Pony Excess

[Top Ute]

Why did I think Leach was an assistant at some point? Anyone else hear that?

Hung around BYU practice quite a bit as a student, but never in an official capacity is what I remember reading.

[DrumNFeather]

Finished watching it last night. One of the best by far in the 30 for 30 series...and a good number of them have been excellent.

I'm with Surfah, I can't believe how proud the boosters were of the money they gave...and even the former players being so proud as well. I would've expected them to be a little bit more humble or humiliated, but it seems that all they were really pissed about is that SMU was the only school penalized.

Someone in this thread said that it could still go on today, but I would think that in the age of information we're in, these kind of things would get out all the time on FB, Twitter, CUF, you know all the big outlets, especially with the frequency that players transfer out of big programs.

Can you imagine what would've happened if USC didn't get a season this year and only half a season next year with no games at home for the whole Reggie Bush deal?

[Donuthole]

I thought the Marcus Dupree doc "The Best that Never Was" was the best of the series so far. Pony Exce$$ was also great. The OJ doc that aired about 6 months ago was extremely clever, as it didn't have a single current interview--it used exclusively old camera/news footage to tell the entire story.

I also really enjoyed the one about the invention of fantasy baseball. The only one I haven't seen yet is the Fernandomania one, which is waiting on my DVR.

[pellegrino]

you can get many of them on netflix too.

[Parrot Head]

After more than a month on the Tivo, I finally finished this one tonight and I echo the praise for the series and this episode in particular. It's like the mob where they have to bring them in on tax evasion and can't get the bosses for the obvious offenses.

My two takeaways are 1) how did UT and aTm not get busted in this also and, 2) I dislike Graig James even more now than before.

[DrumNFeather]

After more than a month on the Tivo, I finally finished this one tonight and I echo the praise for the series and this episode in particular. It's like the mob where they have to bring them in on tax evasion and can't get the bosses for the obvious offenses.

My two takeaways are 1) how did UT and aTm not get busted in this also and, 2) I dislike Graig James even more now than before.

lol...that was one of my big takeaways from the show as well.

[Paperback Writer]

It was well done but it didn't take advantage of a unique comparision. The program start out by mentioning the economic climate in Dallas during the 1970s and into the 1980s. The Dallas economy was booming under a bubble of energy and real estate. The Dallas Cowboys were at the top of the NFL. SMU was the only SWC school in Dallas, had money, and its boosters were ready to see the Mustang football program take it's rightful place atop the SWC along with the Longhorns, Razorbacks, and Aggies. SMU was one of the most successful football programs from 1980-84.This was all very well portrayed at the bigginging of the program.

However, there was no follow-up at the conclusion of the program. The details of SMU's crash and burn in the late 1980s with the NCAA death penatly were mentioned. But there was no mention of the Dallas Cowboy's demise under the last years of Tom Landry and the start of rebuilding under new ownership and Jimmy Johnson. Likewise, there was no mention of the crash of the Dallas (and much of the Texas) economy with the tax reform of 1986 and the bursting of the energy and real estate bubble.

In short, SMU rode the wave of success of the Cowboys and the Dallas economy and all of these crashed in the late 1980s.

The Dallas economy and the Cowboys rebounded in the 1990s but it has taken much longer for SMU football to get back to where they were before 1980. SMU has been a bowl team the past two years so maybe the Mustangs have turned the corner.

[TripletDaddy]

I predict that I will not be offended by this Sunday's 30 for 30 on The Fab Five.

[YOUTUBE]ArEOiywP1oc[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.weallscheme.com/2011/03/0...-the-fab-five/

[USUC]

I predict that I will not be offended by this Sunday's 30 for 30 on The Fab Five.

[YOUTUBE]ArEOiywP1oc[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.weallscheme.com/2011/03/0...-the-fab-five/

It should be interesting. I love these 30 for 30 docs. I remember this era of Michigan back in the day. I was in middle school at the time. I'm not a huge BB fan outside of BYU (and USU for full disclosure) and the tournament. So I don't remember much about the Fab 5 except for Webber's time out.

I watched "The U" last week (I love netflix). That place was crazy. Makes any NCAA violation USC "committed" look petty. I remember hating Miami back then (mainly because older cousins did). But the on the field stuff was funny as hell. That Cotton Bowl game was out of hand.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

They've already done 30 of these, so apparently they're not stopping at 30 (for some reason I thought they were stopping at 30).

There are a lot of stories I'd like to see covered:

UNLV and the Larry Johnson-Stacey Augmon-Greg Anthony era.

The rise of the NBA from the ashes back in the early 80s.

The 1994 baseball strike.

The MJ-Detroit Pistons nastiness of the late 80s/early 90s.

The formation and evolution of the BCS.

Marvin Hagler and his fights with Hearns and Leonard, or some story about the awesomeness that was 1980s middleweight boxing.

[TripletDaddy]

They've already done 30 of these, so apparently they're not stopping at 30 (for some reason I thought they were stopping at 30).

There are a lot of stories I'd like to see covered:

UNLV and the Larry Johnson-Stacey Augmon-Greg Anthony era.

The rise of the NBA from the ashes back in the early 80s.

The 1994 baseball strike.

The MJ-Detroit Pistons nastiness of the late 80s/early 90s.

The formation and evolution of the BCS.

Marvin Hagler and his fights with Hearns and Leonard, or some story about the awesomeness that was 1980s middleweight boxing.

These would be good ones.

Did they do a 30 for 30 on the Rise and Fall of the ABA? I think there would be great interest in something like that. I noticed that Nike's retro nod featuring the Roswell Ray Guns was quite popular. The younger hoops fans today have no real recollection of that red white and blue ball.

Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar...greatest lifetime basketball career of all time

The Rosie Ruiz Boston Marathon story

Magic Johnson HIV/end of Showtime

Miracle on Ice

USA/USSR fraud Olympics medal round game (with the fall of communism, there must be several russkies willing to talk candidly now)

probably many others

Barry Bonds polarizing career and steroid scandal

[il Padrino Ute]

Marvin Hagler and his fights with Hearns and Leonard, or some story about the awesomeness that was 1980s middleweight boxing.

The 80s middleweights were awesome. Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez were some terrific fighters and were a bigger draw than the heavyweights.

I'd love to be able to see some of those fights again, especially the Leonard/Benitez fight (though that was actually a welterweight fight).

[Top Ute]

They've already done 30 of these, so apparently they're not stopping at 30 (for some reason I thought they were stopping at 30).

There are a lot of stories I'd like to see covered:

UNLV and the Larry Johnson-Stacey Augmon-Greg Anthony era.

The rise of the NBA from the ashes back in the early 80s.

The 1994 baseball strike.

The MJ-Detroit Pistons nastiness of the late 80s/early 90s.

The formation and evolution of the BCS.

Marvin Hagler and his fights with Hearns and Leonard, or some story about the awesomeness that was 1980s middleweight boxing.

Hagler is a character (he legally changed his name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler at the height of his career), and Hagler-Hearns IMO is the greatest fight ever.

Talk about a guy who disappeared from view -- he went to Italy and became a TV star over there. A few years back, I went to his Web site and asked him if ESPN had ever contacted him about their "Ringside" series that it has done on several notable boxers, and he actually responded to me. Signed his email, "All the best. Marvelous."

[Top Ute]

The 80s middleweights were awesome. Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez were some terrific fighters and were a bigger draw than the heavyweights.

I'd love to be able to see some of those fights again, especially the Leonard/Benitez fight (though that was actually a welterweight fight).

[YOUTUBE]9VI-M9Yw-28[/YOUTUBE]

[il Padrino Ute]

[YOUTUBE]9VI-M9Yw-28[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks for this. It was fun to see that again. IIRC, Hearns broke his hand in the first round when he landed that big punch.

I remember Hagler being the scariest looking fighter in boxing. That shaved head and menacing stare was intimidating.

The best part of that link are the links to other great fights in those days. I'm getting ready to watch the Leonard/Hearns fight right now.