XM MLB Chat: Bud Greenspan is apparently a Yankee fan---NY Times

Mr. Greenspan the filmaker long synonymous with Olympics documentaries is interviewed by Richard Sandomir. Eschewing other activities suggested to Mr. Greenspan during a recuperation earlier this year:

""He’d say, ‘I just want to watch the Yankee game.’"

Sandomir: "Bud Greenspan is looking toward the Beijing Summer Games next year to create another documentary that chronicles the inspiring side of the Olympics. He has been writing, producing and directing these films for so long that the moniker Olympic documentarian sticks to him like the glasses that are always perched on his bald dome.

Greenspan, 81, recently recovered from a six-month bout of pneumonia.

Greenspan is also dealing with the effects of Parkinson’s disease on his speech, balance and energy. But he has had the disease over a stretch of time that has seen the release of his documentaries about the 2004 and 2006 Olympics and, most recently, one about the trailblazing African-American baseball player Larry Doby.

His achievements in telling those stories — including his 22-part series, “The Olympiad”; his official film about the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, “16 Days of Glory”; and his most recent one about last year’s Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy — will be honored by the United States Olympic Committee today at a luncheon in downtown Manhattan.

When asked if he was guided by the athletes’ stories told in his documentaries, he closed his eyes and recited a line he wrote in at least one script.

“The honor should not go to those who have not fallen, but all honor to those who fall and rise again,” he said.