Greatest Movies (by sport) nomination thread

[JasonEvans]

almost break it down by sport. There are so many great sports movies, you could vote for favorite football (replacements or titans or brian's song), basketball (glory road or coach carter), baseball (eight men out or bull durham), boxing (cinderella man or rocky), hockey (mystery alaska), tennis (match point or wimbledon), golf (caddyshack or tin cup) movie. Just a thought.

Ok, I will roll out new series of polls over the next several days, starting after Labor Day. Each poll will ask for the best movies BY SPORT. Then, we will have a final face-off between all the sport winners. The posts that follow will contain the categories along with some films I am considering. Please add others if you wish to have them included. Of course, there is a max of 10 films in each category, but I think that should be enough.

-Jason "I ask that you not discuss which films are your favorites... yet. Wait for the official polls for that" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Here is the list of basketball flicks I am considering (listed in no particular order). I already have 10, but feel free to add your thoughts. you may convince me to change my mind.

Hoosiers
Glory Road
Coach Carter
One on One
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Teen Wolf
White Men Can't Jump
The Air Up There
Hoops Dreams
Space Jam

Also considered: Blue Chips, Amazing Grace and Chuck, Through the Fire (Doc about Sebastian Telfair), He Got Game, Celtic Pride, and a few others that are frankly not in a league with the rest of these... I think.

--Jason "did I miss any?" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Here is the list of Football movies under consideration:

These I am pretty sure must be on the list:

All The Right Moves
Brian's Song
North Dallas 40
Friday Night Lights
The Longest Yard
Rudy
Remember The Titans
We Are Marshall


That means I can only pick 2 of these. Help me out here:

Any Given Sunday
Invincible
Everybody's All-American
Radio
Knute Rockne All-American
The Waterboy
The Replacements
The Program
Semi-Tough
The Best of Times
Johnny B Goode


-Jason "what am I leaving out?" Evans

[wilson]

Is there going to be a thread for the best baseketball movie? I think the best baseketball movie is BASEketball.

[JasonEvans]

Whew, this is not easy. I think Baseball has far and away the finest list of films. Here are the flicks I am considering. WOW! This is just a ridiculous list to pare down. Help me out people!!


The Babe
Bad News Bears
Bang The Drum Slowly
Bingo Long's Travelling All-Stars
Bull Durham
Don't Look Back: The Satchel Paige Story
Eight Men Out
Field of Dreams
A League of Their Own
Major League
The Natural
Pride of the Yankees
The Rookie
The Stratton Story

Noticed by me, but not good enough (IMO): Cobb, Chasing Dreams, The Benchwarmers, Everyone's Hero, Fever Pitch, For the Love of the Game, Little Big League, Angels in the Outfield, Mr. Baseball, Mr. 3000, Rookie of the Year, The Scout, The Slugger's Wife, Stealing Home (which was filmed in my wife's home town), Talent for the Game (a really good film, IMO, but no one saw it),

--Jason "this list make me ill-- how do I pare that down?!?! What did I leave out?" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Whew, this is a shorter list, but still impressive:


Rocky (should I include Rocky III or Rocky Balboa as separate entries?)
The Champ (the original or, more likely, the one from the 1970s)
Raging Bull
The Greatest
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Ali
Diggstown (not a bad flick, if you missed it)
The Hurricane
Million Dollar Baby
Cinderella Man


I am not including The Great White Hype no matter how much anyone lobbies for it.

--Jason "should I include 'When We Were Kings', the documentary about Ali?" Evans

[JasonEvans]

These come from sports that do not have enough other films to get their own category. Still, a lot of these are deserrving of consideration. I gotta figure out how to divide these up.

Golf:

Caddyshack
Tin Cup
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Happy Gilmore
The Greatest Game Ever Played


Horse Racing:

Seabiscuit
Phar Lap
National Velvet
Hidalgo
Racing Stripes
The Black Stallion


Hockey

Slapshot
The Mighty Ducks
Youngblood
Miracle
Mystery, Alaska



Running and racing:

Chariots of Fire (running)
Personal Best (track and field)
Prefontain (running)
Days of Thunder (auto racing)
Heart Like a Wheel (auto racing)
Cars (animated auto racing)
Talladega Nights (auto racing)
Cool Runnings (bobsledding)
Breaking Away (cycling)


Others:

Ice Castles (figure skating)
The Cutting Edge (figure skating)
Blades of Glory (figure skating)
Bend it Like Beckham (soccer)
Victory (soccer)
Wimbledon (tennis)
Vision Quest (wrestling)


-Jason "I'll probably group many of these into 2 or 3 polls" Evans

[Olympic Fan]

Jason, what you're doing is exactly the same thing that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee did in the years before 1975 -- one team per conference, no matter how many great teams there are in a conference; the same number of bids (one) for the mighty ACC or the deep Big Ten and paper-thin the Southern or the MVC.

It was unfair then and it's unfair now.

As a fan of sports movies, I feel very comfortable in saying there are FAR more good movies about Baseball and about Boxing than Basketball or Football or Golf or the Oympics or anything else.

So we have to choose among Field of Dreams, The Natural, Major League, Bull Durham and Eight Men Out in baseball -- which all better than any football movie? It's not fair -- the second-place baseball finisher becomes Maryland in 1974!

No, create polls for the various sports if you'd like ... but DON'T compile a one movie per sport poll!

PS Your baseball list barely scratches the surface -- where is 61*? the three great Joe E. Brown baseball comedies from the 30s (Alibi Ike, Elmer the Great and Fireman Save My Child)? Have you ever seen Long Gone -- a great minor league movie, clearly top 10 (William Peterson of CSI fame as a washed-up player-manager; Delmont Mulrooney at the rookie who idolizes him; Larry Riley as "Jose Luis" Brown the black catcher intergrating the Tampico Stogies in the early 50s; Virginia Madsen as the great Dixie Lee Boxx)? How about Blue Skies Again (a 1983 movie with Harry Hamlin doing a dead-on Ted Turner imitation as the owner of a major league team trying out a female hopeful)? It Happened One Spring (Ray Milland pitches the Cardinals to the pennant thanks to his wood-repelling potion)? The original Angels in the Outfield (reported to be Dwight Eisenhower's favorite movie)? The Kid from Left Field (the original with Dan Duryea and Lloyd Bridges)? Rhubarb (a cat inherits the Brooklyn Dodgers)? Rogie's Bump (which stars half the old Brooklyn Dodgers)? What about Damn Yankees for goodness sake?

Actually, you set the bar pretty low when you include The Babe (you include this piece of @## -- actually less watchable and no more accurate than the horrible Babe Ruth Story, which is at least so bad, it's funny -- over the movies you reject. Are you sure you aren't confusing this with Babe, which was a superb movie about a talking pig? Hey, that's about a sheep herding competition and that's a sport ... I nominate Babe for your list of great sport movies as the greatest movie about sheep herding competitions -- if all sports are equal, it needs to be on the list.

Plus, your assertion that "Talent for the Game" is a really good movie that no one saw it makes me question your baseball judgement -- unfortunately, I saw it. So did Bill Simmons, who did a better job ripping it than I ever good (i just wish I could find his review it in his archive).

[JasonEvans]

I would submit that none of the movies you mention would have much of a chance of winning any of these polls or even getting meaningful support. Many of them are unseen by the vast majority of us.

*61 I left out because it was just a made-for-HBO movie and never appeared in theaters. I think the rest of the films mentioned in this thread had a theatrical release (except for Brian's Song, which I should probably now exclude - grrrr).

As for your problem with the whole concept-- what is your solution? We are bound by 10 nominees per poll and clearly there are well more than 10 movies that deserve consideration for the greatest sports movie of all time on this board (as was demonstrated when I first tried that). So, how do we pick the ones to be nominated for the "final 10"? I figured dividing by sport was the best move, even though, I agree, several quite deserving baseball movies will be left off.

--Jason "help!!" Evans

[YmoBeThere]

Is it possible to make multiple votes in a poll? I think that as Jason points out, the poll system may be the limitation more than anything else in getting to a list which compares movies across sports.

[JasonEvans]

Plus, your assertion that "Talent for the Game" is a really good movie that no one saw it makes me question your baseball judgement -- unfortunately, I saw it. So did Bill Simmons, who did a better job ripping it than I ever good (i just wish I could find his review it in his archive).

You know, I have not seen that movie in about 2 decades. I recall liking it, but I may be wrong. I watched it on a plane flight in something like 1991 and may have missed some aspects of it that made it horrible. I must admit, the ending, where 69-year-old Edward James Olmos plays catcher and no one but the pitcher notices, was ludicrous. Sorry for mentioning it ;)

-Jason "worse comes to worse, we could just do polls of the best movies by sport-- in all but basketball (which I think is a bowout for a certain film) I think these polls would be close and compelling" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Is it possible to make multiple votes in a poll? I think that as Jason points out, the poll system may be the limitation more than anything else in getting to a list which compares movies across sports.

Yes, you can make a pool that allows multiple votes-- though if we are voting for "the best" that seems like a cop-out. Also, that does not solve the central problem of picking the 10 even nominated to be in the poll.

-Jason "we could also make polls/lists broken down by fiction, fiction but based on a real story, pure non-fiction/documentary, and some other category like comedy" Evans

[YmoBeThere]

Yes, you can make a pool that allows multiple votes-- though if we are voting for "the best" that seems like a cop-out. Also, that does not solve the central problem of picking the 10 even nominated to be in the poll.

-Jason "we could also make polls/lists broken down by fiction, fiction but based on a real story, pure non-fiction/documentary, and some other category like comedy" Evans

But it might give more clarity in earlier rounds of voting...in other words qualifying certain numbers of movies to move to subsequent rounds.

[micah75]

this list make me ill-- how do I pare that down?!?!

For what it's worth---

Remove:

The Babe
Bad News Bears

Keepers:

5 through 11.

I agree with Olympic Fan about 61. However, like you said, it was an HBO film. Then again, I did rent it from my local video store, and perhaps others have as well.

Reckon the others on the list are borderline.

[Indoor66]

I kind of like the idea of a long list that is pared down by a sequence of voting - win or go home.

[captmojo]

My vote for an add-in would have to be "The Sandlot", on the baseball list.

[ohioguy2]

My vote for an add-in would have to be "The Sandlot", on the baseball list.

I second the nomination to add "The Sandlot" . Best of all for baseball--wow--"Bull Durham" in a close race.

[dkbaseball]

Maybe it's a generational thing, but I strongly agree with Olympic Fan about "It Happens Every Spring." Watching it when it came on TV each year was a ritual for me and my friends in the '60s. It's just one of those iconic films that probably did as much as anything to associate baseball with America's bucolic, wholesome heartland and with the country's mythology.

[DukieInKansas]

Breaking Away (cycling)
American Flyers (cycling)

[ohioguy2]

I forgot about "Breaking Away". What a great film.

[JasonEvans]

I forgot about "Breaking Away". What a great film.

Concur... "Breaking Away" will almost certainly be among one of the "other sport" categories.

-Jason "I am pleased that I appear to have not overlooked more" Evans

[Udaman]

Jason,

This one is easy - we need to create a bracket. Just like the tourney. 64 Top Movies. Of course you need to seed them, which is no gimme, but probably not all that hard (my take below)

Also, for sports movies, include the ones mentioned above (Sandlot, Breaking Away, American Flyers) and I would also throw in Rollerball (not the terrible remake, but the original with Caan - probably the best sci-fi sports movie of all time), and don't forget The Hustler, The Color of Money, Rounders and Heaven Can Wait

1 Seeds: Rocky, Hoosiers, Bull Durham, Slapshot
2 Seeds: The Natural, Raging Bull, Fields of Dreams, The Hustler
3 Seeds: Chariots of Fire, Brian's Song, North Dallas Forty, Rudy
4 Seeds: The Longest Yard, Million Dollar Baby, Breaking Away, Hoops Dreams
5 Seeds: Jerry McGuire, Bad News Bears, The Champ, Caddyshack
6 Seeds: Cinderella Man, Miracle, Rocky III, Eight Men Out
7 Sees: White Men Can't Jump, League of Their Own, Rounders, Seabiscuit
8 Seeds: Tin Cup, Bend it Like Beckham, Rollerball, Major League
9 Seeds: Sandlot, Color of Money, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Rookie
10 Seeds: One on One, Ali, Pride of the Yankees, When We Were Kings
11 Seeds: Heaven Can Wait, Hurricane, Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, Endless Summer
12 Seeds: One on One, Days of Thunder, Friday Night Lights, The Babe
13 Seeds: Cool Runnings, American Flyers, Major League, Rocky II
14 Seeds: Remember the Titans, Mighty Ducks, Victory, Enter the Dragon
15 Seeds: All the Right Moves, Any Given Sunday, Talladega Nights, Kingpin
16 Seeds: Vision Quest, Happy Gilmore, Bagger Vance, Teen Wolf

Yes, way, way, way too much time on my hands today.

[YmoBeThere]

Yes, way, way, way too much time on my hands today.

So, light up a Victory Cigar knowing that you have done your part!

[captmojo]

Yes, way, way, way too much time on my hands today.

And it's ticking away, ticking away from me.:D

[JasonEvans]

1 Seeds: Rocky, Hoosiers, Bull Durham, Slapshot
2 Seeds: The Natural, Raging Bull, Fields of Dreams, The Hustler
3 Seeds: Chariots of Fire, Brian's Song, North Dallas Forty, Rudy
4 Seeds: The Longest Yard, Million Dollar Baby, Breaking Away, Hoops Dreams
5 Seeds: Jerry McGuire, Bad News Bears, The Champ, Caddyshack
6 Seeds: Cinderella Man, Miracle, Rocky III, Eight Men Out
7 Sees: White Men Can't Jump, League of Their Own, Rounders, Seabiscuit
8 Seeds: Tin Cup, Bend it Like Beckham, Rollerball, Major League
9 Seeds: Sandlot, Color of Money, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Rookie
10 Seeds: One on One, Ali, Pride of the Yankees, When We Were Kings
11 Seeds: Heaven Can Wait, Hurricane, Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, Endless Summer
12 Seeds: One on One, Days of Thunder, Friday Night Lights, The Babe
13 Seeds: Cool Runnings, American Flyers, Major League, Rocky II
14 Seeds: Remember the Titans, Mighty Ducks, Victory, Enter the Dragon
15 Seeds: All the Right Moves, Any Given Sunday, Talladega Nights, Kingpin
16 Seeds: Vision Quest, Happy Gilmore, Bagger Vance, Teen Wolf


Vision Quest as a #16 seed?!?!? Are you kidding?!?! It is a #12 seed, at least.

Rounders is not a sports movie. Poker is not a sport. We have been through this before.

I think the #3 seeds are all too high, some by more than others.

There are a million other quibbles I have.

Still, I like the theory behind this. A full 64-team bracket with one-on-one matchups is a bit much but maybe we group them into 16 "pods" of 4 or 5 movies each and then do a one-on-one matchup thingy.

--Jason "Hmmmm. How do folks feel about this?" Evans

[micah75]

and don't forget The Hustler, The Color of Money, Rounders and Heaven Can Wait

Well, if we're going to include some of these movies, then how about Searching for Bobby Fischer? This movie actually made (barely) ESPN's 25 Best Sports Movies in the Past 25 Years. http://www.thebestofmovies.com/ESPN25bestsportsmovies.html

It also made Sports Illustrated's 100 Greatest Sports Movies list at #24. http://www.thebestofmovies.com/SITop50SportsMovies.html

***
Dang! With this post I am no longer a manager. I really enjoyed serving as one of the team managers these past couple of weeks. Not sure I'm quite ready to scrimmage with the big boys as a walkon. Just DANG!!!

[wilson]

You ignored my nomination of BASEketball. That is clearly the greatest baseketball film of all time.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131857/

[JasonEvans]

You ignored my nomination of BASEketball. That is clearly the greatest baseketball film of all time.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131857/

I have seen BASEketball and agree it is the finest film on that sport ever made. However, it ain't getting included in my poll.

-Jason "psych-outs need to be allowed in all sports-- of that, I am certain" Evans

[DukieInKansas]

I just noticed that you left off Dodgeball. Was that intentional or just an oversight?

:D (sarcasm on)

[greybeard]

Here is the list of basketball flicks I am considering (listed in no particular order). I already have 10, but feel free to add your thoughts. you may convince me to change my mind.

Hoosiers
Glory Road
Coach Carter
One on One
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Teen Wolf
White Men Can't Jump
The Air Up There
Hoops Dreams
Space Jam

Also considered: Blue Chips, Amazing Grace and Chuck, Through the Fire (Doc about Sebastian Telfair), He Got Game, Celtic Pride, and a few others that are frankly not in a league with the rest of these... I think.

--Jason "did I miss any?" Evans

However, it was way before your time, so you are forgiven.

"Go Man Go," the story of the founding of the Harlem Globtrotters.

Starred, if you can believe this, Sidney Poitier, I think.

But, mostly it was about Abe, the founder. Best scene: Marcus Haynes, playin himself, tracks down Abe in some old hotel, knocks on his door, and says he wants to join, that he really can dribble. Abe says, "Okay, if you can get by me in this like 6' wide hallway . . . .

grey "you never want to be this old until you get there" beard

[Indoor66]

Vision Quest as a #16 seed?!?!? Are you kidding?!?! It is a #12 seed, at least.

Rounders is not a sports movie. Poker is not a sport. We have been through this before.

I think the #3 seeds are all too high, some by more than others.

There are a million other quibbles I have.

Still, I like the theory behind this. A full 64-team bracket with one-on-one matchups is a bit much but maybe we group them into 16 "pods" of 4 or 5 movies each and then do a one-on-one matchup thingy.

--Jason "Hmmmm. How do folks feel about this?" Evans

Why go to a 1 on 1 so quickly. Why not groups of 5 or 8, vote on the group and eliminate the bottom 3 or 4. Regroup, do it again, etc. (Of course, I am NOT voulunteering for the work.... :D )

[Bostondevil]

If we include When We Were Kings for boxing we should include Hoop Dreams for basketball. If documentaries are in, then they are in.

Golf - How about Pat and Mike?

Football (and/or ping pong and/or running) - Forrest Gump?

I'll argue to include Brian's Song but not 61* without a good reason except that Brian's Song was a movie that transcended it's made for television status at a time when no other made for TV movies did. We didn't have VCRs but I saw that movie on a big screen at my junior high school. They had an assembly for the kids to watch it.

Running - Without Limits, the other movie about Steve Prefontaine, although I admit, I always forget which one was better. Also The Jericho Mile, I think I've got the title right, another prison sports movie.

[JasonEvans]

I just noticed that you left off Dodgeball. Was that intentional or just an oversight?

:D (sarcasm on)

If it is on "The Ocho" then it must be a sport!!

--Jason "of course, that means that squirrel waterskiing and lawnmower racing are now sports" Evans

[JasonEvans]

If we include When We Were Kings for boxing we should include Hoop Dreams for basketball. If documentaries are in, then they are in.


Ummm, I did include Hoop Dreams. In fact, I consider it the main competitor to Hoosiers in the basketball category.

--Jason "kinda liking the 'elimination method' mentioned above" Evans

[YmoBeThere]

Ummm, I did include Hoop Dreams. In fact, I consider it the main competitor to Hoosiers in the basketball category.

--Jason "kinda liking the 'elimination method' mentioned above" Evans

I was kinda trying to suggest the elimination method, others did so much more eloquently.

[micah75]

I was kinda trying to suggest the elimination method, others did so much more eloquently.

That being the case, I feel quite strongly that all credit should be given to you for being the originator of this suggestion. If your suggestion is indeed implemented, we can only hope that you receive the proper acknowledgement. Let's wait and see how this unfolds first. Just wanted to let you know I've got your back covered in the event you get snubbed. ;)

[YmoBeThere]

That being the case, I feel quite strongly that all credit should be given to you for being the originator of this suggestion. If your suggestion is indeed implemented, we can only hope that you receive the proper acknowledgement. Let's wait and see how this unfolds first. Just wanted to let you know I've got your back covered in the event you get snubbed. ;)

Your support is greatly appreciated...;)

[captmojo]

Also, what would the trophy be named? A "Dubber", perhaps?

[Bostondevil]

Ummm, I did include Hoop Dreams. In fact, I consider it the main competitor to Hoosiers in the basketball category.

--Jason "kinda liking the 'elimination method' mentioned above" Evans

Oops, my bad, I missed it somehow.

[JasonEvans]

Any additional comments or thoughts on this? I am gonna start the polls in the next day or so. I am going to go with the "elmination method" until we get down to a more manageable number of films. At first, it will probably be easy but in the end it will be tough to pick a winner from the final 12.

--Jason "did I mention that we have expanded the poll options to 12?" Evans

[allenmurray]

Whew, this is not easy. I think Baseball has far and away the finest list of films. Here are the flicks I am considering. WOW! This is just a ridiculous list to pare down. Help me out people!!


The Babe
Bad News Bears
Bang The Drum Slowly
Bingo Long's Travelling All-Stars
Bull Durham
Don't Look Back: The Satchel Paige Story
Eight Men Out
Field of Dreams
A League of Their Own
Major League
The Natural
Pride of the Yankees
The Rookie
The Stratton Story

Noticed by me, but not good enough (IMO): Cobb, Chasing Dreams, The Benchwarmers, Everyone's Hero, Fever Pitch, For the Love of the Game, Little Big League, Angels in the Outfield, Mr. Baseball, Mr. 3000, Rookie of the Year, The Scout, The Slugger's Wife, Stealing Home (which was filmed in my wife's home town), Talent for the Game (a really good film, IMO, but no one saw it),

--Jason "this list make me ill-- how do I pare that down?!?! What did I leave out?" Evans

Okay, I fully expect that everyone will want to kill me for saying this, but here goes:

Take off The Natural.

Why? It is not a baseball movie. It features baseball, but only as a vehicle for other things. Don't get me wrong - it is one of my favorite movies ever, and I am one of the few people I know who loves both the book and the movie (for those of you who haven't read the book, do so and you'll understand why so few people are fans of both - though I've heard that Bernard Malamud - a terrific author - actually liked the movie).

The movie is about a lot of things. But it really isn't about baseball.

[JasonEvans]

Okay, I fully expect that everyone will want to kill me for saying this, but here goes:

Take off The Natural.

Why? It is not a baseball movie. It features baseball, but only as a vehicle for other things. Don't get me wrong - it is one of my favorite movies ever, and I am one of the few people I know who loves both the book and the movie (for those of you who haven't read the book, do so and you'll understand why so few people are fans of both - though I've heard that Bernard Malamud - a terrific author - actually liked the movie).

The movie is about a lot of things. But it really isn't about baseball.

Ummmm-- the vast majority of sports movies are about something more than sport. In fact, I'd argue that The Natural is more of a sports movie than about half the movies on our lists. Heck, Field of Dreams and Bull Durham are less about baseball than The Natural is. I could maybe see someone arguing that some of the comedys on the lists are not sports movies-- Caddyshack for example. But, The Natural? Naaah, I don't buy it.

--Jason "if you think it is not a sports movie, don't vote for it" Evans

[allenmurray]

Ummmm-- the vast majority of sports movies are about something more than sport. In fact, I'd argue that The Natural is more of a sports movie than about half the movies on our lists. Heck, Field of Dreams and Bull Durham are less about baseball than The Natural is. I could maybe see someone arguing that some of the comedys on the lists are not sports movies-- Caddyshack for example. But, The Natural? Naaah, I don't buy it.

--Jason "if you think it is not a sports movie, don't vote for it" Evans

Having thought about it for a few minutes I agree with you. The movie, The Natural, is about baseball. The novel is not. That, perhaps is the primary difference between the two. Malamud's novels are generally not about what they are about on the surface (perhaps with the exception of The Fixer), but simply use a familiar vehicle.

Perhaps that is why Malamud was able to enjoy Levinson's movie. It wasn't the same as his book in the most important of ways.

[bjornolf]

Auto Racing:
Jason, you forgot Cars and Stroker Ace in racing. Come on, give Burt some love!

Football:
Also, the Longest Yard should be differentiated between the old one and the new one. I'd pull for the old one. Burt again I guess (yes, I know he had a cameo in the new one). As for the final two in, I'd vote for Waterboy and Replacements. And what about Necessary Roughness...as if Kathy Ireland alone weren't enough, Bakula, Elizondo, Sinbad, Loggia?

Basketball:
I ask you, is Teen Wolf really a basketball movie? Is just having a basketball scene or two qualify a movie as a basketball movie? In that case, Mr. Mom qualifies as a footracing movie. There are HUNDREDS of movies with some kind of sports scene, like a softball/baseball game (Steve Martin in Parent Hood going ballistic over his kid's baseball game), a wrestling match (Hey, Old School!), a race (don't forget Kirk Cameron in Like Father Like Son), a football game (Steve Martin as the coach in Cheaper by the Dozen). I'd replace it with basketball diaries personally.

Random Thoughts:
If you're going to call things like figure skating, horse racing (okay, it's a sport for the horse), auto racing, and golf sports, shouldn't we have pool movies (color of money, hustler), wrestling (ready to rumble, no holds barred, body slam, all the marbles, nacho libre) and cards (rounders, big hand for a little lady, maverick, cincinnati kid)?

Different Categories:
While I don't think I'd separate it necessarily too much (all that fiction v. non-fiction v. based on a true story), I might just break it down by drama and comedy, as the only semi-"comedy" sports movie I think would have even a chance to make it out of its group in a "greatest" competition would be Bull Durham. I'd do a greatest drama competition and a most entertaining comedy competition.

That'll be $0.02...