Truly Dreadful Film

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I grew up in Maryland and was there when the wretched owner, Bob Irsay, moved the team to Indianapolis in the dead of night. I felt for the city and it seemed a shame for such a big town to go without a football team. This documentary by ESPN from their great "30 for 30" series documents not only this loss but some crazed Baltimore Colts band members who refused to disband the team! For well over a decade, they continued to practice, occasionally perform and rally for a team. I appreciated this and the documentary was well made and worth seeing.This story is just one of several reasons why I hate pro sports here in America. I've lived in several cities held hostage by owners who DEMAND new stadiums of they'll leave--this happened when I lived in Cincinnati, Charlotte and now here in the Tampa Bay area. And so, when Baltimore then coaxed the Browns to abandon their fans to move in the 1990s, I finally realized sports were a complete waste of time for me. I no longer felt sorry for 'ol Baltimore--they were now a part of the problem. The governor pushed through a huge tax to buy new stadiums for BOTH baseball and football teams (even though many folks lived around DC and rooted for their teams--they, too, had to pay this tax). An interesting film, but exactly why I hate pro sports. And don't even get me started about what I think of the obnoxious 'bad boy' players, the high prices (families simply cannot afford to attend games any more unless they are rich) or strikes....By the way, if you do watch, by far the most interesting aspect was listening to Bob Irsay's son discussing his father. It helped put things in perspective and I appreciated his candor.

30 for 30: The Band That Wouldn't Die (2009) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Nice and rather touching documentary about the Baltimore Colts Marching Band who stayed in town doing their jobs even after the owners of the Baltimore Colts loaded the team up on a truck one night and snuck them off to Indianapolis. The documentary, from Baltimore native Levinson, does a terrific job telling this story, which is clearly one of the biggest "David vs. Goliath" stories in sports history. We get to hear many wonderful personal stories that go from the fun of being in the band to the heartbreak of knowing that you're beloved team is no longer yours. The decision of these men and women to keep on playing even though the team wasn't there is a terrific underdog story and the eventual turning point of the city getting another team is extremely entertaining. I loved the way Levinson made this a very personal film as he perfectly mixed in the stories of the band members but also in telling the story of the owners, the Mayor and various other folks involved in the story. When I first heard about this being an entry in the series, I really scratched my head wondering what type of story a marching band could tell but in the end it turned out to be a real gem and certainly one of the best gems out there right now.