Some sports moments are bigger than themselves, defining an era or representing virtues of life. Sports, in my opinion, are the best entertainment that is out there. It has all the ingredients of an amazing drama: rivals, setbacks, friendships among others. Yet at times, political issues are subliminal in sports, especially in international competition.
Anyhow for quite a while I have been in fond of sports documentaries, from all the great National Football (NFL) teams’ championship run film provided by NFL Films to Beyond the Glory series. For those who don’t know me, I am a sports fanatic. ESPN, Yahoo Sports, FOX Sports, Grantland.com have been a large chunk of my life for nearly a decade now.
I particularly enjoy basketball and football (both the American and European kinds), which are the ultimate team sports that require cohesiveness at its finest. Also the tactics and the physical attributes of each game provide the utmost excitement.
With that being said, I watched several GREAT, GREAT, GREAT sports documentary films that are part of ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 series. It’s a series to commemorate ESPN’s 30th anniversary by producing 30 films from some of today’s finest directors, portraying issues such as race, ethnic cleansing, death and more in a particular sport or a player’s life in great details. Each documentaries really trace back the past and provides the trends and events that transformed the sports landscape from 1979 to 2009.
The best one yet has to be “Once Brothers”, written and directed by Michael Tolajian. The documentary chronicles the relationship of two SFR Yugoslavia basketball stars Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic and how the Yugoslav Wars had an effect.
Vlade Divac is a well-known figure if you have followed the National Basketball Association (NBA) since the 90s. He was drafted by the Lakers in 1990, traded to the Hornets for Kobe in 1996, and shined at Sacramento alongside Chris Webber, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic in the early 2000s.
And Drazen Petrovic; he was known as the Mozart of basketball in Europe during the 80s. After his success in European League, he crossed the Atlantic and played in the NBA, making a name with precise three-pointers and competitive drive.
Vlade and Drazen were roommates during their SFR Yugoslavia national team days that spanned from 1986 to 1990, a period in which Yugoslavia rose to the top tier of international basketball.
The two had opposite personalities as Vlade was laid back while Drazen was always laser focused on basketball, according to the documentary. However, their biggest and greatest difference was ethnic background; Vlade was Serbian and Drazen was Croatian.
Yugoslavia was a federation of six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Under the realm of Josip Broz Tito, the six republics were well meshed into one controlled communism state, but his death in 1980 began to bring out instability.
Then the collapse of communism began in East Europe, mobilizing independence movements within Yugoslavia. In the 1990 FIBA World Basketball Championship, the Yugoslavia team participated in its last tournament as a united group, capturing the gold medal. During the on-court celebration, one fan brought up a Croatian flag but was snatched by Vlade, who eventually threw away the flag.
Such action created negative publicity of Vlade amongst Croatians, driving him and Croatian teammates including Drazen apart emotionally. Soon after the Yugoslav Wars began, tearing apart what was left of Vlade and Drazen’s relationship as their respective countries was at war against each other.
Vlade wanted to speak with his former teammates of Croatian descent, but all of them avoided him as they were pressured not to speak with someone who disrespected their nation’s flag.
In 1993, Drazen died of a car accident in Germany and Vlade never had a chance to resolve mutual misunderstandings with Drazen.
The documentary ends with Vlade visiting Drazen’s mother in Croatia, where he hasn’t visited since 1990, and leaving flowers at Drazen’s grave – something he couldn’t do at the time of Drazen’s death due to the heated ethnic tension between Croatia and Serbia.
This documentary captured a friendship’s rise through basketball and downfall due to cruel political reality. I was left with some deep thoughts after watching the film. ‘What does a country mean to me?’ ‘Is it more important than my personal relationships?’
I will leave you all with the link of the documentary, please do check if you have time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75IGqPlM2TM
I wish South Korean broadcasting companies would produce sport documentaries more, as the country is full of narratives and contents for a superb sports documentary film. For instance, highlighting the 1991 unified Korean soccer team in the U-20 soccer World Cup that made to the quarter finals would be really intriguing. Can really provide the audience of the political settings at the time, the cultural differences stemming from the long period of division between the two Koreas and all that.
Anyways, I just love sports. BTW, you should also check out the 30 for 30 documentary film about the 1983 North Carolina State’s basketball championship team.
Jungmin/Paul's Mind 