While a lot of things have taken a turn for the worst over at the World-Wide Leader (hockey coverage, layoffs, "The 6"), ESPN's 30 For 30 series has stayed consistently entertaining and almost always fails to disappoint. However, there are definitely some stories in today's sports world that have yet to be told through a 30 For 30 film. Here's my list of topics that I hope ESPN signs off on for a 30 For 30 at some point in the near future.
10. Greg Oden
Once the No. 1 overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007, Greg Oden's NBA career was plagued by knee injuries, and ultimately, he lasted just six seasons, of which he played in three and appeared in just 105 career games. The Blazers passed on arguably one of the best forwards in NBA history in Kevin Durant (went to Seattle at No. 2), a decision that changed the fate of the Western Conference and the Portland Trail Blazers franchise for both the present and the future. Oden told ESPN's Outside The Lines in 2016 that he'll be "remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history," and that he is no longer healthy enough to play professional basketball.
Greg Oden's NBA demise came mainly due to injury, and unlike some of the other star athletes who've busted in recent memory (Johnny Manziel, Todd Marinovich, etc) very little of Oden's downfall was due to foul play off-the-court. However, that isn't to say Oden has lived a perfect life off of the hardwood, as he was arrested in 2014 and pleaded guilty to assault and battery on an ex-girlfriend. Since last playing in China in 2015-2016, Oden has become a student-assistant coach at his alma mater of Ohio State. Obviously, ESPN loves telling the story of a guy who had it all and lost it quicker than anybody could imagine (Brian Bosworth, Trent Richardson, Todd Marinovich, etc). From his success at Ohio State to all of the hype surrounding his name as a pro and the injuries and scrutiny that came with being an NBA player, Greg Oden's story is the perfect narrative for a 30 For 30 film.
9. Avalanche/Red Wings Rivalry Of The 90's
One of the bloodiest and intense hockey rivalries we've ever seen took place from the mid-90's to the early 2000's between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings. From 1996-2002, the Avalanche and Red Wings won a combined five Stanley Cups, and almost every single one of those championships saw either the 'Wings or Avs go through one another in an intense Western Conference playoff series.
Infamous incidents between these two clubs include Claude Lemieux's absolutely gutless hit-from-behind on Detroit's Kris Draper in the 1996 Western Finals....
The hit sparked these comments by Detroit's Dino Ciccarelli...
An absolute melee in Detroit the following year on March 26, 1997, that saw a total of 138 combined penalty minutes and featured an all-time goalie bout between Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon....
Years later, Kris Draper opened up about the hit he took from Lemieux back in 1996 and stated that he agrees that the hit definitely sparked a fierce rivalry between the two clubs.
Obviously, hockey has never been ESPN's bread and butter, and they made that abundantly clear when they laid off almost their entire hockey staff during the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past spring. But, due to the fierceness of this rivalry and how long it lasted, the Avs/Wings of the late-90's and early-2000's is definitely a story worth telling through a 30 For 30, even with ESPN's hockey coverage in 2017 being a total and utter joke.
8. Conference Realignment In College Athletics
While the NCAA only wants to show the good side of what realignment did to college athletics with the rise of the Power-Five conferences and all the money that now flows through them as well as the big television deals (SEC Network, BIG-10 Network, Longhorn Network), there's a lot of bad that came with conference realignment in college athletics.
Example 1: One of the best programs in the history of NCAA basketball, UConn, with a combined 15 national championships between the women (11) and men (5), being forced to play in the American Athletic Conference and having really no true rival.
Example 2: The ending of football rivalries such as Texas vs. Texas A&M, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, West Virginia vs. Pitt, basketball rivalries such as Syracuse vs. Georgetown, UConn vs. Syracuse, Pitt vs. UConn, and hockey rivalries such as North Dakota vs. Minnesota.
Example 3: The deaths of entire conferences such as the BIG-East for football (still a thing for basketball but not nearly the same), CCHA and WCHA in hockey (BIG-10 ruined both).
There are a million different ways ESPN or whoever decides to make the film could go about this, but money is obviously the biggest point of emphasis. Almost every time a school switches conferences, it's because of money. Rutgers, Maryland, and Nebraska went to the BIG-10 because of it, as did Virginia Tech, Miami and BC to the ACC, and so on and so forth. This is a topic that I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing get its own 30 For 30 given how mixed the feelings are with every fan base. ESPN has done 30 For 30's in the past that have highlighted the deaths of certain conferences/leagues (XFL, USFL, BIG-East, etc), so why not do one on college athletics as a whole highlighting the changes/implosions of certain conferences?
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
I can see it now, the most cliche of all 30 For 30 film names. "Falling Leafs." It's now been 50 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are arguably the most popular NHL team in all of Canada and play in the "centre of the hockey universe," have raised the Stanley Cup. Comparably to the Boston Red Sox from 1918-2004 or the Chicago Cubs from 1908-2016, the Maple Leafs always seem to find a way to get close, but either collapse, lose in the most devastating of fashions, or both.
Toronto has fallen in the Conference Finals four times (1992, 1993, 1999, 2002) since lasting winning the cup in 1967. In 2013, the Maples Leafs overcame a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern quarterfinals to force a game-seven back in Boston. After going ahead 4-1 midway through the third period, Toronto surrendered three goals late (including two in the final 1:22) forcing overtime. Patrice Bergeron completed the comeback with a rebound goal 6:05 into the extra frame to send the Bruins onto round two, stunning the Leafs and their fans.
As already mentioned, ESPN's hockey coverage is nothing spectacular. But, the sad saga of the Toronto Maple Leafs is a story that needs to be told. After drafting and developing young stars such as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Leafs fans are hoping that they've finally found the answers to their championship woes, but only time will tell.
6. Penn State
The Penn State child sex abuse case involving Jerry Sandusky and the cover up that forever disgraced legendary head coach Joe Paterno is and always will be one of, if not the, biggest scandal in the history of college athletics. What Jerry Sandusky did throughout his years of working at Penn State and at their football camps can only be described as evil. He deserves to rot in his jail cell for the rest of eternity, and I don't think I need to dwell or emphasize that aspect of this stain on Penn State any more than that.
5. Malice At The Palace
I still remember waking up on a Saturday morning when I was 12 years old in 2004. One of my buddies had slept over because we had hockey tryouts early that morning. My dad came into my room laughing hysterically saying "you have got to get your ass downstairs and turn on Sportscenter, you aren't going to believe it." I had no idea what I was about to watch, I figured it had something to do with the Celtics because the Bruins had the night off on Friday. I wasn't much of a basketball fan so I didn't really know why my dad thought I would care, but I soon found out why. I got downstairs to find my brother and my friend glued to the television watching Ron Artest try to take on the entire city of Detroit. It was incredible, I've never felt so at home watching an NBA game or basketball highlights in my entire life.
Anyways, moving on from my personal memories of the "Malice at the Palace," while this is hands down one of the ugliest moments in NBA history, it goes without saying that it is one of the most memorable and iconic stadium disasters in recent memory. From the complete lack of security and control to the fans pouring every drop of beer left in the arena on that fateful night on top of Pacer players as they made their ways to the locker room, this was a moment that I and most sports fans will never forget. Dan Patrick and Reggie Miller agree that there is going to be a 30 For 30 made on it one day, but Miller says that it'll be almost impossible to get Artest to take part.
ESPN has done 30 For 30 shorts on stadium disasters before like Hillsborough (England), where people actually died, so doing a 30 For 30 on the Malice at the Palace really wouldn't be far out of their lane. There are so many angles to go about with this incident for a 30 For 30, but maybe none are more intriguing than how this fight completely changed the fate of the Indiana Pacers franchise. If this film ever gets made, I'd expect a significant portion of it to reflect on that aspect following the total run down of the mayhem that took place.
4. The 2006-2008 Florida Gators
Here we have three extremely popular stories all mixed into one with the legend that is Urban Meyer (three national titles between Florida and Ohio State), the hype that was Tim Tebow with his two national titles in college and his wild rookie season in Denver, and the murderous disgrace that was Aaron Hernandez.
As a kid who grew up during the Tebow years at Florida, it wasn't hard to fall in love with the Gators. Whether or not you liked Tim Tebow (pointing at you 'Noles and Bulldog fans), you at least had to respect his work ethic and competitive drive. As for Urban Meyer, his resume of winning everywhere he's gone (Utah, Florida, Ohio State) speaks for itself. He's easily a top-three/five coach in college football today, and there's no argument. Hernandez, meanwhile, put a black mark on the New England Patriots franchise after being convicted of murder in the first degree of Odin Llyod in 2015. The paths Hernandez and Tebow took were obviously complete opposite directions, yet neither path taken by Hernandez or Tebow led to any sort of lengthy NFL career (not drawing any sort of comparison, just pointing out facts).
A 30 For 30 on the '06-'08 Gators would have a similar storyline/tone to it as Youngstown Boys, a film that highlights the rise and fall of Maurice Clarett and Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes. Obviously, with three unique stories like Meyer's, Tebow's, and Hernandez's, it opens up the narrative a little more. But, this is a story or combination of stories that I think would make a great 30 For 30 film, especially considering how far the University of Florida's football program has fallen since Meyer's departure and Tebow/Hernandez left school. Hernandez's troubles, which went extremely unreported, while at Florida that inevitably led to a life of drug abuse and despicable crime after leaving Gainesville and how Tebow attempted to intervene could and should be an obvious point of emphasis for this film.
3. Belichick And Brady, Spygate/Deflategate
It won't happen for 10-15 years because of how bad it made ESPN look with all the terrible reporting done by Chris Mortenson and clear biases of analysts like Mark Brunnel, but everything that was Deflategate, Spygate, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick, will eventually (and hopefully) be in a 30 For 30 one day.
What the New England Patriots have done in the Belichick/Brady era is just absolutely ridiculous. Seven Super Bowl appearances, five rings, 16-0 in 2007, the list goes on and on. Even without the two cheating "scandals" this team's story deserves a 30 For 30 on its own, but when you add in all of the controversy surrounding this team and how much the Pats have been universally despised going on now 11 or so years, it's almost too perfect. I imagine a Patriots 30 For 30 having extreme similarities to I Hate Christian Laettner and Trojan War, two classic 30 For 30 films that highlighted the rise and fall of two programs (Duke basketball, USC football) whom you either loved or you hated and were the talk of the sports world. Since winning their first Lombardi in 2002, it's safe to say that the New England Patriots have been not only the talk of the sports world, but they've been the main headline. Everything Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, or any Patriot says or does gets blown out of context or put on the front page of the Boston Globe. Everything.
So, what exactly will this film highlight? Well, obviously the success the franchise has had, going all the way back to the selecting (stealing) of Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Bill Belichick's road from Cleveland to New England as well as his lack of caring for the media. Players buying into the Patriot way. And, of course, the cheating bull crap. Again, it'll be some time until this film is put into works, as the Brady/Belichick dynasty needs to come to a formal end in order for this 30 For 30 to have a complete storyline, but it is definitely a film that is 100% going to be made at some point in the future.
2. Johnny Manziel
You all know the story of Johnny Football at this point. The partying, the domestic violence, the constant sucking and losing his starting job for wildly dumb reasons (lying to his coach, drinking and snap chatting it out to the world, etc), all of it.
The kid just completely went off the deep end and was ran out of town less than two years after arriving in Cleveland. Johnny Football's college career was one that everybody who was alive during that time period will always remember, with constant highlight performances, headlines, big-plays/wins, and the fiery attitude he had that drew the eyes of millions.
Johnny Manziel's life is the perfect 30 For 30 film. Not much else needs to be said other than that, and it's only a matter of time until this idea becomes a reality.
1. Roll Tide/War Eagle Part II
We saw a sequel to "The U." Now, it is time for a sequel to one of my favorite 30 For 30's in Roll Ride/War Eagle. After Roll Tide/War Eagle debuted in 2011 with featured aspects such as the Harvey Updyke tree poisoning, the Cam Newton-led come back in 2010, and the Tuscaloosa tornado, that this rivalry could have ever become any bit more crazy. Well, we were wrong. In fact, since 2011, so much has happened in this rivalry that a full two-hour 30 For 30 seems like the only way to truly give it justice. In just the last six seasons, the Iron Bowl has seen its victor go on and play in five national championship games (both BCS and CFP), three college football playoffs, five SEC Championship games (won all five), and won three national championships (all three Alabama).
Oh, and let's forget arguably the craziest finish in the history of college football with Chris Davis' kick-six to defeat Alabama 34-28 in 2013, propelling Auburn to an SEC-West Division title, an SEC championship a week later against Missouri in Atlanta, and an appearance in the BCS National Championship against Florida State out in Pasadena (lost 34-31).
I know what you're saying. Alabama's Nick Saban-led dynasty is far from being over and done with anytime soon, but these last six seasons have supplied us with some of the best memories in the history of college football. This rivalry is completely different than anything we've ever seen in professional or collegiate sports. The people of Alabama truly do live and die with this game. Roll Tide/War Eagle Part II needs to happen, and it needed to happen yesterday.
*Sidenote* I also wouldn't mind an update on outstanding citizen Harvey Updyke. You have to wonder what on Earth that guy is up to after killing the Toomer's trees and becoming public enemy No. 1 in Auburn. I'd be shocked if that Chris Davis kick-six didn't stop his heart.
Other 30 For 30 ideas I wouldn't mind seeing....
1. Corruption in FIFA
ESPN has done a series of Outside The Lines and E60 features on the fraudulent and corrupt cancer to the world of soccer that was ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and this story had a way of dodging a lot of the attention it should have gotten due to the lack of soccer coverage here in the United States. ESPN making a 30 For 30 on the corruption of Sepp Blatter and FIFA seems to be the only true way to document this long and twisted story in the manner it deserved to be documented at the onset.
2. John McEnroe
Johnny Mac was one of the most controversial figures of his time due to his loud and often overly energetic and emotional play on the tennis court. Being an ESPN guy now, he'd be a perfect target for a 30 For 30 film.
3. Steroids in MLB
It's honestly a little bit surprising that this hasn't had its own 30 For 30 yet with all of the big names that are involved (Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Sosa, Canseco). Steroids were a massive part of baseball during the 70's, 80's, and 90's, and as much as they were a stain on the game of baseball, it's a story that needs to be told.
4. The rise of Boise State football
Everybody loves a feel-good story, so unlike a lot of these topics (Penn State, FIFA, Johnny Manziel), a film about Boise State would be a nice little change-up to the normal angle that a lot of these 30 For 30 films take. Chris Peterson took this program from scratch and turned it into a Fiesta Bowl winner in one of the wackiest and craziest games ever played which featured a hook-and-lateral touchdown on a fourth-and-16 in the final minute and a Statue of Liberty to win it in overtime. If that's not worth a 30 For 30 than I don't know what is.
5. Floyd Mayweather
In order for this film to be successful, Floyd would have to open up and talk about some of his darkest moments (domestic violence allegations, etc). But, the story of Floyd "Money" Mayweather is definitely one that a lot of people would love to watch. Depending on how this fight with McGregor goes it may not be long until ESPN bites and does a film on The Money Team.
6. The Hypocrisy of the NCAA
Obviously, it will never happen given all of ESPN's television rights/deals with the NCAA, but how awesome would it be to take the leash off of Jay Bilas and let him go all out for a full two hours?
7. Tiger Woods
Ten years ago, Tiger Woods was living the dream, making tons of money and winning at an absolutely unprecedented rate as the face of golf. But, Thanksgiving night in 2009 changed Tiger's' life completely, as Woods and his wife at the time got into a physical confrontation that involved Woods being struck with a nine-iron before crashing his car in his drive way. After the incident, it became apparent that Woods was a "sex addict" and had affairs with countless amounts of women (hence why his wife attacked him). Woods has yet to win another major since that fateful night in 2009 due to a series of injuries (back, knee, hand) and was arrested on an OUI charge in May of 2017. This guy's rise and fall from fame are the perfect makeup for a 30 For 30.
8. Pete Rose
Pete Rose's life has been a wild ride. A member of the 3,000-hit club, Rose was banished from baseball in 1989 due to an alleged gambling scandal while coaching the Cincinnati Reds. The debate of whether or not Rose should be allowed entry into the Hall of Fame is popular amongst sports fans, and one that would be a main focal point of a 30 For 30 film. This is a film I'd love to see be put into the works.
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