ESPN 30 for 30: Worldwide Leader Makes Smart Move Re-Upping Documentary Series

ESPN's 30 for 30 series was supposed to end with the airing of "Pony Excess" on Dec. 11, 2010.

But the Worldwide Leader was so excited about the success of their documentary series that they kept producing them, 12 more in fact, with the 12th being Tuesday's airing of "26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story."

The latest 12 documentaries were produced under the "ESPN Films" banner, and today, it was announced that they'll launch a second wave of the 30 for 30 series in the fall, according to the New York Times.

Connor Schell, vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films, was quoted in the Times saying, “When we embarked on ’30 for 30,’ we always wondered if there would be 30 good stories. Now, I think all of us in this group believe that there is an infinite number of stories.”

One of the driving forces behind the initial 30 for 30 push was ESPN.com's famed writer Bill Simmons, who also founded the website Grantland.com.

Simmons and Grantland are about to get their due this time around, as the Times report states:

"

As the films roll out, they will be augmented on Grantland by podcasts, feature stories and oral histories. A short digital film — which will be unrelated to the longer ones — will make its debut each month on Grantland.

Mr. Schell described the shorts as “visual editorials,” of five to nine minutes. 

"

The series is already a great succes on its own, but these additions will bring another dimension to some of the most interesting stories in the history of sports.

Simmons and his colleagues at Grantland may be an acquired taste for some, but they know how to tell stories and they know what people are interested in reading and watching. 

The first digital short, titled "Here Now" by Eric Drath, debuted today on Grantland.

We can expect plenty of exciting things to come from this second set of the 30 for 30 series, as the Times reports some of the subject matter includes stories about the 1983 NCAA champion N.C. State team, Ben Johnson and the 1988 Summer Olympics, Bo Jackson and two Tribeca Film Festival films titled "Benji" and "Broke."

ESPN doesn't do everything correctly. In fact, some would argue they've done plenty of things wrong of late, but re-upping this series was a fantastic decision.