After learning that the director of the first Michael Jordan 30 for 30 documenting his brief baseball career was Ron Shelton, I was thoroughly enthused. After all, he did direct Bull Durham and Tin Cup--two personal favorites of mine, and I speculated whether we would learn of stories of Jordan wearing woman's underwear in the minors ala Nook LaLoosh or making making performance induced bets like Tin Cup's protagonist, Roy McAvoy (which really isn't too far fetched of an idea). Instead, we got a wide scale look at how Jordan turned the Birmingham Barons into a more lucrative franchise than the Pittsburgh Pirates for one summer, despite their 10,000 seat stadium and a fan base with less high school diplomas than the city of Loves Park.
The documentary showed a few character traits that are essential to the Michael Jordan brand, and his ultimate success as an athlete. First off, the man was as dedicated as the day is long. With testimonials from his hitting coach and former manager turned Red Sox hero Terry Francona, we are able to see that Jordan didn't half-ass his baseball career. Think about the situation, you haven't played baseball since you were 18 (when he was a pitcher), and you look about as natural in a baseball uniform as Shawn Bradley in a roller rink. After shaking off some understandable rust after a near 15 year hiatus from the sport while you were off building your multi-million dollar empire doing something else, you come back to hit .255 with 51 RBI's (let's just pretend like the 11 E's in RF never happened, we do it for Manny). I'd venture you'd chalk that one up as a win, even if you are the "best athlete" in the world.
To leave your sport when you're at the top of the pyramid is something that no athlete had ever done before. Jordan had the same stranglehold on the NBA in the early 90's that Undertaker has on Wrestlemania, not even David Stern's whiny voice pleading him to come back could keep him around--a plead that probably sounded as desperate as the Spin Doctor's 2nd album. I thought the documentary highlighted Jordan's lack of motivation for basketball in 1994 well, but it will forever be difficult to analyze Jordan's vocation change from sport to sport. Was he motivated by his father's death? To pursue his childhood dream? If Jordan would have succeeded emphatically in baseball, Disney could cast Omar Epps as a 30 year old Jordan and turn this into a PG-13 movie. Instead, Jordan realized that he owed it to the world (more importantly, Chicago) to play basketball and produce a line of overpriced sports gear that will make him more many in the future than most small European countries.
At the end of the hour long production, I came to the notion that the director had documented this atypical story quite well. No one knows why Jordan wanted to forgo two years of basketball in his absolute prime (3 peat, already had 3 MVP's) to go strikeout on 12-6 curveballs in the deep south. No one knows why his dad was half drunk at a rest stop on the border between the Carolinas. No one knows why they interviewed the local fisherman that probably couldn't spell the word "buzz" (neither could Billy Madison)in the documentary. Ron Shelton showed us how hard it is to make a good documentary on speculation and assumption. After all, most often times Jordan did things the way he wanted, and often got the result he desired. But ahhh....baseball, the sport that John Kruk can succeed at that Michael Jordan couldn't--what a beautiful game.
Things I liked: Obviously, the local fisherman interview. The interview with his supposed high-school friend who looks like the local mail carrier in Wilmington. No way Jordan has talked to that dude in 25 years. Terry Francona. Great baseball mind, love his style.
Things I didn't like: Overindulgence with worthless members of Birmingham experience (i.e.: real estate agent, bus driver, etc.) Those people had to be ecstatic of the fact that they were on TV--too bad none of them can afford cable. More of the reaction of NBA fans, especially Chicago during the season when 23 was steppin' in the bucket.
Overall, good performance from 30 for 30 as always. I've liked most of them except the stupid ones about marching bands or women's athletics. If you're going to air things like that on TV, do it on BET and TLC. Really looking forward to the one on Bartman, hopefully they find him in Florida selling used tires in seersucker suits (or something even weirder). Overall Grade: B+
Sorry to disappoint but there will be no pick of the day for today from the Pulse Man. He has received a 24 hour break from the website and will resume his position tomorrow. He would however, like to boast about his correct bet in the Ddogers/Brewers game from last night which pushes him to 12-11. He is excited for Manny to potentially become a member of the white sox, his favorite color is green, and he once completed an entire season on the bowling team in high school...kid definitely deserves a day off.
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