# Worst sports movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 26, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159 "2025-11-26T18:22:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [November 27, 2025, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/41 "2025-11-27T11:48:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I haven’t seen the movie but Radio was a real person, and the movie was based on his life. Well, good for him. Movie’s still hypersaccharine horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/42 "2025-11-27T12:19:09Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t have to watch **The Blind Side** , where Pretty Woman saves a gigantic Black guy, to know it’s God awful. I just sense it. Nominating a movie you have _never even seen_ seems God awful. I just sense it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/43 "2025-11-27T13:37:14Z")
It must be my superpower to be able to instinctively avoid bad sports movies. I love good sports movies but have never once been tempted to watch **The Blind Side** or **Rudy.** That kind of sentimentality makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/44 "2025-11-27T13:39:00Z")
I’ve seen the promos and consider them a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/45 "2025-11-27T14:11:25Z")
> **[Side Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_Out)** > > Side Out is a 1990 American comedy-drama sports film about a beach volleyball competition, featuring C. Thomas Howell, Peter Horton, Harley Jane Kozak and Courtney Thorne-Smith. It was the last film from Aurora Productions due to many flops. The film was directed by Peter Israelson. > Many professional beach volleyball players appeared in the movie, such as 5-time world champion Randy Stoklos (who had the main speaking role of all the players as Rollo Vincent); Sinjin Smith (as Stoklos' playing ... This was utterly pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/46 "2025-11-27T15:13:04Z")
You know,l there’s a sports movie about curling. What’s surprising is, it doesn’t make the cut for the thread! ---
**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:** [November 27, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/47 "2025-11-27T15:13:41Z")
I have seen _Men with Brooms._ It’s actually pretty good, all things considered. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/48 "2025-11-27T15:29:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Well, good for him. Movie’s still hypersaccharine horseshit. (discussing Radio) I had never heard of or seen this movie years ago. It was actually put on the TV by my substitute teacher who was filling in for me. I can’t remember circumstances, but I think I was out an entire week for jury duty and the poor subs were just desperate to keep the kids quiet. Here is the thing. I come back and the movie had 30 minutes or so left. I told the kids I would play the rest of it and put it in. _Nothing_ had prepared me for Cuba Gooding going full…well, r-word(to quote Tropic Thunder). Or whatever was the disability in the movie. I just…I had no idea. It caught me so off guard, I almost began full-blown laughing in front the class. What is a worse lessen I could have taught then laughing at what is clearly supposed to be a mentally disabled child? Oh, I held it in, but had to walk around a minute and look busy. I’ve never seen the full movie. Was this movie listed in Tropic Thunder as one of the reasons to not go…fully disabled in a movie? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/49 "2025-11-27T15:33:29Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > _Secretariat_ (2010), with Diane Lane as Penny Tweedy, John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, and Fred Thompson as Bull Hancock; with Randall Wallace, Director. > > I saw it once, in 2010 when it was released, and I came away wholly unimpressed. Compared to 1973 when I watched Secretariat win the Triple Crown in an amazing, impressive manner, the 2010 movie was just meh. I’m with you on this one. There are plenty of great horse racing films, from _Dreamer_ through _The Black Stallion_ to _Seabiscuit_, and none of those top _Phar Lap_, And then there’s _Secretariat_. I can understand the challenge that the filmmakers faced: we know how it’s going to end. But they could have done better than what is basically a documentary with actors playing real people. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/50 "2025-11-27T15:44:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I can understand the challenge that the filmmakers faced: we know how it’s going to end. But they could have done better than what is basically a documentary with actors playing real people. You could say that too, about _Apollo 13_. But that was done very well and is one of my favorite movies. But that’s Ron Howard, who does good work. About _Phar Lap_, are you saying it’s a good movie or a bad one? I haven’t seen that one. I thought _Seabiscuit_ was decently good, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/51 "2025-11-27T15:59:38Z")
_Phar Lap_ is excellent. Not many in North America know about him, as he raced in Australia for the majority of his career. But he was an amazing racehorse—handicapped to 154 pounds in the 1931 Melbourne Cup, yet he won that race. Again, we (well, those of us who know racing) know how everything is going to end, yet the film makes us doubt ourselves, and wonder how things are going to turn out. That’s what is missing in _Secretariat_. I’ll add that if you like racing, then _Phar Lap_ is worth watching. Probably the best movie about horse racing there is. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/52 "2025-11-27T16:34:51Z")
How about a movie reviewed by an IMDB user this way: > ### This has to be the WORST movie ever written! > > This movie was so bad that the producers owe us another movie just to bring the rating up to zero. It is an insulting slap in the face to every race fan who ever lived and I would suggest that viewers immediately initiate a class action lawsuit to recover the money they wasted on this picture and compensation for the time spent watching it. The ONLY technical aspect of racing that they got right was the fact that the cars, at least SOME of the time, had four wheels. Otherwise, it was obvious that the writer knew absolutely nothing about motor racing. I would suggest that Sylvester Stallone [writer and star] should have at least watched an Indy car race before he wrote this piece of junk. Another reviewer said: > What an awful film. I mean, i went in with low expectations, but this movie was far worse than anything I could have expected. This movie has a few cool race scenes and crashes, but that is not nearly enough to save it from the horrible characters and dialogue. At the film’s most dramatic moments, the theater was actually laughing at how corny it was. Thank God I didn’t pay to see this, or else [winter and star] would also owe me 7 bucks. Any guesses? This 2001 movie is rated 13% at Rotten Tomatoes, and has an IMDB rating of 4.6, higher than some mentioned above, but I think it deserves a mention here. Answer: _Driven_. More than one wag suggested it should have been titled _Drivel_. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/53 "2025-11-27T16:37:41Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I’ll add that if you like racing, then _Phar Lap_ is worth watching. Probably the best movie about horse racing there is. Thanks for this. I’ve added it to my movie list. Getting back to the thread, it’s a major shame that _Secretariat_ sucked so badly. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/54 "2025-11-27T16:47:31Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > it’s a major shame that _Secretariat_ sucked so badly I had such high hopes after watching the making-of footage on _Bojack Horseman…_ ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/55 "2025-11-27T16:54:54Z")
The one I can’t stand is Space Jam. First, nothing involving Warner Bros cartoon made after 1960 is worth anything. Even those compilation movies are only good for the cartoons and not the interstitials. They used to speed Mel Blanc’s voice up for most characters, including Bugs. I hate the sound of him just pitching his voice up to try to match his old timbre. Space Jam wasn’t him, but no one not from Termite Terrace ever really understood those characters. Second, I really hate Michael Jordan. He’s always seemed to me to be “too cool for the room” yet he has no charisma. He’s probably as close as we have to an UberCelebrity, where other celebs hold him in awe, and he knows it. The dude even thought he could pull off the Hitler mustache. Can’t stand him. Third, I’m not a basketball fan, but I know there’s more to it than slam dunks. I don’t think there’s a single point scored in the entire film that wasn’t a slam dunk. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/56 "2025-11-27T17:17:27Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > This was utterly pointless. Yeah I was thinking about **Side Out** too. It certainly has all the familiar hallmarks of a shitty movie: music video director, C. Thomas Howell, Peter Horton, Kathy Ireland. Niche sport, tiny stakes. Also, **Over the Top**. “Trucker wins son’s love through arm wrestling.” And the grand prize of the tournament just happens to be cash and a semi-truck. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/57 "2025-11-27T17:41:29Z")
Admittedly, I never saw **Blades of Glory**. I was afraid I’d come out of the theater dumber than when I went in, but I would guess it belongs in this particular pantheon. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/58 "2025-11-27T18:17:59Z")
If I’m allowed to include competitive Olympic sports, and then squint my eyes just a bit, I’d Include _Gymkata_ (1985). It’s a gymnastics movie without the judges scoring the events. But the events and gymnastics equipment are all there. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/59 "2025-11-27T19:51:43Z")
_Trouble With The Curve_, a modified repost (corrected some mistakes) of something I wrote here 9 years ago… All right, so this was a film that was so by-the-numbers that I coined the phrase “Movies by TVTropes” just for it. But the thing that gets me about it was the anti-Moneyball aspect and how idiotically it was resolved. For those of you who don’t know, Moneyball was a book written by Michael Lewis which talked about the rise of statistical analysis in baseball and how this math-centric method of evaluating players ruffled the feathers of more traditional BB analysts who would talk about a guys potential, how he looked at the plate, etc. Clint is the traditionalist. His corporate rival (Robert Patrick (RP)) is an analyst. RP wants Clint to scout out this player (RP really wants to draft him) who Clint says is worthless because he can “hear” something wrong with his swing, something that you can’t determine by statistical analysis. RP decides to draft this kid anyway. Amy Adams is in her hotel room one morning when she hears somebody throwing a baseball into a catchers mitt. She goes outside and eventually drafts the kid (or she convinces Clint to test him out or something like that.) So they go to the ballpark and, lo and behold, RP is there with his newly drafted big-hitting prospect. And, as one can expect, AA’s pitcher (found traditional style, remember) goes against RP’s hitter (found statistical style) and wipes the floor with his whiff-after-whiff ass. To which AA yells at RP – “Your guy can’t hit curve balls! That’s what we were trying to tell you, dumbass!” Now here’s the thing… statistical analysis would have been the method to use to show that the prospect could not hit curve balls. Not “the guy looks like a monster at the plate”, not “I hear a flutter in his swing” bullshit. Even before Moneyball, baseball was the most statistical of sports and you would have known merely by looking at his statistics that RP’s guy couldn’t hit curve balls and, therefore, was a poor prospect. So the movie resolved the Moneyball vs. Traditional Scouting debate in favor of Traditional Scouting… by means of an argument that could only be made by statistical analysis! WTF? But… Amy Adams looks good, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159/60 "2025-11-27T19:52:25Z")
Well, fuck, that was supposed to be spoilered. What happened to the Spoiler tag? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-sports-movie/1025159.md?page=4)