The greatest sports movies ever - except for the ones we forgot
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
My son will likely disagree with this statement, but from his old man's perspective, the two of us do not spend enough time together. But in the last two weeks, we've made a little headway in that regard.
Each of the past Tuesdays, I've picked up Colin after school and it's just been the two of us at home for a few hours. Last week, if you'll recall, we had a Tuesday afternoon with sunny skies and 57 welcome degrees in mid-January. We played baseball. Outside. First January baseball I can ever remember. Colin used his black-and-tan Mizuno ballglove. I used a 1970s MacGregor T-Web model that's in desperate need of new rawhide laces.
Not to make too much of this, but tossing a baseball in January in southern Ohio has a bit of magic to it. We started off easy, then graduated to long tossing (150 to 200 feet), then played the old quick catch and release game that my dad taught me so many years ago.
This past Tuesday, Colin and I were eating pizza and somehow got on the subject of great sports movies. The two of us tend to make a list when we get on such topics as the "greatest all-time this or that."
For instance, we once came up with this lineup as the all-time greatest baseball team. (The amazing thing was that it was our roster and neither of us made the team.)
In our considerable opinion, we decided that the best possible baseball team (yes, we had a designated hitter) and batting order are as follows:
1. Derek Jeter, 2B
2. Alex Rodriguez, SS
3. Ted Williams, DH
4. Babe Ruth, 1B
5. Hank Aaron, LF
6. Willie Mays, CF
7. Mickey Mantle, RF
8. Mike Schmidt, 3B
9. Johnny Bench, C
Pitchers: Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Bob Gibson.
Utility Players: Pete Rose, Albert Pujols, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra.
We gave this serious consideration, too. For example, all of our utility players played multiple positions. They all played infield and outfield. Our starting lineup included Babe Ruth who, in addition to hitting more than 700 home runs, was a great starting pitcher. Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, also pitched in the Major Leagues.
Sure, the purists, like my pal Tom Tepe, will insist that Lou Gehrig was the best first baseman who ever played the game, and that Pie Traynor ought to be at third base.
In our defense, this lineup would win a lot of World Series, wouldn't it? When our friends criticize the lineup, we respond: OK. Come up with your own team, but you can't have any of our players!
***
Now, back to the best sports movies. A couple of nights ago, I tried to come up with the five best sports movies. I started with "Remember the Titans," "Brian's Song," and "Bang the Drum Slowly."
The latter two are old school. Many of our readers don't remember Brian Piccolo or even Gale Sayers. As for "Bang the Drum Slowly," this was a baseball movie with Robert De Niro as the catcher who was dying of cancer. De Niro always reminded me of our high school centerfielder, Clarence Brabson. The same look. The same mannerisms. The same toughness.
And then Colin reminded me that we forgot "Hoosiers," one of my favorite movies. And "Rudy." How can a lifelong Notre Dame fan forget "Rudy?"
Then Pam comes home from work. We tell her our list of five sports movies is now 100-percent complete at 40 movies, beginning with "Rudy" at No. 1 and ending with "Space Jam" at No. 40.
"What about 'Caddyshack?'" she asks.
Colin and I slug one another and simultaneously say "How could you forget 'Caddyshack?'"
The list expands to 50.
We've got Rudy. We've got Titans. We've got your Bull Durham and your Field of Dreams. The Blind Side's in there. Eight Men Out? It's No. 8. "61?" It's No. 19. We've got Seabiscuit AND Secretariat.
You like boxing? We got Rocky, but only the original Rocky. We don't have Karate Kid, because we don't like karate. You like hockey? We got your Miracle. You like high school basketball? In addition to Hoosiers, we slipped in "We Know," the story of Dave Young's North Adams Green Devils who went to the Ohio Final Four when Colin was 2 years old. Auto racing fan? We got Talladega Nights.
Man, we were all over this list of sports movies.
And then I made the mistake of mentioning it at work. HCP Sports Guru Stephen Forsha asked: "Where's Hurricane?"
We missed that one. A great movie about Hurricane Carter. My old employer was in it; as usual, playing a prison bull.
"How about Raging Bull?" Mr. Forsha inquired.
*&%$!
Yep. We missed the story of Jake LaMotta, too.
I'm too tired to argue with the youthful sports guru, so here's our list. The only criteria is this: We have to like the movie and the sport.
Top 50 (more or less) Sports Movies
1. Rudy (Go Irish).
2. Remember The Titans (Football is fun, Sir).
3. Hoosiers (What chewing gum was that, again?).
4. Brian's Song (If you don't cry, you're not human).
5. Bang the Drum Slowly (Everybody knows that everybody's dying, that's why people are as nice as they are).
6. Sandlot (George?).
7. Field of Dreams (Go the distance).
8. Eight Men Out (Gambling!? I'm shocked that there's gambling in this establishment; wait, that's from Casablanca. Poor Joe Jackson.).
9. Bull Durham (Nice co-star for Costner back in the day).
10. The Blind Side (Don't call him Big Mike).
11. The Rookie (even old guys can bring it once in a while).
12. Radio (He gets more channels than most of us).
13. Cinderella Man (Classic American Spirit).
14. Pride of the Yankees (see above).
15. Glory Road (Coach Haskins, Texas Western).
16. Miracle (Do you believe?).
17. The Natural (Not a Redford fan).
18. We Know (Best team in the state that year, as Director Ryan Arey suggests).
19. 61 (I was born. Maris hit 61 homers in 1961).
20. Secretariat (a horse movie)
21. Seabiscuit (why the long face?)
22. Paper Lion (journalist George Plimpton at quarterback).
23. Rocky (Adrian!!!!)
24. Requiem for a Heavyweight (Jackie Gleason's in Pittsburgh and it's raining)
25. Caddyshack (Bill Murray ad libs with Chevy Chase).
26. Angels in the Outfield (Do the Wave).
27. Jim Thorpe: All-American (Greatest Athlete of his time).
28. The Longest Yard (original)
29. Bad News Bears (original)
30. For Love of the Game (?).
31. Jerry Maguire (Show me the money).
32. We Are Marshall (yeah, baby).
33. Cool Running (bobsled racing is cool).
34. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (almost funny).
35. Forever Strong (Haven't seen it).
36. The Jackie Robinson Story (A great man and great player).
37. Friday Night Lights (didn't like it).
38. Ali (Even at 70, he could kick our butts).
39. The Waterboy (funny).
40. White Men Can't Jump (less funny).
41. Major League (funnier).
42. Any Given Sunday (Good movie).
43. Happy Gilmore (Bob Barker).
44. Knute Rockne: All-American (Go Irish).
45. Trouble Along the Way (You knew we'd have a John Wayne football movie on the list)
46. Space Jam (Larry Bird and Michael Jordan).
47. The Legend of Bagger Vance (Golf?).
48. Snow Dogs (That's a sport, right?)
49. Thunder Road (Let's go racin').
50. Facing the Giants (Gotta love the underdog).
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Each of the past Tuesdays, I've picked up Colin after school and it's just been the two of us at home for a few hours. Last week, if you'll recall, we had a Tuesday afternoon with sunny skies and 57 welcome degrees in mid-January. We played baseball. Outside. First January baseball I can ever remember. Colin used his black-and-tan Mizuno ballglove. I used a 1970s MacGregor T-Web model that's in desperate need of new rawhide laces.
Not to make too much of this, but tossing a baseball in January in southern Ohio has a bit of magic to it. We started off easy, then graduated to long tossing (150 to 200 feet), then played the old quick catch and release game that my dad taught me so many years ago.
This past Tuesday, Colin and I were eating pizza and somehow got on the subject of great sports movies. The two of us tend to make a list when we get on such topics as the "greatest all-time this or that."
For instance, we once came up with this lineup as the all-time greatest baseball team. (The amazing thing was that it was our roster and neither of us made the team.)
In our considerable opinion, we decided that the best possible baseball team (yes, we had a designated hitter) and batting order are as follows:
1. Derek Jeter, 2B
2. Alex Rodriguez, SS
3. Ted Williams, DH
4. Babe Ruth, 1B
5. Hank Aaron, LF
6. Willie Mays, CF
7. Mickey Mantle, RF
8. Mike Schmidt, 3B
9. Johnny Bench, C
Pitchers: Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Bob Gibson.
Utility Players: Pete Rose, Albert Pujols, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra.
We gave this serious consideration, too. For example, all of our utility players played multiple positions. They all played infield and outfield. Our starting lineup included Babe Ruth who, in addition to hitting more than 700 home runs, was a great starting pitcher. Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, also pitched in the Major Leagues.
Sure, the purists, like my pal Tom Tepe, will insist that Lou Gehrig was the best first baseman who ever played the game, and that Pie Traynor ought to be at third base.
In our defense, this lineup would win a lot of World Series, wouldn't it? When our friends criticize the lineup, we respond: OK. Come up with your own team, but you can't have any of our players!
***
Now, back to the best sports movies. A couple of nights ago, I tried to come up with the five best sports movies. I started with "Remember the Titans," "Brian's Song," and "Bang the Drum Slowly."
The latter two are old school. Many of our readers don't remember Brian Piccolo or even Gale Sayers. As for "Bang the Drum Slowly," this was a baseball movie with Robert De Niro as the catcher who was dying of cancer. De Niro always reminded me of our high school centerfielder, Clarence Brabson. The same look. The same mannerisms. The same toughness.
And then Colin reminded me that we forgot "Hoosiers," one of my favorite movies. And "Rudy." How can a lifelong Notre Dame fan forget "Rudy?"
Then Pam comes home from work. We tell her our list of five sports movies is now 100-percent complete at 40 movies, beginning with "Rudy" at No. 1 and ending with "Space Jam" at No. 40.
"What about 'Caddyshack?'" she asks.
Colin and I slug one another and simultaneously say "How could you forget 'Caddyshack?'"
The list expands to 50.
We've got Rudy. We've got Titans. We've got your Bull Durham and your Field of Dreams. The Blind Side's in there. Eight Men Out? It's No. 8. "61?" It's No. 19. We've got Seabiscuit AND Secretariat.
You like boxing? We got Rocky, but only the original Rocky. We don't have Karate Kid, because we don't like karate. You like hockey? We got your Miracle. You like high school basketball? In addition to Hoosiers, we slipped in "We Know," the story of Dave Young's North Adams Green Devils who went to the Ohio Final Four when Colin was 2 years old. Auto racing fan? We got Talladega Nights.
Man, we were all over this list of sports movies.
And then I made the mistake of mentioning it at work. HCP Sports Guru Stephen Forsha asked: "Where's Hurricane?"
We missed that one. A great movie about Hurricane Carter. My old employer was in it; as usual, playing a prison bull.
"How about Raging Bull?" Mr. Forsha inquired.
*&%$!
Yep. We missed the story of Jake LaMotta, too.
I'm too tired to argue with the youthful sports guru, so here's our list. The only criteria is this: We have to like the movie and the sport.
Top 50 (more or less) Sports Movies
1. Rudy (Go Irish).
2. Remember The Titans (Football is fun, Sir).
3. Hoosiers (What chewing gum was that, again?).
4. Brian's Song (If you don't cry, you're not human).
5. Bang the Drum Slowly (Everybody knows that everybody's dying, that's why people are as nice as they are).
6. Sandlot (George?).
7. Field of Dreams (Go the distance).
8. Eight Men Out (Gambling!? I'm shocked that there's gambling in this establishment; wait, that's from Casablanca. Poor Joe Jackson.).
9. Bull Durham (Nice co-star for Costner back in the day).
10. The Blind Side (Don't call him Big Mike).
11. The Rookie (even old guys can bring it once in a while).
12. Radio (He gets more channels than most of us).
13. Cinderella Man (Classic American Spirit).
14. Pride of the Yankees (see above).
15. Glory Road (Coach Haskins, Texas Western).
16. Miracle (Do you believe?).
17. The Natural (Not a Redford fan).
18. We Know (Best team in the state that year, as Director Ryan Arey suggests).
19. 61 (I was born. Maris hit 61 homers in 1961).
20. Secretariat (a horse movie)
21. Seabiscuit (why the long face?)
22. Paper Lion (journalist George Plimpton at quarterback).
23. Rocky (Adrian!!!!)
24. Requiem for a Heavyweight (Jackie Gleason's in Pittsburgh and it's raining)
25. Caddyshack (Bill Murray ad libs with Chevy Chase).
26. Angels in the Outfield (Do the Wave).
27. Jim Thorpe: All-American (Greatest Athlete of his time).
28. The Longest Yard (original)
29. Bad News Bears (original)
30. For Love of the Game (?).
31. Jerry Maguire (Show me the money).
32. We Are Marshall (yeah, baby).
33. Cool Running (bobsled racing is cool).
34. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (almost funny).
35. Forever Strong (Haven't seen it).
36. The Jackie Robinson Story (A great man and great player).
37. Friday Night Lights (didn't like it).
38. Ali (Even at 70, he could kick our butts).
39. The Waterboy (funny).
40. White Men Can't Jump (less funny).
41. Major League (funnier).
42. Any Given Sunday (Good movie).
43. Happy Gilmore (Bob Barker).
44. Knute Rockne: All-American (Go Irish).
45. Trouble Along the Way (You knew we'd have a John Wayne football movie on the list)
46. Space Jam (Larry Bird and Michael Jordan).
47. The Legend of Bagger Vance (Golf?).
48. Snow Dogs (That's a sport, right?)
49. Thunder Road (Let's go racin').
50. Facing the Giants (Gotta love the underdog).
Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]