I was recently listening to the radio and there was an interview with an American writer about his book on the best all-time sports movies and it got me to thinking.
I love movies and I love sports so it’s no big surprise I’m a fan of sports movies. So, I was thinking as I listened to the radio that yeah, I could do a list of my own favourite sports movies. I quickly found out that it was not such an easy task.
Now, I’ve thought this over and decided I need to set some parameters for my list of favourite sports movies. This is not a list of what I think are the greatest sports movies ever and that’s where I have to make a distinction.
This is just a list of my favourites — movies I have no problem watching over and over. These are not, necessarily great movies.
Plus, there’s one other parameter here — what makes up a sport. Now, a lot of people wouldn’t call certain events sports while others would, so to settle that debate for this list I have one criteria — if TSN or Sportsnet or ESPN broadcasts coverage of a sport, game or event, then it qualifies in my eyes for this list.
Now, I’m going to split my list into two sections — scripted movies with actors and documentaries. For this week, I’m going to look at documentaries. Next week, I’ll get into the scripted movies.
1. Hoop Dreams — This bittersweet tale of two young, black basketball players from Chicago’s inner city is one of my all time favourite movies of any genre. When it came out in 1994, I saw it in the theatre three times. It’s almost three hours long and worth it as documentarians followed the two boys from Grade 8 to the end of high school and includes not just basketball but all of the problems they go through living in a tough part of Chicago.
2. When We Were Kings — An in-depth look at the legendary Rumble in the Jungle boxing match from the 1970s between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, as well as the hubhub surrounding the event and, especially, Ali, a man most people thought was washed up.
3. Murderball — This is an amazing look at the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, and a former U.S. team member who became Canada’s coach, as they prepare for the 2004 Paralympics. It’s a tremendous look at an interesting sport, as well as the athletes who are handicapped to varying degrees.
4. Beyond the Mat — OK, now I admit that professional wrestling isn’t a sport in the sense of two opponents competing to determine an outcome but wrestlers certainly are athletic and it has been shown on sports networks so that’s enough for me to stick this gem in here. This look at pro wrestling and the toll the industry has taken on the physical and mental well-being of some wrestlers is incisive, disturbing and, at times, heart-breaking. Even if you don’t like wrestling, it’s still a fascinating movie.
5. Spellbound — Again, I can hear the comment, this isn’t really a sport. And no, spelling bees are not sport but ESPN shows them live and there is a hugely competitive aspect to it, so I’ve included it. This movie is amazing, especially the way it looks at how some parents really push their kids to succeed in the national spelling bee.
6. Once in a Lifetime — When I was growing up, the North American Soccer League was on its last legs and its one-time crown jewel, the New York Cosmos, no longer shone so bright. So I didn’t understand the role the team played in building up soccer in North America in the ’70s. This is a fun look at a team that was, at one point hugely popular during a decadent decade in the most decadent city in the world.
7. Wrestling with Shadows — Yes, so I’m back to wrestling but this is another heart-breaking look at a “sport” that has killed so many at such a young age. Specifically, this looks at Calgary’s Bret “The Hitman” Hart and his troubled family. The look at the Hart family as a whole is, at times, very sad.
8. This is a Game Ladies — I’ve only been able to catch this once on television, but when I did I was transfixed. The documentarians spent a full year with the Rutgers University women’s basketball team and, specifically, its well-known coach, Vivian Stringer. This is a fascinating look at a group of young women playing in the spotlight of college basketball while trying to grow up away from home.
9. Skating in the Sand — This was a TV documentary I taped more than 15 years ago about the development of hockey in Israel. It was a well-done movie about the men — including expatriate Canadians — who put a lot of time and effort into growing hockey in a climatically hot nation.
10. The Man Who Skied Down Everest — I’m not a huge fan of this ponderously-slow Japanese documentary and I’ve probably forgotten about one or two other docs I like, but this movie about a large expedition that climbed up Mount Everest in 1970 is worth watching just for the last couple minutes featuring nut job Yuichiro Miura skiing down 6,600 feet of Mount Everest before falling another 1,300 feet and getting close to falling into a crevasse.
Jason Small can be reached at 691-1255.
