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Years ago, in the pages of Men’s Journal, I confessed to a psychotic obsession with the NFL draft. I dreamed of leaving journalism and being allowed to turn around a wayward team like the Jacksonville Jaguars using ideas like, “Always pick the guy who falls in the draft after a positive weed test.”

But Jaguars owner Shahid Khan never returned my calls. Moreover, I’m beginning to think the NFL won’t exist 20 years from now, because of that minor problem of the sport being physically lethal to its employees.

Any American who follows the Olympics will recall that the 1992 Us men's Olympic basketball team was known as The Dream Team, but the bronze medal-winning Lithuanian team the Americans defeated is the focus of the documentary The Other Dream Team. Their journey to the Olympics was not an easy one, embroiled with politics and oppression existing for over 50 years, although it helped resolve the America misperception that all Soviets are Russian.

Lithuania was one of three ex-Soviet republics to compete individually in 1992, and their team beat the Unified Team in Barcelona. The significance of their triumph was extensive --at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, four of the five starters for the Ussr basketball team were Lithuianian, defeating the Us team to win the gold medal. Ussr team members Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were the poster boys for the Russian sports program, and were threatened should they not stick to the...

We have an exclusive clip from The Other Dream Team, The Film Arcade's upcoming documentary about the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team. Before the Lithuanian team was formed, these Olympians all played for the U.S.S.R. national team under Coach Gomelsky at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, a team that stunned the world by beating the U.S. for the gold. Take a look at this scene where Russian and American Olympic players talk about how they felt leading up to that gold medal game.

The Other Dream Team - Exclusive Coach Gomelsky

The Other Dream Team was released September 28th, 2012 and stars Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, Jonas Valanciunas, Greg Speirs, Bill Walton, Mickey Hart, Jim Lampley. The film is directed by Marius A. Markevicius.

For 50 years, Lithuanian basketball players were forced to play for the Ussr Olympic team. The Other Dream Team tells the story of how the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team was able to rise to greatness (with a little help from The Grateful Dead) once the Soviet Union collapsed. We have the latest trailer for this remarkable true story, which centers on the legendary Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis, who both went onto have strong careers in the NBA.

The Other Dream Team - Trailer

The Other Dream Team comes to theaters September 28th, 2012 and stars Greg Speirs, Jim Lampley, Bill Walton, Mickey Hart, Dan Majerle, Chris Mullin, Jonas Valanciunas, David Remnick. The film is directed by Marius A. Markevicius.

Check out the latest trailer for Marius Markevicius The Other Dream Team documentary with names like Sarunas Marciulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, David Remnick, Jim Lampley, Bill Walton and Mickey Hart in the mix. The Film Arcade sends this one to theaters on September 28th, under the direction of Marius Markevicius, who also produced alongside Jon Weinbach. After leading the Ussr to a gold medal (and victory over the U.S.A.) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were poster boys for their oppressor’s sports machine. Four year later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, they emerged as symbols of democracy, helping their country break free from the shackles of Communism, and willing newly independent Lithuania to the medal stand at the Barcelona Olympics.

Check out the latest trailer for Marius Markevicius The Other Dream Team documentary with names like Sarunas Marciulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, David Remnick, Jim Lampley, Bill Walton and Mickey Hart in the mix. The Film Arcade sends this one to theaters on September 28th, under the direction of Marius Markevicius, who also produced alongside Jon Weinbach. After leading the Ussr to a gold medal (and victory over the U.S.A.) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were poster boys for their oppressor’s sports machine. Four year later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, they emerged as symbols of democracy, helping their country break free from the shackles of Communism, and willing newly independent Lithuania to the medal stand at the Barcelona Olympics.

The Film Arcade has released the new poster for their documentary The Other Dream Team. For 50 years, Lithuanian basketball players were forced to play for the Ussr Olympic team, but this film tells the story of how 1992 Lithuanian basketball team was able to rise to greatness (with a little help from The Grateful Dead) once the Soviet Union collapsed. The Other Dream Team hits theaters on September 28th!

After leading the Ussr to a gold medal (and victory over the U.S.A.) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were poster boys for their oppressor’s sports machine. Four year later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, they emerged as symbols of democracy, helping their country break free from the shackles of Communism, and willing newly independent Lithuania to the medal stand at the Barcelona Olympics.

The Other Dream Team documents the Lithuanians’ experiences behind the Iron Curtain for 50 years,...

The last time a basketball documentary lit up the Sundance Film Festival, it was the immaculate Hoop Dreams in 1994. But last week in Utah, there was another hardwood doc eliciting cheers and tears at the annual showcase for independent cinema. The Other Dream Team is the story of the 1992 Olympic basketball team from Lithuania, a tiny Baltic country that only re-established its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union two years prior. The Barcelona Summer Games are remembered for the invincible American roster of NBA stars that won gold, led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. But it was the third-place Lithuanians,...

 

When Americans hear "the Dream Team," sports fans conjure images of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, David Robinson, and more as the team went undefeated in the 1992 Olympics and won the gold medal. But for Lithuania, the country who won the bronze medal that year, basketball wasn't just a game - the court was a political battlefield on which their country gained independence from the Soviet Union.

The Other Dream Team gives an expansive look at the political landscape of Lithuania during the late 1980s and early 1990s, providing a perspective that most Americans (myself included) have never bothered to examine. In 1988, the Ussr Olympic team defeated the United States in competition, but four out of the five starting players on that squad were Lithuanian. Occupied by the Ussr at the time, Lithuania wasn't recognized as a soverign nation, so Russia pulled from the nearly 200 million residents of the...

"Like Crazy" co-producer Marius Markevicius is back this year with his directorial debut "The Other Dream Team," a documentary about Lithuania, his family’s homeland, and basketball, one of his life’s passions. What's it about? The story of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team and their journey from behind the Iron Curtain to triumph at the Barcelona Summer Olympics. Director Marius Markevicius says: "Led by the trail-blazing skills of Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis, the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team helped their country break free from the shackles of Communism. The film documents the players’ personal stories living in the Soviet Union, their struggles under Communist rule, their unique partnership with the Grateful Dead leading up to the Barcelona Olympics, and ultimately their triumph as a newly-free nation. The film follows a special group of athletes who journeyed from behind the Iron Curtain to...