"Sole Man" is a confusing film from ESPN. I don't mean that the film was badly made or unclear--but that the subjects that come up in the film are ones that left me feeling confused about what I think. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing if teens are offered huge money by shoe companies or free shoes. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that to a much larger extent, the coaches of high school and college teams make HUGE money from these companies as well. I am inclined to hate it all...but what do I know?This film is about a real character, Sonny Vaccaro. He's a guy who went from organizing a high school all-star game in the Pittsburgh area to becoming THE man who brought basketball shoes from a small business to a multi-billion dollar mega-business. In the late 70s and 80s, he was able to convince Nike to donate shoes to players and pay HUGE stipends to coaches--making this a brand new sort of business. How this all occurred and Vaccaro's eventual falling out with this business makes up most of the documentary.After Vaccaro's exit from the shoe business, the film makes an unexpected change in direction. Now Sonny re-created himself as a champion of the little guy. While universities and coaches were making huge fortunes, players got nothing during their college days other than scholarships--which could be renewed or not at the school's whims. Additionally, the schools could use the players names and likenesses for free. In other words, they could sell jerseys or license the players to video games--and the players got nothing. Vaccaro's campaign for righting this wrong makes up the final portion of the film--and for me, this was by far the most interesting and the part that I found the most convincing.Overall, an unusual film about a very unusual man--worth seeing but also a bit confusing when it comes to what it all means.

30 for 30: Sole Man (2015) **** (out of 4) One of the best entries in ESPN's "30 for 30" series takes a look at Sonny Vaccaro, a man who pretty much changed how college basketball and shoe companies work. We learn about Vaccaro's early days but where his legacy took off is when he went to Nike and sold them on the idea of giving shoes to kids in exchange for money going to the coaches. From this point on summer camps and various other programs started happening but the story turned a lot darker when shoe companies started bidding over players. Vaccaro was really the "Godfather" of this as he was involved in signing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and trying to land LeBron James.Anyone over the age of three will be able to explain why the NCAA is so dirty when you consider how much money is changing hands yet the players often don't see any of it. This documentary is a wonderful look at how this business started as something good but slowly turned into something a lot worse since we all know money is the root of all evil. Not only do we get to hear from Vaccaro himself but we also get interviews with major sports writers as well as coaches like John Calipari, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Larry Brown, John Thompson and players like Chris Webber and Ed O'Bannon who would become a driving force in players making some money off their images.It's worth noting some of the people who refused to be interviewed and they include Phil Knight, Jordan, Bryant and James. This documentary really makes you understand where college sports are now and why so many people hate or don't trust the NCAA. The documentary does a terrific job at showing you how it all got started and where it started to spin out of control. Fans of sports will certainly love this episode in the series.