http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localchi/20110315/ts_yblog_localchi/bartman-documentary-to-debut-at-new-york-film-fest?bouchon=602,il

Bartman Documentary To Debut At New York Film Fest
By CBS Chicago cbs Chicago
Tue Mar 15, 11:05 am ET

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NEW YORK (WBBM/CBS)

This year's TriBeCa Film Festival in New York will include a documentary on Steve Bartman.

As WBBM Newsradio 780′s Lisa Fielding reports, "Catching Hell" is about the pop fly that will live in infamy.

Written and directed by Alex Gibney, the film explores the psychology of diehard sports fans, the scapegoat phenomenon and the hysteria that turned Bartman into the most hated man in Chicago.



On Oct. 14, 2003, the Cubs were up 3-0 against the Florida Marlins in the eighth inning of Game 6 in the National League Championship Series, when Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo hit a foul ball. Bartman, a fan in the bleachers, tried to catch the ball before it entered the stands, infuriating outfielder Moises Alou who had hoped to make a catch. Afterward, the Marlins scored eight runs and won the game, and the Cubs also lost Game 7 the following night.

Bartman has stayed out of the public eye after apologizing the day after the incident, and the Cubs have repeatedly defended him over the years.

The documentary was supposed to be part of the "30 for 30" film series on ESPN, but wasn't ready in time.

It will instead premiere next month at the TriBeCa Film Festival.



So it won't be a part of 30 for 30?

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Thinking about this really bums me out. The Bartman thing wasnt really the issue, it just was a nice excuse to let your nerves get frazzled. The real culprits in that game 6 collapse were the botched ground ball by Gonzalez and Dusty not going out there to just let everyone relax and give Prior a moment to compose himself and get the fuck out of that inning.

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The argument AGAINST your theory is that GONZO wouldn't have errored if there were already 2 outs. He was trying to get a DP and became frazzled. I'm a Cub Meatball fan and I do blame Bartman. He was a dumbfuck along with the rest of those with their hands out while your teams LF is trying to catch a ball in a playoff game.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

So it's Bartman's fault that your major league SS couldn't field a routine ground ball, because he was "frazzled"? Give me a fucking break.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

anybody who doesn't lend credit to the crisis that everybody on the field "felt" doesn't understand human beings. this was a moment that none of them could possibly be prepared for, and it took them out of their element. bartman is not at fault; the overreaction is. if that foul ball is caught, they don't tense up; they loosen up.

it was a total mental breakdown by a few key players.

Again, that brings me to my second point. Why didnt Dusty or the pitching coach go out there and talk to Prior just to let everyone's emotions calm down. Yeah they were pissed but fucking shake it off, go out there and talk about wedding gifts, calm Prior down and let him strike out the next two guys. That was such a fucking terrible collapse, I need a drink.

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agreed on all points. especially the last one.

Prior wouldn't have thought twice about it if Alou hadn't jumped around like an eight year old. There's no guarantee he was going to catch it anyway. Those types of plays happen all the time. When the rookie saw the veteran stamping his feet, he started stamping too and fell apart on the mound.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The whole inning was a pile of suck. I hope one day Bartman meets Alou and pisses right on his face. That poor guy's life was ruined for nothing.

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And you can thank that talentless ass clown, Jay Mariotti for being kind enough to print his name and place of employment (at the time) in the Sun Times the next day.

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There were 2-3 other people with their hands reaching for the foul ball on this play. If Bartman would've just sat down, the same outcome would have probably happened. Why didn't those people have their names printed and released to the national media? They're equally responsible. You really got to be sorry for the guy and everything he has gone through.

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Yeah, it is probably the closest I came to turning my back on the Cubs. I couldnt take all the hatred for the guy, anyone here would have likely done the same thing. You just get caught up in the moment.

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Agreed. Also, it didn't help that Fox focused on him alone.

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Truth be told, Bartman is a really nice guy. I worked at the same place at the time, and he was really good friends with my boss. I used to have lunch with them once a week or so, and the dude knew his shit.

I got back to the office at lunch the day they printed his stuff, and I could barely get into the building because the media had converged at that point.

He actually had to be snuck out the back door that day by the Lincolnshire cops.

It was pretty fucked up.

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Damn boyd knows everyone. Tom Zbikowski, Steve Bartman.

Shit the best I can come up with is knocking out former Duke PG Marty Clark in 2003.

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Shit the best I can come up with is hitting on his sisters at my high school, Katie was in my class and 6'2" her "little sister" was 6'1". I'm sure they were impressed with my 5'8" dimensions.

Interesting, how did you get into fisticuffs with him?

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He was in the neighborhood bar that I frequented. I had no idea who he was, but he kept trying to get with my friend's sister. He wouldn't leave her alone. Finally he grabbed her or something, she yelled and I pushed him away from her. He threw a punch and I retaliated. Granted he was probably all kinds of drunk, but fuck him.

His friends grabbed him and they left. I didn't find out until later who he was.

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The Northwest suburbs don't completely suck

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My attempt to get with his sisters wasn't as rude.

Maybe that's why it was unsuccessful. "Sometimes you just gotta take it" may be a family motto.

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The 6'2" sister was built like a tank and would have folded me up like a pretzel and I played football all 4 years in high school. I would have been the one taking it, and not in a good way. It's ok, it never would have worked between us, fuck Duke.

Marty Clark? I barely remember that fucker. Early 90s?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Damn, I saw JORR was the last poster on this thread and thought for sure that a good famous person bar brawl story was on the way. I am now sad.

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Yep.

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the closest to me was after the '04 season. '05 was absolutely brutal.

jeromy burnitz.

Yup. There was a guy next to Bartman in a grey sweatshirt or fleece who was also reaching for the ball. After Bartman dropped it and everyone was pissed, IIRC that same guy was pointing at Bartman as if to blame him, etc. He could have just as easily have been "Bartman" himself. What a prick.

ugh, didnt they have hollandsworth on that team as well?

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So reviews of this are starting to come out. Here's one by Will Leitch, which is kind of mixed. The most common complaint so far seems to be that it's too long. One story mentioned that it might get a theatrical release prior to airing on ESPN in the fall, which was quite interesting.