ESPN has done it again. For a while now, ESPN has been taking us back into the past with their tremendous 30 for 30 series, documenting many of the biggest moments in sports history. For those who lived through them, it acts as more of a remembrance of some of the most notable sports stories ever. For those like me, it acts as more of a history book, teaching us what went on before we were born and showing us stories we would have otherwise known only from stories of our parents or elders. Some specifically memorable ones talk about the "Bad Boy" Pistons or the history of the Big East, but ESPN has added another one, in my opinion, to that list.
The story of "Believeland" talks about the infamous sports city of Cleveland and there struggles to win a major sporting title in several years. It takes you behind the scenes, gives you the full story from those who have lived it. It truly explains the agony of Cleveland sports fans.
The beginning of the story starts out kind of slow and it does take a while to get into it because it explains more about the city of Cleveland and the triumphs of the very early sports years. But when it gets started, it is a true classic. It starts out, and mainly talks about, the woes of the Cleveland Browns over the years and how they have come so close so many times, but have yet to win a championship. This was the most interesting part for me because as a 20 year old college student from New Jersey, I was under the impression that the Browns have been terrible for a very long time, but that really is not the case.
The documentary does the same for the Cleveland Indians and shows their triumphs, as well, but it truly is amazing how close Cleveland has got and throughout the documentary, the idea of there being a curse on Cleveland grows on you because some of the ways Cleveland teams have failed at winning championships is unbelievably cruel, which is also why the documentary is so good. It describes these times perfectly through narration and through the interviews of Cleveland sports fans and radio and TV personalities throughout the city. The emotion that these fans show when certain events in Cleveland sports history are brought up is unbelievable. You can really feel for the fans after seeing this interviews because you start to understand what they are really growing through and it all comes together with Lebron at the end.
The thing I didn't like as much, and this could be because I have grown up watching it, is the fact that there was not much about present day Cleveland sports and the woeful times they have been through. I would have liked to see more Lebron, more present day Browns because I think that those teams and players play a really important role in how Cleveland sports are today. I think it really would have fully completed the story. Other than that, though, the documentary was terrific.
In a documentary about a town riddled with sports misery, "Believeland" is the perfect title and it fit this documentary perfectly because these fans have been believing for so long that it will happen soon. These are some of the most loyal fans in all of America and this documentary really showed that. It was another excellent piece put out there by ESPN and as the show went on, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, which is what you really want in any sort of video presentation. It was truly terrific and if you haven't seen this already, I would strongly recommend it because "Believeland" is an instant classic.
