Top 5...

[Titanxman04]

Greatest Sports movies of all time.

At a party tonight with some Xavier friends, including Drew's Crew (he overheard the plans, we really didn't want to invite him). Over a game of Kings, we brought up this topic, and naturally, I wanted to know your input. Some of the suggestions at the table were agreeable, or at least had an argument. Sadly, a friend just had some terrible input as well (Denzel Washington was NOT terrible in Remember the Titans....I almost hit him based on principle).

So, go ahead now... discuss.

[XU 87]

1) Hoosiers

2) The Natural

3) Tin Cup

4) Slapshot

5) The Longest Yard

[Porkopolis]

1) Bull Durham (hands down the best)

2) The Natural

3) Slapshot

4) Hoosiers

5) Rudy

I have a soft spot for We Are Marshall but recognize it isn't really a great movie. I also love Major League but can't give it the nod over Rudy or Hoosiers.

[Cheesehead]

1) Bull Durham

2) Hoosiers

3) The Natural

4) Rudy

5) The Blind Side/Remember the Titans (Too hard to cut it to 5 )

Honorable Mention: Glory Road

[Nigel Tufnel]

Does Hoop Dreams count? Its a documentary, but it was on the big screen. If so, I think Hoop Dreams is the best sports movie I've seen.

[Fireball]

I don't know that these are the "best" sports movies, but they are my favorite:

Field of Dreams
Happy Gilmore
Major League
Mr. Baseball
Waterboy

[GoMuskies]

The Natural
Hoosiers
Caddyshack
Field of Dreams
Major League

[bobbiemcgee]

Hoosiers (I'm from Indiana)
Bull Durham
The Natural
Caddyshack
Brian's Song

I'd put the original Rocky in there but too many sequels

[THRILLHOUSE]

Hoosiers, Slapshot, Major League*, Rocky, Field of Dreams

*Not gonna say Major League is a great film, but I watch it everytime I stumble upon it while flipping through channels. I also want to find room for Caddyshack on this list.

[BandAid]

Cheerleading counts as a sport now, right?

1. Bring It On
2. Bring It On Again
3. Bring It On: All or Nothing
4. Bring ItOn: In It to Win It
5. Bring It On: Fight to the Finish
:p

[BandAid]

Seriously:

1. Field of Dreams
2. The Run
3. The Sandlot
4. Rudy
5. Rocky

Ok, so the first reminds of my father and the third of my childhood. I'm not even sure "The Run" is allowed in this game. And the fourth and fifth are a little cliche. O well, that's my list. It's ironclad.

[MADXSTER]

Wow, Top 5 is seems easy at first then I keep thinking of other good movies.

[STL_XUfan]

1. Hoosiers
2. Bull Durham
3. Rocky IV (I mean it did end the cold war)
4. Major League
5. Tin Cup

[Titanxman04]

Cheerleading counts as a sport now, right?

1. Bring It On
2. Bring It On Again
3. Bring It On: All or Nothing
4. Bring ItOn: In It to Win It
5. Bring It On: Fight to the Finish
:p

REPS! I was waiting for someone to bring this up. I joked about it last night, but then someone threatened to pour beer on me.

[Titanxman04]

In no order...

1) Rudy
2) Bull Durham
3) Remember the Titans
4) The Sandlot
5) Tin Cup

Honorable Mention:
Legend of Bagger Vance

[XU05and07]

Why does "Space Jam" never make the cut?

[Porkopolis]

Wow, Top 5 is seems easy at first then I keep thinking of other good movies.

No doubt. It was hard for me not to include Field of Dreams; I left it off just os my list was a little less baseball-centric.

[Masterofreality]

Hoosiers
Major League
Caddyshack
Tin Cup
The 2011 Xavier University National Championship basketball film.

[DoubleD86]

I don't know my favorites or the top 5, but in my mind Bull Durham is absolutely the best. It is a great story, funny, and sport centric without forced or bad storyline. Plus, it gives a very true sense to the feel of minor league baseball, much less manufactured than many other movies.

[stophorseabuse]

Movies

1. Hoosiers
2. Major League
3. The Natural
4. Bull Durham
5. Field of Dreams

Others: Caddy Shack, Tin Cup, Rocky, The Program, Radio, Rudy, Sandlot, Varsity Blues

With a wink: Teen Wolf, The Comebacks

Best Scenes

1. Don't get caught watching the paint dry/picket fence
2. Chitwood for the state title
3. Lights shattering by Hobbs
4. Nick Nolte going ape shit in locker room--multiple personality--personal fav.
5. Vaughn vs. Heyward

[waggy]

Has North Dallas 40 been mentioned by anyone?

[X-band '01]

Does Hoop Dreams count? Its a documentary, but it was on the big screen. If so, I think Hoop Dreams is the best sports movie I've seen.

Hoop Dreams is the kind of movie where I'll stop what I'm doing and leave the station on when it comes on TV. One of the stars (William Gates) is now a minister; the other (Arthur Agee) is now a motivational speaker. Their high school coach at St. Joe's (Gene Pingatore) finally won a state title when he had (?) McCaskell and Evan Turner on the same team. And this is the program where Isiah Thomas also played high school ball.

With the Baseball and NFL Films series, I always wonder why the NBA never really devoted itself to historical programming and documentaries like the 2 aforementioned sports have done.

[AdamtheFlyer]

I'm sure there are "better" sports movies than my list, but these are my favorites.

1. Sandlot (in my personal top 5 of all movies)
2. Little Giants
3. Bad News Bears (original)
4. Remember the Titans
5. Necessary Roughness (Ahh, Lucy Draper)

Honorable Mention: The Big Green, Invictus, Glory Road, Rudy.

[chico]

There are so many great movies it's hard to narrow it down to 5, but here goes.

When We Were Kings, Bad News Bears, Hoosiers, Caddyshack, Brian's Song

Hon. Mention: Bingo Long Traveling All Stars and Motor Kings, Breaking Away, Rudy, Inside Moves, Eight Men Out, Natural, Bull Durham, The Rookie, Slapshot, Rocky, Rocky III (I pity the fool who don't put this movie on their list), Tallegeda Nights, Happy Gilmore, Heaven Can Wait, Tin Cup, Longest Yard, Seabiscuit (although the book was better). Like I said, it's hard to choose.

[DoubleD86]

Has North Dallas 40 been mentioned by anyone?

Agreed, not much talk but an amazing movie that again shows more of the "real life" side of an athlete (at least back then)

[SixFig]

Major League
Caddyshack
Field of Dreams
Bull Durham
Rudy

Honorable Mention: Pride of the Yankees, Rocky I II III

Movies I have never seen but want to: Brian Song, Hoosiers, Raging Bull

Funniest sports scene is not in any sports movie, though...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-S-eeInJVk

[sweet16]

Surprised that no one has mentioned Blue Chips yet.

[MuskieCinci]

Does Karate Kid count? Is that a sport?

[Titanxman04]

Has their been a Little Big League mention? That movie was a classic.

[ballyhoohoo]

Hooisers
Field of Dreams
Slapshot
Mr Basebal
Caddyshack

[Kahns Krazy]

Baseketball
Ladybugs
Summer Catch
Stroker Ace
Airborne

[xu95]

Baseketball
Ladybugs
Summer Catch
Stroker Ace
Airborne

I didn't expect to see any of these movies on anyones list.

xu95

[ballyhoohoo]

I didn't expect to see any of these movies on anyones list.

xu95

I think summer catch has jessica biel in a bikini, she is wicked hawt

[Showrunner]

1. The Natural
1. Hoosiers
1. Miracle
1. Rudy

Everyone of those has a scene that brings a tear to my eye every single time I see it.

5. Tin Cup/Bull Durham

[Muskie91]

Victory
The Natural
Bull Durham
Eight Men Out
The Rookie

I guess I'm a sucker for the baseball themes

[waggy]

A couple nominees in the auto racing genre would be Grand Prix and Le Mans. James Gardner and Steve McQueen respectively. Most fans/historians consider these the best due to the realistic/quality footage.

[nuts4xu]

Big Lebowski
Talledega Nights
Semi Pro
Dodgeball
Blades of Glory

[GoMuskies]

The Rookie


This would have been the dumbest movie ever if it wasn't essentially a true story. I mean, who would have believed that premise?

[Muskie91]

This would have been the dumbest movie ever if it wasn't essentially a true story. I mean, who would have believed that premise?

That's what made it good - sort of like a baseball "Hoosiers"

[MADXSTER]

Here are some that have been mentioned...

Hoosiers
The Natural
Tin Cup
Slapshot
The Longest Yard
Bull Durham
Rudy
The Blind Side
Remember the Titans
Glory Road
Field of Dreams
Happy Gilmore
Major League
Mr. Baseball
Waterboy
Caddyshack
Brian's Song
Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III (I pity the fool who don't put this movie on their list)
Rocky IV (I mean it did end the cold war)
The Run
The Sandlot
Legend of Bagger Vance
Space Jam
The Program
Radio
Varsity Blues
North Dallas 40
Hoop Dreams
Little Giants
Bad News Bears (original)
Necessary Roughness
The Big Green
Invictus
When We Were Kings
Breaking Away
Inside Moves
Eight Men Out
Tallegeda Nights
Heaven Can Wait
Longest Yard
Seabiscuit
Pride of the Yankees
Raging Bull
Blue Chips
Little Big League
Miracle
Victory
Big Lebowski
Semi Pro
Dodgeball
Blades of Glory

[GoMuskies]

That's what made it good - sort of like a baseball "Hoosiers"

Yep, I just meant that it was truly an unbelievable story...except that it was real (with some Hollywood liberties, of course). Good flick.

[Kahns Krazy]

I forgot:

Legend of Baggervance
Hot Rod

[Showrunner]

A few More.....Because they haven't been mentioned and for one reason or another I got a kick out of them

Rollerball - The original with James Cann
Diggstown
Mystery, Alaska
Jerry Maguire
Vision Quest

On the lighter side....
Mr. Destiny - Always makes me chuckle
The Best of Times - Reno Hightower vs. Dr. Death.

[wkrq59]

Here's an easy way to split the favorites:

FACT BASED, LOOSELY OR OTHERWISE (In no particular order)--Hoosiers, Rudy, Pride of the Yankees, The Rookie (Dennis Quaid-Jim Carter Texas pitcher), Bull Durham (Crash Davis was real and consulted on set), 8 Men Out, Raging Bull, Follow the Sun (based on Ben Hogan, but bad movie), Babe Didrikson Zaharias movie, Blind Side, Glory Road, Remember the Titans, Radio, North Dallas 40, Brian's Song.

FICTION EVEN IF A REAL ATHLETE IN IT--Slapshot, Major League, The Natural, The Longest Yard, Field of Dreams, Water Boy, Mr. Baseball, Happy Gilmore, Caddy Shack, Tin Cup, Legend of Bagger Vance (real characters but loosely taken), Space Jam(just because), Bad News Bears, Rockys, Heaven Can Wait (Both), Breaking Away, Mystery, Jerry Macguire
North Dallas 40, written by Richard Ghent, was a fictionalized version of the Dallas Cowboys and their drug problems that was all too real and damn near got Ghent in big legal trouble. The better fictionals are in blue, the better factuals are in green.
:logo::shield: :sword:

[xubrew]

eight men out

miracle

bull durham

big shots (not very main stream and a little sensationalized, but i thought it was very entertaining. it's about the arizona state point shaving scandal from 1993).

61* it's odd that i would like that movie. i hate the yankees, and am not particularly a huge baseball fan. i just liked how well the characters seemed to come across.


someone mentioned hoop dreams and when we were kings. i like those two better than any others that i listed, but since they're non-fiction films i guess they can go in a different category. i believe when we were kings was made by hbo, although i wouldn't swear to it. they made another great one about muhammad ali that chronicled the three fights against joe frazier. i think it was called thrilla in manilla. again, it's odd that i would like those because i'm not a big boxing fan, but they were great films.

i think the best sports book that i've ever read was Cobb. it was a biography about him, and that in and of itself was interesting, but what i liked about it was that it really did a great job depicting what baseball was like at the beginning of the 20th century and what role it played in the country at that time.

the only reason i mention that is because one of the WORST sports movies i've ever seen, was cobb.

no one mentioned seabiscuit. i don't know if that qualifies as a sports movie or not, but it is really good. the book was great too. i liked it for the same reasons i liked cobb. it really gave a sense of what horse racing was like back then, as well as what role it played to the rest of the country during the great depression.

[GuyFawkes38]

yeah, perhaps hoop dreams shouldn't count. Regardless, it's great.

IMHO, the best sports movie ever made is Rocky I by a long shot.

For some reason, even critically acclaimed sports movies like Bull Durham, Rudy, Hoosiers, etc.. rub me the wrong way.


Edit: wow, no one has mentioned the Mighty Ducks films. Those defined a generation and created professional franchise.

[MuskieCinci]

I would love this list to get even more in depth and go over some peoples' favorite sports movie training montages and speeches. Those are always 2 parts that stick out in a sports movie.

[_LH]

Rocky
Hooisers
Rudy
Victory
The Natural