On Lily's Watch List: Sports Movies

Much to my mother’s chagrin, I’ve always loved sports. I was able to keep up with the guys in the neighborhood and at recess, up until about the time I was told being a “tomboy” wasn’t very fashionable. Well, I was told I couldn’t play – but I could watch! If there wasn’t something on ESPN or Prime Ticket, my affinity for sports was sated by sports movies!

It doesn’t matter if the sports flick is good or bad. And the plots are usually all the same. Group of athletes face adversity, has a coach with wisdom beyond his reality, and there’s always a big game. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose – but we enjoy watching it just the same.

I’m a sucker for them – maybe even more than chick flicks! My thirst for watching a good sport’s movie has been up since I’ve been seeing the commercials for “Gridiron Gang,” and since the start of the football season, I’ve been itching to watch a few of my favorite sport flicks. Eventually, I came up with a list of must sees.

I had about nine or ten of them – but decided on these five as they are currently my biggest “wants.” So, grab your favorite sports jersey and hunker down on the couch for some of my favorite sport movies:

Eight Men Out – (1988, Director: John Sayles) I originally watched this film in 7th grade because I was writing a research paper on the scandal upon which the movie is based. (Yes, even then I was an overachiever). But I keep coming back to the film because Sayles and his then “young future talent” (John Cusack as Buck Weaver and D.B. Sweeney as Shoeless Joe Jackson) made a period piece that really made you care. The movie covers the story of the players on the 1919 Chicago White Sox who were booted out of baseball for allegedly accepting bribes to throw the World Series. Underpaid by a greedy owner, banned from the game they love, and eventually spurned by their fans, you can’t help but feel for these guys.

The Replacements – (2000, Director: Howard Deutch) No doubt about it – this film is just a fun time! A group of “could-of-beens” and regular guys cross the picket lines when professional players go on strike. OF COURSE, the players on the Sentinels become the underdog favorites. For me, the draw to this movie is the screwball cast that doesn’t rely on typical stereotypes. I mean c’mon! When was the last time you had a football team with a deaf guy and gambling-addicted-soccer-player-turned-kicker? And somehow, Deutch managed to pull a performance out of Keanu Reeves that didn’t make me gag. Gene Hackman earns honors for one of my favorite quotations of all time: "There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you very dangerous people."

Hoosiers – (1986, Director: David Anspaugh) The granddaddy of all basketball films. Does it surprise you that Gene Hackman is in this one too? Into a small town in Indiana blows in Coach Norman Dale. No one really knows why this talented coach has come to Podunk, IN to coach their high school basketball team. But, his hardass tactics and demanding work ethic eventually wins over the town and leads the team all the way to the State Championships. Along the way, he acquires an alcoholic assistant coach (ANOTHER drunk guy?! This is a disturbing trend in Hackman movies!) and the respect of his kids. The magic here is the journey and belief that is built around this team. These kids obviously love playing and the town loves having something to pin their hopes to. But isn’t that the true definition of loving the home team?

A League of Their Own – (1992, Director: Penny Marshall) It’s a baseball movie. It’s a period piece. It’s a chick flick. It’s Madonna playing a role where she doesn’t have to flash us her boobies. The girls of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League show you that “throwing like a girl” can definitely be a good thing. Marshall takes us on a journey with the ladies of the Rockford Peaches. While the story teaches us a bit of history during the WWII era, it’s also a great example about subtlety in storytelling. LOVE IT! You got the underplayed tension between sisters Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty). The love/hate/but completely funny relationship between Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks – who even belligerent is classy) and the Peaches. And of course, that unresolved sexual tension between Jimmy and Dottie (BUT THEY BOTH LOVE BASEBALL! They have to love each other! DAMN YOU BILL PULLMAN!!). When it all comes to an end, you just want to start all over again! Definitely one of my favorite baseball movies of all time.

Remember the Titans – (2000, Director: Boaz Yakin) Ever since buying this Denzel Washington movie, I always watch it when I feel like my concept of team or leadership is at a low. Social change in the 1970’s forces one predominantly white high school and one predominantly black high school to close down and form T.C. Williams High School in Virginia. Naturally racial tensions are high, but better way to show that we’re not all that different by playing a little football? And the Titans do just that. While the football montages themselves are fun – it’s the scenes at training camp that really make this movie. The guys on the team (played by Donald Faison, Kip Pardue, and Ryan Gosling to name a few) roll through their adversity and realize that as long as there’s a game to be played, everyone can get along (Hmm…maybe a game of hackey sack will help Mideast Peace?). And who can deny the cheesey goodness of the "We are the Titans" chant?