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Two weekly College Football Docuseries coming to ESPN next year

LonghornSean

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LonghornSean

LonghornSean 3942

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The American Game and The Greatest, premiering September 2019 for the 150th season of college football.  I will watch this.

 

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  • Both Series to Debut in September 2019 and Run Through College Football’s 150thAnniversary Season
  • Produced by Award-Winning Herzog & Company

With the 150th anniversary of college football arriving in 2019, ESPN is embarking on a year-long, multi-platform storytelling experience that was initially announced in August 2017. As part of the initiative, two weekly documentary series will be launched, with both capturing the pageantry and passion of a sport that is an American institution.

The American Game – Tuesdays, Beginning September 17, 2019

This 11-episode documentary series will focus on college football’s extraordinary narrative by exploring themes that have made the sport an integral component of the American landscape. Among the topics to be examined:

  • The Evolution of the Game
  • Integration
  • Bowls, Polls and Picking a Champion
  • The Heisman Trophy
  • The College-Pro Relationship

Collectively, The American Game will be a definitive look at the history of college football as not just a sport, but as a cultural phenomenon as well.

The Greatest – Thursdays, Beginning September 19, 2019
Ranking the all-time best uniforms, rivalry games, voices, and “What Ifs?” among other subjects, this 11-episode series will feature a wide range of Top 11 lists (it is football, after all) spanning the history of the sport. However, The Greatest is about more than rankings, with each episode’s countdown serving as the foundation for storytelling focused on the memories, breakthroughs, and personalities that have defined college football’s remarkable history. Making the choices for each list is an 11-member ESPN jury, who will debate and discuss the candidates before revealing their verdict.

“The history of college football is ripe for this kind of deeper dive into the topics and stories that make it so compelling,” says ESPN Vice President & Executive Producer John Dahl, who is overseeing College Football 150. “By exploring it on and off the field through various themes, we have the opportunity to entertain and enlighten fans with fresh and engaging content week after week.”

The American Game and The Greatest are both being produced by Herzog & Company, the Emmy Award-winning production company which has produced critically acclaimed original programming for network, cable and digital outlets. Recognized most recently for their Emmy-nominated Decades series for CNN (The Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and 2000s) and The History of Comedy, Herzog is currently in production on The Movies, a 12-hour documentary series for CNN produced in partnership with Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks (Playtone), Cola Wars, a 2-hour documentary exploring the historic rivalry between Coke and Pepsi for History Channel, and the true crime documentary special Dirty John: The Dirty Truth for Oxygen which is based on the explosive L.A. Times podcast and newspaper articles. Mark Herzog is also an Executive Producer on the 8-hour scripted series Dirty John that premieres November 25 on Bravo.

“We’re thrilled to be working with ESPN on The American Game and The Greatest,” says Herzog, who is also an Executive Producer on these series. “There’s nothing like the devotion and spirit of college football fans and our hope is that we can give everyone a complete understanding of the phenomenon that college football has become.”

This is the first in a series of announcements about specific plans for the ESPN College Football 150 initiative, which will begin on January 2, 2019 primarily on ESPN’s digital and social platforms.

 

https://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2018/10/espn-set-for-two-weekly-docuseries-in-2019-the-american-game-and-the-greatest-as-pillars-of-networks-college-football-150-initiative/

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Gaffords

Gaffords 755

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4 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

So will there be an episode of The Greatest that focuses on all of those teams, armies and nations defeated by the 2005 USC team prior to the Rose Bowl?

It's really funny how many of their announcers to this day hate Texas over that loss. If they hadn't made complete idiots out of themselves by crowning that USC team the greatest team that has ever been or will ever be before they finished playing all their games, things would've been okay...

But the butthurt of being proven wrong over something they were so sure of, burns deep in many of them.

I'm pretty sure they all got matching USC championship tramp stamps November of that year.

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WBT

WBT 20442

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I listened to a podcast today with Ivan Maisel talking about this project.  He has a soporific speaking style but a lot of it did sound interesting.  This is the kind of thing that ESPN can do well so I'm looking forward to this. 

https://podcastone.com/episode/The-150th-Anniversary-of-College-Football

I also dazzled my kindergarten teacher with my ability to pronounce sesquicentennial in 1986 so it will be good to have a chance to bring that one back out.

Here are two more links ESPN rolled out about this:

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25659433/espn-college-football-150-celebrates-larger-life-sport

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Memory has a way of smoothing out the rough edges, and usually leaves us with the vision of coaches in their prime. They are the sport's sinew, the connective tissue that binds one generation to the next. Bill Snyder, 79, the Hall of Fame coach from Kansas State who retired last month, is only six degrees of separation from Teddy Roosevelt.

  • Snyder served as a graduate assistant in 1966 at USC under John McKay, who played for Oregon in the 1949 Rose Bowl against SMU. The Mustangs were coached by:

  • Matty Bell, who played at Centre College in 1920 with:

  • Bo McMillin, who the following year led the Praying Colonels to their mythic 6-0 upset of Harvard, which was coached by:

  • Bob Fisher, who played for the Crimson in 1909 for:

  • Percy Haughton, hailed as the father of modern organized coaching, perhaps because he once enlisted:

  • President Theodore Roosevelt to hire a line coach for him.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25663448/college-football-150-espn-schedule

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The American Game

"The American Game" is an 11-episode documentary series that will focus on college football's extraordinary narrative by exploring themes that have made the sport an integral component of the American landscape. Collectively, "The American Game" will be a definitive look at the history of college football as not just a sport, but as a cultural phenomenon as well. "The American Game" will air on Tuesdays, beginning on September 17.

The Greatest

Ranking the all-time best uniforms, rivalry games, voices, and "What Ifs?" among other subjects, "The Greatest" is an 11-episode series that will feature a wide range of Top 11 lists spanning the history of the sport. However, "The Greatest" is about more than rankings, with each episode's countdown serving as the foundation for storytelling focused on the memories, breakthroughs, and personalities that have defined college football's remarkable history. Making the choices for each list is an 11-member ESPN jury, who will debate and discuss the candidates before revealing their verdict. "The Greatest" will air on Thursdays, beginning on September 19.

Football is US

"Football is US" will be two documentaries directed by Jon Hock exploring the evolution of the sport. "Football Is US: The College Game" begins with Rutgers vs. Princeton in 1869, college football's first game, then continues to the present day, profiling what has become an American institution. Debuting in August, the film will chronicle the innovators who moved the game forward, the university programs that led the sport from the so-called "Rag Days" of the 1800s through today, and the most pivotal on-field moments in college football history. From the ideals of amateurism and loyalty, to the pageantry and tradition, to the narratives of American history woven so deeply into the annals of the game itself, the film will seek to explore a seminal question: What sets college football apart from every other sport?

"Football is US: The College Player" will focus on the evolution of the young student-athletes who've played the game over its long and storied history. As much as any other facet of the sport, the backgrounds, identities, priorities, and collegiate experiences of its players have all been transformed over the last 150 years. Those changes are a reflection of fundamental changes in America and the massive growth of the game. From recollections of the all-time greats to explorations of the lives of the players today, this film debuting in January 2020 will be a reminder that the story of the game is their story. After all, more than anyone else, it's the players on the field who've created the unforgettable moments and fueled college football's unabated rise in popularity.

All-Time All-America Team

College football's All-Time All-America Team will be announced in January 2020 and recognized around the College Football Playoff National Championship in New Orleans, providing a grand finale to ESPN's College Football 150 initiative. The All-Time All-America Team will feature 25 players: 11 on offense, 11 on defense, a kicker, punter, and return specialist. The team will be voted on by a select 150-member panel from across college football, made up of former coaches and players as well as media members, administrators, and additional key figures in and around the sport.

The 150 Greatest Coaches, Games, Players and Teams

Let the debates begin. College football's all-time best coaches, games, players and teams will be determined by the same select 150-member panel from across the sport that will do the voting for the All-Time All America Team. All divisions and eras will be considered by the panel.

 

The greatest teams will be unveiled around the launch of 150 consecutive days of original content in August. The greatest games will be revealed on November 6, 2019, the 150th anniversary of the first college football game, followed by the announcement of the greatest coaches during Heisman week in December. Finally, the greatest players will precede the All-Time All-America Team announcement in January 2020.

My Story: 150 Personal Testimonials

Threading throughout the 150 consecutive days of original content, the "My Story" series of one-minute testimonials from all parts of the college football tapestry -- current and former players, coaches, administrators, media, and fans -- will offer memories of the game through engaging tales and some of the best untold stories, breathing new life into the history of the sport. For one minute, every day, for 150 days, these stories will capture the very essence of college football and be featured across multiple ESPN platforms.

Saturdays in the South: A History of SEC Football

SEC Network will debut "Saturdays in the South: A History of SEC Football" over the course of eight consecutive Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET, beginning September 3, 2019. The eight-part, 12-hour documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Fritz Mitchell will showcase the defining storylines and figures within the SEC from its very beginnings to its powerful present.

Having a guy named Fritz doing the history of the SEC documentary is kind of suspect.  Should have gone with a Cletus.

 

Also, I wonder if there's any chance we'll see a version of this helmet with a 150 instead of 100:

920x920.jpg

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