Final poll!! Which is the greatest sports movie of all time?

[JasonEvans]

Here it is... after all the elminations we are down to these 11.

This time, you only get one vote, so choose carefully. If you thought the semi-finals were hard... whew!!!

-Jason

[JasonEvans]

5 baseball flicks
2 basketball
1 football
1 running
1 golf
1 boxing

--Jason "hockey and tennis get no love " Evans

[TillyGalore]

I'm going to have to think about this one. My picks, which I realize I need to narrow down to one, are:

Rudy
League of Their Own
Rocky I
Chariots of Fire

I like these particular movies as at the end of them - no matter how many times I've watched the movie - I'm inspired to accomplish whatever dream/goal I have at that time.

[bjornolf]

I had so much trouble picking, I decided to vote for A League of Their Own (or Thier Own, as Jason spells it). I went with family duty. My uncle was involved with both that and Field of Dreams. He was the technical advisor for Field of Dreams, but he was the coach for A League of Their Own. He wasn't an actor in the movie, he was the actual coach. He ran a camp to teach all the women how to play baseball, not just pretend to play baseball for a movie. He told me that Geena Davis was one of the most natural athletes he ever coached, and that she did those things in the movie having never held a glove, bat, or baseball before that camp. That's saying something, considering that he coached Mark McGwire, Tom Seaver, Dave Kingman, and Randy Johnson. Anyway, I figured Field of Dreams would get more votes that League of Their Own, so I want with that one.

[bjornolf]

I should have said among others. My uncle coached almost 60 future major leaguers in his day.

[JasonEvans]

This is a nightmare.

I'm deciding between Hoosiers, Field of Dreams and The Natural. I get major-league goosebumps at the end of each of those. I thik I cry every time I watch Field of Dreams. This is not easy.

--Jason "Bull Durham, Caddyshack, and Hoop Dreams just barely missed the 'Jason is considering me for his final vote' cut" Evans

[TillyGalore]

I had so much trouble picking, I decided to vote for A League of Their Own (or Thier Own, as Jason spells it). I went with family duty. My uncle was involved with both that and Field of Dreams. He was the technical advisor for Field of Dreams, but he was the coach for A League of Their Own. He wasn't an actor in the movie, he was the actual coach. He ran a camp to teach all the women how to play baseball, not just pretend to play baseball for a movie. He told me that Geena Davis was one of the most natural athletes he ever coached, and that she did those things in the movie having never held a glove, bat, or baseball before that camp. That's saying something, considering that he coached Mark McGwire, Tom Seaver, Dave Kingman, and Randy Johnson. Anyway, I figured Field of Dreams would get more votes that League of Their Own, so I want with that one.

I got goosebumps reading this post.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Geena lands in a split and catches the ball. And the one where she catches the ball behind her.

The other day on one of the sports radio stations they played the "there's no crying in baseball" scene. I often quote/paraphrase that line.

Leaning towards LOTO, though the others are not very far behind.

[juise]

I went with Hoosiers because Remember the Titans didn't make the cut. I was looking for a movie that was really centered around a sport, featured a good deal of in-game action and does a good job handling off-court/field issues.

If you asked me which of those movies I would most want to watch on a given night, I would choose Caddyshack in a heartbeat. However, I don't really consider it a "sports" movie. It's a comedy set at a golf course. When the peak of athletic competition in the film involves Rodney Dangerfield, you have to second guess the "sports movie" designation.

[EarlJam]

This is a nightmare.

I'm deciding between Hoosiers, Field of Dreams and The Natural. I get major-league goosebumps at the end of each of those. I thik I cry every time I watch Field of Dreams. This is not easy.

--Jason "Bull Durham, Caddyshack, and Hoop Dreams just barely missed the 'Jason is considering me for his final vote' cut" Evans

Well, the good news is these are all winners. Seems like you can have a winner per sport. That is, #1 Hoops movie is Hoosiers; #1 Football movie is Rudy; #1 Baseball movie is Field of Dreams; #1 Darts movie is Bullseye - All up in It; and so on.

It's all about perspective.

-EarlJam,

[juise]

Well, the good news is these are all winners. Seems like you can have a winner per sport. That is, #1 Hoops movie is Hoosiers; #1 Football movie is Rudy; #1 Baseball movie is Field of Dreams; #1 Darts movie is Bullseye - All up in It; and so on.

It's all about perspective.

-EarlJam,

This reminds me of the ESPN commercial where they ask the caddies what the best and worst movies about caddies are (Caddyshack and Caddyshack 2, respectively).

[Jfrosh]

This is a nightmare.

I'm deciding between Hoosiers, Field of Dreams and The Natural. I get major-league goosebumps at the end of each of those. I thik I cry every time I watch Field of Dreams. This is not easy.

--Jason "Bull Durham, Caddyshack, and Hoop Dreams just barely missed the 'Jason is considering me for his final vote' cut" Evans

Those are my final 3 as well. My just barely making the cut also included Rocky. I think I've got to go with Hoosiers. It is one of those (like we had in another thread) that I have to watch if I see it on.

[captmojo]

...and ever played "catch" with them....Well, you know my vote.

[The Gordog]

...and ever played "catch" with them....Well, you know my vote.

Well, I'm in that camp, but I voted for the movie that makes me laugh and feel good about right now, living in the moment -- the other Costner film:

Crash Davis: Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: [to himself] What's this guy know about pitching? If he's so good how come he's been in the minors for the last ten years? If he's so good how come Annie wants me instead of him?
Crash Davis: Oh, hey, and another thing, Meat. You don't know $%&^, all right? If you wanna make it to the bigs, you'll listen to me. Annie only wants you so she can boss you around, got it? So relax! Let's have some fun out here! This game's fun, OK? Fun goddamnit. And don't hold the ball so hard, OK? It's an egg. Hold it like an egg.

[The rest redacted. IMDB says: "The compilation of all content on this site is the exclusive property of IMDb and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws."]

[DevilAlumna]

Definite no for me - these movies were too dry/adult when they first came out, and even when they come around as reruns, I just can't get into them:
Chariots of Fire
The Natural
Hoop Dreams

Good, but...:
Bad News Bears (Original) - Buttermaker rules, but the rest of the movie is just a little silly; no lasting impressions beyond some quotes.
Rudy - good but predictable. Plus, I don't like ND football.
Caddyshack - good, (bill murray - great!) but no lasting impact beyond a chuckle and a fondness for dancing gophers.

Great, but...:
A League of Their Own - just a fabulous movie about an interesting topic in a very challenging era for women. Would make my top 5 list, but we have to narrow down.
Rocky I - if it were about any sport besides boxing...

Leaving:
Hoosiers - this movie has it all in spades -- great plot, good sports action, compelling in every regard. But for me, it just lacks that little extra spark, that something personal that hits me in the gut and makes me love it.

Field of Dreams - We have Kevin Costner, not playing ball, but pontificating on its greatness instead. James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta and Doc are the real stars of this movie, in terms of how they're affected by the sport of baseball. But, in a minor nitpick, there is very little actual ball played.

Bull Durham - We get Kevin Costner again, but this time actually playing ball, letting Susan Sarandon do most of the pontificating. Love and life (and lollygagging) over the course of one minor league season. "And for one extraordinary June and July, the Durham Bulls began playing baseball with joy and verve and poetry."

I go for the hometown favorite -- my vote goes for hitting the bull and winning a steak.

[dukemomLA]

If Raging Bull had made the cut, that probably would have been my choice.

Of all these movies Bull Durham and Caddyshack and League of Their Own are the ones I watch more often than not.

However as the "Greatest Sports Movie" I had to go with Hoosiers.

[Indoor66]

"League" would win if Jason hadn't misspelled it!

[juise]

It's going down to the wire between Hoosiers and Bull Durham... the board's sport of choice (presumably) pitted against a story set in a familiar place.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I voted for Rudy. Pure guts and determination and one man beating the odds.

Second choice was Field of Dreams, third was A League of Their Own.

[Lavabe]

I'll be the oddball and go with the first sports film to win an Oscar for Best Picture:

ADRIENNE!!

The sound, the editing, the character acting, the sheer power, and of course the image of the Art Museum.

And the fanfare.

I'm a child of the 70's. I'm going to go out in the morning and run some. I just wish I had Burgess Meredith yelling at me!
Cheers,
Lavabe

[JBDuke]

I ended up voting for "Bull Durham". I love several of the films on this list, so it wasn't an easy call, but for me, "Bull Durham" meets all the criteria of being a great film AND a great sports film.

It's a complete film - hard to find a weakness about it. It gives an authentic portrayal of its sport, and treats its sport with reverence. It avoids most sports-movie cliches. It has a compelling story but a languid pace - which I think mirrors baseball perfectly. It is both hilarious and sad - slapstick and poignant. It is firmly grounded in reality.

Runner-up, for me, was "Rocky".

After that - "Hoosiers", "Chariots of Fire", "The Natural", "Hoop Dreams", "Rudy", and "Field of Dreams"