HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

What: “The Last Game”

Where: ESPN, Tuesday, noon

This may be one of the best sports documentaries ever made. It has it all -- an incredible story filled with suspense and raw human emotions. The conclusion is so perfect it’s as though it’s part of a screenplay -- except it’s doubtful any screenwriter could have come up with it. In this case, truth is better than fiction.

“The Last Game” tells the story of a successful high school coach’s final season. The coach is Mike Pettine of Central Bucks West High in Doylestown, Pa., northeast of Philadelphia. In 1998, Pettine’s team won its second consecutive state championship. C.B. West had won 30 games in a row going into the 1999 season. This film tells the story of that season, one Pettine decides to make his last.

Pettine faces undefeated North Penn, coached by his son, Mike Jr., in its regular-season finale and two weeks later in the playoffs, which adds to the drama.

Two struggling filmmakers from Philadelphia, T. Patrick Murray and Alex Weinress, chose Pettine as the subject for a documentary on high school football. It turned out to be a good choice. Jim Lampley thought so much of the project he became an executive producer.

The film, also available in DVD and videotape, was selected best documentary at the Sonoma Film Festival earlier this year. It was sold to ESPN, which has already aired it on its award-winning series, “The Season,” and will air it again Tuesday.

One doesn’t have to be a high school football fan, or even a sports fan, to enjoy this story. However, it’s not always pretty.

Nothing is sugar-coated. There are times Pettine comes across as a jerk. And some of his players come across as arrogant. It’s all here -- the good and bad of high school football.

Information: www.thelastgame.com

-- Larry Stewart