30 for 30: Little Big Men (2010)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Another impressive documentary for the ESPN series starts off as a celebration but quickly turns to a message film for parents. The first portion of the film follows Kirkland, Washington's baseball team as they quickly go the ranks to making the Little League World Series where on August 28, 1982 they were able to beat Taiwan who had won nine of the previous eleven titles. This uplifted the country, which had been in a big dark spot but soon the lives of the kids and most importantly star pitcher Cody Webster turned upside down. Cody became a target for many other kids and even many parents who would heckle him by calling him fat among other things. This forced the talented kid to pretty much give up the game he loved. I'm sure most people are going to go into this film thinking that the entire thing is going to be about the championship but that portion is over pretty quickly. The darkness of the second half is pretty sad when you consider this game was taken so serious by so many and in the end it was only the kids who ended up hurt. Thankfully the majority of the kids are interviewed here and that includes Webster who still seems to be effected by the events after winning the title game. I think the message of parents and how they handle kids and their sports is very clear without it ever becoming preachy. That message is without question the most memorable thing about this episode and I'm sure those kids who were pushed too hard will feel the impact.
