Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

ESPN's coverage of the Kentucky Derby will include a "30 for 30 Shorts" piece of interest to the race's hometown crowd.

More than 40 years after Louisvillian Hunter S. Thompson penned his famous Scanlan's magazine piece, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," the Worldwide Leader has produced a story about the story.

Directed by Michael Ratner, "Gonzo @ The Derby" premieres at 10 a.m. May 3 online at espn.com/30for30/shorts and will air during the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter on May 6.

Thompson is credited as founder of the gonzo journalism movement much thanks to his account of 1970's Kentucky Derby Day. The story, of course, had little to do with Dust Commander's victory.

"Unlike most of the others in the press box, we didn't give a hoot in hell what was happening on the track," Thompson wrote. "We had come there to watch the real beasts perform."

ESPN's piece will include interviews with the late writer's editors, friends and Sean Penn, an actor who has gone on to replicate Thompson's style.

"As Thompson’s partner in crime, illustrator Ralph Steadman, says," per ESPN, 'We were the face of the crowd we’d gone there to find.'"