Black Magic on ESPN

[JackS]

No thread about this yet? Did anyone watch last night?

I think it dragged a little bit, making the same point over and over again, but I also think this is much better original programming than any of the dramatic presentations ESPN has done in recent years. I'll be watching again tonight.

 

[Lugnuts]

I caught a little and thought it was very moving. Strong narration by Jackson.

I'll probably try to watch again tonight.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Anybody else think Black Magic is a bad idea for the title of this series?

 

[Lugnuts]

how so?

 

[bigpern23]

Anybody else think Black Magic is a bad idea for the title of this series?

I can see that, in that "black magic" often has a negative connotation, but I think the play on words probably overwhelms that connotation. I don't have much of a problem with it.

 

[Armchair_QB]

how so?

Black Magic is normally a term you hear connected to voodoo or witchcraft.

 

[Lugnuts]

Wow I didn't even think of that. Reading up on the guy who did it... His other big film was something called 'Crazy Love'... looks really interesting.

 

[Slash]

I missed the first part. When does it play again? I scanned TiVo guide no luck.

 

[DemoChristian]

Anybody else think Black Magic is a bad idea for the title of this series?

I haven't seen it, but that's exactly what I thought when I first heard of it.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Anybody else think Black Magic is a bad idea for the title of this series?

I haven't seen it, but that's exactly what I thought when I first heard of it.

Glad I wasn't the only one.

 

[Dignan]

Anybody else think Black Magic is a bad idea for the title of this series?

This was my reaction too. Awful title. Another in a long line of bad puns that are killing sports journalism these days.

 

[silvershadow1981]

Name discomfort aside, the first part of the doc had me entranced, like I couldn't move from the screen if I wanted to. As an HBCU grad and fan of all things Black College Sports, I learned some new things last night, and I look forward to watching the conclusion tonight.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Ben Jobe is a great American.

 

[DanOregon]

I knew I recognized the director's name from somewhere, Dan Klores heads a huge PR firm in New York and it was retained by Brad Grey and Anthony Pellicano in the lawsuit filed by Gary Shandling. He's also been in the middle of some other controversies. That said, I thought the doc was pretty good. Black Magic was also the nickname of Earl Lloyd, an early pioneer in the sport.

 

[Armchair_QB]

It'd be kind of neat to see how an HBCU conference would fair as fully-funded I-A programs.

Put together a league like this and see what happens.

FAMU
Hampton
North Carolina A&T
South Carolina State
Grambling
Southern
Jackson State
Texas Southern
Prairie View

With 85 scholarships this would probably be a better football league than the Sun Belt and possibly the WAC.

 

[JackS]

Ben Jobe is a great American.

Figuring you'd definitely be watching, I actually thought of you when he took a shot at GWB last night.

What's next? Dreaming about you?

And P.S. to those wondering: Black Magic was also one of Earl Monroe's nicknames...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_2_38/ai_n24323674

 

[Bob Cook]

I used to eat up reading my parents' old Britannica books of the year 1959-72 (my parents got rid of them, dammit), but I don't think I've really appreciated all the **** that went down in that period, and **** done to people, until watching stuff like "Black Magic" now. (I write this after having seen the interviews of the South Carolina State shootings). Maybe it's because I'm older, or maybe it's the distance from the time, but I have a far greater appreciation for what a different world it was then -- and not to get political, but why Jeremiah Wright talks one way and Barack Obama talks another when it comes to race relations.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Ben Jobe is a great American.

Figuring you'd definitely be watching, I actually thought of you when he took a shot at GWB last night.

What's next? Dreaming about you?

And P.S. to those wondering: Black Magic was also one of Earl Monroe's nicknames...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_2_38/ai_n24323674

That's not the only reason he's a great American.
It is a bonus, though.
I thought Part 2 got a little rambling, but the Oranegburg stuff was compelling.

 

[JackS]

Ben Jobe is a great American.

Figuring you'd definitely be watching, I actually thought of you when he took a shot at GWB last night.

What's next? Dreaming about you?

And P.S. to those wondering: Black Magic was also one of Earl Monroe's nicknames...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_2_38/ai_n24323674

That's not the only reason he's a great American.
It is a bonus, though.
I thought Part 2 got a little rambling, but the Oranegburg stuff was compelling.

That's funny because I actually liked part 2 a little more than part 1. To me, part 1 was too much "here was this great player who was never appreciated because he was black and didn't get the opportunity to play to a mass audience." After a couple of examples, I was like, OK, I get it already, let's move on.

But if you read that link I posted above, it looks like this project was originally intended to be a Ken Burns like marathon, so we should both be glad it was cut down to what it was.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Colleagues and former colleagues covered Jobe's teams at Southern. He was the first coach they'd heard speak of "the white devil." He was also the first coach to refuse to speak to them except after games. Needed a quote for a feature? Better ask after the game. Working on your advance for Saturday? Ask questions after the game Wednesday.

Intriguing man, for sure.

Thanks for starting this thread. I watched Part 1 and recorded Part 2. Will watch when I can.

I had no problem with the title. It has many layers, even if they aren't obvious to many.