Basketball Doc Leads Off Yogi Berra Museum Film Series

An award-winning documentary "Lenny Cooke," about the most hyped high school basketball player in the country, leads off the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center's February film series with a screening and discussion on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.

In 2001, Cooke was ranked above future greats LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, and supposed to be the next NBA superstar, but he went undrafted. He became a quintessentially American story about dreaming big, the fickle nature of sports celebrity and the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only just out of reach. 

The film will be followed by a discussion with Harvey Araton of the New York Times and and the film's producer Adam Shopkorn. 

Next up will be a Feb. 19 showing of "Branca's Pitch," the story of Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers after his ill-fated pitch to Bobby Thomson known as The Shot Heard Round the World in the 1951 National League playoffs. Branca and filmmaker Andrew Muscato will be on hand to discuss following the screening.

On Feb. 26, "75-0: The Documentary" a story about the 1966 Verona High School football team which lost 32 consecutive games including a humiliating 75-0 blowout to Madison High will be shown, followed by a discussion with filmmakers and former Verona players Lou Cortese and Jay Curtis.

The films are part of programming connected to the Museum's new Smithsonian exhibit "Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America."  The Museum is located on the campus of Montclair State University.  For more info on the exhibit or to RSVP for the films, call 973-655-2378.