Sorry, AB, but Ataraxy got that back on page one.
And hey … no votes for Mystery Alaska? 
Why, so he did – I must have skimmed over that part of his post. Mea culpa. I hate it when that happens, but thanks for pointing it out, Cervaise. And props to Ataraxy for mentioning such a fun movie!
I was just about to nominate Bodyline when i saw this post. It’s a great mini-series, with some excellent performances, especially by Hugo Weaving as Douglas Jardine.
Back to movies, and i’d like to nominate This Sporting Life (1963), a film about professional rugby league in the grim working-class towns of northern England. Richard Harris stars.
The best sports film of all time is ‘Shaolin Soccer’ (also called ‘Kung Fu Soccer’).
See, it had soccer and it also had Kung Fu, what better combination could you have?..Well, it was funny…Hey! If you don’t like my pick then [Cartman]screw you guys, I’m going home![\Cartman]
No, Wait! There is a better sports film. ‘Debbie does Dallas’. About the meteoric rise of an independant young women in the competative field of Cheerleading (IIRC, for some reason the plot tends to elude me when I think of this film). Yeah, that’s the best sports film ever by a long shot!
Plus, Nuke was 5-1 in his last 6 decisions, had control of fastball and actually had a curve ball.
Great minds think alike RTF: 
Chuck Wepner (the Bayonne Bleeder) was profiled in SI’s “Where are they now” issue (came out a few weeks back) and they mentioned how the Wepner/Ali fight in 1975 was the inspiration for Stallone’s Rocky.
I hadn’t realized that there was a specific fight that inspired the movie, BF. Fascinating!
Rocky and Raging Bull may have been better movies, but I’d say that Bull Durham is the best sports movie.
Either you see the distinction or you don’t, I’m afraid.
I’m not SI or anything important like that, but I’ve made a short list of films that in my opinion, it is acceptable for a Manly Man to get blurry vision, a hoarse voice and runny nose from watching. Pride of the Yankees and Brian’s Song are on that list. Knute Rockne is only on the long version of the list. </hijack>
Does ** League of thier own** not count as a baseball movie? or is it a Girley film?
I’m neither a big sports fan, nor a big movie fan but hell, you’ve mentioned about every other baseball film so I thought “What the hell…let’s add more fuel to the fire” Hell, if Susan Sarandon is s good enought reason to like a film I think Gina Davis and Lori whatsername should mean this one’s got them all beat.
Granted my favorite list of sports films is real short.
LotO
Major League (but not II)
Nessisary Rougness
White Men Can’t Jump
Also, on the Kevin Cosner “beat 'em with a stick” bandwaggon let’s not forget Tin Cup
I would rather be shot in the face with a rusty bullet than watch “The Natural” again. God Damn, what an awful film. Yes, baseball is simply divine intervention. When God says you should hit a home run, you hit a home run. When God says you suck, you suck. When you have a child with a woman, the appropriate thing for her to do is to keep it a secret for years, then send you a note about it to give you the inner strength to win the game winning home run. Absolutely godawful tripe.
I am somewhat mystified that I have seen no mention of The Black Stallion.
Also The Basketball Diaries, The Ref, The Karate Kid, or even a single one of the Chronicles of Air Bud.
snicker
On a somewhat less ludicrous note, if Best in Show is a sports film, I reserve the right to vote for Babe*.
*That’s the first Babe, not Pig in the City. Pig in the City wasn’t about sports at all.
Whoa! How come no one has given mad props to Helen Hunt in the inimitable and ineffable Quarterback Princess?
Is there not a real sports movie fan amongst you?!
FWIW, I’m a huge baseball fan and I watch Bull Durham 2-3 times a year for the great baseball stuff (although I agree Tim Robbins couldn’t break a sheet of paper with his fastball). OTOH, I’ve forced myself to sit through Field of Dreams twice to figure out what all the fuss is about and still don’t get it (but I was sure bothered by watching Shoeless Joe bat from the right side).
While we’re also discussing movies with tenuous sports connections, what about The Princess Bride with all the fencing?
Finally, if I were picking my top sports movie, I’d have to fall into the Rocky category. Sure, the actual boxing isn’t very real (get your damn hands up, Balboa!), but the story is gripping and inspiring and comes from a place that boxing fans can relate to.
I don’t see where Dewey was suggesting that Rocky should have won.
So he basically said what you said.
FTR, the Indian cricket movie is titled Laagan. (Watch those double AAs, folks, speaking of minor leagues.)
Everything considered, Bull Durham still rocks when compared with all the others. So far nobody has mentioned Major League (which wasn’t very good), about the Indians, or The Fortune Cookie (which was excellent) about the Browns.
Yeah, I’m a native Clevelander, and that does skew my appreciation somewhat.
But I seriously think The Fortune Cookie should be pretty high up on the list. If anyone can remember a movie made that far back in the past (1965).
Not really, at least as I read his comments.
What I was disagreeing with was “you don’t get the overblown cornball scene you would expect of a film in the genre: Rocky loses the fight.”
Well, what was the genre? Rocky didn’t take place in the totally-mythical, anything-can-happen sports movie genre that, say, The Natural takes place in. Whatever genre you’d say Rocky was part of (maybe it was a genre unto itself, for all I know), the victorious ending couldn’t have happened in that genre, IMHO.