Here Are Some Of YOUR Favorite Sports Movies
Consider this my mea culpa to you all.
Okay guys, you got me.
I really screwed the pooch big time on this one.
On Thursday, to honor the passing of Varsity Blues star James Van Der Beek, I made a list of my five favorite sports movies of all time.
And according to the emails I have received and continue to receive, I could not have been more wrong.
I have done several of these lists, and each time I receive a healthy amount of feedback.
But this time, I got so many emails sent my way (both positive and negative), that I couldn't even answer all of them.
So consider this yet another mea culpa on my part. These are the sports movies most frequently mentioned by my readers that I missed in Thursday's article.
Oh, and by the way, you are all right. It was Tom Berenger, NOT Corbin Bernsen, who played Jake Taylor in Major League.
I will take my lap.
Field Of Dreams (1989)
I have to start this one off with maybe the most egregious miss of them all, 1989's Field Of Dreams.
When discussing baseball movies, Field Of Dreams belongs firmly entrenched in the Mt. Rushmore, and for good reason.
The film boasts an all-star cast of guys like Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and a young Ray Liotta.
It's got quotes coming out of the wazoo, with classic lines like "If you build it, he will come," and "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa."
If you're looking for a heartfelt baseball movie to get you in the spirit for Opening Day in a few months, you can't go wrong with Field Of Dreams.
Slapshot (1977)
Hockey fans had every right to jump down my throat following the conclusion of my list, as it left off two of the best movies the sport had to offer.
One shows up a little further down this list, and the other is the 1977 comedy, Slapshot.
Paul Newman is phenomenal as washed-up minor league hockey player-coach Reggie Dunlop in this tale about the Charlestown Chiefs, a local hockey team on its last leg.
The whole movie is laugh-out-loud hilarious and is almost a hockey version of Major League.
With Olympic hockey in full swing, give Slapshot a watch and try not to compare the Tkachuk's to the Hanson Brothers.
Bull Durham (1988)
What was it about the late 80s, baseball, and Kevin Costner? Seemed to be some sort of magic recipe for success.
Regardless, I love Bull Durham.
It nearly made my list outright, but was edged by Moneyball.
To be fair, however, Bull Durham is plagued by a lot of the same issues Moneyball is plagued by, and by that I mean they both have subplots that I feel grind the third acts of the films to a halt.
Costner plays Crash Davis, a minor league catcher and legend who is trying to fit in a few more good seasons of baseball to break the minor league home run record while trying to teach his young pitcher some of the unwritten rules of the game and courting the affections of the team's groupie, Annie Savoy.
It's the subplot between Crash and Annie that really grates at me, mainly because her character, played by Susan Sarandon, is insufferable.
Other than that, this movie is up there with some of the most quotable in the genre, and anyone who is even a casual baseball fan will adore this one from start to (almost) finish.
Miracle (2004)
Hand up, this might have been the biggest miss in my career here at OutKick.
I have no idea how I could not include Miracle on a list of greatest or favorite sports movies, especially during the Winter Olympics.
Kurt Russell's portrayal of US Men's National Team coach Herb Brooks is one of the best of all time, and the movie is so patriotic that I nearly cried Red, White, and Blue tears listening to his speech before their game against the Soviets.
This movie is as close as it gets to a perfect sports movie; the Platonic ideal of a historically accurate sports film.
I will own the fact that I didn't put this on my list, and I have received the requisite amount of shame in my email inbox, but if you feel as though I deserve more, feel free to email me at austin.perry@outkick.com.