Last Chance U

Although I routinely read the user reviews for shows and movies, I have never written one. After reading some of the reviews of this sports documentary I felt compelled to make a comment. :Last Chance U" provides great insight to how life is at Community College and the athletes in the sports programs.

As a life long football love the series didn't catch my interest right away and I really regret that fact, because its an awesome show. The student athlete stories are told with great detail and the directors add just the right amount of game action for balance.

My concern with the comments about the players seem stereotypical. Seems some people really do not understand these players circumstances even after watching the show. A lazy student is not the same as one that is ill equipped as a product of a poor educational system. Some have no idea how to study and have not ever learned study skills. Many students simply are not prepared for college after graduating from high school. Brittany Waggoner makes the same assessment after leaving the show that this problem is prevalent and not confined to Mississippi.

I also noticed that she didnt understand why some of the players would basically give up and leave. The feeling of being overwhelmed and behind with trying to catch up is stressful. Many students leave college but their experiences are based on harsh realities that must be dealt with in a caring manner. She does come across and genuinely caring for the students but fails to identify what life is really like for them. I love the show and look forward to watching more seasons !!

As a French woman, living in France I do not get ANYTHING about American football. But I really loved the show and enjoyed the games; even though everything went a little over my head This is a really good show and it made me love American football!

The layout of most episodes follows like this:

• Players train up for a match and you get to follow their lives and the backstory of a bunch of players that the documentary focuses on. Especially the coach.
• You get an insight in what their studies is like and what hardships they face.
• The episode finishes with a football match that is edited with suspensefulness like a movie.

There is much to like about this series as you see the team spirit throughout and beyond the team to the town folks.

"Last Chance U" is a fantastic program in many aspects, but shines the most at a human level. The vast majority of these young men have gone through many hardships in their life, and see EMCC as their golden ticket to a potential future to the NFL. Director Greg Whitely did a fantastic job at capturing the highs and lows, both on and off the field of this band of brothers. You quickly get very invested in the different players as you cheer them on at each touchdown. The show also makes you feel like a disappointed sibling, when some of the players miss class, or fall short from some of their training.

Some might argue that Coach Stephens is the centerpiece to this large and complex puzzle, but in my opinion Brittany Wagner, the school's academic adviser, absolutely steals the show. She is the loving and caring mother figure that many of the players desperately need and pours her heart and soul to make sure all of them keep on track for success.

Another absolute must watch from Netflix, which will keep you engaged from beginning to end.

I have a love hate relationship with this show. I love football and I love documentaries, but I don't like this coach (season one and two coach) and I don't even like some of these players. As for those that I do like, I want to see them succeed. But that's not always the goal of a documentary anyway--to get you to like someone or something. A documentary brings the viewer information about a subject they didn't know before or were never even aware of.

I consider this show a documentary and not a "reality show" because it's not about false narratives or fake drama with a soft script. It's just documenting these young men as they try to make something of themselves in the wasteland of junior college. And junior college is a wasteland.

High school is where you get started. That's where you learn, grow, and display your skills for recruiters. A four-year university (preferably a D1 school) is where you're at the next best thing to the NFL and it's your best chance to get noticed by the NFL. JUCO is where you go when you've screwed up. Either you've screwed up in high school or you've screwed up at your four-year university. So, to see this no-man's-land of education and football on screen is fascinating.