Thank You, ESPN

In my mind, documentaries have always been synonymous with the really boring shows my dad always watched on the History Channel when I was growing up. As a teenager, ancient black and white film footage about weaponry of the past 600 years was not exactly how I wanted to spend my TV time. Although looking back I’m hesitant to argue that hours of MTV’s The Real World was a better decision.

While I rarely choose to watch a documentary, if there is something I’ve gotten interested in then I’ll watch the documentary. Okay fine, I’ve willingly watched one about the 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest. I’d read about it and then decided to watch National Geographic’s documentary. I even used a Netflix movie (not streaming) for that one. For me, documentaries are like non-fiction. There are the few you have to read (i.e. The Big Short, Freakonomics, etc.), but for the most part I avoided them. After being inspired by a guy I used to know to branch out of my fiction glut, I discovered that I enjoyed biographies. The trick with non-fiction, and apparently documentaries, is to find something you’re interested in.

Thus, I am happy to say that I have recently discovered the amazingness that is the documentary. Thank you, ESPN. Why am I not surprised that it was ESPN who tricked me into documentaries? That channel is the reason I’m constantly tempted to pay for cable.

A few rainy Saturday’s ago, I was puttering around the house with the TV on for company. At first, I didn’t even know what I was watching, but I unexpectedly found myself stopping whatever it was I was doing and sitting down to watch this show. I didn’t even read a book while watching, which is a feat for me. It was a show about SMU (Southern Methodist University) getting the “Death Penalty” in college football back in the 80’s. I’d never even heard of SMU or the death penalty (other than in the usual sense) and found myself barely moving for the next two hours, desperate to know how this all turned out.

Eventually I figured out that this show was a product of ESPN, something they called “30 for 30.” I had no idea what this was but wanted to know if there were more. As it turns out, there are loads of them done over the past couple years. And lucky for me, Netflix has the whole gamut of 30 for 30 documentaries. Last weekend I watched, “The U.” Finally I understood what my guy friends were talking about when discussing “The Miami Rule.” Just like the SMU film, I was fascinated and enthralled for the entire running time. There are at least 10 more of these in my Netflix queue. All at the top.

Apparently I’m not only a sucker for sports, I’m a sucker for documentaries about sports. My next 30 for 30 leaves my documentary comfort zone of college football, so hopefully I’ll find it just as interesting. Who would have that that there were interesting documentaries out there? While I’m still not tempted to sit down and watch the History Channel, at least now I appreciate a good sports documentary. Thank you, ESPN.