Catching Hell

[Longhorny630]

Being a Cubs fan, I thought it was pretty damn good. It absolutely makes the vast majority of Chicago fans look like complete jackasses and despicable human beings, but rightly so. Honestly I can remember being furious with Mack's step son when he grabbed that ball, but, completely different set of circumstances and I certainly would never have told him to 'put a 12 gauge in your mouth and pull the trigger' as Cubs fans did to Bartman when he exited the stadium. Very eerie similarities to Buckner's incident, and hopefully in 10 or so years after the Cubs have 2 championships under the leadership of Theo Epstein, one day Bartman can rejoin society and sing the 7th inning stretch, if he is willing to forgive the fans of Chicago who acted like children. The story of what happened to Bartman in the immediate aftermath, from being led to the field security office, to being dressed up as a security guard to exit the stadium in secrecy, to fleeing the streets into a real security guards home once someone identified him (and the lady that gave him refuge is an absolute saint for having done so, she could've had lynch mobs outside her door yet she let him in anyway) was a great story that I'd never heard. Definitely worth a watch and unbelievable that this wasn't a 30 for 30, although I heard it was delayed in production or something.

 

[acworthhorn]

I watched it last night. Not being a Cubs fan, I knew of the story, but had not followed it after the spot on ESPN when it happened. What a weird life changing event for Bartman, over a ball game. I bet the people sitting close, that were also going for the ball, were glad it was him and not them. I really enjoyed the show and the whole story.

 

[Texanne]

It was a very interesting doc. I cannot imagine the hell that Bartman's life has been since that night. I really appreciated Buckner saying that any ballplayer would have done exactly the same thing.

And if you didn't catch Buckner on Curb Your Enthusiasm this season, you really should watch it.

 

[SunBurntOrange]

I have not seen it yet, but look forward to it. On that note, when this incident happened I was a regular at a local watering hole here in Austin. There was a guy from Chicago that came in occasionally on business. Now I am not condoning for one second the actions of the Cubs fans over this deal, but this guy showed what it was like to be a Cubs fan and go through that futility. And he was a kind of guy that may be considered stereotypical of a Chicago sports fan. Loud and obnoxious to an extent, but passionate and intense. He was really a fun guy to hang out with though. Long story short, he got into a little legal trouble while here on one of his trips and basically stayed in Austin for a while until it was resolved. So I saw a lot of him over this time period and I actually watched this game with him. And it changed him. It changed him big time. And even months after the legal issue was resolved, he would still come in whenever he was in town. But he just never was the same as far as his fun personality or loud and outgoing self. Mind you, he never struck me as depressed. But something just snapped. It was a freaky insight to what it is like to be a real Cubs fan. Have not seen him in years now, but am always reminded of him whenever this incident comes up. It was hard not to feel bad for him.

 

[Knoxville-Horn]

My stupid DVR didn't record it. Any idea where I can find it on-line to watch?

 

[savvy]

it's on ESPN2 at 11pm EST tonight