LAST OF THE LAST DANCE
Regardless of whatever ownership says, the Chicago Bulls house was built by Michael Jordan. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)
It was a brilliant docuseries
For the past five weekends Mandalay Sports Media and ESPN delivered the goods, just when many sports fans were on the brink – sans guns – of rushing sports league headquarters. Still, it is anyone’s guess when our national sports hiatus will fully end. So, let us also credit NASCAR for pumping a desperately needed infusion of competition into the veins of sports fans.
Being a big fan of motorsports, last Sunday I checked out the broadcast of the Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway. For a split-second I thought it was a replay of an IndyCar race from a few years ago. While I prefer IndyCar to NASCAR, there is no denying that IndyCar is the sports league most accustomed to performing at empty stadiums – the exception being the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (If anyone on Earth can bring fans back to IndyCar, it is new owner and esteemed businessman Roger Penske.)
Watching Darlington without spectators brought it home. If games are played this summer, fans will not be on-site.
But I digress, although it was cool watching live racing at Darlington. Therein lies the beauty of sports. No one knows the outcome before the game is played. Which makes “The Last Dance” even more beautiful. We knew the outcome. The Chicago Bulls dynasty delivered six championships and surely left at least one title on the table.
What “The Last Dance” did was provide a brilliant behind-the-scenes look at what made the Bulls supremely special. Interviews with Michael Jordan were enlightening as MJ took us inside the complex mind of sports’ greatest ‘assassin.’ 1990s rumors were validated, or squashed, by full-on access granted producers to follow the Bulls last title chase.
Today, The Weekly Opine presents the second installment of video commentary about “The Last Dance.” Check it out at this link:
For race fans who will miss the Indy 500 as much as I will, here are links to race week commentary from The Weekly Opine the past two years. “The Great Spectacle” posted last May and “So Long Danica” posted in May 2018.
“The Great Spectacle” theweeklyopine.com/sports/2019/5/23/the-great-spectacle
“So Long Danica” theweeklyopine.com/sports/2018/5/24/so-long-danica
Indy 500 or bust? Not this weekend. Probably not in late-August, either. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)
Have a safe Memorial Day!
© 2020 Douglas Freeland / The Weekly Opine