Best Sports Movie that doesn't end with a big game/fight/match whatever

Bang The Drum Slowly

 

Bull Durham's "climactic" games happen barely halfway through the movie.

 

The Sandlot

 

Would Jerry Maguire count? There is the dramatic MNF game, but Jerry begging Dorothy to come back (don't get me started on how he got back to her house in time after the game), plus Tidwell appears on Roy Firestone, and the last scene at the park all happen afterward.

Pride of the Yankees, ends with Gehrig's speech.

The Express, ends with Ernie Davis walking while his column is being read.

 

This doesn't really answer the thread question, but I've always hated that The Fighter ends before Ward's fights with Gatti.

 

Slap Shot.

(Ends with a parade).

 

* Would For Love of the Game count? It's a regular season finale, not a championship or playoff game.

* We Are Marshall - just a regular season game victory

* Remember the Titans - ends with Bertier's funeral, not the championship game

 

I still don't think Jerry Maguire counts as a "sports" movie. It's a romance in which one of the characters happens to be a sports agent.

I think KJIM nailed it when he brought up the Sandlot. The climatic scene is a kid running from a dog.

 

One on One ends with Robby Benson saying to the coach "up yours with a red hot poker".

 

A League of their Own ends many years later with the Rockford Peaches visiting their Hall of Fame exhibit.

 

Some these are "cheats" though - yeah the final scene isn't the "big game" but the movie does build toward them. There might be a "button" on the end or something (like one on one, or RtT) but everything builds toward a big game. Field of Dreams is a good one. Graham gets his AB, saves the daughter from choking, he an Mann head to the cornfield, Ray doesn't sell, people start coming to the games (but all they'll see is two dudes playing catch).

 

Yeah, but all three of those movies have the "big game" in the last 10 minutes of the movie.