The documentary details the events of June 17, 1994, in which several noteworthy sporting events occurred during the police chase of O. J. Simpson.[2] Morgen says the diversity of the events provides an opportunity "to look at the soul of America".[3]
The documentary features no narration and also no interviews and consists simply of clips from news sources throughout the day.[3]
There are rare clips of sportscasters like Chris Berman and Bob Costas talking to their producers about how to deal with the O.J. story within the context of the events they were covering.[4]
Critical reception
Robert Lloyd wrote in The Los Angeles Times: "Morgen juxtaposes the events of that day in a kind of associative round robin, finding points of contrast and commonality, of similar action and visual consonance, on which to turn his film. But he offers no other, more remote perspective; this is not a summing up of events, but rather a meditation, of an elemental sort, not just on sports but on the way of the world."[5]
Rolling Stone writer Noel Murray ranks June 17th, 1994 as the best documentary in the 30 for 30 series as he saw the montage style of the film as a reflection on "how viewers process television", and argues that it comments on "how the media struggles to make sense of events that have no clear outcome."[1]
The events detailed in the documentary that occurred during the chase of Simpson are as follows.
Arnold Palmer playing his final round at the 1994 U.S. Open (in a nod to the fact that 06/17/1994 had major events involving both Palmer and Simpson, a clip from a commercial that the two both-then-beloved athletes had filmed together in the 1970s for Hertz Global Holdings was shown).
The U.S. Open concluded on Monday, June 20, with Ernie Els winning a three-way playoff for the championship.
The World Cup concluded on Sunday, July 17 with Brazil winning its 4th championship after Italy player Roberto Baggio missed a must-make penalty during a shootout to decide the title.
The 1994 World Cup is also featured in another ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled The Two Escobars which follows Colombia men's national team player Andrés Escobar who scored an own goal for the United States on June 22. Escobar was murdered in Colombia on July 1, reputedly by cartel-connected hitmen, enraged that his error led to the team being eliminated from the World Cup tournament.
The NBA Finals concluded June 22 with Houston winning the series in seven games. The Knicks would return to the NBA Finals in 1999 but lost that series 4–1 to the San Antonio Spurs, and have not been back to the finals since then.
The 1994 Major League Baseball season would end after the games of August 11 due to the player strike and with future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. hitting a total of 40 home runs. Major League Baseball didn't return until the 1995 regular season, and the long delay resulted in 18 games being cut from the schedule (though the 1995 World Series did take place on time).
