“The Tenth Inning”, a four hour documentary series by Ken Burns will be airing on PBS on upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday nights. This series is the continuation of Burns’ Emmy award winning documentary series “Baseball” which aired in 1994. The topic of these documentaries is fairly obvious. They cover the storied and entertaining history of Major League Baseball.
The newest installment picks up in the early 1990’s where “Baseball” left off. In”The Tenth Inning” Burns recaps all of the major events and controversies that have occurred since ’94. The series contains commentaries and insights from many well known and not so well known historians,journalists,and players. These segments are surrounded by electrifying and captivating game footage. Burns is well known for his proficiency in the art of story telling, and he effectively highlights the various scandals that have recently plagued the MLB. As can be expected, he focuses a lot of his attention on the ubiquitous Steroid issue. Despite the many disgraceful events which have occurred in the sport, Burns is able to keep the viewers’ love for the it intact. He shows that although we may not love the politics surrounding the game or its players, it is and forever will be “America’s Past Time.”
As an avid sports fan I am very excited about getting the chance to relive events which took place during my childhood. I will definitely try to tune in and watch this series hoping to take a small trip down sports memory lane. Additionally I am interested to learn more about the stories which transpired when I was too young to fully grasp their significance. Although many people might find documentaries boring and slow I have always loved history and relish the opportunity to learn additional information and back story. The combination of these two interests will certainly make me appreciate Ken Burns’ new series and I hope that all you “sports fans” and “sports indifferents” check it out.
Beyond what makes a particular game interesting is the idea of sport as a spectator activity. Do we watch sport to imagine ourselves in the game or do we play the game to imagine ourselves being watched? This is a powerful metaphor for people’s relationship to various art forms. People who study music and dance (or painting, or sculpture) tend to favor watching those art forms. Attempting art as an amateur lends a special kind of understanding to the act of observing professionals.