American Sports Story

American Sports Story is another scripted anthology series from Ryan Murphy that focuses on sports figures this time. This first season is about the tragic life of Aaron Hernandez and his rise and fall from being an NFL star. It does a good job making you feel empathy for Hernandez for all that he had to go through growing up but it doesn't make you feel any sympathy because he still made his choices. It doesn't take any of the guilt away from Hernandez but shows how the people in his life influenced the man he became. The show also does a good job showing the story from different perspectives of the man Hernandez was. The best part of the show is Josh Rivera portrayal of Aaron Hernandez. He does such a great job. He even looks like him except for being a few inches shorter. I'm looking forward to future seasons from this show.

This is wonderfully done TV show about the Aaron Hernandez story. We've seen the plot written and discussed many times many ways, but not like this. This show goes deeper into the family, deeper into what made Aaron Aaron. Some of it may be embellished, but what fiction isn't? It's not considered a biography so there is room to be creative. The cast is great too. From seeing some of my All Rise folks, to the main stars, they execute in a way that even Bill Bellichick (spelling) could appreciate. So far episode 8 is the best of them all, but each one builds on each other. I can't wait to finish the season out .

I don't know why they did it but this series almost makes excuses for Hernandez's psychotic actions. They present Hernandez as this sensitive, sexually confused person who's addled by concussions. They treat his victims as if they're just some tally. They make little attempt to humanize any of them.

The real Aaron Hernandez was a charming sociopath. He was an emotional chameleon who could instantly adjust his personality to fit his audience. Aaron Hernandez had three faces, the good guy, jokester footballer, the closed homosexual and the cold blooded killer. The cold blooded killer is the real Aaron Hernandez.

The mini-series glazed over these facts: Hernandez didn't just punch a bartender across a bar. He sucker punched a bar manager who was turned away from him, rupturing his ear drum and causing bleeding from the ear. The two men who were shot in their car in Gainesville identified Hernandez from a photo lineup. This was after they'd had an altercation in a bar with Hernandez. This was probably Hernandez's first attempted murder. It appears the Gator's fixers made those problems go away.

They do actually show Hernandez murdering the two men in another car shooting in Boston but they totally mischaracterize the Odin Loyd killing. There was no soulful discussion before the murder.

Hernandez shot Lloyd without warning in the car. As Lloyd tried to run he shot him more times. Then he got out of the car and stood over Lloyd's prone body as he delivered the final fatal shots.

There are many people who suffer from CTE. There are many men who are closeted homosexuals. Hardly any of them are multiple murderers.

Hernandez was a spoiled kid who was told everyday how special he was. His father had rage issues. His mother displays sociopathic tendencies. If nothing else, she is a cold person who refused to attend the bulk of her son's court appearances.

Hernandez was shown that he was above the Law while with the Gators. He realized he could literally 'get away with murder' and he did, for a while.

Out of the three faces of Aaron Hernandez the only true one was cold hearted killer. This series fails to capture that face. The series also fails to show proper respect and empathy for the victims, while lavishing sympathy on Hernandez.

I was pleasantly surprised I didn't think that this would be as good as it was. My heart bleeds for Aaron after watching this he was a terribly tortured soul. Prior to this I thought that he was just an arrogant jerk. Being molested as a kid really set his tragic life on the path that it went down. Not to say that he was totally innocent and as a man he had choices but choose the wrong paths. It is so sad that such a talented guy ended up like he did. Family was definitely dysfunctional and his dad was crazy. His poor brother was full of envy I just hope that he found his self obviously it was not a football career.

Everyone knows that producer Ryan Murphy always does the best work and keeps it real with his series with real life things. And this is another winner for "FX", as the first season of his "American Sports Story" which focuses on the rise and fall of New England Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez. The episodes follow his life as a teen and upbringing in Bristol, CT to the University of Florida as a gator to his drafting into the NFL as a Patriot. The time frame focused on is mid 2000's to 2010's as the series feels real as it relies on interviews, transcripts, and documents, with calls and reporting by the Boston Globe even as Murphy makes it real showing Aaron's drug use, possible bi sexual life, and painful CTE. And actor Josh Rivera really gets into the mind of the character as it was interesting seeing a sports figure challenged battling personal and private demons.