us a few brilliant years in the mid 80s).

    Those Pacer series were amazing, but you could have easily made a similar doc about the Knicks/Bulls series of the early 90s...but there was no persona like Reggie Miller...the Garden crowd was more in awe of Jordan, he wasn't as classic a bad guy.

    That missed Patrick finger roll still hurts.

    I thought that part about John Starks' Mom threatening Patrick Ewing was pretty funny.

    For those with HBO, be sure to also watch the excellent Magic/Bird doc that's airing now.

  13. #33
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    "Guru of Go" the 30 for 30 on Hank Gathers, airs Saturday at 4 Eastern (note, it's on ABC, not ESPN). Watch to distract yourself from the Duke pregame. I guarantee chills, tears, or both when Bo Kimble steps to the line to shoot the first free throw left-handed. I'm getting choked up right now just thinking about it.
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  14. #34
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Portland, OR
    The next film in the series, "No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson" premiers tomorrow night. As I have stated earlier in the thread, Bill Simmons does a podcast with the directors that sometimes gets into interesting territory.

    I was disappointed that there was no podcast for the Hank Gathers story, but I thought the Iverson podcast with Steve James was pretty interesting. They spend some time discussing his most famous film, Hoop Dreams (which I'm sure many of us love). It might be worth listening to.

  15. #35
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Mount Kisco, NY
    I thought the Iverson doc was great. Because Iverson did not participate, the story was broadened a bit to use Iverson's 1993 arrest, when he was a high school junior, as a focal point for a larger discussion of race relations in a southern coastal community where white and black communities, both rich, middle class and poor in differing ratios, appear to exist amicably but where a racial incident can set off tensions simmering just below the surface. In that way, it was sort of similar to the Duke Lacrosse incident but not on the same scale. Of course, 1993 was a lifetime ago in terms of 24/7 news cycle and media saturation. It's well worth watching.

  16. #36
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    I liked the Iverson story. My kids sat down to watch it with me and it was a good education for them about what racism means in this country.

    I am dying to see Guru of Go. It will be on ESPN again the first week of May. The story of LMU is simply too amazing and moving.

    -Jason "when ESPN releases the 30 for 30 DVD set (probably 30 disks) it will be a must-own for me" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  17. #37
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    -Jason "when ESPN releases the 30 for 30 DVD set (probably 30 disks) it will be a must-own for me" Evans
    Me too, Jason. I wasn't able to see the Reggie Miller one, but I got it on DVR when it comes on again this weekend. I'm about to watch the AI one now...I've thoroughly enjoyed all of them in the series.
    Check out the Duke Basketball Roundup!

    2003-2004 HLM
    Duke | Mirecourt | Detroit| The U | USA

  18. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    I thought the Iverson doc was great. Because Iverson did not participate, the story was broadened a bit to use Iverson's 1993 arrest, when he was a high school junior, as a focal point for a larger discussion of race relations in a southern coastal community where white and black communities, both rich, middle class and poor in differing ratios, appear to exist amicably but where a racial incident can set off tensions simmering just below the surface. In that way, it was sort of similar to the Duke Lacrosse incident but not on the same scale. Of course, 1993 was a lifetime ago in terms of 24/7 news cycle and media saturation. It's well worth watching.
    I agree, that was a fascinating documentary.

    All I had remembered is that Iverson was involved in some kind of brawl. I didn't know until watching the documentary that Iverson's part including striking a teen-aged girl in the skull with a chair.

    She might have died or suffered serious brain damage from such an act. While in theory the extent of the injury shouldn't affect the sentence imposed, had that been the result, Iverson would have done a lot more time than three months in a low-security prison farm.

    I give him credit for saying that each of his times in prison were deserved, including the one for the high school brawl.

  19. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Quote Originally Posted by OldSchool View Post
    I agree, that was a fascinating documentary.

    All I had remembered is that Iverson was involved in some kind of brawl. I didn't know until watching the documentary that Iverson's part including striking a teen-aged girl in the skull with a chair.

    She might have died or suffered serious brain damage from such an act. While in theory the extent of the injury shouldn't affect the sentence imposed, had that been the result, Iverson would have done a lot more time than three months in a low-security prison farm.

    I give him credit for saying that each of his times in prison were deserved, including the one for the high school brawl.
    While the documentary was fairly Iverson sympathetic, I didn't think it really pressed hard enough into how much he was truly railroaded:

    1. His defense attorney waived a jury trial. No one questioned it because he was such an esteemed law professor (or better said, people questioned it, but not out loud, until it was too late).

    2. The judge believed one set of eyewitness testimony over another - and that's how he made his ruling. That was truly mindboggling to me. It's "without reasonable doubt" regardless of whether it's judge or jury. I've read up on this previously, and I never understood how this judge came to this conclusion based only on the evidence presented. There was no video evidence of Iverson throwing the chair. You can't even find him in the video.

    3. Pretty much everyone admitted that this would have been a simple A&B had Iverson not been involved. If Iverson was a normal teenager in a bowling alley brawl, even IF there was video evidence of him throwing a chair, the 5 year, 10 years suspended sentence he received would never have happened.

    Anyway, I appreciate how hard Iverson plays, but hate his game. There is a reason that players with that style of play don't win championships. That being said, I couldn't help but feel for the kid in the documentary.

  20. #40
    A case of young men in a bowling alley name-calling, pushing, shoving and some fisticuffs would be one thing.

    For a powerful athlete to pick up a chair and strike a young woman in the head with it, that is a more serious crime, in my view.

    Perhaps I am being sexist, but attacking a girl like that is really, really low.

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