Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Jimmy The Greek Review

Tonight, ESPN aired one of their 30 for 30 documentaries on Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, a famous bookie who made a name for himself in football and the bookmaking industry.

In watching this one-hour short film, it was interesting to learn about the life of Jimmy The Greek. For those of you who don't know, he was a person who brought bookmaking, or as many call it "sports betting" out from the underground and into the limelight. Through owning his own business and working for NFL Today on CBS, he helped transform the bookmaking industry singlehandedly to what it is today in the United States, and he was a very well-known person up until his death in 1996.

What I found to be really impressive about this guy was his knowledge on bookmaking. From a betting standpoint, he knew his stuff, as many people turned to him for advice on handicapping everything from sports, to horse racing and even presidential elections. He had many interesting winning wagers that won him lots of dough, including a $10,000 bet that featured 17:1 odds on the 1948 election between Truman/Dewey, which net him a cool $170,000.

Overall, the short film on him was very interesting, and it did a great job documenting the life of Jimmy The Greek. If I had to choose one word to describe the greek's lifestyle, I would have to pick "intense". This film did a great job capturing the intense life that Jimmy The Greek lived and he seemed to be an individual who went full-throttle up until his death living his life to the fullest.

Also, prior to tonight, I had not seen any of the 30 for 30 documentaries that ESPN had aired, but after watching this one on Jimmy The Greek, I have to say I am impressed what ESPN is bringing to the table.

ESPN will have additional 30 for 30 documentaries airing on television through the end of this year, including a re air of Jimmy The Greek in the next couple days. Full Schedule

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Posted by Kyle at 12:11 AM | | Comments

Thursday, June 28, 2007

NBA Draft Night

For those of you who are like me, summer lacks basketball. When the NBA season is over, that means no more high-flying dunks, buzzer beaters, three point bombs and most of all, no more Bill Walton quotes on television for a couple more months. So what is the cure for this? Sure, watching ESPN Classic and NBA TV will help starve off the demons of the NBA off-season, as will some cowbell, but the NBA Draft is another alternative, as tonight, the draft selects the future talent of the association and gives fans another reason to groan or cheer for their team, depending on the type of draft they have.

The 2007 NBA Draft is the culmination of the days of trade rumors, draft player workouts, mock drafts and all the expert opinion that has been seen in newspapers, websites and on television. David Stern will take the podium in a tidy fashion, Steven A. Smith will bring his best material to the table over on ESPN, and the crowd at Madison Square Garden will let you know if the Knicks as well as other teams made a good draft choice or not.


Coming into this year's draft, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are expected to fall one and two, as they are the main talent of the draft, while the rest of the field is up for grabs, as speculating looms as to where other picks will go. This is one of the more interesting drafts, as there is a lot of talent on the table, and NBA owners are jonesin for those lottery picks and future stars.

I myself have increased interest to the draft this year, as my Timberwolves are thinking about getting rid of Kevin Garnett and also have another lottery pick to blow with the seventh pick tonight. Kevin McHale, the Wolves GM has used high draft choices in the past to attract talent to Minnesota, that seems to die out over time (ex - Ndudi Ebi). This year could be no different, but if McHale and company do things right, this night could mark a change for the better for the T-Wolves, as they can get rid of that NBA Draft monkey they have had on their back for years. In looking at the prospects, I hope to see Joakim Noah, or his Florida teammate Cory Brewer drafted by the Wolves tonight, as they are both two quality players the T-Wolves need. In addition to this, there is word on the street that the Wolves may be trading Kevin Garnett to a contending team, so it will be interesting to see if a deal can be made for him in exchange for some lottery picks. I hope a deal is made because after this year, KG will most likely leave the Wolves to go to another team where he can actually play for a NBA Championship, rather than sit on the bench in Minnesota, dreaming of a contending team.

In addition to the Wolves night ahead, I am also curious to see how the rest of the draft will unfold. Will Florida become the first college team with three players in the Top 10? Where will Acie Law IV end up? and Does DJ Strawberry stand the chance of ending up in a city where drugs are prevalent? These unanswered questions, as wel as the many others are just some of the reasons why I enjoy watching the NBA Draft.

When looking at all the drafts that occur in professional sports, I would have to say that the NBA Draft is my personal favorite for a number of reasons. For starters, in terms of length, the NBA Draft only lasts one day, and is completed in 2-3 hours from the time it is started. Unlike the NFL and MLB, where their drafts drag on for a few days, the NBA's draft gets done in one day, rather than one week. Also, I would have to say its the most entertaining to watch from a televised perspective in comparison to other televised drafts. The picks are completed in a timely fashion, which prevents the channel from being changed, the NBA commissioner always seems to get picked on by everybody and the crowd always seems to be pretty entertaining from the first pick, all the way to the last pick (especially when the New York Knicks are on the clock).

So be sure to tune your television sets to ESPN tonight, as the NBA Draft airs from 7-10. It should be a good one!

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Posted by Kyle at 12:24 PM | | Comments