Favorite Sports Movies

Because I'm bored I came up with a list of my 10 favorite sports movies. What are some of yours?

10. The Karate Kid: Laugh if you like but this was a great movie. Gotta love Pat Morita as Mr. Miagi. Great performances by Johnny Lawrence and the guy that played Dutch really made it sizzle.
Memorable Quote: "Points or no points, you're dead meat." Dutch to Daniel before the tournament.

9. Slap Shot: Two words...Hansen brothers. Nuff said.

8. Happy Gilmore: The only time the so-called sport of golf is entertaining is in this movie. Gotta love a brawling, hockey player turning into a golfer. If only real golfers were as colorful. Unforgettable cameo by Bob Barker as well as classic performances from Chubs Peterson and the legendary Shooter McGavin make this an all-time classic.
Memorable Quote: "I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast." Shooter to Happy Gilmore.

7. Rudy: This is the first in a string of football flicks. If only Rudy had played for Penn State instead of Notre Dame this would probably be in the top five. Still, it's a great underdog story and when the fans start chanting Rudy's name and he makes the sack at the end it's hard not to get a little teary-eyed.
Memorable Quote: You're five-foot nothin, a hundred and nothin and you hung in with the best football team in the land and your going to leave with an education from the University of Notre Dame. Son in this lifetime you don't have to prove nothing to nobody except yourself." The groundskeeper to Rudy.

6. All the Right Moves: Before Tom Cruise became a whackjob he made some great movies and this is one of his best. This 80s flick captures what high school football means to kids and a town perfectly. One of the more realistic football movies ever made in my opinion. Cruise does a great job portraying a hard-hitting defensive back while Craig T. Nelson shines as Coach Nickerson. Great ending as well with Stef joining Nickerson at Cal-Poly.
Memorable Quote: "62 stack monster, 62 stack monster!"

5. Remember the Titans: Greatest football movie ever in my opinion. Maybe I'm biased because I cover high school football but this is sports in its purest form and the fact that this team came together in the segregated time they did is amazing. Sure, the movie took liberties with how the games went since in reality the Titans dominated everybody but even if it wasn't real the way the championship ends is just awesome. Gotta love Bertier and Julius as well as coach Boone and Coach Yost. I watch this movie I'm ready to go out on the field and suit up.
Memorable Quote: "Right side...Strong Side!" Bertier and Jules.

4. Field of Dreams: Great baseball flick that captures baseball in its purest form and tugs at the heartstrings with the relationship between Costner and his father. Costner was great in this and James Earl Jones rocked as Terrance Mann. The ending with Costner having a catch with his dad gets me every time.
Memorable Quote: "If you build it, he will come" seems to be the obvious choice but one of my favorites is by Ray's spitfire lovable wife Annie who says at a PTA meeting, "Well, at least he isn't a book burner you Nazi cow."

3. Major League: It would take a long time to talk about everything that is great about this movie but this was a cinematic masterpiece. Nobody can forget characters like Ricky Vaughn, Jake Taylor, Willie Mayes Hayes, Roger Dorn, Pedro Cerrano, Lou Brown and Eddie Harris. Then to top it off Bob Ueker steals the show as announcer Harry Doyle and rattles off one hilarious one-liner after another. I can watch this movie 1,000 times and it gets funnier each time.
Memorable Quote: "This guy threw at his own kid in a father-son game." Harry Doyle talking about Yankee reliever Brusstar. I can relate to that quote as well since I could see myself doing that as competitive as I am.

2. Hoosiers: Greatest basketball movie ever made and arguably one of the best movies ever made. Again, there's not enough space to mention everything that makes this great. The neat thing is that it actually happen although they do take liberties with some things...but most non-fiction movies do anyway. Like All the Right Moves, this movie captures what a sport can mean to a community. And it's such a great underdog story. Norman Dale is a coaching genius and Gene Hackman does one of the best acting performances of a coach I've seen in any sports film. Love Dale's philsophy too of focusing on all the other aspects before worrying about shooting and his focus on crisp, fundamental team play. With all due respect to legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson the best basketball player I ever saw was Hickory's Jimmy Chitwood. The guy doesn't miss! Watch the movie...he misses one shot in the entire flick, I think. And when he saves Dale's job that is a priceless scene.
Memorable Quote: "If you guys put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential and being the best that you can be I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're going to be winners!" Coach Dale to his players before the state semifinal game against Oolitic.

1. Rocky: Oh, you didn't know? Rocky's got the Oscar to prove what it is an all-time classic and a film masterpiece. Ultimate underdog story with unforgettable performances from Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Talia Shire (all were nominated for Oscars) and Carl Weathers who should have been nominated as well for playing Apollo Creed to perfection. What is great about this movie is that it's believable. It's set up perfectly and you can't help but cheer for a guy like Rocky, who while he has flaws, is all heart. One of the best scenes for me is when Apollo knocks Rocky down in Round 14 and thinks he has it won as he parades around the ring. Then he turns around and sees Rocky getting to his feet in disbelief. The look on Creed's face is priceless. Then when Rocky motions him toward him and Weathers shakes his head you know he's thinking "What do I have to do to beat this guy," and that is the essence of Rocky. The fight scene is outstanding and I only wish I would have been old enough to see this film when it first came out. Awesome, just awesome.
Memorable Quote: "Stay in school and use your head. Be a doctor, be a lawyer, carry a leather brief case. Stay out of sports as a profession. Sports make you grunt and smell. See, (Apollo says as he points to his nose), be a thinker, not a stinker." Apollo offering advice to the kids on the news.
- posted by Chris @ 1:53 AM