Our favorite sports docs and movies of 2016
Even though we spend our days checking our phones for trades and inhaling every game, set and match we can get our eyeballs on, we still like to take a break from the world of live-action sports for the slower pace of movies and documentaries. Sports by its very nature lends itself to both the big screen and television, and how we enjoy sports is very much influenced by Hollywood's take on our favorite athletes and events.
Hello and welcome back to the Yardbarker roundtable where we ask our contributors to discuss the serious (and not so serious) side of sports. Yesterday we asked some of contributors to talk about the bandwagons they jumped on in 2016, today we're going Hollywood. We asked our writers:
What was your favorite doc, movie or TV show that dealt with sports in 2016?
Hashim Hathaway: By far, it had to be "O.J.: Made in America." As a documentary, it goes beyond just the Rockingham murders, but also gives us a glimpse into hero worship and how men of color can be deified for their skill on the field while also being demonized for their lives off of it.
For any athlete in 2016-17, it should serve as a wake up call that nothing is promised when it comes to fame and celebrity, and that you're only as good as your last touchdown.
Laura Sabo: "Ice Guardians" is a documentary about NHL enforcers, featuring interviews with several former hockey players who were tasked with fighting on the ice in an attempt to deter opponents from going after their skilled teammates.
In the last few years, the health risks associated with fighting in hockey and the long-term effects on the players have become well-publicized, leading many fans (including myself) to believe fighting should no longer have a place in the sport. The documentary didn't do anything to change my mind on that front, but it was definitely interesting to see how these players see themselves and how the sport in general sees them.
Matt Whitener: I really enjoyed the Ben Simmons documentary Showtime aired in November, "One & Done."
You hear a lot about the path that top prospect preps take towards the professional ranks, but seeing it from an all-access perspective from not only the player, but his family as well, was enlightening. Simmons' motives, rationale and daily life was interesting to see, especially considering the fact that it delved well back into his life before he even came to America. It didn't try to hide the problems that the mandatory bridge that college is for top players, as well as why Simmons' justifications for some of the well-publicized issues that he had in college happened. Whether you agree with his approach or not, it is an undeniably great peek into such a rare rise to the top.
Shiloh Carder: The "O.J.: Made In America" documentary may be one of the best docs I have ever watched. I was 19 years old when the Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman murders happened, and remember vividly how it and the subsequent trial just gripped the nation. It was unreal. The doc not only framed it with O.J.'s life and the state of the country (especially Los Angeles), it really dug in and re-opened those wounds. And to see those graphic crime scene photos – photos you knew existed but never saw – was shocking to me and still haunt me. My wife and I discussed each episode with all of our friends and would get into discussions days it aired just because of the feelings we had and the perspective and maturity time have given us in the years since the events.
David Matthews: "Everybody Wants Some!!" is one of the best sports movies I've ever seen, really. Sports should be fun and involve plenty of fun, drinking, and trash talking among friends and competitors and that movie has those things in spades.
My favorite athletes are the ones that you'd like to hang out with and those characters are ones I'll be hanging out with again and again in the future. (This answer will retroactively change when I finally get around to watching 2016's "Made in America" documentary and FX's anthology series about OJ.)
More must-reads: