June 17th, 1994 is a documentary film by Brett Morgen released as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. The documentary details the events of June 17, 1994, in which several noteworthy sporting events occurred during the police chase of O. J. Simpson. Morgen says the diversity of the events provides an opportunity "to look at the soul of America".
The documentary features no narration and also no interviews and consists simply of music set to clips from news sources during the day. There are raw clips of sportscasters like Chris Berman and Bob Costas talking to their producers about how to deal with the O. J. story within the context of the events they were covering.
Robert Lloyd wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "Morgen juxtaposes the events of that day in a kind of associative round robin, finding points of contrast and commonality, of similar action and visual consonance, on which to turn his film. But he offers no other, more remote perspective; this is not a summing up of events, but rather a meditation, of an elemental sort, not just on sports but on the way of the world."
The events detailed in the documentary that occurred during the chase of Simpson are as follows.
Arnold Palmer playing his final round at the U.S. Open
The commencement of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, hosted for the first time by the United States
The New York Rangers celebrating their win at the Stanley Cup Finals with a ticker-tape parade on Broadway. (The parade took place earlier in the day and was largely unaffected by the OJ events.)
Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks.
Ken Griffey Jr. tying Babe Ruth's record of the most home runs (30) before June 30th and the team's 65th game of the season.
The U.S. Open concluded on Monday, June 20 with Ernie Els winning a three-way playoff for the championship.
The World Cup concluded on Sunday, July 17 with Brazil winning its 4th championship after Italy player Roberto Baggio missed a must make penalty during a shootout to decide the title.
The 1994 World Cup is also featured in another ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled The Two Escobars which follows Colombia Men's national soccer player Andrés Escobar who scored an own goal for the United States on June 22. Escobar was murdered for the goal on July 1.
The New York Rangers would not make another Stanley Cup Finals until 2014 where the team lost to the Los Angeles Kings four games to one.
The NBA Finals concluded June 22 with Houston winning the series in seven games. Both teams would make a future Finals with Houston winning the 1995 NBA Finals over Orlando in a sweep while the New York Knicks would make the 1999 Finals only to lose to San Antonio in five. For the Spurs it marked the first of five titles in the coming decade plus for the team and the first of two titles for Center David Robinson.
The 1994 Major League Baseball season would end after the games of August 11 with the player strike and with Ken Griffey Jr. hitting a total of 40 home runs.
O.J.: Made in America won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature 23 years after the chase and was produced by ESPN, who were also responsible for this film.
