Rather than try to ask a question related to the MWC news of resuming football and risk it being outdated by the time this posts Friday, we will take this week’s roundtable in a completely different direction. What is your favorite sports movie and what do you like about it?

Zach:

I’m a simple man and love a good laugh. I’m going with the Sandlot. It is something from my childhood that I can share with my kids and we all get a laugh. It is a feel good movie with a lot of laughs, we could use more of that in our world. Remember the Titans would be my next choice.

Graham_Gibson:

I really enjoy Remember the Titans. This film really demonstrates what the unity of teammates looks like and what a team can do when they have great chemistry. While the old saying defense wins championships can be true, a team that ultimately wins championships will more times than not have really good team chemistry which makes the team better and more confident as a whole. Take LSU in 2019 for example, they had awesome team chemistry and had a very memorable championship run. Even years after the Titans won the state title former teammates and coaches attended Bertier’s funeral and this really shows that sports are so much more than sports, especially for those involved.

Adam:

My favorite all-time sports movie is Hoosiers. What’s not to love about this movie? We get small-town Indiana basketball, which is almost as huge as football in the south. We get the story of a coach, who wasn’t well liked at first, getting players and fans to buy into his system and win. And we get him turning some people’s lives around, his own and Coach Shooter’s as well. And I haven’t even gotten to the role of underdogs yet. And who doesn’t love a story about underdogs?

NittanyFalcon:

My choice will undoubtedly reveal my age, but I have to say Damn Yankees is my favorite all-time sports movie. I was about 6 years old when I first saw the movie, and I was a huge LA Dodger fan and my biggest wish was to become a baseball player. The idea of a nobody becoming a big baseball star overnight was exactly in line with my wishes. I think in my mind I just glossed over the fact that Joe Boyd had to sell his soul to the devil and leave his wife to fulfill his wishes. But of course in true Hollywood fashion, in the end Joe Boyd escapes the devil’s grasp while providing the winning catch to defeat the Damn Yankees. Another movie with a similar sentiment that I enjoyed was “The Natural” with Robert Redford.

Mike:

There are a lot of good sports movies to choose from, but mine is definitely Remember the Titans. It has a great performance by Denzel Washington and features future stars Ryan Gosling and Hayden Panettiere. It’s quotable, emotional, and a plus that it’s based on a true story (even if the movie takes quite a few liberties). It’s an important story of sports at the forefront of making strides in racial issues in our country. And the team is full of talent and fun to watch. Plus, it has an amazing soundtrack.