Well, well, well. Once again, Netflix has brought us a quality series to binge-watch at the crib. I love the game of football, always have. #PigskinLady But, I have been boycotting professional football due to institutional changes they need to make. Suffice it to say, I needed an uplifting spotlight on the game and this was definitely a faith restorer!
This one’s been sitting in my “Because you watched…” list, but I had to get with 7 Seconds, so I figured it could wait. Then, my daughter comes home for Spring Break, takes a day to watch Season One and insists I watch it, telling me I will love it. So, wanting to validate my youngin’s recommendation (plus check out what she had been tele-gesting lately), I hit “Play S1: Ep.1.” She’s real enthusiastic about the show and says she is on deck to watch it again. Mmmkay. This is a good sign.
Show opens up with a teaser where Snoop is talking about his life at 16 years old over a dramatization of the scenario he’s describing. Ok. You’ve got my attention. Let’s settle in. And then??? “To Live and Die in LA” (Paaaaac 😩😭🙌🏾👏🏾) starts playing over the opening credits as a clean ass ‘Lac rolls across the screen with footage from the show playing on canvasses of the streets of LA. Settle in, bruh, I have a feeling this is gonna be good.
I jumped in with my critical eye as I often do when it comes to what I spend my time watching because that’s time I will never get back, everything on Netflix for us and/or by us isn’t great, and I have expectations for our stuff. And episode one gets right to it telling us who the coaches are, who the kids are, and keeping it 💯 about life in general. It ends with a lil’ anecdote and I am ready for episode two. Eventually, I am at episodes seven and eight in an ocean of tears over Shady, Max, J-Roc, and Aaron.
On top of watching them train, win, and lose games, I enjoyed watching these men– OGs, challenged, but trill men –be fathers and (life) coaches. These OGs weren’t only teaching the kids about the game and life, they were simultaneously advising each other and holding each other accountable as men responsible for their families. The introspection and the show of black men’s emotions –joy, pain, triumph?!. YASSSSS! Featuring the stories of the Black women involved from Nykauni Tademy (get it SIS!!!) to J-Roc’s mom and the impact her death has had on her family, to the The truth about how lives and families are affected by the realities of life in LA? Necessary. One more win for Snoopy and potentially thousands for the children and families of Los Angeles, Lancaster, Pomona, Palmdale, Compton, Long Beach, and Riverside.
What’s the Season Two release date?!.