# Sports movies where the protagonists lose (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771 "2013-05-08T07:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/21 "2013-05-08T15:42:27Z")
Well, since the movie was based on a bitter tell-all book by former Cowboy receiver Peter Gent, it might be wrong to call the North Dallas Bulls the “protagonists” of _ **North Dallas 40** _, but Nick Nolte and Co. lose the playoff game when the ostentatiously Christian backup QB fumbles the snap for the extra point that would have tied the game and sent it to overtime. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/22 "2013-05-08T15:53:45Z")
_Mystery, Alaska_ (1999) If the national spelling bee is a sport, then: _A Boy Named Charlie Brow_n (1969) ---
**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:** [May 8, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/23 "2013-05-08T16:05:53Z")
There’s also _Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown_. That guy just can’t catch a break. > [@Ludovic](#): > > I’ve noticed that sports movies are the one place where it is “safe” to show the protagonists losing in the climax and not have it be considered a tragedy. Possibly a cathartic metaphor for the inevitable losses in life. I’ve often said that the best sports movies are those where the result of the big game at the end goes against the type of the movie. In _The Bad News Bears_ and _Rocky_, the heroes lose but are still triumphant. In _The Hustler_, Fast Eddie wins his rematch with Fats but it’s still a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/24 "2013-05-08T16:13:02Z")
[The Harder They Fall.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049291/) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/25 "2013-05-08T16:18:39Z")
I was going to say that the protagonists were originally going to lose at the end of Dodgeball, but according to imdb, it was an alternate ending that was not intended to be the true ending. > **[Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364725/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv)** > > Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/26 "2013-05-08T16:25:57Z")
_Slapshot_? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/27 "2013-05-08T16:38:13Z")
Not a movie, but Pat Conroy’s _My Losing Season_ is a nonfiction account of his senior year playing basketball for The Citadel. The team sucked that year. He learned a lot more by losing, he said, than he ever did by winning. Good book. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/28 "2013-05-08T17:12:45Z")
_Murderball._ ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/29 "2013-05-08T17:18:37Z")
_Moneyball_. The A’s win the division, but lose in the first round of the playoffs. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/30 "2013-05-08T17:20:45Z")
_Any Given Sunday_ - the Sharks win the playoff game onscreen, but go on to lose the Pantheon Cup. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/31 "2013-05-08T17:36:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s also _Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown_. That guy just can’t catch a break. That’s because of all the Charlie Browns in the world, he’s the Charlie Browniest. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/32 "2013-05-08T17:36:45Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > _Slapshot_? Nope. The Chiefs win after Braden strips at mid-ice. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/33 "2013-05-08T17:37:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Nope. The Chiefs win after Braden strips at mid-ice. Did they win, though, or was the game called? That’s why I added a question mark. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/34 "2013-05-08T18:07:52Z")
If they didn’t win, the parade they threw for them at the end of the movie, with the cup in hand, was a bit of a waste. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/35 "2013-05-08T18:08:57Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > If they didn’t win, the parade they threw for them at the end of the movie, with the cup in hand, was a bit of a waste. Oh yeah. Forgot about that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/36 "2013-05-08T19:08:00Z")
Given the scene at the Gotham football stadium, I don’t suppose _The Dark Knight Rises_ qualifies…? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/37 "2013-05-08T19:33:57Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I was going to say that the protagonists were originally going to lose at the end of Dodgeball, but according to imdb, it was an alternate ending that was not intended to be the true ending. > > [Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) - Trivia - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364725/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv) I thought I heard that entire ending was itself a joke? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/38 "2013-05-08T19:53:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Given the scene at the Gotham football stadium, I don’t suppose _The Dark Knight Rises_ qualifies…? Or _The Sum of All Fears_ ? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/39 "2013-05-08T21:13:53Z")
_Annapolis_, after it changed into a sports movie halfway through. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771/40 "2013-05-09T00:10:08Z")
I’m not sure whether _Million Dollar Baby_ counts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-movies-where-the-protagonists-lose-spoilers/657771.md?page=3)