SPORTS, LIFE, & THE MOVIES
I just finished watching Denzel Washington in one of his great roles as Coach Boone in Remember the Titans. It got me to thinking about the great sports movies of all time and what attracts us to them. Simple, drama is what engages us about sports and sports movies. The drama of whether or not this is Phil Mickelson’s year for a major or can Kurt Russell’s boys beat the Soviets in Miracle. Drama is real life and in order to survive in life we have to persevere, and in most sports movies there is a great deal of perseverance. Coaches always talk about how sports mirror life and this is most evident in what sports stories make great movies. The movies with the most perseverance and the best to watch are the ones that are based on true stories.
Recently ESPN’s Page 2 compiled a list of the 20 greatest sports movies of all time. Excluding the 4 comedies 9 of the other 16 are movies based on true stories. Most people would have to agree that Rocky, Hoosiers, Raging Bull, and Eight Men Out are among the top sports movies of all time. All of these movies portray the lessons we learn about life through sports. Rocky was written by Sylvester Stallone when he was inspired by the real life tale of “The Bayonne Bleeder” Chuck Wepner who stood toe to toe with Muhammed Ali. Carpe Diem, that is what Rocky is about, taking advantage of that once in lifetime opportunity. Hoosiers lets us know that if we come together, as sports so often teaches us to do, great things can be achieved no matter what the obstacles. These movies truly show us how sports are a great metaphor for life. Life may have us down at some point but at anytime there is chance for redemption.
As in all walks of life sports has it share of tragedy and tragic characters. Raging Bull shows us the self destructive nature that hides inside us all. Robert DeNiro brilliantly plays the talented but self loathing Jake LaMotta. The same passion and rage that drives him as a fighter also drives him to paranoia and his ultimate self destruction. His life spirals out of control and he loses everything, his career, his family, and the admiration of his friends. In Eight Men Out we are given a cautionary tale of how a quick fix can go terribly wrong. The ballplayers knew that taking money from gamblers to lose games was wrong, but they saw no other way out of the situation their owner had put them in. This is a reflex action that almost every one of us has had in life, where we do something we know is wrong yet we feel it is the only way to solve our current situation. These dramatic films portray the tragedy that can befall anyone of us throughout life if we are not careful.
The real life drama of sports engages us on a daily basis. When these dramas are brought to the screen through movies we get to see the best and worst of the human spirit through the sports arena. Watching Remember the Titans tonight made me realize what is good in sports and how it can teach us so much about life. Yes some of the drama in these movies is made up, but the spirit of them is just the same. We live for those moments in our lives when we have the opportunity to do something we thought may not be possible and sports brings us those moments routinely. Hopefully the positive lessons that sports teaches us and our children can be carried over into our everyday lives.
Recently ESPN’s Page 2 compiled a list of the 20 greatest sports movies of all time. Excluding the 4 comedies 9 of the other 16 are movies based on true stories. Most people would have to agree that Rocky, Hoosiers, Raging Bull, and Eight Men Out are among the top sports movies of all time. All of these movies portray the lessons we learn about life through sports. Rocky was written by Sylvester Stallone when he was inspired by the real life tale of “The Bayonne Bleeder” Chuck Wepner who stood toe to toe with Muhammed Ali. Carpe Diem, that is what Rocky is about, taking advantage of that once in lifetime opportunity. Hoosiers lets us know that if we come together, as sports so often teaches us to do, great things can be achieved no matter what the obstacles. These movies truly show us how sports are a great metaphor for life. Life may have us down at some point but at anytime there is chance for redemption.
As in all walks of life sports has it share of tragedy and tragic characters. Raging Bull shows us the self destructive nature that hides inside us all. Robert DeNiro brilliantly plays the talented but self loathing Jake LaMotta. The same passion and rage that drives him as a fighter also drives him to paranoia and his ultimate self destruction. His life spirals out of control and he loses everything, his career, his family, and the admiration of his friends. In Eight Men Out we are given a cautionary tale of how a quick fix can go terribly wrong. The ballplayers knew that taking money from gamblers to lose games was wrong, but they saw no other way out of the situation their owner had put them in. This is a reflex action that almost every one of us has had in life, where we do something we know is wrong yet we feel it is the only way to solve our current situation. These dramatic films portray the tragedy that can befall anyone of us throughout life if we are not careful.
The real life drama of sports engages us on a daily basis. When these dramas are brought to the screen through movies we get to see the best and worst of the human spirit through the sports arena. Watching Remember the Titans tonight made me realize what is good in sports and how it can teach us so much about life. Yes some of the drama in these movies is made up, but the spirit of them is just the same. We live for those moments in our lives when we have the opportunity to do something we thought may not be possible and sports brings us those moments routinely. Hopefully the positive lessons that sports teaches us and our children can be carried over into our everyday lives.
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