Sports Stories that Would Make Good Sports Movies

this could be a made for tv movie

http://decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/061003/game.shtml

 

I'll toss a few out for consideration:

1. The Packers dynasty of the '60s (have they ever made a movie on Kramer and Schaaf's "Instant Replay" book?).

2. Dan Gable, from his sister's murder and going undefeated in high school to being a wrestling legend. Most of the local yokels would love for that to be made into a movie.

3. Chris Street, who played for Iowa until his death in a car crash in '92. Street became a local hero in Indianola (south of Des Moines) and carried the town on his back to the state tournament and headed to Iowa.

4. The Palmer (IA) High basketball team that won 102 in a row until losing in the state semifinal round.

5. The Bears' 85 Super Bowl year. How can anyone not want to know what was McMahon doing on and off the field with his shennangians; how did the Fridge handle the instant superstardom; and Payton being Payton during that season?

 

Wonder if anyone can think of any true underdog/inspirational stories like Vince Papale and "Invincible" or the pitcher who inspired that movie "The Rookie" (which I never saw).

Those stories seem to come from the most random of places.

 

1. Rulon Gardner

2. The USFL-NFL wars

3. 1972 Olympic Basketball

4. The 60's Celtics, focusing on the relationship between Russell and Auerbach

5. Len Bias

 

Frank McGee didn't have a happy ending either. He died in World War I, literally blown to pieces by an exploding shell during the Battle of the Somme.

Yeah! Maybe we could get Russell Crowe and Burt Reynolds to star in it.

Mystery, Alaska

 

I've long been fascinated by the story of Andy Sullivan, a fish plant worker in St. John's, Newfoundland. He was a 32-year-old amateur hockey player when he was signed to play on a part-time basis for the St. John's AHL franchise.

The team was looking for a hometown hero who could fill in when needed and help attract crowds, and zeroed in on a guy who was a local legend but had been overlooked by the pros. He wound up with four goals and 16 points in 32 career games before the team finally let him go two years later.

 

This has ESPN written all over it.


and I dont think they made instant replay, but I think there was a documentary based on Kramer's sequel, "Distant Replay"

 

Now THAT sounds like a great story. Great character. Great story. Underdog overcoming odds.

See, I could see that being made into a movie. Only problem is that it's hockey which Hollywood doesn't care all that much about relative to the bigger sports. But who knows.

 

A hockey movie that mght actually grab the attention of the US would be the Story of Hobey Baker.
He was the Wayne Gretzky of the early 1900's, but he snubbed the thought of proffessional hockey despite every pro team coming after him. He was also a legend on the football field, as well as the ice, with Princeton and was one of the game's most dominant players during his time there. When World War I got going, he enlisted and became a test pilot, but died at the conclusion of the war. He took his plane out for one last flight and never returned. Some say it was intentional, that he figured he would not be able to go back to the mundane life of a civilian after being a test pilot. The NCAA now awards the best college hockey player the Hobey Baker award.

 

That Hobey Baker story does sound like a good one. Only problem is that it seems like Hollywood doesn't like period sports movies much. Think they like more modern stories.

But keep 'em coming, folks. Some great stories bouncing around.

 

So Disney's gonna fuck up the story of Perry Reese Jr.? Ugh...

 

The only man in both the hockey and college football halls of fame. Also the inspiration for a character in "The Sun Also Rises" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was at Princeton at the same time.

He's not in the Canadian football hall of fame, though. Let's face it, he's no Damon Allen.