Sunday, January 29, 2012

TEN FAVORITE SPORTS MOVIES (Or, STEPHEN’S SPORTS PAGE... Uhm-- “PHASE”)

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“Well, Stephen’s just going through a phase”, you could frequently and correctly say. It’s true, I have always tended to go through various phases.

There have been music phases, where for weeks all I’d want to listen to is Pat Metheny, or Glenn Miller, or Bob Dylan, or Tom Waits. I once got on a Blues kick that lasted for over a year, and every few years I’ll find myself going through yet another Mahalia Jackson phase that lasts for a week or two.

It’s happened with books also. I burned through a New Age spirituality phase; a Chistian apologetics phase; a Communism kick (just learning about it, NOT embracing it!); a bunch of books about the Bible Code; everything I could get my hands on pertaining to Virginia City, Nevada; and a P.I.G. phase – that is, I was reading a whole lotta books in Regnery Publishing company’s “Politically Incorrect Guide” series. The Thomas Wolfe phase did not last long because he only wrote three major books. (Wait! Wikipedia says “four”. I must have missed one. Uh-Oh!)

But nothing can “phase” me to the extent that movies do! I just seem to move from one theme-addiction to the next, and sometimes back again. They have been numerous, almost neverending. Twice, many years apart, I went on W.C. Fields and Laurel & Hardy kicks. I had my James Dean phase; my Gene Tierney phase; my Disney phase; William Holden, Judy Holliday, Charles Coburn, Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock phases. I’m currently in the midst of my second Film Noir phase. But nuttin’ lasted longer than the Western Movie kick that The Countess (girlfriend & saddle pal) and I got on. That was a nearly 3-year phase.

But this blog bit is about my 2009 Sports Movies phase. How did it get started? Well, how do these things EVER get started? Some little inconsequential remark from someone gets me mentally moving in a certain direction. Or maybe it’s an article I come across somewhere. Or I watch one movie that I love so much (‘The Ghost And Mrs. Muir’) that it makes me want to watch EVERYTHING that beautiful woman (Gene Tierney) ever appeared in!

In ‘The Case Of The Sports Movies Phase’, that one got born this way: On September 29, 2008, The Airheadzona Republic newspaper’s ‘Heat Index’ (an ongoing opinion series on page 2 of their Sports section) published an article titled ‘He Shoots, He Scores’, in which they provided the lists of ‘Top Sports Movies’ according to Sports Illustrated magazine and ESPN.Com.

Well, I read it and saved it. For a year. No phase or nuttin’. But in the Fall of the following year – 2009 – I just happened to run across that article again when I was sorting through some files of stuffs and – “BOOM!” [to quote John Madden] – all the sudden the Sports Movies phase began and lasted for at least 6 months.

I already had an idea about which Sports-themed movies would make my own Top Ten list if I were to compile it right at that moment, but there were a few movies on the S.I. and ESPN lists that I had never seen, and I thought I really ought to watch them before compiling my own list.

So, that got me started. First I watched the few movies on those aforementioned lists that I’d never viewed before, and then I started watching a whole bunch of other sports movies that I’d never seen. Anything I’d heard was good (‘The Bad News Bears’) or anything that any friend recommended to me (‘Friday Night Lights’), I was willing to rent ‘n’ watch. The phase lasted about half a year and my updated list of Ten Favorites is posted below, following the S.I. & ESPN selections (with my comments in red) . . .

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
#1: Bull Durham
#2: Raging Bull
#3: Rocky
#4: Hoosiers
#5: Body And Soul
#6: The Hustler
#7: Chariots Of Fire
#8: Requiem For A Heavyweight
#9: Slap Shot
[The only reason to see ‘Slap Shot’ is to view Ralphie’s Mom (Melinda Dillon) from the movie ‘A Christmas Story’, topless and in the role of Paul Newman’s bisexual lover. Not a very good reason, in my opinion.]
#10: Jerry Maguire
[A movie so bad that I actually turned it off before it was over in an attempt to cut my losses short. That this movie was quite popular is a sad commentary on contemporary America.]

ESPN.COM
#1: Bull Durham
#2: Rocky
#3: Raging Bull
#4: Hoosiers
#5: Slap Shot
#6: The Natural
#7: Field Of Dreams
#8: Caddyshack
[Are you kidding me? With all the great sports movies that have been made, you’re selecting a sophomoric movie (with a fake mole) about something that’s more of a “game” than a sport?]
#9: The Hustler
[Sorry! It’s not a bad movie, but billiards is a “game”, NOT a sport! It shouldn’t have even been eligible to make the list.]
#10: The Longest Yard (1974)

And now, on to STMcC’s selections. I can tell you which of the following are my first and second favorites but trying to put them in some order of preference after that would be simply impossible, so I have merely alphabetized my list. Those movies that I had not seen prior to my 2009 Sports Movies Phase I have noted:


BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY
(1973 – Baseball)

This was Robert De Niro’s first major movie role. He plays a catcher who, unbeknownst to most of his teammates, is dying of cancer. I saw this movie in the very earliest days of cable television, when my Pa sold cable TV subscriptions.

It’s a real sad, tearjerking story - sort of the ‘Brian’s Song’ of baseball. Watching this movie now, as an adult, it is clear to me that few if any of the actors had any real athletic ability. However, despite the fact that at one time I was probably a better baseball player than any ‘Bang The Drum Slowly’ cast member, this is still a big favorite of mine.

I love the scenes where the players take money from their naïve fans via the card game TEGWAR (“The Exciting Game Without Any Rules”).


THE BLACK STALLION
(1979 – Horse Racing)

If I were rating these movies by preference, ‘The Black Stallion’ would certainly get the #2 spot. It’s a gorgeous movie about a little boy shipwrecked on an island and who is befriended and saved by a wild stallion. Eventually both boy and horse are rescued (uh, “No, thanks”, I would have said) and returned to civilization.

The little boy eventually becomes fond of an old, retired jockey - Mickey Rooney – who serves as a mentor and surrogate father.

‘The Black Stallion’ includes some of the most delightful and creative photography in the history of cinema, and Mickey Rooney is downright amazing in his supporting role.

To the average viewer, it will appear as if Rooney isn’t doing any great acting at all. EXACTLY! He is so natural and he is so often “reacting” rather than “acting”, that you don’t notice a “performance” taking place. But at the same time, watch carefully and you will discover that he is wonderfully inventive (look for the itch he scratches while playing solitaire!)

I once spent a lot of time and money in professional acting classes trying to learn how to effectively “do nothing” like Mickey Rooney does in ‘The Black Stallion’. Sadly, I never did master the difficult ‘Art Of Nothing’.


BREAKING AWAY
(1979 – Bicycle Racing)

This is a movie that many of my friends and acquaintances referred to over the years but I somehow missed seeing until my 2009 Sports Movies Phase. Well, I may have been 30 years late, but I really loved it when I finally caught up to it.

It’s a low-budget movie about some small-town boys and one in particular whose coming-of-age includes bicycle racing, girl-crazy crushes, and a confused family life. This really is the sort of movie that “they don’t make anymore”, but if they did, I would perhaps start “going to the movies” again.

No special effects, no explosions or machine guns, no women unrealistically beating the crap out of men; just a straightforward, well-told, heartwarming and often humorous story about a simpler and far better time.


FIELD OF DREAMS
(1989 – Baseball)

“If you build it, they will come.”

Baseball presented as mythology, chimerical morality play, and a healing balm for the spirit. Despite the dippy hippie delusions, it's the best and most poetic movie about America's pastime.

It’s hard to believe there could be anybody who hasn’t already seen this movie. It’s also hard to believe that for many years I thought Kevin Costner’s other A-list baseball movie, ‘Bull Durham’, was better than ‘Field Of Dreams’. Uhp! I was an idiot!

Both of those excellent movies should be seen by all baseball fans and everyone else. And true, ‘Bull Durham’ contains some really classic scenes and lines of dialogue [“So, is somebody going to go to bed with somebody, or what?”], but for my baseball movie money . . . make mine “mysterious”.


THE LONGEST YARD
(1974 – Football)

This is another one I first saw on television during cable TV’s infancy (Z-Channel on THETA Cable Television).

Incarcerated professional quarterback Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) is coerced into organizing a football team o’ criminals to battle the evil warden’s team o’ prison guards, BUT . . . he is not allowed to let his team win the game! Will the always self-centered quarterback save his own neck while disappointing the ragtag group of inmates who have come to trust him? Or will he really go for “the longest yard”?

Was this really worth watching about 20 times? “Yeah. For me it was.”

‘The Longest Yard’ is a hilarious movie that needed to be remade in 2005 with Adam Sandler like I need a pink bonnet and a bouquet of pansies!


MIRACLE
(2004 – Ice Hockey)

How many of you were old enough and aware enough to remember the U.S. Olympic hockey team upsetting “the seemingly invincible Russian squad” in 1980? It was probably that, more than anything else, that started the Soviet Union toward its eventual break-up.

Like every other American at the time, I was rejoicing over that incredible and totally unexpected outcome. Our hearts were regularly skipping beats!

More incredible than the U.S. victory, however, is that it took Hollywood nearly a quarter of a century to put this story on film!

In the ensuing years, I have come to absolutely despise the Olympic Games and I never ever watch ANY of them. Therefore, it wasn’t until my 2009 Sports Movies Phase kicked in that I got around to seeing ‘Miracle’.

Considering how I now feel about the Olympics, and considering that I don’t even understand all the rules to hockey, much less watch any of it or root for any team, the fact that I enjoyed this movie so much was almost as incredible as the U.S. hockey team’s gold medal accomplishment in 1980.


ON ANY SUNDAY
(1971 – Motocross Racing)

This is the biggest surprise on my list. The surprise isn’t that ‘On Any Sunday’ is on my list, but that it’s on my list when the surfing movie ‘Endless Summer’ isn’t.

Bruce Brown has made a number of lighthearted documentaries, his most famous being ‘Endless Summer’ (1966), which I love only slightly more than its long-awaited sequel ‘Endless Summer II’ (1994). Mr. Brown also made ‘On Any Sunday’.

Although I never did any board surfing (unless you’re including Boogie Boards, which I’m not), I grew up body-surfing on Santa Monica Beach and, in my youth, I went through a couple pairs of good quality fins. I never rode motorcycles or was the least bit interested in Motocross – although my brother Napoleon was into motorcycles and Motocross at one time. But then Nappy also likes Tony Orlando And Dawn, so what does HE know?

I’m not the least bit mechanical-minded; a motorcycle engine looks like Greek to me. My curiosity about how things work does not extend beyond taking apart a Keurig coffee kup to see its internal design (which I did just a couple days ago). So, it’s a real head-scratcher to find ‘On Any Sunday’ on this list when ‘Endless Summer’ isn’t.

I can’t watch ‘On Any Sunday’ without being reminded of John Milner in the two ‘American Graffiti’ movies.

I remember in the days before BETA and VHS tapes, they’d occasionally show Bruce Brown’s movies at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and I went there more than once. All I can say is that although both of his early documentaries take me back in time to the innocence of my wonderfilled childhood days and engender in me a bittersweet mood or saudade, somehow ‘On Any Sunday’ does it a shade more intensely for me than does ‘Endless Summer’ - despite my love of wave-riding and general disinterest in motorsports.

There’s something about that scene at the end of ‘On Any Sunday’ showing Steve McQueen and his buddies riding motorcycles on a beach at sunset, while that theme song plays, that just wrings my heart of sadness over my Paradise Childhood Lost. It makes me feel like I do when listening to the softer sounds of Bossa Nova:

On Any Sunday Bruce Brown Steve McQueen



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qODJEH1JhE


REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT
(1962 – Boxing)

I watched this in 2009 only because it came in at #8 on Sports Illustrated’s ‘Top Ten’ list. Here you have a boxing movie with no boxing in it. Which means, of course, that it’s really more of a character study than it is a boxing movie.

Anthony Quinn (whom I normally do not care for) plays a washed-up fighter who is being ill-treated by his conniving manager (Jackie Gleason). Mickey Rooney, giving his standard excellent performance, plays Quinn’s trainer who goes to bat for the down ‘n’ out pug. And sweet Julie Harris (who played opposite James Dean in the classic ‘East Of Eden’) is the social worker who tries to help Quinn as he becomes increasingly sweet on her.

It is well known that a large part of the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky Balboa’ character was supplied by Chuck Wepner and his surprising tenacity in a fight with Muhammad Ali – a boxing match that all the so-called “experts” said would be over at just about the ringing of the bell for round one.

Well, after watching ‘Requiem For A Heavyweight’, I realized (despite never having heard or read this) that Sylvester Stallone must have also been aware of this movie before sitting down to write the first ‘Rocky’ movie. Anthony Quinn is clearly the pre-Rocky Rocky.

The only criticism I have to make about ‘Requiem…’ is that it includes one of the worst punches (if not the VERY WORST punch) I have ever seen thrown in a movie or television show – and believe me, I have seen some really bad movie/TV punches thrown!

The offending punch is thrown by Michael "Let's Be Careful Out There" Conrad of TV show ‘Hill Street Blues’ fame.

[By the way - for the record - I always HATED ‘Hill Street Blues’, regardless of the fact that all these years later I’m still receiving an occasional pittance of a residual check for a little “bit” I did as an Irish gang member in one early-1980s episode. I gladly accepted their money, but I HATED their show!]

Anyway, ‘Requiem For A Heavyweight’ is a nicely told, nicely acted, heartbreaking story. I’ve already watched it a second time!


ROCKY
(1976 – Boxing)

If this list were in order of preference, ‘Rocky’ would be #1. It’s a crying shame that Sylvester Stallone went on to make 364 sequels – one ‘Rocky’ movie for every day of the year – which really tarnished the memory of the original classic. But let’s not allow Stallone’s stupidity to make us forget just how great the first installment was!

I had the good fortune to visit Philadelphia in 2005 with my dear friend Pooh. I’ll never forget the year because Hurricane Katrina hit while I was in Rocky Balboa’s “City Of Brotherly Love”.

Speaking of love – I loved being in Philadelphia, the true birthplace of our country, and having the opportunity to visit Independence Hall, to see the Liberty Bell, and to climb the steps of Rocky’s Museum of Art. (Actually, it is the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but it might as well bear Rocky’s name now, because he truly put it on The American Map of popular tourist attractions.)

I would love to return to Philly again someday to spend several more days there; I felt I had only scratched the surface in 2005.

On a personal note: Although ‘Rocky’ takes place in Philadelphia, and most of the external shots were filmed there, the ice skating rink where Rocky takes Adrian on their first date was actually located in downtown Santa Monica (it’s now a Fred Segal store).

That ice skating rink was a regular hangout for my Sister and her friends around the same time ‘Rocky’ was filmed there, and that is also the first ice skating rink I ever stepped on. I also went there occasionally in the mid-1970s in an attempt to pick up girls. It didn’t work. I was such a lousy ice-skater that the only person I ever picked up there was me, from off the ice where I had fallen . . . again.

Rocky - First Date Scene



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD7_6vj10do&NR=1&feature=endscreen

At the conclusion of ‘Rocky’, Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa are holding each other up in the middle of the ring, both of them utterly spent and barely alive. Then, Creed, the victor in a split decision, informs Rocky, “Ain’t gonna be no rematch.”
Rocky replies, “Don’t want one.”

What a PERFECT ending! Alas, if only dunderhead Stallone had listened to his own characters and honored their wishes.


RUDY
(1993 – Football)

You can’t be anything even remotely resembling a sports fan without having heard of this movie - comparisons to real-life athletes are made weekly! So, obviously, I’d been aware of ‘Rudy’ for years, but it wasn’t until my 2009 Sports Movie Phase that I finally got around to watching it.

It’s the story of too-small, minimally-talented Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who had a dream. The dream? To play on the Notre Dame football team.

I was sure I would enjoy the movie, after all, it’s an underdog tail tale based on a true story, and who among us doesn’t love an underdog tale?

But, heck, I’ve seen and heard lots of underdog sports stories and, really, the odds of ‘Rudy’ making my Top Ten list were about the same as the real-life “Rudy” making the Notre Dame football team. So I was greatly surprised to find myself “leaking from the eyes” on more than one occasion while watching the movie.

Of course, we all know that most of these “based on a true story” movies usually means that it’s 1% truth vs. 99% Hollywood fabrication (e.g., ‘The Blind Side’). Therefore I was greatly surprised to learn after doing a little research that ‘Rudy’ was predominately nonfiction - most importantly those final minutes!

Bottom line: If you don’t like the emotionally moving movie ‘Rudy’, all I can say is, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!” Why don’t you make like Snagglepuss and get out of my life? You can "exit, stage left!"

The True Rudy Story ( Part 2 )



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4fEUKwdPw&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Honorable Mention:

I would be remiss if I did not mention . . .


HEAVEN CAN WAIT
(1978 – Football)

This movie was solidly on my Top Ten list until right up to the very end when - in a stunning upset – the underdog, ‘Rudy’, displaced it. Nevertheless, I want it known that I love ‘Heaven Can Wait’!

Warren Beatty plays quarterback Joe Pendleton who dies in a roadway accident “before his time”. The Heavenly Powers That Be are persuaded to find another earthly body for Joe to inhabit and they settle on Leo Farnsworth, a greedy, corporate bastard. Enter Betty Logan (Julie Christie), a determined young environmental activist who hates everything Farnsworth stands for.

Farnsworth sets out to purchase the Los Angeles Rams so he can lead them to the Super Bowl, while he is simultaneously falling in love with Betty and attempting to convince her that he isn’t really the greedy, corporate bastard she thinks he is. ‘Heaven Can Wait’ is equal parts fantasy, sports movie, and love story.

Ladies, here’s what I suggest: With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, why don’t you get yourself a copy of ‘Heaven Can Wait’ and surprise your husband or boyfriend with it on February 14th. He will be pleasantly shocked that you got him a sports movie (after all the complaining you’ve done about how much time he spends watching sports on TV), and he will never suspect that you really got the movie so you could watch an A-list love story with him.

I know for a fact that you will BOTH enjoy ‘Heaven Can Wait’ because . . . “It is written!”

And, fellas, I have a Valentine’s Day suggestion for you as well: Get your wife a copy of ‘The Ghost And Mrs. Muir’ (1947) in honor of The Sport Of Love. That incredibly romantic story will have her eyes so full of tears that she’ll never be able to see that you really got the movie so you could vicariously live the sailor’s life of ultramacho-man Captain Gregg (Rex Harrison), and lust after actress Gene Tierney, the most beautiful woman God ever created!

Watch ‘The Ghost And Mrs. Muir’ with your wife and, trust me, dudeguys, you’re going to get some on Valentine’s Day night!

OK then, tell me now, y’all, what are YOUR favorite sports movies?

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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15 comments:

  1. I like your list. I would have to replace 'On Any Sunday' with 'Endless Summer'. although that closing scene is beautiful.

    Not particularly crazy about 'The Longest Yard or 'Requiem' but I love 'The Black Stallion and 'Breaking Away'.

    There are a few Warren Miller Ski movies that I found interesting at one time, but they may have lost their appeal today.

    What I am blown away by is a small mention in this post. Mahalia Jackson. I don't think I have met anyone who even knows who she is. I should have known. Do you also like Mariam Makeba(Makimba)? The kids I work with here in the VI are amazed or impressed that I like African and or Gospel music. I'm not sure which. At least they no longer see my color. A good thing as I stopped seeing their's long ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FARAWAYEYES ~
    Thanks!

    >>...I would have to replace 'On Any Sunday' with 'Endless Summer'.

    Well, I can understand that. As I wrote, it's even sort of a mystery to me that I chose OAS over ES.

    When I first began to mentally formulate my list, BEFORE watching any sports movies I'd not yet seen, ES was on my list; a true no-brainer. I really, really love it, as it too takes me back to my youth and carefree Summer days spent on the beach, body-surfing, girl-watching, hot-dog-on-a-stick-eating, etc.

    But I wanted my list to be totally honest, and as I began watching more and more sports movies, ES eventually had to get bumped to make room for something else.

    And, I myself was caught by surprise when I came to realize that all these years later, I actually liked OAS even better'n ES. But I own OAS and ES and even 'Endless Summer II' on DVD and watch them all occasionally.

    Incidentally, if you've never seen ES-2, I recommend it. If you loved the first one, you should love the seconD one also. Probably not as much as the first (it's hard to beat that nostalgia factor), but it has some fantabulous surfing and ocean footage. And Gary Hoey's musical score is GREAT! I even own that too, on compact disc!

    >>...Not particularly crazy about 'The Longest Yard

    No surprise there; it's truly a "guy's" movie. Although my Mom LOVED it! But then she was a huge sports fanatic who liked men far more than she did members of her own gender.

    >>...or 'Requiem'

    NO WAY! OK, now that really surprises me. Granted I don't know you well, but from what little I have been able to ascertain, I would have thought you'd have had a soft spot in your heart for the Anthony Quinn and Julie Harris characters.

    >>...but I love 'The Black Stallion

    How could you not? A beautiful horse, gorgeous beach photography, a great love story about a boy and his horse, and incredible acting from Mickey Rooney. Had you said you didn't like it I would have known you'd been abducted by UFO aliens and replaced by an impostor.

    >>...Mahalia Jackson. I don't think I have met anyone who even knows who she is. I should have known.

    Ha! My three favorite singers are women, and Mahalia is one of them. I have mentioned her a number of times on this blog. HERE and HERE are two links to more in-depth references to Mahalia. (The second one is waaay toooo long, but at least you’ll know how much her music means to me.)

    >>...Do you also like Mariam Makeba(Makimba)?

    The name doesn't ring a bell.

    "Psst." I received the wonderful Email [I THANK YOU!] and will reply as soon as time permits.

    Yak later, friend . . .

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
  3. FARAWAYEYES ~
    Doggone it! Since Blogger forced me to switch to the Pop-Up Window comment format, the links don’t work right anymore. So, here are the Mahalia URLs rather than links:

    http://stephentmccarthysstuffs.blogspot.com/2011/01/alex-cavanaughs-top-ten-tunes-blogfest.html

    http://stephentmccarthysstuffs.blogspot.com/2008/07/hell-hath-no-fury-like-mahalia-in.html

    ~ Stephen

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, I was having a horrible time with this. Of course,I blame it on the Caribbean. Lately,I blame everything on the Caribbean.

    I did get to the top 10 list long enough to see the Pat Metheny. Then went to You Tube for it. I was a big fan of his while in FLA (don't ask me why, but that's mainly how I remember time periods, by where I lived). The music I have of his is on vinyl (in a storage locker in Idaho) BUT,I was not familiar with this piece. Very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  5. FARAWAYEYES ~
    Very cool that you even know who Pat Metheny is. Pat Metheny and The Pat Metheny Group is just about all I ever listen to while driving. It's been that way for a couple decades.

    Did you see/hear the Mahalia Jackson song I posted there?

    One more thing: I misspoke (miswrote?) when I said that my three favorite singers are women. One singer had momentarily slipped my mind. (Uhp! I'm an idiot!)

    The three I had in mind were Karen Carpenter, Mahalia Jackson, and Astrud Gilberto. The one that I had no business forgetting about is Waylon Jennings. Waylon ABSOLUTELY has to be there!

    So, as much as I dearly love her vocals, I would have to bump Astrud off that Top Three list to make way for Waylon.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're a better person than me. When I drive I like hard drivin, rock music with a strong beat. Think Bob Seeger, Steppin Wolf, that kind of stuff. Of course, I have a lead foot. It worked great when I lived in the West and spent time on the highways of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. It doesn't fly here on an island that is 26 miles long and 7 miles wide. Then there are the incredible potholes in our roads to consider. I have learned to slow down. Maybe I need some Metheny on a CD to drive by, here.

    I don't know Astrud Gilberto. I'll You Tube her and see. I was wonderin' about Waylon.

    So far so good, but I swear, if blogger keeps giving me trouble I'm about ready to throw in the towel.

    ReplyDelete
  7. FARAWAYEYES ~
    For one thing, The Pat Metheny Group seems to keep me calm while I'm behind the wheel. (Or perhaps just "calmer" than I otherwise would be.)

    Also, I have always maintained that there is just something about the PMG sound that lends itself to motion; I don't think they can really be fully appreciated unless they are being heard on the road while the scenery is ever-changing on the other side of the windshield.

    Astrud Gilberto is most famous for her vocal on the Stan Getz classic "The Girl From Ipanema", but I love her for so much more than just that.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
  8. OK, I know Stan Getz and 'The Girl From Ipanema.'

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was sure you'd know that one.

    Did you get last night's little E?

    I will try to write an A-list E reply in the next day or two, providing some background info about "Muddy" 'n' all.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've been away from blog reading for a while, only to pop back on and find that you've written about 72 since I last looked. Your fingers must be bleeding.

    This is my favorite sort of thing you write about: some sort of evaluation of books, movies, or music.

    I can't say that I have analyzed sports movies much, but I can wing some quick comments here for you.

    I like some of yours, not some others. In no order:

    1) Rocky, at or near the top for sure.
    2) Heaven Can Wait
    3) Field of Dreams
    4) Miracle.

    now I diverge from StMc...
    5) Endless Summer. I know, you like it too.
    6) Hoosiers. I love this movie. It would be in my top 5.
    7) The Natural. This would also make my top 5. I love stories about people so supremely talented that they eclipse the abilities of others.
    8) Chariots of Fire.
    9) Tin Cup. This was a very fun, quirky little picture about a golfer that simply is going to do it his own way.
    10) Grand Prix. Probably my favorite. And yes, racing is a sport. If motocross is, then auto racing is. Have you seen this movie? If you are not a racing fan you won't love it as much as I do. It captures the excitement of racing from it's best period: the 1960s. Cars were as fast as they could be without any safety equipment.

    Other sports movies I liked were Big Wednesday, Horsefeathers, and The Longest Yard.

    So, Farawayeyes: are you on Tobago? That fits the 26x7 mile description.

    ReplyDelete
  11. MR. SHEBOYGANBOY SIX ~
    Yep, I been crankin’ ‘em out faster’n bunnies on Viagra!

    See, that’s what I like about getting comments from you: you not only comment but oftentimes PARTICIPATE. Good stuffs, Brotherman!

    I really expected and WANTED ‘Heaven Can Wait’ on my list, so I felt compelled to create that Honorable Mention category for it alone. If it were a Top Dozen list rather than a Top Ten list, ‘Endless Summer’ would have made it also.

    I watched ‘Hoosiers’ during the 2009 Phase, even though I’d seen it once before, long ago. I know it’s a huge favorite for many sports fans and I liked it well enough, and probably would have liked it even more if I were a basketball fan.

    ‘The Natural’ – Yeah, it’s OK, but (as I’m sure I’ve written somewhere else on this blog) after one has witnessed “the real thing” (Kirk Gibson’s 1988, Game 1, World Series home run), it kinda makes ‘The Natural’ just seem like a… movie. Ha!

    I remember you having praised ‘Chariots Of Fire’ before. I need to see that one again someday - it’s been a very long time. But from my viewpoint, I recall it being a bit too “talky” for a sports movie. I know there was a strong political undertone. Actually, so strong it may have been an overtone. I need to rewatch that one.

    I’ve not seen ‘Tin Cup’. And you’re free to include it on your list, of course. But since, in my opinion, golf is a game, not a sport, it would have no chance of making my list regardless of how good it is.

    >>...‘Grand Prix’ - Probably my favorite. And yes, racing is a sport. If motocross is, then auto racing is.

    Ah, not so fast, Sixgun! Ha!-Ha! You are probably the only reader who recalls that old debate about what is and what is not a sport / who is and who is not an athlete.

    I remember it’s in some old blog bit about a vacation to Vegas or Reno that Nappy and I took, ‘cause we were debting it over martinis. Although we have subsequently touched on the topic very lightly from time to time, unfortunately, he and I never did sit down again and really hammer out the correct formula to answer those questions.

    Of the various factors we had stirred into the pot and were considering, I know that one of Nappy’s primaries was “direct competition” (DC). Auto Racing has that. I wasn’t quite as sold on the DC angle, but my biggest factor was probably “Body Control” (BC).

    Auto Racing includes DC and eye/hand coordination (E/H C), but no BC – the drivers’ bodies are strapped into their seats. Motocross, however, includes DC, E/H C, and lots and lots and lots of BC. Therefore, according to my still incomplete formula for determing Sport Vs. NonSpot / Athelete Vs. NonAthlete, there is to be seen a huge difference between Motocross and Auto Racing. Motocross racers ARE athletes; Auto Racers are not necessarily so (some may be, but I’d need to see them on a tennis court to know).

    Although ‘Grand Prix’ is therefore ineligible to make my Sports Movies List, it does sound like a movie I might enjoy nonetheless.

    ‘Horsefeathers’? Isn’t that a Marx Bros. movie?

    ‘Big Wednesday’ – Ha! I’m not sure I ever saw the whole thing, but back when I was doing “Extra” or “Background” work in the movie industry, that was the second show I ever worked on. (It was a bar scene that may have ended up on the cutting room floor.)

    Great comment, Six. Thanks!

    ~ D-FensDogg
    ‘Loyal American Underground’

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  12. Oh no you di'int. Jerry Maguire?? I LOVE that movie. So much.

    But I don't count it as a sports movie, even if there's athletes and stuff.

    And I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I've never seen Bull Durham. Adore Field of Dreams, though.

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  13. KAREN ~
    I DID!
    And further more, I'm PROUD of it!

    It was truly, truly B-A-D.
    However... not as bad as the movie my Brother and I just finished watching minutes ago: 'Detour'. That one was only 67 minutes long; had it been one minute longer we wouldn't have made it to the end.

    You haven't seen 'Bull Durham'?!
    Sheesh! What kinda baseball fan are YOU?!

    'Bull Durham' is a shade too risque for my tastes but, just the same, every baseball fan ought to see it; it is truly a baseball gem ("diamond").

    There are a number of classic scenes in that movie, such as...

    The way he tee'd off on that, it's almost like he knew what pitch I was going to throw.

    He did.


    And that's all I'm a-gonna say. Except: SEE THE MOVIE!

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  14. Well, fine. You just hate on Jerry Maguire. But I'm gonna watch it twice this weekend just because.

    And I'll throw Bull Durham into the mix, just because you said so.

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  15. KAREN ~
    Ha! [;o)}

    Well, if I wasn't hatin' on SOMETHIN' I just wouldn't be "me".

    You won't be sorry for having spent time with 'Bull Durham'. You may not like it as much as 'Field Of Dreams' (I know I don't), but there is simply no way you can like baseball and not like 'Bull Durham' to some degree.

    Also, if you've never seen it before, I strongly suggest you watch 'Bang The Drum Slowly' - another fine baseball classic.

    (Ever read Jim Bouton's book 'Ball Four'?)

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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