Power Moves with Shaquille O'Neal (serial)

A short series documenting the return to basketball shoes for Reebok, with Shaq and Allen Iverson leading the charge. In some ways, this is a 6 episode commercial for Reebok. But it is also a behind the scenes look at the shoe business and Shaq is just a monster personality to make anything he is in fun.

3 stars (out of 5)

Gran Turismo

Historical fiction story of the Nissan sponsored contest to find e-sports drivers who could make the jump to real-world racing. All the tropes show up, but it is still a fun watch. 

3 stars (out of 5)

My All-American

Historical fiction story of Freddy Steinmark, an undersized underdog who played safety for a couple years for Texas in the late 60's. He was the heart and soul of a national championship team and played through tremendous physical adversity. Classic feel-good sports bio. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Hill

For a feel good, underdog sports story, this was one of the most slow developing plots I have seen in awhile. And even so, not a surprise was in sight. Ricky Hill has always dreamed of being in the majors, but his degenerative bone disease was an obvious impediment. We get to follow his fight to the top, overcoming all the sports naysayers as well as his own southern, itinerate pastor father. Guess what, in the end he makes it. So surprises, and pretty OK.

3 stars (out of 5)

The Underdoggs

Snoop Dogg is the retired NFL franchise player with an ego the size of Texas. In his attempt to stay in the limelight after his career, he makes a few bad choices and ends up with community service back in his hometown of Long Beach. Which leads him to coach the local Pop Warner football team. All the stereotypical fish-out-of-water interactions take place, and the F-bomb count rivals a John Wick body count. But somehow appropriate for a Snoop Dogg vehicle. At its roots, this is a classic underdog sports film and I am a sucker for them. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Greater

The story of Brandon Burlsworth, a walk-on turned all american for Arkansas football. Told in real-time at his funeral alternating with flashbacks of his razorback career. Heartfelt. Inspirational. Heartbreaking. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Dream

A Korean Soccer star runs afoul of the media, and quits soccer in an effort to make some money in TV. To jumpstart his career, he agrees to participate in a documentary as the coach of the World Cup of Homeless Soccer (which is actually a real thing). So he goes from not caring, to caring, to actually changing the minds and outlook of everyone around him. Feel good sports/underdog movie.

3 stars (out of 5)

Air

Historical fiction telling of the signing of Michael Jordan by Nike. Clearly they had fun with setting the scene of 80's pop culture (Phil Knight in day-glo aerobics wear). And everybody comes up smelling like roses. Fun, and maybe just because that was my sports history they were telling.

4 stars (out of 5)

Lady Driver

A 16-year old with her newly earned drivers license is fed up with her "sad teenage life" and runs off to live with her uncle. She learns about her dad (who was killed and she never knew) and learns to love dirt track car racing. She is instantly good, wins over everyone and becomes a massive success. Not even any drama or story arc here. 

2 stars (out of 5)

The Way Back

Ben Affleck is a former HS Basketball all everything player, but he hasn't touched a ball since then. As a 40-something construction worker clearly struggling with some serious life issues, he gets a call from his alma mater to become a coach mid-season. Oh, and the team is awful. Affleck is rough but somehow turns a 1-9 team into a playoff contender overnight. But he can't deal with his life issues and things go off the rails of sorts. Classic, second-tier sports film. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Hustle

Adam Sandler is an aging NBA scout who scours the European clubs for the next big talent for the 76ers. He really wants to coach. But new ownership puts him back on the circuit. And when he finds the next big talent, he realizes the ownership doesn't want him. This is a story of the battle to create and show greatness. Great cameo's by NBA players (of course, with Adam Sandler and produced by LeBron). This is a really fun movie.

4 stars (out of 5)

King Richard

A biopic origin story for Venus and Serena Williams and their journey to tennis GOAT-ness. I am presuming that some creative license was taken with the family history and the struggles, but overall this is quite an uplifting and inspiring story. There are lots of little things that niggled at me about how people are portrayed, or assumptions that are made about characters, or decisions about who to emphasize in the telling of the story, all of which just touch on being tone deaf in a highly sensitive diversity/equity world. That said, I am not sure that it matters if they niggled at me when it is not my story to tell. So go see this and enjoy the greatness that is the Williams sisters.

4 stars (out of 5)

Ted Lasso (serial)

Season 2

Picks up where Season 1 left off. Richmond is battling back to the Premier league and Ted and group continue their overly dramatic life with quirky problems and the occasional effort to be more serious about mental health. Still loved it, but the novelty had definitely worn off.

5 stars (out of 5)

Home Ground (serial)

A Norwegian 2-season series following Varg - a newly promoted premier league football club who has recently lost their coach. The general manager goes out on a limb and hires Helena, a proven coach with the women's national teams. She is the first woman to coach at this level, and she is all football, all the time, and definitely has the necessary talent to lead the team. But she has a lot to learn about the local team, the local players, the team culture, and herself and her family. I really liked this series. In many ways a classic sports show with the underdogs and winning and losing, but also serious plot elements built around the humans who participate in the sports. And it has bit of Norwegian dark edge to it as well. Great series.

5 stars (out of 5)

Ted Lasso (serial)

Season 1

Ted Lasso is a down-home coach of a 2nd tier Midwestern college football team. He is hired to coach AFC Richmond, a premier league football club in England. A caricature of southern optimism as a person, Lasso finds out that his boss hired him to fail (to get back at her ex-husband). Quirky, hilarious. Lasso doesn't care and does what he can, in spite of not knowing anything about soccer. Super fun first season. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Kareem: Minority of One

Documentary on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Tells the story of his development as a basketball player and becoming the NBA all-time leading scorer. Since Kareem was involved, we get interviews with him and his perspective now that are juxtaposed with his on-camera persona throughout his career. It is a fascinating and interesting telling of the story of his basketball life. I wish that we could have delved into his life as an activist and writer post-basketball, but maybe that is needing its own 90 minutes.

4 stars (out of 5)

Safety to Nome

 This documentary follows the athletes who embark on a 1000 mile cross Alaskan trek (from Safety, Alaska to Nome). They can choose to either walk, ski or bike. This doc follows the bikers and, like the EcoChallenge, there are no rest areas etc. Each racer can choose to go 24 hours straight if they like. It is brutal and grand all at the same time. At just under 90 minutes, it is also the perfect length to get to know and understand the racers and journey, without getting bored by a 6 episode series. Fascinating what these extreme athletes will do.

4 stars (out of 5)

World's Toughest Race

 A reality series based on the Eco-challenge 2017 race in Fiji. This is a nearly 700 km adventure race where teams of 4 paddle, hike, bike, climb, sail, swim, etc. across Fiji. For the elite teams, the race is continuous with racing happening nearly 24 hours continuously, finishing the entire race in 6 days. For the other teams, the narrative is that these are "regular people", but 2/3 of the teams finish in less than the limit of 11 days and they are not "regular people". This is an extreme race and it is fun to watch. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Magic & Bird: A courtship of rivals

The HBO Sports documentary tracing the relationship between these two legends from highschool through the Olympics in Barcelona. An outstanding inside look that really illuminates the personalities and playing styles of each man, and gives two very different approaches to competition. Both protagonists participated in extensive interviews, filling out the details of a story that was part of my introduction to fandom. 

5 stars (out of 5)

Women of Troy

An HBO Sports documentary about the early 80's USC Trojan women's basketball team centered on Cheryl Miller. And more broadly, this tells the story of the development of the women's game referencing the earliest transition to full court and first dynasty (The Mighty Macs) to the development of the WNBA. This doc argues that it was Cheryl Miller and her athleticism and competitive fire that began to turn the tide for the sport. 

4 stars (out of 5)