When I think February, I think of Valentines Day. And on Valentines Day, thoughts turn to love. Webmaster Jerry said good luck finding sports movies about love, so I took it as a challenge. Okay, so I got 9 out of 10, but I had to get one of last year's Top Ten films in here, and put TIN CUP in January's poll before I came up with whole notion of the Romantic Sports Movies theme idea. (Note to self, no more themes.) I am sure I missed a few others, some on purpose. You can suggest movies by e-mailing the Movie Guys at the address on this page.

Here’s this month's list of sports movies, more than a few with a just a little bit of a love story involved. You can tell us what you think of these movies by voting for your Favorite Sports Movie in this month's poll. By year's end, we'll have another Top Ten Favorite Sports Movie Poll for you to choose from.

Don’t forget to rewind!

Your Pal,
Hal

LITTLE GIANTS (1994) – Familiar story of a small town kid's football team where the outcasts band together and create their own team of underdogs. The twist here is that most obviously talented player, a girl, is the one that gets cut. Boys don't want to play with girls. When Wendy, "The Icebox", gets cut, she turns to her dad for advice. He is so supportive, he decides to create a new team so his daughter can play. The coaches are brothers, one a local football hero, the other a supposed wimp. Dad gathers together the most unlikely team of players and they have to play the main team because there can be only one team in town.

When she suddenly drops out, because of her infatuation with a boy (she's convinced by her uncle that boys don't like strong girls), the team is on their own. Coach Dad has to come up with a way to inspire his team to play their best and overcome his passion to beat his brother for the sake of the kids who have tried so hard to prove their mettle. Formulaic, but funny with a little dose of pre-adolescent goo-goo eyes thrown in. Watch for cameos by John Madden and several football stars, whose advice to the kids give them inspiration and teach them the value of teamwork. Good for the whole family. (PG)
RICK MORANIS, ED O’NEIL SUSAN GRANGER

CUTTING EDGE (1982) – Winter Olympics tryouts – two worlds collide. Hockey and Figure Skating – two opposites on the ice. (Say this in a deep voice and it sounds like every film promo.)

Doug has injured his eye, no peripheral vision, and has no hope of joining the Olympic hockey team let alone his hopes of ever turning pro. Life long hopeful Olympic Figure skater Katya can't keep a partner, due to her lofty attitude. Her coach, who is reaching way below the bottom of the barrel for anyone who will skate with her, recruits Doug. He can't resist a challenge and agrees. It's a big challenge. They are from two different worlds, both in the skating rink and on a social plane. They can't agree on anything, but they must perform as a team and find a higher ground. He also faces criticism from his friends and family, who don't realize he is working harder as a figure skater than he ever did as a hockey player. The predictable plot moves along nicely, with a few twists and is enjoyable mainly due to the chemistry the two actors share. (PG)
D.B. SWEENEY MOIRA KELLY, ROY DOTRICE, TERRY O’QUINN

BULL DURHAM (1988) – Crash Davis is veteran minor league catcher whose best days are behind him. He gets paired up with "Nuke", a cocky rookie pitcher and is instructed to season him up for the majors. Enter Annie, sexy bombshell baseball groupie, who beds one lucky player per season and claims "There's never been a ball player who slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career."

Few other movies combine the genres of romantic comedy and sports movies so effortlessly. Contains very steamy love scenes between Sarandon and Costner. Won several major Film Critics Awards for its excellent screen play. (R)
KEVIN COSTNER, SUSAN SARANDON, TIM ROBBINS, KEVIN WUHL

THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL (1939) – Johnny Brentfield, "One Grand Guy", gets drunk after a big fight and mouths off in front of a reporter that his humble act is just that – an act. He really does drink, hang with loose women, and his dear old Ma has been dead for years. When the reporter winds up dead, Johnny is the lead suspect and has to take it on the lam. He winds up in the Southwest at a ranch for troubled teens and ends up teaching the Dead End Kids how to box.

When his south-paw style of boxing is noticed in a photograph that ends up on the tenacious NYC detective's desk, the chase is on. Will he be able to fight in the traveling boxing show to earn the money to save the farm and stay with his new found love? A pretty good mystery directed by Busby Berkeley, most well known for his dancing chorus girl movies. (N/R)
JOHN GARFIELD, THE DEAD END KIDS, CLAUDE RAINS, ANNE SHERIDAN

ROCKY (1976) – Sylvester Stallone wrote this Rag-to-Rags story of a palooka from Philadelphia, PA. It is an intense portrait of a part-time hood and small-time boxer who gets picked to fight a championship match with Apollo Creed, heavy weight champion. Expecting nothing more than a demonstration match, Apollo is sadly reminded of how the human spirit of a man with nothing to loose can rise to the occasion.

It is Rocky's self-determination to prove he can rise above his condition and the love for Adrian, his manager's sister, which carries his spirit to the end. (A guy from I went to high school with throws the orange Rocky catches in the Italian Market on the way to his famous run up Philly's Art Museum steps. How 'bout that, huh?)

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including two nods to Stallone for acting and writing. Winner of the Academy Award for best picture, best director, and best editing in 1976, and still holds up today as a great movie. (PG)
SYLVESTOR STALLONE, TALIA SHIRE, BURGESS MERIDETH, BURT YOUNG, CARL WEATHERS

MR. BASEBALL (1992) – Jack Elliot, first baseman for the New York Yankees, gets traded to the Nagoya Dragons, a Japanese baseball team. Immediately at loggerheads with his new coach and unwilling to bend to Japanese customs, Jack's cultural faux pas are insulting to his new team. He meets and begins to fall for Hiroko, an advertising executive in charge of the player's endorsement deals. As Jack and Hiroko get closer, she invites him home to meet her family. Jack is shocked to find that Hiroko's father is none other than his cranky coach. Coach Uchiyama is none too thrilled to find out his daughter is dating the man that may cost him his career.

Both men realize that Hiroko has brought them together to work out their differences, because she loves them both. While Jack learns a lesson in respect and humility, he also teaches his coach and teammates a spirit of fun and camaraderie. (PG-13)
TOM SELLECK, KEN TAKAKURA, AYA TAKANASHI, TOSHI SHIOYA, DENNIS HAYSBERT

CHILLY DOGS (2002) – Travel agent Kevin, a bored and "looking for action" kinda guy in L.A., gets an inheritance from his grand father in Alaska. He arrives in Alaska with high hopes, but finds he is getting only the cabin, a trunk-full of Grandpa's stuff, a diary and the wish from his grandfather the he race in the Iditerod. The whole town seems to be against him, especially the dirty dealing lawyer who tries to hinder him at every turn, but he respects his long-lost family's wishes. Of course he falls for the beautiful, but tough as nails lone female also racing. The performances of the characters made me stick through this movie. Slapstick laughs, and plenty of pre-adolescent family fun. (PG-13)
SKEET ULRIGE, NATAHS HENDRIDGE, LESLIE NIELSON

TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT (1989) – Incredible true story of Greek Jew Salamo Arouch, who was imprisoned in Auschwitz during World War II. Boxing since he was a kid on the docks, Salamo is forced to box other inmates for the entertainment of the SS. It's kill or be killed, as the loser of each match is carted away to certain death. Separated from his wife, but lodged in camp with his father, his duty is to his family. As he fights, and wins, he finds his privileges increase, easier jobs and better food, which he can pass along to his father (Robert Loggia, in a fine performance). When his father is "selected" as being too weak to be of any more use in the camps, his anger is channeled into his matches and these matches are intense.

As news that Auschwitz is about to fall and the war will be lost, the Nazis scramble, but wildly hold onto the fights. But Salamo refuses and regains his humanity, joins the oppositions against his captors and is reunited with his love.

This film was actually shot in the camp at Auschwitz, and has a very gritty feel. But it also has long, tender shots of just two people talking, something you just don't see in a films these days. It might seem to some that these scenes slow the film down, but it really adds insight to the characters and their development. (R)
WIILEM DEFOE, ROBERT LOGGIA, EDWARD JAME OLMOS, WENDY GAZELLE, COSTAS MANDYLOR KELLY WOLF

PAT AND MIKE (1952) – In this wonderfully smart film, Katherine Hepburn plays Pat, a Phys. Ed. teacher at a local California college. She is a gifted athlete who turns to putty whenever her fiancée watches her compete. Enter Mike (Tracey), a shady sports promoter, who recognizes her talent and thinks there is money to be made if she turns professional. If he is to succeed, he has to keep her away from him. Sparks begin to fly as Pat and Mike's professional relationship gets personal.

Director George Cukor gave the willowy Hepburn a chance to display her real-life athletic prowess amongst a cast of professional sports figures of the time, including Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Helen Dettweiller and Betty Hicks. Look for newcomers Chuck Connors and Charles Bronson (then Buchinski) in minor roles. The witty Screenplay, written by Ruth Gordon (perhaps best known as Maude in "Harold and Maude") and Garson Kanin was nominated for an Academy Award. (N/R)
SPENCER TRACEY, KATHERINE HEPBURN, ALDO RAY, JIM BACKUS, WILLIAM CHING

SLAP SHOT (1977) – Edgy black comedy directed by George Roy Hill. The Chiefs, a losing hockey team in the minor leagues, can't seem to catch a break. The fans, what little of them that show up, heckle the players, or worse, ignore them. Even though they try their best, it seems that they are just not that good. This might be their final season.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the owner brings in three ruffians, the Hanson brothers, from Canada to jazz up the team. Player/Coach Newman is, at first, reluctant to put these hooligans on the ice. "Dirty hockey" is not on the team's roster. Soon though, he realizes that he is too old to be traded, and he won't be able to get another coaching job if his team loses. So he plays his trump cards, and puts in the brothers, who play so violently they get ejected, but the team wins and the fans go wild!

Even as they continue winning, Coach Newman begins to realize that this is not his brand of hockey. In an inspired 12th hour speech, he convinces his team to play the championship game straight. No more fights, just clean hockey. Even as the opposing team brings on the violence, the Chiefs do not fight back. One man has reminded his team that sportsmanship and a sense of fun is more important than winning.

This film was panned in the '70s for the violent hockey scenes, but much of the violence is played for laughs. So the violence is not a concern for parents, but be warned, there is sex, nudity, and very foul language. Another thing to watch out for is the fashions – those checkered pants'll kill ya. An excellent supporting cast includes M. Emmett Walsh and Strother Martin. (R)
PAUL NEWMAN, MICHAEL ONTKEAN, LINDSAY CROUSE, MILLINDA DILLON

BONUS FOOTAGE

Some movies are Good, some movies are Great, some movies are just plain awful and we like those too. From time to time we hope to provide you with a review of some of our favorite guilty pleasures, a movie that's "so bad, that it's good."

DEATH RACE 2000 – It's the far distant year 2000 and the future never looked so exciting! In order to keep the idle middle-class complacent and glued to their tubes, the government sponsors a yearly, violent cross-country road rally where the drivers score extra points by killing pedestrians - with bonus points for the sick and elderly.

Campy, gory Roger Corman fun-fest with Sly Stallone as one of the challengers to David Carradine's Champion. I made one the younger members of the video store I work in take this video home. It is now one of his "Staff Picks." Plenty of bad taste to offend most everyone. Directed by Paul Bartel best known for "Eating Raul." Nudity and violence. (R)
DAVID CARRADINE, SIMONE GRIFFETH, SLYVESTER STALLONE