duncan228
03-05-2010, 05:36 PM
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/tsn/01/fullj.7127315512f9ee48a9b7cfd30b991be7/tsn-magicampbirdanunriva0.jpg?x=425&y=300&xc=1&yc=1&wc=425&hc=300&q=100&sig=Q7.elQYXeOalu.U8OoSbFA--
‘Magic & Bird’: An Unrivaled Rivalry, Friendship (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-magicampbirdanunriva&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews
When HBO Sports’ latest documentary, "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals," debuts this Saturday (8 p.m. ET), you will see a story that goes beyond Earvin "Magic" Johnson vs. Larry Bird, Michigan State vs. Indiana State and the Lakers vs. the Celtics. It’s about two men living parallel yet much different lives, and their special place in the history of sports and popular culture.
The result is an exceptional hour-and-a-half of television. Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer found out more about the compelling process of making the film from the documentary’s producer, Ezra Edelman:
Sporting News: What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Ezra Edelman: Frankly, it was that their friendship and bond was in fact genuine, and not a function of some sort of media hype. I was somewhat skeptical going in, but then you understand when you see them talking about each other.
SN: What is something new viewers are likely to learn?
EE: I came in a big sports fan and basketball fan, and I thought ‘I don’t know much about Larry.’ I don’t know how many people know about his dad, his dad’s suicide, or how just the depths of the poverty that was around him. Then there’s Bird himself, and the mystique surrounding him. From traveling to French Lick, you get more of a sense of his inner life. From being around Bird and Magic so much, you see how fixated the two were on each other.
SN: Does Magic’s personality live up to what everyone knows?
EE: He’s a people pleaser. We went wanting to access another side of him, because of the image that all came so easily for him. After being around him, I understood his magnetism. There is a charm about him and an ease with how he carries himself.
SN: Is there any individual sports rivalry that can rival theirs?
EE: You have Chamberlain and Russell, and you have Ali and Frazier, which has inherent drama with two guys beating each to the brink of death. But Magic and Bird has a special place. As I was seeing these two guys opening up about each other, I found it moving. You couldn’t make this story up. It had cultural, racial and geographic significance. There was great texture to their rivalry. It’s a real connection with cultural ramifications. Each man occupied archetype, and in their own way, help begat players such as Michael Jordan.
SN: Will a rivalry like this ever happen again?
EE: Magic and Bird came along at the right time. In today’s media culture, where you have sports on television around the clock, and the Internet with people blogging about everything, it’s hard to focus on just one great story. Now you have to debate such things, create them out of a vacuum, hoping they can live up. I don’t think the atmosphere is there where such a rivalry can exist at the same level.
SN: Do you think this could ever turn into a feature film?
EE: Through the magic of cinema, you wouldn’t necessarily have to find guys that are 6-9, 6-10, but of similar heights. I think it would work best if you found unknowns to play them. It would be impossible to do justice to them as basketball players. You can’t focus too much on the basketball then, and it would require using a lot of real footage. I would like to see it happen.
‘Magic & Bird’: An Unrivaled Rivalry, Friendship (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-magicampbirdanunriva&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews
When HBO Sports’ latest documentary, "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals," debuts this Saturday (8 p.m. ET), you will see a story that goes beyond Earvin "Magic" Johnson vs. Larry Bird, Michigan State vs. Indiana State and the Lakers vs. the Celtics. It’s about two men living parallel yet much different lives, and their special place in the history of sports and popular culture.
The result is an exceptional hour-and-a-half of television. Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer found out more about the compelling process of making the film from the documentary’s producer, Ezra Edelman:
Sporting News: What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Ezra Edelman: Frankly, it was that their friendship and bond was in fact genuine, and not a function of some sort of media hype. I was somewhat skeptical going in, but then you understand when you see them talking about each other.
SN: What is something new viewers are likely to learn?
EE: I came in a big sports fan and basketball fan, and I thought ‘I don’t know much about Larry.’ I don’t know how many people know about his dad, his dad’s suicide, or how just the depths of the poverty that was around him. Then there’s Bird himself, and the mystique surrounding him. From traveling to French Lick, you get more of a sense of his inner life. From being around Bird and Magic so much, you see how fixated the two were on each other.
SN: Does Magic’s personality live up to what everyone knows?
EE: He’s a people pleaser. We went wanting to access another side of him, because of the image that all came so easily for him. After being around him, I understood his magnetism. There is a charm about him and an ease with how he carries himself.
SN: Is there any individual sports rivalry that can rival theirs?
EE: You have Chamberlain and Russell, and you have Ali and Frazier, which has inherent drama with two guys beating each to the brink of death. But Magic and Bird has a special place. As I was seeing these two guys opening up about each other, I found it moving. You couldn’t make this story up. It had cultural, racial and geographic significance. There was great texture to their rivalry. It’s a real connection with cultural ramifications. Each man occupied archetype, and in their own way, help begat players such as Michael Jordan.
SN: Will a rivalry like this ever happen again?
EE: Magic and Bird came along at the right time. In today’s media culture, where you have sports on television around the clock, and the Internet with people blogging about everything, it’s hard to focus on just one great story. Now you have to debate such things, create them out of a vacuum, hoping they can live up. I don’t think the atmosphere is there where such a rivalry can exist at the same level.
SN: Do you think this could ever turn into a feature film?
EE: Through the magic of cinema, you wouldn’t necessarily have to find guys that are 6-9, 6-10, but of similar heights. I think it would work best if you found unknowns to play them. It would be impossible to do justice to them as basketball players. You can’t focus too much on the basketball then, and it would require using a lot of real footage. I would like to see it happen.