I have a few passions in life: sports, movies, music, video games, and cooking.Growing up in the 90’s my childhood was bombarded with sports movies.Some, my father introduced to me that I will show to my kids, some were shown on the blacktop.Here’s my top-15:
Honorable mentions: Friday Night Lights, Coach Carter, Moneyball,42, Slapshot, Chariots of Fire
All trivia on my list provided by IMDb.com
The Bad News Bears comes in at #15 on our list.
#15 Bad News Bears (1976)
Before the now tired cliche of the ragtag team of goofy kids that ends up winning the championship was beaten to the ground (Little Giants, Mighty Ducks, Kicking and Screaming etc) this was a funny, fresh and feel good family sports film.Starring the late great Walter Matthau as the washed up minor league coach now coaching a competitive little league team and Tatum O’Neal.
Trivia: Jodie Foster was cast at one point but dropped out in order to play Iris in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976).
#14. Field of Dreams (1989)
A mysterious voice that whispers, ‘If you build it, he will come,’ serves as the inspiration for a man to reconnect with his deceased father through baseball in a movie that is considered a classic of American film.The film stars Kevin Costner, as an Iowa farmer who plows his crops to build a field for the ghosts of the disgraced Chicago ‘Black Sox’ to play on and Ray Liotta, as Shoeless Joe Jackson is based on the W.P. Kinsella novel, ‘Shoeless Joe.’
Trivia: In real life, Joe Jackson was a soft spoken, humble Southerner. A far cry from the brash New York accented Ray Liotta.
#13. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Tom Cruise as the sports agent with a heart, Renee Zellweger as his love interest and Cuba Gooding Jr as the egotistical wide receiver (which netted Cuba an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). Spawned the now classic lines of “Show me the money!” and “You had me at hello”.
Trivia: Tom Hanks auditioned for the role of Joel in Risky Business and was later considered for the lead role of Jerry Maguire but lost both the roles to Tom Cruise.
#12. The Sandlot (1993)
The be-all-end-all of children’s sports movies.The Sandlot a coming of age tale takes place in the summer of 1962 with the new kid in town being taught the glorious game of baseball by Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez.Featuring a signed Babe Ruth baseball and a monster of an English Mastiff known as Hercules in their way it’s the best sports movie of the 1990’s bar none.
Trivia: Writer-director David M. Evans has stated that all the child actors had such a wonderful summer working on the film to the point that they considered it the greatest summer of their lives.
#11 The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
The story of Lou Gehrig, which garnered 11 Academy Award nominations, stars Gary Cooper as The Iron Horse and even legendary Yankees Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey and Bob Meusel as themselves.
Trivia: Cooper never played any baseball prior and is right-handed, so all his scenes are filmed with reverse-type uniform numbers and he runs to third base instead of first. Later the film was reversed to make it look authentic.
#10 Remember the Titans (2000)
The true life story of desegregation in a Virginia high school in the early 1970s, and the power struggle within the newly integrated football team is the heart of this 2000 Disney classic starring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington as new head coach Herman Boone.
Trivia: According to Coach Herman Boone in an article published by ESPN, he really did integrate the buses before they left for football camp. Boone said “I forced them on each other, I forced them to learn each other’s culture. I forced them to be a part of each other’s lives.”
#9 Miracle (2004)
Kurt Russell stars as coach Herb Brooks, in the 1980 real-life story of the miracle on ice, the USA men’s hockey team beating the Soviets for the first time in almost 3 decades for a gold medal.The scene with goalie Jim Craig hugging his father after the final 4-3 score always will make this grown man tear up.
Trivia: Herb Brooks died in a car accident during principal photography of this film.A dedication is made for him before the ending credits.
#8 A League of Their Own (1992)
The fictional tale of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the movie stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell. Set during World War II with major leaguers going off to fight, the movie shows women trying to just play ball at a time when females rarely get respect as athletes.
Trivia: The storyline was inspired by the career of baseball legend Dottie Collins. During World War II, Collins played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and pitched seventeen shutouts during her six-year career.
#7 The Hustler (1961)
A up-and-coming pool player faces off against a pool shark featuring Paul Newman as ‘Fast Eddie’ and Jackie Gleason as ‘Minnesota Fats’ is a dramatic and sad story about winning, losing and the price of each in life.
Trivia: Jackie Gleason was in reality a very good pool player and did many of his own shots in the film.
#6 Brian’s Song (1971)
You might be heartless if you don’t shed at least one tear in this emotional true story of the unlikely friendship between Chicago Bears superstar Gale Sayers and his overachieving teammate Brian Piccolo.Starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams respectively
Trivia: Gale Sayers wanted to play himself, but Bears training camp conflicted with shooting.
#5 Caddyshack (1980)
An irreverent look at the game of golf and a cult classic considered one of the funniest movies of all time.Caddyshack stars Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Chuck Rodent, as the gopher.
Trivia: The movie was inspired by writer and co-star Brian Doyle-Murray’s memories working as a caddy at a golf club. His brother Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis also worked as caddies when they were teenagers.
#4 Hoosiers (1986)
The best basketball film not starring Looney Tunes is a nostalgic underdog story about a coach with a checkered past and an alcoholic father who take an undersized Indiana team to the state finals.Starring Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper was loosely based on a true story about the 1954 Milan high school basketball team.
Trivia: The movie was renamed “Best Shot” in Europe because most Europeans wouldn’t know what a Hoosier was.
#3 The Natural (1984)
Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who joins the New York Knights well beyond his prime to prove to himself he can reach his dreams.The big screen adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel shows the dark side of baseball in the 1930s – from gambling to shady owners but keeps a steady eye on the grandeur of the game.
Trivia: Pro wrestler Bret Hart took his catch phrase “the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be” from this movie.
#2 Raging Bull (1980)
The boxing biopic directed by the great Martin Scorsese stars Robert De Niro who won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of prizefighter Jake LaMotta, whose violent bouts with paranoia and jealousy destroy his life outside the ring.
Trivia: Robert De Niro did as many as 1000 rounds when training with the real Jake LaMotta. He thought De Niro had what it took to become a professional contender.
#1 Rocky (1976)
The greatest sports movie in my eyes, about the unknown fighter Rocky Balboa who takes the world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed through 15 hard rounds, won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.Written and starring Sylvester Stallone, was inspired by the surprising 15-round fight of Bayonne boxer Chuck Wepner against Muhammad Ali in 1975 and spawned six sequels.
Trivia: Rocky’s dog Butkus was actually Sylvester Stallone’s dog in real life.
