The Volokh Conspiracy
[Randy Barnett, March 1, 2006 at 2:12pm] Trackbacks
Cool in a different way:
Here is another basketball video from GoogleVideo (hat tip Club For Growth Blog), that is cool in an entirely different way than the Jordan commercial to which I linked yesterday (but you have to stay with it, it does not go where you think it is going at first). Apparently the embedding function--which I think is pretty cool in itself--is not available for this clip, so you have to click here.

I enabled comments for comments on this clip as well as on the Jordan video which still gives me chills after watching it 10 times. If you have not yet seen the Jordan clip use the chain link below to get to yesterday's post.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Chills II
  2. ESPN on "The Spot":
  3. Cool in a different way:
  4. Chills:
Matty G (www):
Randy: The Jordan clip is great. Absolutely chilling. I have no idea how they got the actors positioning to be that perfect.

Could you post the actual link to the Jordan clip, I couldn't find it by searching google video and I'd like to send it to my friends. Thanks.
3.1.2006 2:23pm
Randy Barnett (mail) (www):
I could not agree more. I wondered of there could be some computer generated graphics being used. What is as impressive as the positioning of the athlete playing Jordan are the reactions of the other athletes on the court. Look at the reactions of the other players to the Jordan move to get open for his "last shot." Totally authentic.

Here is the link.
3.1.2006 2:27pm
Matty G (www):
Thanks, Randy.

Honestly, if someone had told me the idea for that clip, I would have argued that it wouldn't work, because you couldn't make it authentic enough to effectively trigger the memories of the moments. Oh well, I've been wrong before...

And who is the genius who picked that simple backgroung music? Makes it all the better.
3.1.2006 2:32pm
Fire Marshal Bill (mail):
As cool as the Jordan movie is, the second clip is beyond comparison in my opinion. For me, at least, when you think about what that day will mean for that young man and for his teammates and for his parents for the rest of their lives, well, it gives me more than just chills . . .
3.1.2006 2:37pm
CEB:
A truly amazing commercial. I am not a sports fan at all and it gave me chills. To see another great commercial, Google xbox double dutch commercial. (it should still work) It shows some unbelievable artistry and athleticism
3.1.2006 2:47pm
Tyrone Slothrop (mail) (www):
Both of those clips are awesome, in their own ways.
3.1.2006 2:51pm
sbw (mail) (www):
We had the second story on local news... then saw it on ESPN. ESPN did a wonderful job. They made it evident early on he was autistic... it built suspense rather than surprise.

BTW, the audio tape for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time get's my vote for an important read(listen). It gives touching insight into asberger syndrome. Every teacher should read it. No. Everyone should.
3.1.2006 3:12pm
Mark Buehner (mail):
Love the Jordan clip. Great reminder of just how unbelieveable the man was- nobody touches him, not Magic, not Kobe, nobody. Those shots are just so iconic, and certainly that has plenty to do with the way Jordan and his business partners have marketed him over the years, but even so the actual moments are still etched in my brain, who i was with, what we were doing.

...Speaking of marketing: note how they used a little 'creative editing' in the winning shot against Bryon Russell and the Jazz when Jordan is at the top of the key, fakes right and goes left for the jumper as Russell goes skidding by. In the actual video Jordan clearly pushes off Russell with his left hand sending him sprawling- in the remake he doesnt touch him! Funny that everything else is perfect except that one little detail!
3.1.2006 3:26pm
Chris S.:
look again. left hand on the back hip, tiny shove. it's in there.
3.1.2006 3:31pm
Falconetti:
Its aspergers syndrome and the boy in the curious incident book doesn't have it. But everyone on the internet does. Go figure.
3.1.2006 3:34pm
gvibes (mail):
One of my favorite recent commercials - the xbox 360 water balloon fight commercial - the gritty artistry of a gun fight from City of God, except with water balloons.
3.1.2006 3:38pm
Burt Likko (mail) (www):
Love them both, Randy; linked them to my web page.
3.1.2006 3:51pm
countertop (mail):
Here's a link to the actual Jordan clip from his webpage. Quality is much better than the Google video version.

http://tinyurl.com/pwy2k

And I agree, after watching it a dozen times, it still sends chills up my arms. Just amazing how far the NBA has fallen after his departure.
3.1.2006 3:53pm
countertop (mail):
Well, here's the link (clickable)
3.1.2006 3:55pm
FXKLM:
Congratulations on the move to Georgetown.
3.1.2006 4:08pm
Michael B (mail):
Amazing how many Jordan images are truly iconic. Even the one or two in the clip where he's doing nothing more than standing still, taking it all in like a hawk.
3.1.2006 4:09pm
Kovarsky (mail):
By the way, which people in the Jordan commercial are his kids?
3.1.2006 4:14pm
Paco Jones:
"In the actual video Jordan clearly pushes off Russell . . . "

Spoken like a true Jazz fan who can't let go.
3.1.2006 4:52pm
The Original TS (mail):
That second link, the Jason McElwain story, blows the Jordan video away -- and I bet Michael Jordan would be the first to admit it.

The set up and the payoff are so perfect that I still can't believe it's not an internet myth. Not only is the kid an autistic waterboy, he's a 5'6" tall autistic waterboy. Plus, he's a likeable quote machine. "I was hotter than a pistol,” he said. “I was hoping to just get in and score. I never imagined that I would score 20 points. I felt like I won a National Championship. I felt like I was one of the team."

Good gravy, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Apparently lots of people agree -- he's already been contacted by several production companies including Disney and Universal.
3.1.2006 5:13pm
Jerry (mail):
Jordan has been very good about branding himself in general. The commercials where he actually appears tend to be much better than average. One of the greatest examples, I think, is the Gatorade commercial with young Jordan playing one on one with old Jordan. That one was pretty amazing from a technical point of view, but I also thought it was just generally memorable.
3.1.2006 7:09pm
Henry Woodbury (mail):
It's Byron Russell. I'm mostly over it. Russell didn't slip as much as the kid in the commercial. He mostly just lurched left (his left) then sagged in dismay. That's what I remember about his body language.

But when I recently linked to the trailer for that Game 6 movie, my stomach turned over. And I wasn't even that big of a Red Sox fan back then.
3.1.2006 7:52pm
Julian:
1) Saw the Jordan ad a couple weeks ago, and it took about 5 seconds to realize why my memory was being oddly tickled. Then, chills indeed. The crazy part is how many of those clips I saw live when they happened for real. Ah, the days where I caught every came....

Thanks for the post, Randy -- the full screen google version is bookmarked for good.

2) MJ absolutely fouled Russell. But you don't call that at the end of the game. You want true outrage, let's talk Game 6 of Lakers-Kings....
3.1.2006 8:05pm
Pete Freans (mail):
Jordon's slam dunk continues to amaze me. My voice inside would say, "he'll never reach the rim from there"; yet he always proved me wrong.

Jordon aside, I caught your speech on Scalia at U of PA Law School a few weeks back, Mr. Barnett, and I enjoyed the lecture.
3.1.2006 8:20pm
Chris S.:
No, it's Bryon Russell.
3.1.2006 8:45pm
AW:
I feel the need to post because I appreciate Jordan playing basketball more than Orin appreciates the issues with respect to warrantless domestic wiretapping (e.g., when dropped 35 on Portland in the first half of game 1 of the 92 playoffs, the shot preceding the infamous shrug was in the face of Cliff Robinson. Boy, that kid in the commercial (to the left of the kid doing the Jordan shrug) looks a lot like a young dejected Cliff Robinson . . . headband and all.

The brilliance of Michael Jordan as a basketball player is that he was so good that he incited generations of copycats and yet no one will ever be able to completely replicate his athleticism. The commercial shot where the guy takes off from the free-throw line was computer generated... it simply will always have to be . . . because no one will ever move with the grace of Jordan on a basketball court.

The story on the autistic kid did send chills down my spine ... but it just doesn't compare to Michael Jordan and his impact on life . . . neither does FISA.
3.1.2006 9:02pm
BA:
It seems a bit silly to debate which of these two videos is superior. That said, I just watched the McElwain clip a second time and started to tear up.
3.1.2006 9:18pm
Henry Woodbury (mail):
Chris S. You're right. It's such an automatic thing to correct his name that I corrected it wrong. Duh.
3.1.2006 9:29pm
The Original TS (mail):
It seems a bit silly to debate which of these two videos is superior. That said, I just watched the McElwain clip a second time and started to tear up.

I've been thinking about this.

It's impressive to watch a cheetah run 60 miles an hour but it doesn't effect me that much on an emotional level because I'm not a cheetah and I can't imagine what it's like to be a cheetah. Michael Jordan is impressive to watch but he's a freak of nature. I could never be Michael Jordan and I can't imagine being Michael Jordan. But I could be a 5'6" waterboy benchwarmer.

They say mirror neurons only fire when you see a counterpart from your own species performing a task. Michael Jordan is such a consumate athlete that I guess I don't really identify him as my own species. With Jason McElwain, on the other hand, my mirror neurons light up enough to read by.
3.2.2006 1:03am
sbw (mail) (www):
ESPN McElwain video

I like it better than the CBS clip. It took some effort to make the video work. There is a 30 second commercial prior to the 4:48 clip and my Safari and Firefox browsers crapped out at the end of the commercial. I got around that by clicking directly on the McElwain video in the menu to the right of the video window. I still tear up.
3.2.2006 7:14am
DC Lawyer:
Both of those videos are great.

Now here is a truly remarkable video of basketball prowess, and also a - I suspect - a demonstration of master level procastination.
3.2.2006 8:49am
DC Lawyer (www):
Had trouble with the link. Search for Vaughn 3 in google video.
3.2.2006 8:56am
guest:
wow, that video about the autistic kid gave me warm fuzzies all over. sorta like the kind you get after you watch the movie "rudy."
3.2.2006 2:04pm
Californio (mail):
I do not think it particularly "heroic" to have the capabilities approaching that of an animal. Sure, it is entertaining to throw balls, et al. But when humans do something that is uniquely human, and an elevated version at that, then that to me is worth seeing and experiencing amazement and pride. That a school could be (at a cursory glance) so kind and accepting to someone so different, well it gives one hope. He came through for his teammates in a way only an underdog can - so while I think the Jordan clips are interesting (in the bread and circuses variety) - forgive me if I do not view them as in the same plane of existence as the story of an autistic kid who triumphed - if only in one game, at one school. That story is heroic.
3.3.2006 2:14pm

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