30 for 30

[T B0NE 10]

Even being a guy who despises ESPN for the most part. I am really enjoying the 30 for 30 series they have. The shows on Gretzky and the Baltimore Colts were amazing in my opinion. I am really looking forward to watching the one about the USFL.

 

I could really see one of these coming out about Favre leaving the Packers and how big of a deal it was/is for Packer fans.

 

 

Anybody else been watching the show, its pretty good.

[Baldkin]

Sadly, with no cable, I haven't been able to see them yet... hoping they'll pop up to download sometime soon.

 

There won't be anything on Favre, they are trying to do the documentaries on things that have sort of slipped through the cracks, or that haven't been reported as much.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_for_30

[Invader3K]

Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to DVR the USFL episode. Looks like it could be pretty interesting.

[nodakfan17]

I missed "King's Ransom" (Wayne Gretzky) even though I had good intentions to watch it. I've seen "The Band That Wouldn't Die" (Baltimore Colts) and "Small Potatoes" (USFL) and they were both very good, especially "The Band That Wouldn't Die." "Small Potatoes" was entertaining, but it seemed more like a series of subtle insults directed towards Donald Trump than an actual historical account of the birth and subsequent death of the USFL.

[brucrustu]

nodakfan17 wrote:

---

"Small Potatoes" was entertaining, but it seemed more like a series of subtle insults directed towards Donald Trump than an actual historical account of the birth and subsequent death of the USFL.

Agreed. I watched it while making dinner, so my attention was divided, but they seemed to take some editorial style shots at the Donald. Perhaps they were deserved. Pretty funny when Donny T threatens to attack Charlie Stiener, and walks off at the sight of the NFL damages check. Things like that make it easy for people to take shots at you.

I never payed much attention to sports other than stock car racing while growing up, so I was interested in just seeing the game footage and hearing from the people. I was practically unaware of the entire episode.

[DrugBust]

Well the full title for the USFL episode was Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? Donald Trump was more or less the subject of the story. Of course he's gonna look bad.

 

I haven't seen King's Ransom and I missed the episode last night, but I agree. They really seem well done.

[nodakfan17]

Well the full title for the USFL episode was Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? Donald Trump was more or less the subject of the story. Of course he's gonna look bad.

 

I've read Donald Trump's original book, "The Art of the Deal," where he features an entire chapter on the USFL. It's actually a good read and not an obvious attempt to make money or garner media attention like his more recent books. Anyways, in "the Art of the Deal," Trump explains that it was the NFL that was actually respsonsible for the the death of the USFL. When the USFL attempted to move to the Fall, the NFL made it very difficult for the USFL to get a major network television deal by threatening to not renew existing contracts with networks if they covered USFL games. The NFL was eventually found to be guilty of violating antitrust laws, but the USFL was only awarded $1 in damages. By the time the lawsuit was settled, most USFL teams had gone bankrupt. Yes, Trump was probably responsible for the downfall of the league, but had the USFL been awarded the damages that they were (arguably) entitled to, the remaining teams could probably have forced a merger with the NFL.

[JJHardy7]

The USFL also had a TON of talent. Jim Kelly, Walker, Gary Zimmerman, Nate Newton, Reggie White, Sam Mills, Steve Young, etc. come to mind. Check out the list of USFL players that also played in the NFL:

 

http://www.oursportscentral.com/usfl/nflplayers2.htm

 

That is really, really impressive IMO.

[davego]

I haven't seen the USFL one but really want too. Im old enough to have seen many of the games live and really, really enjoyed the monday night contest ESPN had. ABC did a decent job with it their games, too. I miss that league...

[Invader3K]

Steve Young's story about a USFL owner literally throwing hundreds of dollars at him was pretty amusing, too. It sounds like the USFL forced the NFL to pay their guys better, which was probably a good thing in the long run.