I would definitely watch a docuseries on the championship Blackhawks.
Well, The Last Dance has come and gone, and now I am salivating for more Chicago sports documentaries until sports returns. But what events in Chicago sports history warrant such a show? These are my picks.
1) The Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Dynasty
Next to the Chicago Bulls run in the '90s, this stands as Chicago's all-time team. They were not only great in the regular season, but were even better in the playoffs. Everyone remembers the 17-second win, and singing "Chelsea Dagger" every time they scored. If you were in a bar, a buzzer went off, and you typically sat on the edge of your seat as Crawford or Niemi batted away pucks. Championship hockey returned to Chicago after fifty years. Since winning it in 1960, they went on to win in 2010, 2013, and 2015. It was quite a run, one we never wanted to end, but as the players aged and as they fired Quenneville, our hopes for a return to glory faded. A show documenting that exciting time would be perfect in a season where hockey has been cut short.
2) The Chicago White Sox return to a World Series
Sorry Cub fans, I am not putting this as number two because I am a Sox fan, but because they won a series first. Everyone made such a big deal that the Red Sox won the series the year before, but the White Sox had the longer draught - 88 years. It's often a forgotten World Series, one where they only lost one game, and their pitching staff pitched four complete games in the ALCS, which is something I doubt we will ever see again. They swept the Astros in four games to win the championship, and their long wait was over. While there have been a couple documentaries made about that season, nothing was made leading up to it, such as all the years leading up to it that the Sox did not make it deep into the postseason - 83, 93, 2001. And it would be neat to see them talk about assembling the team, going behind the scenes to talk about the chemistry, etc. What was the team like off the field? I would watch that.
3) The Chicago Cubs win the World Series
Okay, here you go Cub fans. I am not that cold hearted. This was one of the most amazing world series that I have ever watched. To watch a battle between two teams that had not won a series in many years fight it out for seven games made for great TV. That last game may have been one of the best world series games of all time. The Cubs had that game won had it not been for Joe Madden's over managing, and Cub fans will admit to this. Why he pulled out Hendrix is still a head scratcher. Then when Rajai Davis hit that two run homer, tying the game at six, the momentum shifted in the Indians' favor. I remember Lebron James flexing his muscles in excitement after the homer. But when there was a rain delay, it was as if the Cubs were given a chance to hit the reset, and that's what they did, and we all know what happened next. They went out and won their first series since 1908. Good for the Cubs and their fans. There should be a documentary about that season, the assembling of that team, the winning teams leading up to it, and the chemistry of the players - just as there should be one for the Sox.
4) Harry Caray/Steve Stone
There is a documentary about Caray called Hello Again Everybody: The Harry Caray Story, but there hasn't been a docuseries. He passed in 1998, the same year the Bulls won their last championship. It would be neat to run a show that documents what he witnessed in those years between the Sox and the Cubs - the good teams and the bad, and what he meant to the fans. Then talk about Steve Stone, what he brought to the club, what he learned from Caray, and how he's liked covering both teams. It would give a different perspective to the sport.
5) The Monsters of the Midway
With a Bears team that has disappointed us again and again, it would be cool to have a series that documents that historic 1985 run. It could be filled with spliced together interviews from the players, coaches and fans. Give us footage from the game, and maybe focus on Payton's career just like we saw Jordan's progression in The Last Dance. I bet you would have a lot of watchers for this one.
Those are my five recommendations for follow-up series to The Last Dance. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the series, but now I can't help but want more. I probably will watch the one coming up on the Sosa/McGwire home run race, even though I am not a Sammy Sosa fan, and even though I know it was steroid-infused. It's still baseball. But I thank ESPN for compiling something that gets us through, and in these times, that's exactly what we need.