Sports and Movies

I've been trying to think of my favorite sports movies in response to Dexys' post about the Oscars, but the more I think about it, I'm of the view that sports and movies don't really mix, because they are substitutes for one another. I watch sports for the drama -- indeed, drama where no one knows the ending, and where there can be more than one protagonist (the team you are rooting for). I watch movies for the same thing. Roger Angell wrote a good column on this entitled "No, But I Saw The Game", which you can find in here.

So, to me, the best sports movies are the ones where you see the stuff you don't see in the games -- that's why I have to say my favorite baseball movie is Bull Durham, because it parodied the world of being a pro ballplayer in way that carried a lot of truth (in the same way that Spinal Tap parodied the recording industry perfectly). My favorite part is where Crash Davis give Nuke the cliche answers to reporters' questions before he heads up to the majors. Every time I see a ballplayer interviewed I think of that scene.