ESPN's documentary of John Spano's attempt to buy the New York Islanders aired Oct 22. Very interesting watch that is directed by Kevin Connolly (E from Entourage).
Quote:
However, when the NHL's Board of Governors met in June 1997, Spano was conspicuously absent. Instead, the Islanders were represented by two men from the Pickett regime. It emerged that Spano had only paid $26,200 to Pickett for the cable rights after five attempts.[3] On one attempt, he'd wired Pickett only $5,000 instead of the $5 million originally agreed upon. On another, a $17 million check had bounced. On another, he sent $1,700 when he was supposed to send the $17 million.[1] Pickett asked Bettman to mediate. The commissioner ordered Spano to remove himself from day-to-day control of the Islanders and not use any team assets until the dispute could be settled.[3]
Just finished watching it. Lots of big names do interviews: Gretzky, Bettman, a bunch of former Islanders and Spano himself. Made for a very credible telling of the story.
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I've been watching a bunch of these on (American) Netflix over the past couple weeks. Very curious to check this one out as soon as I can.
Ya I watch them whenever I can. Often they are about something Ive never heard of but they are so compelling.
For hockey fans the first one from a couple years ago was a breakdown of the Gretzky to LA trade, also a great watch. Especially for someone like myself who was barely even born when that happened.
30 for 30 is an awesome series. my favorite episode ever was called "The Two Escobars." It's about Colombia's rise in soccer. They were expected to challenge for the World Cup in 1994, but failed to even qualify to the second round, which shocked the world. The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, the cocaine drug kingpin, and Andres Escobar, a Colombian soccer star, who was shot to death in Colombia, for accidentally scoring on his own net in a crucial game.
However, I would love to see the story of John Spano. I have heard about what happened in the 90s.
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30 for 30 is an awesome series. my favorite episode ever was called "The Two Escobars." It's about Colombia's rise in soccer. They were expected to challenge for the World Cup in 1994, but failed to even qualify to the second round, which shocked the world. The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, the cocaine drug kingpin, and Andres Escobar, a Colombian soccer star, who was shot to death in Colombia, for accidentally scoring on his own net in a crucial game.
I will second this. I liked The Two Escobars so much I bought the movie. Even my girlfriend, who has little to no interest in sports, was riveted by the movie.
30 for 30 is an awesome series. my favorite episode ever was called "The Two Escobars." It's about Colombia's rise in soccer. They were expected to challenge for the World Cup in 1994, but failed to even qualify to the second round, which shocked the world. The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, the cocaine drug kingpin, and Andres Escobar, a Colombian soccer star, who was shot to death in Colombia, for accidentally scoring on his own net in a crucial game.
However, I would love to see the story of John Spano. I have heard about what happened in the 90s.
This one and Once Brothers were the best ones, but The Two Escobars was easily my favourite.
just watched the Spano movie. It very well done IMO, thought E did a great job telling the story from many different angles. Milbury was awesome, so was Bettman in a Bettman way lol. Spano seems like a pretty scummy character even after the dust has settled but it really is a riveting story.
The best 30 for 30 I have seen is 9.79*, the retelling of the 1988 Olympic 100 metre men's final. Great for telling the climate for PED use at the time and for not so subtly accusing Carl Lewis of PED use through-out his career.
just watched the Spano movie. It very well done IMO, thought E did a great job telling the story from many different angles. Milbury was awesome, so was Bettman in a Bettman way lol. Spano seems like a pretty scummy character even after the dust has settled but it really is a riveting story.
It was strange to me how comfortable Spano was in admitting his own scumminess.
Bettman was pretty funny. You could tell how hard it was for him to take some blame for the whole situation.
Location: Farther away from the Dome than I'd like
Exp:
If you haven't caught the Eddie Aikau one, it's about surfing not sure the title but very possibly "Eddie would go", it's worth watching. Saw it on tsn within the last week. Also, the ice cube one on the la raiders was good.
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30 for 30 is an awesome series. my favorite episode ever was called "The Two Escobars." It's about Colombia's rise in soccer. They were expected to challenge for the World Cup in 1994, but failed to even qualify to the second round, which shocked the world. The story focuses on Pablo Escobar, the cocaine drug kingpin, and Andres Escobar, a Colombian soccer star, who was shot to death in Colombia, for accidentally scoring on his own net in a crucial game.
I will second this. I liked The Two Escobars so much I bought the movie. Even my girlfriend, who has little to no interest in sports, was riveted by the movie.
That and Into The Wind (Terry Fox) are my favourites. The latter actually chokes me up, which is damn hard to do.
Excited to see this new one. I follow Kevin Connolly on the Twitter and he's been pumping it a lot lately.
If you haven't caught the Eddie Aikau one, it's about surfing not sure the title but very possibly "Eddie would go", it's worth watching. Saw it on tsn within the last week. Also, the ice cube one on the la raiders was good.
Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau....I think its the perfect example to describe the 30 for 30 series. Its about someone Ive never heard of, a sport I know little about, and a culture I know even less about. Yet I was so riveted by the story. Just fantastic.
Just so happens Im taking my holidays in Hawaii in a couple weeks, so that might have helped too.
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ESPN 30 for 30 Big Shot (Story of John Spano)
