I’ve written my share of athletes—snowboarders, outfielders, and point guards—mainly because of a love of sports. My dad is a rabid Texas Rangers fan, and there was always a game on at home. Some of that rubbed off, to the point that I enjoy sports movies, too. Here are a few of my favorite sports movies:
- Major League
All right, Gen Xers, how many of your remember Charlie Sheen playing the wild pitcher, and the ragtag bunch that made up the Cleveland Indians? The premise is pretty simple: once the owner’s wife inherits the team, she wants to move it to Florida, but they have to have a losing season for the move to be considered. Instead, they make it all the way to the play-offs. Now, this movie is NSFW, but it’s also pretty hilarious.
- The Sandlot
I didn’t see this movie until I was an adult, watching it with my kids, but the trueness of it struck me immediately. The way the boys were written…the banter, the shenanigans….it was so well done. And hey, how many times have you said, “You’re killing me, Smalls!” over the last decade or so. I also loved it because of the loving care and the homage is paid to baseball. This is a game of vacant lots and parks, played by kids with a summer to kill. Plus, James Earl Jones’s late cameo was amazing.
- Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby
I’m not much of a NASCAR fan (I’m an IndyCar girl), but this movie had me rolling. The spoofs were on the nose and the Battle Royale between Ricky Bobby and his arch nemesis cracked me up. I won’t drive around with a cougar in my car, though.
- A League of Their Own
Okay, this might be my favorite of the bunch. A quietly feminist message wrapped up in a baseball movie, bringing up themes of washed up coaches, sibling rivalry, and losses due to WWII? This movie is poignant, gorgeous, and full of comic relief. Tom Hanks as the hapless manager is almost enough to make you watch it on its own.
- Tin Cup
Being a (bad) golfer and a definite romantic, Tin Cup immediately appealed to me. Rene Russo and Kevin Costner had a cute chemistry, and the story of a washed up golf pro from a tiny driving range in west Texas going on to the US Open was really fun. Add in the fact that Roy was a hot mess and his track to the Open was a train wreck in progress only made it more entertaining.
Other sports movies to check out: Bend it like Beckham; Friday Night Lights, Bull Durham (man, I have a lot of Costner on here); Caddyshack; The Bad News Bears (the Walter Matthau version).
How about you? What are your favorite sports movies?
THE BAD BOY BARGAIN by Kendra C. Highley
Baseball player Kyle Sawyer has many labels: bad boy, delinquent, ladies’ man, fearless outfielder… Only one of them is actually true. But then sweet ballet dancer Faith Gladwell asks him to help wreck her reputation, and everything goes sideways.
Faith knows a thing or two about love, and what she had with her cheating jerk of an ex wasn’t it. When he starts spreading rumors about her being an Ice Queen, Faith decides it’s time to let a little bad into her life.
Lucky for her, Kyle Sawyer–dark, dangerous, totally swoonworthy Kyle Sawyer–is landscaping her backyard over Spring Break. Shirtless. And if she can convince him to play along, ” dating” Kyle will silence the rumors.
But Faith’s plan threatens to expose Sawyer’s biggest secret of all…and that’s a risk he’s not willing to take.
Young Adult [Entangled Teen, On Sale: November 14, 2016, e-Book, ISBN: 9781682813355 / eISBN: 9781682813355]
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