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Sports Documentaries to watch during the times of Coronavirus

The New Year, a time that people look forward to, a time to make new memories, make new resolutions, but beyond our wildest dreams, the Year 2020 had something different in store for all of us.

Who would have thought a respiratory pathogen (that is what Doctors call it) would wreak havoc affecting both lives as well as livelihoods in equal measure. Most working professionals have resorted to "Work From Home" and students have turned to "Zoom" and "Google Classroom". 

But what about people who go and work in the field? People, who work in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry? Farmers and Daily wage earners? The Doctors and Nurses who work tirelessly? These people seem to be the hardest hit. 

Another faction of people who are hit - people involved with sporting events. The likes of Football Clubs, Cricket Leagues, Racing competitions ( Formula 1, Formula E, MotoGP) who stand to lose a lot in TV revenue and sponsorship money. Many of them are forced to pay exorbitant player salaries while their revenues have plummeted. It is now understandable why those responsible for conducting these events are devising ways of resuming sporting action albeit behind-closed-doors (without the fans). The broadcasters are also keen to get the action underway.

Many Formula 1, Formula E, and MotoGP races have been cancelled, with others being postponed with the hopes that things would be favourable in the latter part of the year. Cricket competitions too are either postponed or cancelled. In the world of Football, Eredivisie (the top tier of the Dutch Football structure) have cancelled their season with no winner. The Ligue1 (the top tier of the French Football structure) has used a Points Per Game (PPG) system and has declared "Paris Saint-Germain" as winners. The Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga (the 2 top tiers of the German Football structure) are planning to restart their leagues with a strict protocol on 16th May. The English Premier League and Serie A (the top tier of the Italian Football structure) are planning to start sometime in June (although the chances are slim). 

Given this dearth of sporting action, I have compiled a list of Docu-series to watch during this time- 

There are two series that had a profound impact on me.

1) Losers- [Netflix]

This eight-episode series is about athletes who have had some bitter experience, sometimes career-threatening ones, and how they overcame it.

2) Sunderland 'Til I Die [Netflix]

This series has two seasons, the first one released in 2018 chronicles the 2017-18 football season of Sunderland, while the second one released in 2020 is about the 2018-19 football season. It shows a team that has fallen from grace and is vying to get back into the top tier of English Football- The English Premier League.

Apart from these other Documentaries that I enjoyed viewing and a couple of them in my list that I would like to view (clubbed as per the OTT provider)

Netflix-

1) First Team: Juventus

2) Boca Juniors Confidential

3) Formula 1: Drive to Survive

4) Icarus

Amazon-

1) All in or Nothing: Brazil National Team

2) All in or Nothing: Manchester City

3) All in or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks

4) Andy Murray: Resurfacing

5) Dan Carter: A Perfect 10

6) Inside Borussia Dortmund

7) Make us Dream

8) Six Dreams

9) Take us Home: Leeds United

10) The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team

11) This is Football


Apart from these there a few documentaries that are uploaded on YouTube by official channels 

1) Crossing The Line

2) Dani Pedrosa: The Silent Samurai

3) Fearless Foxes

4) 'Fight 'Til the End'

5) Race for a Clean Air: Formula E

6) Valentino Rossi: The Doctor Series

 

Hopefully, the Coronavirus ends way before you finish the aforementioned series.

 

Happy Streaming!


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