Sports Movies and the Oscar “shutout”
As noted earlier this month in the Personal Journal section of the WSJ, there haven’t been very many sports-related movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. While the sport of boxing has received...
View ArticlePolo, Anyone?
Quick! What could bring the talented, the powerful and the famous together in studio era Hollywood? Not a movie. Not a premiere. And not a high stakes poker game, though plenty of those went on...
View ArticleFall Classics
Major League Baseball is in the midst of a preposterously entertaining postseason, with major upsets and wild finishes happening almost every night. As I typed that, Nelson Cruz hit a walk-off grand...
View ArticleHow about a “big screen” tennis biography?
It was over 5 years ago that I wrote on these pages about my other passion and its relation to this one, and referred to an ‘essay’ that I’d written on the topic for my site. (The article is really...
View ArticleWinning Isn’t Everything: A Sports Movie Symposium
Robert Redford & Camilla Sparv in DOWNHILL RACER (1969) This week millions of viewers will tune in to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London so I thought it would be a...
View ArticleSomething Tough: Body And Soul and Force Of Evil
(L-R) Abraham Polonsky, George Barnes, Jack Warren (?) and John Garfield on the set of Force of Evil “According to materials contained in the PCA [Production Code Administration] files in the AMPAS...
View ArticlePigskin Psychology: Semi-Tough (1977)
The NFL regular season begins this Thursday night when the defending champion Baltimore Ravens face the Denver Broncos. It has been a tumultuous offseason for the National Football League, as they...
View ArticlePigskin Addicts: College Coach (1933) and Easy Living (1949)
Staring disconsolately at a blank wall as the Buffalo Bills are eliminated from playoff contention is one of my longest held traditions. It’s been fourteen years since that benighted franchise has...
View ArticleOde to Strats; or How I Learned to Stop Being a Jerk and Love Sports Movies
I used to have a chip on my shoulder about sports movies. Actually, more properly stated, I used to have a chip on my shoulder about sports in general, and sports movies were just a subset of that...
View ArticleThe Agony of Defeat: Four Falls of Buffalo (2015)
On January 3rd, 1993, the Buffalo Bills trailed the Houston Oilers 28 – 3 at halftime. I was 11 years old, and had gone to the Wild Card playoff game at Rich Stadium outside of Buffalo, NY with my...
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