The People You're Paying To Be In Shorts

November 10, 2022 12:19 AM

A legend in the sport of basketball, Michael Jordan found himself in a much different position as the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2011 - but as the Secret Base team recounts in their latest Jon Bois documentary, even while hating losing, he found enjoyment in the struggle.
posted by NoxAeternum (9 comments total)

I’ve been waiting for this to drop since they started talking about it last week. I’m not a baseball fan, but I’ve loved what they’ve done. I’m excited to see what they do with a sport I actually like.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:52 AM on November 10, 2022

Here is my testimony as to the power of these videos: One of my sons has zero, nada, nil interest in sports. We've watched a few of Jon's videos together, he now goes to the SB site on his own and watches them, and actually planned ahead so he could watch this one live last night. (I guess they were doing some sort of live commentary? no sure. gotta watch it myself.)
posted by martin q blank at 6:20 AM on November 10, 2022

Yeah, I don't particularly care about sports. But these guys do an amazing job with telling the stories behind the events, really making it clear why these matter. For an outsider, we might not understand what it particularly means to have never won the championship or just how rare a no hitter is, or how stupid the baseball hall of fame is. Now I deeply care that Dave Steib got robbed. And that's miraculous.
posted by Jacen at 7:09 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

And that's miraculous.

I've always got time for Bois and Secret Base, but I only realized today how much of my reflexive suspicion of made-up metrics and fabricated comparatives I'm 100% willing to set aside whenever Bois gets rolling. Punt Sadness numbers? Bobs-over-time? I'm invested. I'm in.
posted by mhoye at 9:27 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

My god, talking for more than 2.5 hours about the 2011 Charlotte Bobcats. That is a triumphant achievement.
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:29 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

mhoye, people have turned the Surrender Index (the stat from the Saddest Punt video) into an actual stat - I've seen social media accounts report on the Index of recent games.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:39 AM on November 10, 2022

people have turned the Surrender Index (the stat from the Saddest Punt video) into an actual stat

That is magnificent, I wholeheartedly approve.
posted by mhoye at 9:52 AM on November 10, 2022

Bois speaks with the gravitas of authority. I get the feeling each and every number is meticulously researched and examined. The accuracy is important to him. Plus he admits his biases frequently.
posted by Jacen at 3:16 AM on November 12, 2022

John and the rest of the crew’s dedication to celebrating human failure with out malice brings me joy.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 5:19 PM on November 13, 2022