The Bodacious Bears Documentary

We are now officially ONE WEEK AWAY from the premiere of The Bodacious Bears documentary. If you have not already reserved a seat and plan to attend in-person, please do so immediately. There is no charge, however seating is limited and we have very few seats remaining.  The film will premiere at 1:30p on November 6th , with the primary showing at Proscenium Theater on the campus of SUNY Potsdam. RESERVE YOUR SEAT HERE.   If you are unable to reserve a seat, there will be an additional in-person showing which has been made available for overflow.  This will also be at 1:30p on November 6th.  If you are unable to attend in-person, the film will also premiere at 1:30p on YouTube.  This YouTube Premiere link will be made public later this week, so you will be able to bookmark it ahead of Sunday, however it will not be available to watch until 1:30p on Sunday, November 6th.  Check out the trailer here and SUBSCRIBE on YouTube to get the latest updates and notifications . The following play

Be prepared for a nostalgic trip back in time...   After two years of filming, editing, and production, the Official Release Date of " The Bodacious Bears" documentary is Coming Soon.  The weekend of November 5th & 6th will surely be one you will not want to miss! The Official Poster for The Bodacious Bears documentary [Coming Soon: November 2022] "The Bodacious Bears" is a documentary that came to fruition as a result of the ideas and support of Tim Dempsey. It details the stories behind the historic Potsdam State Bears basketball program, which saw monumental success in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's.  Beyond the basketball aspect of this story, "The Bodacious Bears" also connects the history of that era with the local region and many of the people who made it happen.  Over 30 interviews have been conducted to-date, most of which were done in-person.  As we all know, the difficulties caused by the pandemic did create some obstacles along t

Over the past several weeks we have made some great progress with The Bodacious Bears documentary.  At the beginning of June, Tim Dempsey made a trip up to Potsdam from New Hampshire for business purposes. We were able to coordinate a time with his busy schedule to record an introductory segment which will lead into the film.  Essentially, this section will explain the "why," or the purpose of this project. It details how the ideas were formed leading up into the actual production and filming. You can check out this discussion with Tim below: Coach Bill Mitchell was also in the room while we recorded, and once we wrapped on filming we were able to dive into some of the details of how we envisioned making the release of the documentary possible as a group. There are many logistical challenges that we are keeping in mind, but there are also some awesome ideas that we have in store which we can hopefully share soon.  One thing is for certain: We are aiming for a release date th

On Monday, Coach Bill Mitchell and I traveled from Potsdam/Canton, NY to Raleigh, NC to embark on an incredible journey. We didn't know the full extent of what our two days there would entail, but we knew it was going to be special.  For the past year and a half, we have been working closely together to round up as many people with connections to the Potsdam State basketball program as possible. The connections and roots of the program go in so many different directions... from current and former players, to fans, administrators, coaches, relatives, etc.  The Potsdam tradition runs deep. This project has taken me all over the place in order to capture the entire essence of what made their story so special.  All along, Coach Mitchell and I knew we needed to make this trip happen in order to properly tell the story of The Bodacious Bears .  Through COVID, and all of the other complicated logistics on many different fronts, it was not an easy task.  Monday, May 2, 2022 Coach Mitchell

The Bodacious Bears' storyline, narrative, and production are continuing to see progress being made.  We appreciate the patience of everyone involved.  It has been a tall task scheduling, organizing, and circling all the wagons in order to make this happen, but it will all be worth it once it comes together!  Over the next few weeks, we have a few more interviews to get to... a few VERY IMPORTANT interviews, may I add.  Yesterday, we interviewed Dr. Hal Cohen, son of the late Bears Hall of Fame coach Stan Cohen.   On December 11, 1976, in his senior year at Canton High School, Hal made 598 consecutive free throws after varsity practice in the High School gym.  I grew up in Canton, and had basketball practice every day in that gym.  To this day, there is a banner that hangs with a photo of Cohen with legendary Head Coach Jerry Hourihan on that momentous occasion in 1976. The banner details the significance of such an incredible feat, and it has inspired countless student-athletes o

This Thursday, SUNY Potsdam hosted a virtual reunion on Zoom featuring many alums and faculty.  Coach Jerry Welsh was the guest of honor.  He and the participants had a chance to recount many stories from his time at Potsdam -- specifically from the 1981 and 1986 National Championship seasons, which are also celebrating their 40th and 35th anniversaries, respectively.  Coach Bill Mitchell emceed the meeting and SUNY Potsdam's President, Dr. Kristin G. Esterberg was in attendance. She provided high praise for the legacy of Coach Welsh and the Potsdam Bears. Halfway through the event, Coach Mitchell gave the evening's attendees the first official look at the production of The Bodacious Bears documentary.  In case you were unable to attend, you can watch the full 6-minute long extended trailer here: There are still several interviews to be completed over the next few weeks. If you have any media (photos, video, audio recordings) relating to Jerry Welsh or the Potsdam Bears that yo