Here’s a thoughtful piece by Bryan Curtis on how TV documentaries bring us behind-the-scenes of our favorite sports and have changed the nature of reporting:

I take no pleasure in being the schmuck writer who points out that TV sports documentaries — also called “vérité sports” — have gotten really good. And not just good, but observant. TV is recording the small, telling details of an athlete’s life, capturing noisy moments and quiet moments, doing the delicate labor that sportswriters — if properly motivated — pride themselves on doing. So on behalf of writerdom, I ask: What the hell is going on?

[Photo Credit: Trent Park via Black Book]