Unguarded-Chris Herren Documentary

The documentary on Chris Herren last night was as good as any of the 30 for 30s that ESPN has put out in the last couple years.  I remember Chris Herren when he was at Fresno State and I made it a point to try to catch their late night games that were televised the same way I would try to catch Al Dillard and the Arkansas Razorbacks or Loyola Marymount a couple years previously.  He was the show.  Not just because of how good he was, but because there was something so intriguing about a person who made collosal mistakes and had so much going for them; they had so much to lose.  Its funny how I was always more impressed with the athlete whose life was a trainwreck of drinking and drug use and crime than I was with the straight laced guy who was better.  (Chris Kingsbury was one of my favorites too.  LONG range shooter from Iowa.  Remember.  Jess Patterson said he used to come to study halls drunk. Also Parish Caspier at UE.  Good stories about him going straight to early morning conditioning after being out all night.  Winning every sprint)

I feel like there will never be another Chris Herren type player.  I know there won't be.  No high school athlete (other than football) is remembered for their high school season.  State championships don't mean as much.  Kids play more for the next year and the next level than they do for the moment.  Its all summer ball now. (AAU was just getting huge with Herren's class--Felipe Lopez, Iverson).  There isn't a Damon Bailey from Bedford North Lawrence or Alen Henderson from Indy Brebeuf or Glen Robinson from Gary Roosevelt.  Its all Georgia Stars or the Illinois Warriors and they play 50 games in front of gyms full of scouts.  The internet wasn't there as much in the mid-late 90s to put in print every detail of every game.  There was still some mystique to it all. 

The story of Chris Herren is entertaining and inspiring and great and nostalgic for a number of resasons. 
1)  Fall River.  A mill town.  Working class people.   Hard nosed east coast kids.  Everyone in the world pulls for the blue collar kid. 
2)  He was a great college basketball player back when college basketball players could be great.  There is a reason college basketball is half as exciting now as it was back then. 
3)  We love stories of redemption and second (and third and fourth and fifth) chances.  People who seemingly have nothing and self destruct make sense to us.  Its harder for us to understand someone so talented that continues to sabatoge their life.  Its easy to judge when its not you.
How amazing is it that he went out and balled after doing coke until noon. 


If you haven't checked it out DVR it Saturday morning at 7am on ESPN.  Great story.

Is it a coincidence that movies have gone to shit, HBO series and documentaries are getting better and better.  Nope.