PAGE 11 “There’s no crying in baseball!” The best of sports cinema

When we here in the NewsSentinel newsroom recently became aware that a sequel to the hockey movie “Goon” is set to his theaters in October, a lively debate took to the ice about our favorite movies about different sports.

Many names were sent to the plate, and a few hail Mary’s were thrown, covering all the bases from kid movies to raunchy adult romps to tearjerkers. In the end, no consensus was reached.

We all have different ideas of what makes a good sports movie, but in the end, the common denominator is that they inspire us to do awesome things.

Here are a few of our favorite sports movies, divided by sport. And if you haven’t seen it, go check out “Goon.” While none of us picked it as our favorite hockey movie, it is still an excellent sports movie. Mike Bush, Sports Writer Favorite overall (boxing) — Hands down, “Rocky III” from 1982. The movie showed the uprising of Slyvester Stallone’s character Rocky Balboa after finally beating rival Apollo Creed in Rocky II. Balboa rises to fame, winning bout after bout and rolling in money, before he’s humbled when he meets another boxer with bigger chops in Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T (remember his Mohawk and the 1980s TV show The A Team?). With the death of his manager, Rocky struggles to find the ‘eye of the tiger’ look until Creed, played by Carl Weathers, encourages him to get back to train harder, and Rocky punishes Lang in their second bout.

Baseball — “Major League” from 1989 has to be one of the funniest baseball movies of alltime, no matter your age. The movie gives you an insight of what life is like for Major League Baseball players, managers and coaches. To have Mr. Baseball in broadcaster Bob Uecker in this classic was icing on the cake. This movie was made with only $11 million, but brought in nearly $50 million.

Football — “Gridiron Gang” from 2006. Based on a true story in 1990 about high school kids at a Southern California youth detention center and their football team, launched by one of the law enforcement personnel. Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was made for this role. In particular when he suited up and showed one of the players how to hit someone. Most of the kids thought Johnson was too old, when he proved he can still strap on the helmet and pads. His speeches to members of the Kilpatrick Mustangs would motivate anyone playing high school football today.

Basketball — From 1992, the comedy of “White Men Can’t Jump.” Two con artists played by Woody Harrison and Wesley Snipes as former college basketball players who team up as hustling streetballers, winning almost every game. Mostly comedy, but watching their slick moves on the court could have NBA teams knocking on their doors back in the early 1990s.

Hockey — “Miracle” from 2004. Another true story on the United States men’s hockey team that won the gold medal over Russia at the 1980 Winter Olympics. A touching movie from the start of Kurt Russell, who played the men’s hockey coach in Herb Brooks. The growth of some of the players who started as enemies dating back to their college days to teammates. And let’s not forget commentator Al Michaels’ famous words of “Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!”

Kyla Cathey, Lodi Living Editor

Favorite overall (boxing) — “Girlfight” is a seriously underrated movie about Diana Guzman, a teen who is going nowhere in life. Her father

gives her brother money for unwanted boxing lessons; Diana takes the lessons in his place and finds herself.

Baseball — “A League of Their Own” is a natural choice for a history lover. The movie is the fictional account of how women played ball on the home front to keep up morale during World War II. It also taught a generation an important lesson: “There’s no crying in baseball!”

Basketball (never mind, it’s Soccer now, I don’t think I’ve ever watched a basketball movie) — If you’ve never seen the sheer weirdness that is “Shaolin Soccer,” you’re missing out. A kung fu master who has a chance meeting with a former soccer star decides to promote the martial art on the field — against Team Evil, who have supernatural skills.

Football — “The Replacements,” about a team of scabs who fill in while the NFL is on strike. The unlikely players include a prison inmate who gets temporary probation to play, a SWAT officer, and a minimart bagger who’s better at catching shoplifters than footballs. It’s cheesy fun.

Hockey — “The Mighty Ducks,” of course. The classic movie about a group of underdog kids and their rich coach putting in community service time is, like a lot of early ‘90s kids, what turned me into a hockey fan.

Danielle Vaughn, Staff Writer

Favorite overall (Basketball) — “Love and Basketball.” It's one of my favorite movies. It's a love story entangled with basketball so it draws in more than just the basketball fanatics. It draws in romance fans as well. It also has some of my favorite actors and actress in it. Not to mention a great soundtrack. Also: “Juwanna Man.” This movie is hilarious and points out the double standard between men and women when it comes to sports.

Baseball — “A League Of Their Own.” Like Love and Basketball, its one of my favorite movies of all time. It shows that women play ball just as well as men. It gives a great history lesson and teaches what the mindset was about gender roles in those times. It has some funny moments as well as some tear jerking moments. Not to mention Madonna and Rosie O'Donald both are in this movie. The movie also has themes of sisterhood and spreads the message of female empowerment. Also: “Hardball.” This movie is raw and gritty with just a dab of baseball and humor. It has some great happy moments and some very sad tear jerking moments. Like some of the others I've mentioned it attracts more than just the baseball fan.

Hockey — “Go Figure.” This is a cute Disney Movie about a girl who wants to study figure skating at a private school but the team doesn't offer a scholarship. However, the hockey team does. She joins the hockey team in order to get the scholarship and ends up having to juggle both worlds. I like this movie because once upon a time I wanted to be a figure skater.

Other — “Bring it On.” I just love this movie because cheerleading is my favorite sport. It also has some funny moments and one of my favorite R&B Girl Groups is featured in the movie.

David Witte, Sports Editor

Favorite overall (baseball) — In “Bull Durham,” Kevin Costner (back when he was still making good movies) plays Crash Davis, a veteran catcher tasked with mentoring a young rising star pitcher (and total head case) played by Tim Robbins. Davis, with the help of a superfan played by Susan Sarandon, teaches about superstition, how to deal with the press, and generally how to make the grind of minor-league ball fun.

Football — In “Friday Night Lights,” the viewer gets a glimpse into life in footballcrazed Odessa, Texas. Based on the non-fiction book by Buzz Bissinger, it has everything a football movie should have — overbearing parents, a gruesome knee injury and an improbable run deep in the state playoffs.

Basketball — The titular character in “Coach Carter” is a loud business owner played by Samuel L. Jackson. When he agrees to coach a local high school basketball team in the rough part of town, he takes no guff — from players, from parents or from administrators.

Hockey — “Slap Shot” captures the feeling of smalltown minor-league malaise better than any other sports movie. A failing hockey team in Charlestown, Pennsylvania is dogged by rumors of a move to Orlando and needs to fill seats. The answer to all its problems, it turns out, is violence. This movie is made whole by the sudden appearance of three brothers who want to do two things: play hockey, and fight.

Other — In “Whip It,” Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Ellen Page plays Bliss Cavendar, a bored teenager in Bodeen, Texas, whose mom wants her to be a beauty-pageant queen and whose dad just wishes he had a boy to play football. When Bliss tries out for a roller derby team in Austin, the colorful characters of the team take her under their wing. Two classic storylines — coming of age, and the misfit underdogs — are told in this instant classic.

Did we miss any? We probably did. If you feel like a favorite of yours was egregiously omitted, drop us a line at

sports@lodinews.com and let us know about it, or just let us know that we’re all a bunch of cinematic philistines.