# SI says Bull Durham best sports movie ever...WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 4, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887 "2003-08-04T13:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/41 "2003-08-04T21:43:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > Sports Illustrated probably still believes that “Chariots of Fire” was a film about 1950’s hot rods with leaking fuel lines. > > What can I say? Sports Illustrated has less than 2% market insertion in any other country outside of the United States. It exemplifies succinctly, more than any other medium or magazine or whatever, how astonishingly insular and conceited the American entertainment industry truly is. > > There are so many incredible films about sport which have been made outside of the United States - the list is endless. Uh, you might want to actually read the link in the OP. “Chariots of Fire” made the list (#9). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/42 "2003-08-04T21:52:32Z")
Is _Bloodsport_ a sports movie? 😉 (Good call, **Wilson** , on _Hoop Dreams._) ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/43 "2003-08-04T22:04:00Z")
I realize that this is a movie many haven’t seen, and that motocross isn’t _quite_ mainstream for many. [On Any Sunday](http://www.motorcyclebooks.com/onanysunrevd.html) is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a documentary, not fiction, but kicks ass over any other sports movie I’ve seen, (with the exception of _Rudy_) ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/44 "2003-08-04T22:11:30Z")
IIRC, this list was made a few years ago. Also IIRC, this was not a list compiled by people at SI, but voted by readers/fans. I remember hearing about it while I was still working at AT&T (I distincly remember hearing that _Bull Durham_ was voted number one and my co-worker Bob and I wondering if anyone who voted had seen _Raging Bull_.) So why it may not be your choice for best sports film, if I’m remembering things right, it isn’t SI to blame, but those who voted on the list. BTW, I’m a HUGE baseball fan and I thought _The Natural_ was dull, slow, and overall average at best. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/45 "2003-08-04T22:57:35Z")
‘ **Hoosiers** ’, ‘ **Pride of the Yankees** ’, ‘ **Brians Song** ’ and ‘ **Remember the Titans** ’ were good films, imho, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/46 "2003-08-04T23:59:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog \* > **I’m a HUGE baseball fan and I thought _The Natural_ was dull, slow, and overall average at best.** Not to mention an almost complete reversal of the Bernard Malamud novel that is its ostensible source. People who complain about what Verhoeven did to Heinlein in _Starship Troopers_ need to compare Malamud’s original book to the movie that was made from it to see what a _real_ violation looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/47 "2003-08-05T00:10:03Z")
Oh, and I completely forgot: There’s a film coming out of Japan (it was already a hit there) called _Ping Pong_ that is as good a sports movie as we’ve seen in the last ten years. Keep your eye out for it. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/48 "2003-08-05T00:17:50Z")
I would place **Hoop Dreams** at or near the top of my list. I don’t know if documentaries count, but it was the most gripping and real of all sports movies. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/49 "2003-08-05T00:21:27Z")
I have to go with Leni Riefenstahl’s _Olympia_, as the best “pure” sports film ever made. The others, great as thay are, are basically romance films, situation comedies, buddy films, or “guy triumphs over adversity films”. Some other possibilites for the list:\* Downhill Racer Le Mans Paper Lion Brian’s Song The Endless Summer\* and my own personal favorite _The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island_😛 ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/50 "2003-08-05T00:35:06Z")
I’d say **The Program** is one of the better football movies around, but that’s just my idiotic opinion. And **Bull Durham**? Wasn’t that on Lifetime a couple weeks ago? Instant disqualifier! (Nope, I wasn’t watching Lifetime, I was looking through the digital guide.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/51 "2003-08-05T00:39:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fruitbat \* > \*\*I would place **Hoop Dreams** at or near the top of my list. > I don’t know if documentaries count, but it was the most gripping and real of all sports movies. \*\* I second this movie. If the concept of sports includes the ins and outs of the game and what it takes to succeed at one, this movie goes at that issue more honestly than any I have seen. And since it is much more “modern” than my earlier nomination (Jim Thorpe) I’ll update my preference. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/52 "2003-08-05T00:44:11Z")
Yer all wrong. The best sports movie, ever, bar none, was [Baseketball](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0131857) ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/53 "2003-08-05T01:01:33Z")
**SI** put a big ass ad right in the middle of the list. Made it a pain to read and follow. I don’t remember who was at what place (except for Bull Durham and I had the same reaction as **Neurotik** ) but I do remember being surprised and disappointed in the listing. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/54 "2003-08-05T01:36:17Z")
I love **Rocky IV**!! Its inspirational man. Yeah! The acting is brilliant - I **really** believe that Adrian thinks Rocky “can’t win”! Plus, what awesome writing : \*“I will break you.” “Go for it.” “He’s like iron”.\* Finally who can ever forget, “there’s no easy way out, there’s no short-cut home”? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/55 "2003-08-05T01:55:07Z")
Yes, I would definitely have to say that _The Natural_’s chances of topping that list were definitely harmed by it not being a very good movie. _Six Pack_ with Kenny Rogers is the best sports movie. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/56 "2003-08-05T01:57:06Z")
I think it’s hard to compare across sports, but having seen _Bull Durham_, _Field of Dreams_, _The Natural_, _Eight Men Out_, and even _Major League_, I gotta go with _Bull Durham_ as the best baseball movie I’ve seen. _The Natural_ and _Field of Dreams_ are more fairytales than baseball movies, IMHO. _Eight Men Out_, a fine film, is really about plutocrats exploiting workers; that the workers here are well-known baseball players rather than faceless miners or textile workers is what gets people to see the flick. _Bull Durham_ wonderfully portrays the texture of the baseball life, and makes it come alive through the relationships **Jonathan Chance** mentions. Plus, it’s got both Costner _and_ Susan Sarandon. Can’t beat that with a stick. I’ve got a problem in critiquing the overall list, besides the difficulties of comparing across sports. And that’s that I’ve only seen three other movies in the top 10. But the #2 choice, _Rocky_, was a damned good movie, even if the boxing itself was unrealistic. FWIW, it was playing off the fact that, back in the mid-1970s, when Ali wasn’t fighting Frazier or Foreman, he was fighting a lot of journeymen that the casual sports fan had never heard of. Ali didn’t always prepare himself for those fights very well, but in the sleazy world of boxing, anything even close to a draw was going to be decided in favor of the champ. So instead of Ali, you have Apollo Creed, and you have Stallone’s Rocky Balboa as the bum-of-the-month that Creed only has to show up to beat. At the time, one didn’t have to be much of a sports fan to be aware of this. So, contrary to **Dewey** ’s suggestion, the movie _couldn’t_ have ended in a win for Rocky; it would have lost its believability, and its ending would have been unintentionally comic rather than moving. It was what it was because it stayed within the bounds of the story that had already been written. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/57 "2003-08-05T02:07:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by RTFirefly_ > Bull Durham wonderfully portrays the texture of the baseball life, and makes it come alive through the relationships Jonathan Chance mentions. Plus, it’s got both Costner and Susan Sarandon. Can’t beat that with a stick. I’m pretty sure I could beat Kevin Costner with a stick. At the very least, I’m willing to try. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/58 "2003-08-05T02:08:21Z")
Geez…[Safe at Home](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0056435) didn’t even make the list. It had Mantle, Maris and Ford in it. What more could you ask for? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/59 "2003-08-05T02:23:44Z")
On a serious note, why hasn’t anyone mentioned [Go, Man, Go!](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0047032)? It _is_ the definitive movie about the Harlem Globetrotters, plus it deals with the racism in sports, and the writer of the screenplay was blacklisted for being a Communist. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887/60 "2003-08-05T02:38:11Z")
For those like me who feel that _Bull Durham_ is a pretty lame sports movie [here](http://espn.go.com/page2/movies/s/halloran/020826.html) is a dissenting view. > [@](#): > > Hold the phone! Did we just start on a new list? Are we suddenly talking about the Top 10 most overrated, boring, clichéd movies that are completely devoid of any likeable characters? Because that’s the only list that “Bull Durham” belongs on. _The Hustler_, _Hoop Dreams_, _Hoosiers_ and _Raging Bull_ will do me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/si-says-bull-durham-best-sports-movie-ever-wtf/192887.md?page=4)