Sport Movie Greatest Classics

In no particular order of my favorites because they are all equally great in their own right, they are so listed chronologically. The best part is, I'm not even a football or boxing fan but these movies won me over.

1. Rocky (1976) Sylvester Stallone, wrote and starred in all the Rocky films. Rocky Balboa is struggling to make ends meet. He boxes at underground clubs for extra cash. Luckily, he gets the opportunity to fight in the ring with a world heavyweight champion. Rocky, the underdog, knows that it's his only chance to go the distance and come out a winner. The film won 10 academy awards (which doesn't always guarantee a great movie IMO) and generated 5 sequels. Whenever I hear the song, Eye of the Tiger, I am always reminded of Rocky. A classic film from my youth.

2. Wildcats (1986) Football movie stars Goldie Hawn as the PE teacher/football coach, with the task of reforming a group of misfits. Great plot, lots of laughs - a female coach in a men's locker room, Goldie's fiery spirit is perfect in this character portrayal. Gotta love a movie that introduced Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson! I relate to Goldie in this film, as a single and struggling Mom of 2. Women are tough and Goldie proves it in this role.

3. School Ties (1992) Another great football movie set in the 1950's, starring Brendan Fraser - a Jew attend a wealthy boarding school on a football scholarship. Trying but failing to keep his religion a secret, prejudices and bigotry unfold. Also stars some of my other favorite actors: Matt Damon and Chris O'Donnell, it's a classic with wonderful actors and script!

4. Jerry Maguire (1996) Yet another great football movie, written by Cameron Crowe, with a stellar cast: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Regina King, Bonnie Hunt and Renee Zellweger. Tom plays a sports agent who writes a regretable memo that costs his job. He leaves the firm, asking, "Who's coming with me?" Renee, a single mom (of the kid who says so cutely, "you know the human head weighs 8 lbs") joins him on his quest for professional recovery. She falls in love with Tom, who is quite confused about his future. I also loved the lines delivered perfectly by Renee and Cuba, "You had me at hello" and "Show me the money." Cuba is the professional football player that brings great comedy to the drama.

5. The Waterboy (1998) Football seems to make great story lines. He plays a backwoods, mentally challenged (Forest Gumpish) goofy waterby, with a fixation on serving the coolest, most refreshing water available to the college football team he has happily served since high school. When fired from that position, he takes up a similar job. One day at practice, he loses his temper and delivers a bone-shaking tackle to the starting quarterback. Soon after, he's the star of the team and leading it to a bowl game. But it's all against the wishes of his overprotective mother played by Kathy Bates. Adam Sandler is a favorite comedian in my household.