30 For 30

[Cobra Commander]

Grbac was probably better, at least on paper, than Steve Bono or old Joe Montana, but being the 3rd former Niners QB to end up in KC within 4 years wasn't really an ideal assignment because people got tired of Steve Bono quickly here. The other great Grbac story is how People Magazine accidentally made him the sexiest athlete alive because they mixed him up with Rich Gannon.

Considering that Vermeil was getting 4000 yard passing seasons out of Trent Green, Grbac probably could have piled up lots of yardage with Vermeil (if they could work together)

[Brian Fowler]

My vague recollection is that fans were pretty split on Grbac vs Gannon when they were both in KC, but they quickly turned on Elvis when Rich broke out in Oakland.

[Johnny Sorrow]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:38 AM, hammerva said:

The 30 for 30 on the Mets is just great and pretty much everything you thought it would be.   Went from the beginnings to their World Series run to why it only lasted a year.    Some thoughts:

1.  While most people assumed the star would be Strawberry and Gooden, the true star on this is Keith Hernandez.    Just a strangely fascinating person who is so likeable and hateable at the same time depending on the person he was talking about.  At times talking while playing with his cats.  Brutally honest about his relationship with his dad, his , his drug issues and involving in the cocaine trial, and more.  The story of him  telling Jessie Oroscco that if he throws another fastball in the 16th inning of Game 6 against Astros he will fight him on the actual fight.

2.  The Mike Scott talk was great.  I remember him being completely unhittable in 1986 but forgot that everyone thought he was scuffing the balls.  And then you see the actual balls from those games and man those balls were scuffed like crazy.  Like how in the world did nobody notice these.  I guess it was because of how hated the Mets were

3.  The scene of them winning the division is insane.  There are probably 100 people on the field and the ball hasn't reached first base yet.  The field afterward looked like a checkerboard with so many chunks taken out.  People trying to steal home plate in front of the cops.   Fans today will never realize the days of the 70's and 80's how easy it was to celebrate in the crowd.  

4.  The Plane Ride from Hell after winning the 86 NLCS.   Thousands of dollars in damage and Davey Johnson looking at the bill to the players and rips it up and says Fuck them we will make a shit load of money

5.  I loved Gary Carter as a kid but apparently Mets players hated him because he was so different than him.  Even his wife was kind of treating him like he was this lovable dork.  

6.  Of course the game 6 of World Series is awesome.   Had no idea that they actually announced in the game that Bruce Hurst was the MVP and congratulated the Red Sox for winning.  Nice to see they got Calvin Schradi for it.     All the players going to Bill Robinson the 1st base coach saying "I am not going to the last fucking out"

7.  You know Dwight Gooden has a major drug problem when just days after Len Bias death he is telling people to give him that Len Bias shit.

Lots of other great stories like the George Foster controversy,  Roddy Piper cutting a promo at MSG talking about how the Mets will still win down 2-0, and of course Lenny Dykstra being himself.   

I'm just catching this now, and it's great. Dykstra is such a mess.

[Cobra Commander]

tomorrow and Wednesday night

[Cobra Commander]

Watching part 1 right now

I get the sense that Stevie Richards modeled his 90s hair off of Malibu from the Gladiators

[Marcel]

Part 1 was really good.  An entire backstory that I had no idea about. 

Looking forward to Part 2 tonight.  Kind of want to go read Nitro's book now.

[Mister TV]

Co-signing that Part 1 was really good, way better and different than I was expecting. Apache Dan was all over the Showtime doc about early MMA in Pittsburgh, really hoping he shows up in Part 2. 

 

[colonial]

Netflix will premiere an American Gladiators doc of its own, a five-parter, on June 28.

Remember the scene in the ESPN doc where Gladiators who declined to participate in the 30 for 30 were X-ed out? All of them will participate in the Netflix doc -- Nitro, Laser, Zap, Ice, Blaze, Tower. 

 

[Cobra Commander]

correction: I now believe that Malibu was if you put 1990s Stevie Richards hair on Edge

Edit: I didn't know that Malibu had several wrestling matches post-Gladiators under that name. Also, one of the people who was a friend of Dann Carr claimed that "American Gladiators" was gonna be the name of a WWF tag team with him and Dann

Edited June 1, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[supremebve]

I need to say that I absolutely loved American Gladiators as a kid.  There were a few years where it was up there with pro wrestling for me.  Now that I've said that, I have to say, if you trusted that Elvis impersonator for one second, you brought all this shit upon yourself.  I'm not saying that I can't be scammed, conned, fooled, or anything else, but I wouldn't have trusted a damn thing he ever said to me.  He reminds me of a cross of Eric Bischoff and Donald Trump.  Him coming back after all the time trying to keep the documentarians from talking to Dan, saying he is happy they talked to Dan is one of the biggest crocks of shit of all time.

I have to say, I 100% understand how and why the gladiators signed up to those terrible contracts.  As someone who spent his late teens and early-20s trying to find a physical outlet, and while I was young and in shape I wasn't a crazy workout fanatic like most of the gladiators were.  There just plain isn't a lot of opportunities to compete in physical sports, and quite a few people who desperately want to keep playing football or wrestling, or whatever else they used to do in high school.  With that said, making them pay their own medical bills is fucking criminal.  That show was fucking huge, and they couldn't take care of the people who made the show possible.  

I still want Wesley "Too Scoops" Berry to win everything.  He is the only person who saw exactly what American Gladiators was and exploited the opportunity in the most positive use of that word possible.  

[hammerva]

Tonight starts a two part 30 for 30 on Bill Walton.  This should really damn good.  

[Johnny Sorrow]

On 6/6/2023 at 3:43 PM, hammerva said:

Tonight starts a two part 30 for 30 on Bill Walton.  This should really damn good.  

I loved it, obviously. So much Grateful Dead.

[hammerva]

If you are fan of racing in any form, the new 30 for 30 on Jackie Stewart arguably the god father of F1 racing is great.   It is a real deep dive of his prime years.   all the while not being able to do basic reading and writing.    It is amazing that he was the voice of racing from the 70's and 80's on ABC and couldn't read a teleprompter and had to wing it post of the time

Edited July 23, 2023 by hammerva

[Mister TV]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:46 PM, hammerva said:

If you are fan of racing in any form, the new 30 for 30 on Jackie Stewart arguably the god father of F1 racing is great.   It is a real deep dive of his prime years.   all the while not being able to do basic reading and writing.    It is amazing that he was the voice of racing from the 70's and 80's on ABC and couldn't read a teleprompter and had to wing it post of the time

I'll co-sign on this being really good but depressing due to all the drivers who were killed during Stewart's time.

[hammerva]

I mean his team partner and best friend gets killed on his final race.  Even now Jackie couldn't talk about it is so painful