Rise & Shine: The Jay Demerit Story; opening in limited release Nov 3

[agibson]

It was asked about over in the Basketball thread, so I thought I'd post a new thread over here.

Rise & Shine: The Jay Demerit Story is indeed opening tomorrow, November 3, in limited release (~100 theaters, most places just one or two showings).

One of the more inspiring stories in sports in recent years.  From Green Bay to UIC, to being passed on by MLS, to the pub leagues in England... on the Premiership (top professional soccer in the world?) and playing every minute in the World Cup.

I'm looking forward to it!

http://jaydemeritstory.com/ for more info, with (partial?) theater listings at http://jaydemeritstory.com/find-a-screening-2/ (including a Nov 3 screening in Forth Worth).

All funded via Kickstarter (crowd sourcing, basically: lots of small contributions from the general public).

From their web site:

The true story of a young American's impossible journey – a journey never experienced or heard of in the soccer world. After college, Jay's dream of playing pro soccer in Europe seemed unreachable. Sleeping in an attic, painting houses and eating beans and toast to survive, Jay took the most unlikely route to the top. After not making the professional leagues in the U.S., Jay left for Europe at the age of 21 without any professional experience – only a passport, $1500 and a backpack full of dreams. The film documents Jay's journey from the bottom – playing in Sunday park leagues and lower level division London clubs earning 40 pounds a week – to playing in the English Premier League – to starting in the 2010 World Cup. The Jay DeMerit Story is a story of perseverance, hard work and relentless belief in a dream... It is a story that needs to be told.
THE POOREST MAN IS NOT WITHOUT A CENT, BUT WITHOUT A DREAM...

[agibson]

Collecting the comments from the other thread:

*Another soccer conflict!  Not a game this time, but a limited screening of "Rise And Shine: The Jay Demerit Story" - check it out, Nov 9/10 (or Nov 3) at a theater near you!

Sorry for responding to the off-topic portion, but is that actually in theaters?  His story is pretty awesome

So, yes, actually in theaters!  Even in Fort Worth (at least one show, tomorrow at 7 PM).

And, agreed, a remarkable story.

[agibson]

I'll catch it up in Portage, with one showing tomorrow, and another... next Wednesday?  There are a number in Chicago and suburbs, a bunch in Wisconsin, etc, etc.

[valpotx]

I will have to try and make it to the Hurst showing, as that is only about 4-5 miles from my house! 

Definitely an inspirational story.  The pub leagues he played in originally in England are essentially around the 10th highest tier of soccer in the country.  I still technically play the equivalent in baseball with my semi-pro team, and we would stand no chance against MLB people.  We do have plenty of people who played in the minors recently (up to AAA), but their ambitions for pro ball are over.  To go from that situation to getting a rare chance with a Championship club (Watford, 2nd tier league in England) through an exhibition game, who then gets promoted into the top Premiership, while becoming a starter for the national team, is incredible!

Following world soccer as well, the Premiership is definitely thought of the 'top dog,' right up there with Liga BBVA in Spain, and Serie A in Italy.  The problems with Italy and Spain is that there are only really 3-4 teams that have a realistic shot at winning their respective titles, whereas there are 6-8 in England that could do so if they caught fire.