ESPN: The Magazine's "The Watchlist"
Published in Sept.2009 by Eric Neel
For Sports Fans, these are the days on instant gratification: DVR in the living room, satellite radio on the dish, Twitter, Facebook and high-speed web access 24/7 on the desktop and mobile.
But for our money, there’s one old-school, long-form medium that best highlights the human drama inherent in all competition: documentary film. "As fans, we sense that there are backstories and implications hovering around what’s happening on the field," says Peter Berg, writer/director of Friday Night Lights. "But we can’t get them. With documentaries, there’s an opportunity to take a more penetrating and satisfying look." Indeed, a great doc allows even the most familiar stories to unfold further, revealing layer upon unique layer. "Sports are about discovery," says Ron Shelton, writer/director of Bull Durham. That’s their very nature. You don’t know what’s going to happen. A good documentary digs deep. We find things that don’t fit in the world of quick-turn storytelling."
The Magazine assembled a panel of filmmakers, industry mavens and Bristol bigwigs to choose the 10 Best Sports Docs of All Time. Here’s our panel’s must-see list.
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