ESPN Films - SEC Storied - Before They were Cowboys

Running on the treadmill, I watched ESPN Films SEC Storied Before They Were Cowboys. This is the twenty-ninth film in the ESPN Films SEC Storied series. A work in progress episode guide for SEC Storied is here.

The film looks at how Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson teamed up to help lead the 1964 Arkansas Razorbacks football squad to its only undefeated season in history almost thirty years before they joined forces to win two Super Bowls with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. They were vital senior members of a team that won a national championship. The two men are linked by alphabet, alliteration, uniform numbers (60 and 61) and fate.

I was shocked that Jerry Jones was an offense guard in college. Today, he would have to be 80 to 100 pounds heavier to play to offense line. Looking at the UC Davis 2016 football roster, fourteen of the fifteen offense linemen listed weighed more than 275 pounds. Nine of the fifteen weighed more than 290 pounds. It is just one example of how football has changed over the last fifty years.

I was a quality offensive tackle in high school in Northern California in the early 1970's at 195 pounds. I probably could have played offense line at UC Davis. More on that in the next video postcard...

ESPN Films - SEC Storied - Miracle 3

I watched ESPN Films SEC Storied Miracle 3. In addition to 30 for 30 Volume 2, the 30 for 30 Shorts and Nine for IX, ESPN Films is running a series of films about the Southeastern Conference. There are about five other films in this series that I have not seen yet; I have not built an episode guide for these films.

Miracle 3 tells the story of the 2008 SEC Championship Basketball tournament. As the first quarterfinal went into overtime on Friday, March 14th, a tornado hit the Georgia Dome. It was the first tornado to hit the city since the 1880's and one of the few reported tornados to hit a major metropolitan area.

Alabama's Mykal Riley's buzzer beater shot to force the overtime probably saved thousands of lives. If Riley had not sunk the 3-point shot, thousands of fan leaving the Alabama/Mississippi State game would have literally walked right into a tornado with winds estimated at 135 MPH.

The film focuses on what happened as the storm raged outside and then the monumental task of having to finish the tournament with four games in 30 hours.

Miracle 3 is not as good as most of the other ESPN Films, but it is an interesting story. I actually got sucked in and enjoyed the film more as it progressed. I actually don't remember hearing about the story at the time it happened.

Miracle 3 is available in iTunes.

It is also available on Amazon as an Instant Video.