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Official ESPN 30 for 30 Thread - "Broke"

PhDeac

PhDeac

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May as well start a new thread and leave the other one to the Walter story.

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-r...announces-fall-schedule-for-30-for-30-vol-ii/

  • Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m. – Broke (Billy Corben)
  • Tuesday, Oct. 9, 8 p.m. –9.79* (Daniel Gordon)
  • Tuesday, Oct. 16, 8 pm. – There’s No Place Like Home (Maura Mandt and Josh Swade)
  • Tuesday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. – Benji (Coodie and Chike)
  • Tuesday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. – Ghosts of Ole Miss (Fritz Mitchell)
  • Saturday, Dec. 8, 9 p.m. – You Don’t Know Bo (Michael Bonfiglio)

"Broke" was excellent. I love Billy Corben's style. It kept me glued to the TV the entire time. It was organized very well by ways that players become broke. Although it was about professional athletes and mostly the NFL, it told a range of stories from athletes across sports and explained why NFL athletes are the hardest hit (smallest salaries, highest risk of injury, shortest careers, non-guaranteed contracts). The integration of successful former athletes and financial advisors helped round out the story.
 
It was well done, but I guess I was looking for something more. For a documentary about athletes going broke, I thought it would be more creative than just athletes talking about going broke. Girls, houses, hangers-on, dumb investments, all the usual issues that you always hear about. Maybe if it would have been a more in-depth feature about one person, like Lenny Dykstra, it would have been more interesting to me.

The Bernie Kosar clips were sad though.
 
There was an in-depth feature about Lenny Dykstra a few years ago on HBO Real Sports I think.

Another thing I liked was that it didn't necessarily single out the athletes. It weaved them into a larger American story without being an apologist for them. I got it though. They aren't the only ones who get their first real money when they finish college and blow on it the finer things. They just had more money and should have known that the party was going to end.
 
DeacDaddy said:
It was well done, but I guess I was looking for something more. For a documentary about athletes going broke, I thought it would be more creative than just athletes talking about going broke. Girls, houses, hangers-on, dumb investments, all the usual issues that you always hear about. Maybe if it would have been a more in-depth feature about one person, like Lenny Dykstra, it would have been more interesting to me.

The Bernie Kosar clips were sad though.
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now bernie's daughter is just trying to feed her family
 
I thought thye could have done a lot more with the topic. I was kinda disappointed.
 
It's one thing to be duped by someone who you should be able to trust (parent, child, immediate family, professional with contractual and ethical obligation) but in many of these cases, these guys are helping the thieves. My sympathies run very, very shallow for someone who basically blew off a college education for the sole purpose of becoming a well-paid athlete and fountain of cash for leeches. 100 cellphones? 20 Maserattis? 9 kids by 7 women? Jesus H. Ever heard of a fucking bank and box of condoms?
 
I'm just glad they're calling it 30 for 30 again. I had my dvr set to record them all, and when they started listing them by the name of the episode it caused me to miss half a dozen or so of the original ones.
 
94Deac said:
It's one thing to be duped by someone who you should be able to trust (parent, child, immediate family, professional with contractual and ethical obligation) but in many of these cases, these guys are helping the thieves. My sympathies run very, very shallow for someone who basically blew off a college education for the sole purpose of becoming a well-paid athlete and fountain of cash for leeches. 100 cellphones? 20 Maserattis? 9 kids by 7 women? Jesus H. Ever heard of a fucking bank and box of condoms?
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I think one of the guys said he took his first check, for $500k or something, to a check cashing place, and they just laughed at him.
 
DeacDaddy said:
I think one of the guys said he took his first check, for $500k or something, to a check cashing place, and they just laughed at him.
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And who was it that got his first check and went to the front office to complain that it was less than he was expecting due to tax deductions etc.?
 
The stories were interesting, but the execution was a little grating after a while.
 
I was also disappointed. Some of the personal anecdotes were funny/moving/tragic, but there wasn't much of a flow to the documentary.
 
HailToTheDeacons said:
I was also disappointed. Some of the personal anecdotes were funny/moving/tragic, but there wasn't much of a flow to the documentary.
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I thought it flowed very well. The topic was introduced and each section stayed on topic and didn't get overburdened by narration or one story. It tried to make the viewer understand, but not sympathize.
 
I love 30 for 30 and just watched this on DVR last night and was really disappointed. The format, which was basically just people sitting with similar backdrops and talking the entire time got tedious and boring after the first 45 minutes. Seems like with such a broad topic, they could've done something to keep it fresh and interesting. It almost came off as lazy.
 
What do you think they could've done differently?
 
I don't know why universities don't offer athletes and the general student body a course in personal finances and fiscal responsibility. Athletes who go pro have an obvious need, but I would guess a lot students have no idea how to handle income, student debt, budgets and savings once they are out in the real world. I think it ought to be required but it certainly should be offered.
 
I cut it off at the 45-minute mark because a lot of them were just repeating the same thing. They were different athletes in different sports, but when they're all saying the same thing over and over, it becomes tedious. It felt like it was being dragged out. 5 guys saying "I trusted the wrong person" or "I really wanted to keep up with the Joneses" is just as effective as 15 guys saying it. Okay, I get it. Athletes like nice stuff. To me, it just ran its points into the ground with too much repetition. The pace of the story wasn't consistent. That's just my opinion though...I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Edited to add that I think a one-hour documentary on one particular athlete going broke (like a Kosar or a Rison) would've been MUCH more effective, with little statistical overlays about athletes in general thrown in every now and then.
 
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dcon69 said:
I don't know why universities don't offer athletes and the general student body a course in personal finances and fiscal responsibility. Athletes who go pro have an obvious need, but I would guess a lot students have no idea how to handle income, student debt, budgets and savings once they are out in the real world. I think it ought to be required but it certainly should be offered.
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Business 111, at Wake.
 
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