Ever seen the movie "61*" about Roger Maris?

[TalkieWalkie]

Is it me or does Roger Marris's situation with the media...fans...and everyone seem eerily similar to what Kobe is going through...

61* is a feature film Produced by Billy Crystal based on the 1961 homerun race. The movie is licenced to HBO and it is frequently aired on HBO...It also should be available on DVD...

It stars Berry Pepper ("Jackson" from Saving Private Ryan) as Roger Marris...the man who eclipsed Babe Ruth's 60 homerun record.

Marris goes for Babe Ruths record alongside his teammate and friend, the loved and celebrated New York Yankee, Mickey Mantle...As the two race for the record throughout the 1961 season... It is clear that everyone wants Mantle to win...the media dogs stir up controvresy around the aloof loner, Marris , and they hail Mantle....Marris, who was clearly the best player in the game that season, was also the most hated...even by New York Yankee fans... The papers continue to spin negativity around Marris and paint him as a villan. Even the MLB Comissioner held meetings with his trustees to set it up so that even if Marris passed Ruth, it would be illegitamate since the season was two games shorter when RUth played...HENCE the birth of the "*" or asterisk in the recordbooks...The movie goes indepth in its dramatic portrayal of the sportswriters of the day...how they thought...how they spun articles...

As I watched that movie, I just could draw so many similarities between Marris and Bryant...

Both were the best players in the game for their respective year of greatness...

Both went at records held by legendary, almost mythical predicessors....(Ruth, Chamberlaine)

Both were loathed by the media and polarized the nation...

Both were loners and never gave in and fully openned to the media...(Kobe is comming back slowly)

BOTH were subject to criticism and were wrongly discredited for accomplishments that would be hailed if done by the media darlings...(Mantel would be worshipped had he gotten 61 homeruns, Lebron James would be worshipped had he scored 81 points)

At the time that I first saw 61*, I didn't quite understand what Billy Crystal was getting at, making the story into a movie...

AFter seeing Kobe Bryant go through the exact same stuff...I have to say, this movie is a must see for the frustrated Kobe fan....
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[Milton Enjoys Scrabble]

That's a pretty interesting comparison and it does work.

At first I thought this was a thread about asking Billy Crystal to direct *81 about Kobe
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