Sunday, October 28, 2001
Big O video a standout
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Donn Burrows spent three years interviewing people and gathering video to chronicle Oscar Robertson's life. When Burrows sat down to edit, he had 128 tapes — more than 5,000 minutes of video.
How do you turn 5,000 minutes of tape into a two-hour documentary? With great difficulty.
“Some of the cuts were killing me,” the former WKRC-TV anchor said. “The first edit was way over — three hours. I wanted to get it two hours. I think that's acceptable. Some people would tell you it's too long. But for a video you're going to own, I think it's OK.”
The key with any video is holding the viewer's attention.
The Big O: The Oscar Robertson Story does.
The 124-minute production on the former University of Cincinnati and NBA great has just been released. It's available for $29.95. You can order it online at bigovideo.com or call 1-877-877-2446. For at least a year, the video will only be available for purchase. After that, Burrows may try to sell it to a local station or make it available at local Blockbuster Videos. (Channel 19 will air an half-hour version of the video Nov. 22 at 11:30 a.m.)
Burrows knew that to get people to plunk down 30 bucks, he would have to put out a quality product. He decided to finance the venture himself.
“I'm not a national figure,” he said. “I'm barely known locally. I could have spent three years trying to raise money to make it. And I really wanted to produce and direct it myself, so I just went ahead and did it.”
The Big O doesn't have the slick look and graphics of the ESPN “SportsCentury” series, but it is first-rate.
And Burrows got a lot of the tough interviews. He even got Bill Russell, who didn't even cooperate with ESPN when he was named one of the top 50 athletes of the 20th Century.
“He was difficult at first,” Burrows said. “But when he heard what we were doing — a biography of Oscar — he was very willing.”
Burrows also got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Red Auerbach, John Wooden, Jerry West, Jerry Lucas and Walt Frazier.
The one guy he didn't get was Bob Cousy. Cousy, Burrows said, agreed at one point, then backed off when told of the questions. Cousy, the coach who traded Robertson from the Cincinnati Royals, gets rough treatment in the documentary.
The player interviews are mixed with extensive interviews of Robertson and his family. One of the video's more emotional moments features Robertson's wife, Yvonne, breaking down when talking about the trade from the Royals to Milwaukee.
The highlights for me, a 40-something lifelong Cincinnatian, are clips of Robertson playing.
Burrows dug up film as far back as Robertson's sophomore year at Crispus Attucks High. Burrows hopes to tap into a whole generation of basketball fans who never saw Robertson play.
“To have seen him at UC, you had to go to Armory Fieldhouse,” Burrows said. “There wasn't the TV coverage there is now.”
HOAX FOLKS: If you heard any of WLW-AM (700) Wednesday, you heard that the station is thinking of putting Andy Furman on 1360 HOMER and moving Lance McAlister into the prime SportsTalk spot on WLW.
Bill Cunningham started it all. The guess here is, Furman's demise, like the Bozo's death, has been greatly exaggerated. Cunningham did the hoax on Bozo's death. He also “fired” Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall a few years ago. All in talk-radio fun.
“The hoaxes at this station are getting a little old,” Furman said.
That didn't keep Furman from spending Wednesday's show asking people to call in with job offers.
“I was covering my butt,” he said. “I got 14 or 15 offers.”
Darryl Parks, the AM honcho at Clear Channel here, could not be reached for comment.
By the way, WLW's Web site did have a Lance vs. Andy poll. McAlister was winning, 54 percent to 45 percent.
Contact John Fay at 768-8445; fax: 768-8550; e-mail: jfay@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Fay.
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Big O video a standout 
