A day to remember - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

At some point in the past, I know I have written about this film, but June 17, 1994, directed by Brett Morgen, details one of the craziest days in North American history and it does so in a way that involves no narration whatsoever. It tells its story through a channel-changing format that hops from event to event to event.

 

Jess and I watched it on June 17 to mark the occasion and it’s such a time capsule of a time before smartphones, social media, the internet and the like. However, notably, Morgen, in a number of interviews, has detailed June 17, 1994 as being the day that the world, for better or worse, changed. That it was the birth of our celebrity-obsessed, around-the-clock-coverage world and that our old world - an innocent existence from which we could, if we chose, unplug - is never to return.

 

June 17, 1994 is predominantly remembered as the day of the famous O.J. Simpson chase. The white Ford Bronco, driven by his former teammate Al Cowlings at relatively low speed, capturing the world’s attention, all while area residents lined the highway, bridges and roads Simpson travelled before returning home.

 

Nearly 100 million people watched the chase and, because so many news helicopters were following the chase and broadcasting footage, the signals were often crossed between them.

 

Early that morning, Arnold Palmer, arguably the most important golfer in American history, played his last-ever round in the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. His round was accompanied by a tearful interview on the final green and an even more tearful press conference after he finished his round.

 

The 1994 World Cup, hosted by the U.S., also opened that day. The opening ceremonies in Chicago were watched by 750 million people. Germany won the opening match 1-0 over Bolivia with Jürgen Klinsmann scoring the lone goal. Klinsmann, oddly enough, would go on to coach the U.S. national team.

 

On June 14, 1994, the New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks in game seven of the NHL finals to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years (just one year longer than the New York Knicks’ drought that was squashed this year). Three days later, on June 17, they had their victory parade throughout the streets of Manhattan, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, including a kid from Brooklyn who appears to be about nine or 10 who proclaims that, now that the Rangers have won the cup, he can die in peace.

 

In Kansas City, Missouri that day, the Seattle Mariners played the Kansas City Royals and Ken Griffey Jr., just 24 years old at the time, tied a record held by Babe Ruth, hitting his 30th home run before June 30. Griffey would hit 40 home runs in the strike-shortened season that ended without a World Series for the first time in 90 years. (Many of you have seen me on the street with one of my Montreal Expos hats - I don’t like to talk about this season.)

 

Finally, as the O.J. chase continued, the NBA went ahead with game five of the NBA finals back in New York between the Knicks and the Houston Rockets. Bob Costas and Tom Brokaw toggled back and forth between the game and the chase throughout the night. The Knicks won the game by a score of 91-84, but would go on to lose the series in seven games.

 

A weighty day and one worthy of being studied and preserved for years to come. 

 

Morgen’s film is part of ESPN’s “30 for 30” series and is streaming on Disney+, though, controversially, it no longer contained the “Heaven” by Talking Heads needle-drop that, in my humble opinion, makes the movie.