Sports Stories that Would Make Good Sports Movies

Recently saw "Invincible" and really liked it. I thought I'd find it cheesy, but it was quite well done.

What an amazing story about Vince Papale. I'm sure some of the details are fudge in Hollywood fashion, but I'm always struck when you see these sports movies based on real stories that seem to come out of nowhere.

Or more specifically, typically the great sports movies aren't based on famous athletes, famous teams, or usually even famous sports events. They're based on often little known stories or athletes that made for inspirational stories.

So that got me thinking about what other sports stories people think would make for a good sports movie.

Curious what people think.

 

Meet Me In St. Louis.. with Margaret O'Brien as the reporter.

 

Well, apparently there's a movie about the Marshall plane crash in 1970 coming out. ESPN might have mentioned it tonight. [sarcasm/]

That one actually might be pretty good. Former Georgia kicker Billy Bennett played the kicker in the film. It's about the only kicking he's done since he graduated.

 

Are you trying to hint there might be a Disney tie in????

 

Albert Haynesworth stars in Stomp!

 

Never. Though it looked like Matthew McConaughey was preparing to star in Cast Away 2.

 

The story of the black hoop coach in Amish country in Ohio, Perry Reese Jr. by name, would make a good flick. Gary Smith's story in March 5, 2001 SI was vintage Smith. Also made the following year's BASW.

 

Great call on Gary Smith's story about the black coach of the Amish basketball team.

Looks like that is indeed being made into a film already. Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer - he of Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Glory Road - are developing it.

That's a perfect example of the type of somewhat obscure, non-high profile sports story that is perfect for adaptation to film.

I'm sure there are many others like it.

 

I would think the Secretariat story is bound for Hollywood at some point.

And who was that kick returner for Alabama back in the 1960s? Fast guy but stupid as shit. Forrest something...

 

The Lubbock High School Westerners won the Texas state football championship in 1939, back when only one state champ was crowned. The team already had one loss in district play (you had to win district to make the playoffs at the time) and appeared on the verge of elimination when head coach Weldon Chapman went into the hospital with what was reported as "a throat ailment" (players on the team later said they suspected the coach suffered from throat cancer, but this was never officially acknowledged).

On the night Lubbock played a key game at Plainview, the Westerners pulled off the upset to keep their playoff hopes alive while Chapman was kept updated in his hospital room. According to legend (and this comes frome Lubbock High archives, so take it for what it's worth) the coach was informed of the final score, closed his eyes, smiled and died.

The Westerners went on to beat powerhouse Amarillo High 9-7 on a safety in the fourth quarter, handing the Golden Sandstorm its first loss ever to a Texas team at Butler Field. Lubbock High got rolling after that and wound up beating Paul Tyson's Waco High Tigers (another team that was supposed to run the Westerners off the field) 20-14.

If any story deserves the Disney treatment, this is it. This was a bunch of kids living in the middle of nowhere at the height of the Great Depression. A few years later, most of them were smack in the middle of WWII.

 

Sounds like a hella good story. How much of it is true? Ha! Disney doesn't care.

Yeah, I'd probably go see it.

 

Pat Tillman's life story.