Arguing the top sports movies of all time

Last Tuesday night, I had a wonderful experience. I went to a fundraiser for the National Liberty Museum, which was held at the museum itself. The main attraction was Ray Didinger and Glen Macnow showing clips from some of the greatest sports films ever made. It was a great evening, with the proceeds going to the museum's "Young Heroes" program.

In 2009, Didinger and Macnow wrote a book ranking the 100 greatest sports films of all time. It was incredibly interesting — and sure to be controversial among avid sports fans. Although I love the authors, I disagreed with many of their rankings. Their top 15 films were: 1) Rocky, 2) Hoosiers, 3) Raging Bull, 4) The Natural, 5) Bull Durham, 6) Slap Shot, 7) The Longest Yard, 8) The Hustler, 9) Caddyshack, 10) North Dallas Forty, 11) Field of Dreams, 12) Million Dollar Baby, 13) The Pride of the Yankees, 14) Hoop Dreams, 15) Brian's Song.

I thought there were some grievous omissions from the top 15 and one film that was seriously under ranked. My top 15 would be 1) Field of Dreams, 2) Remember the Titans, 3) Hoosiers, 4) Rocky, 5) The Natural, 6) Million Dollar Baby, 7) Bull Durham, 8) Miracle, 9) Chariots of Fire, 10) Bang the Drum Slowly, 11) Raging Bull, 12) Slap Shot, 13) The Rookie, 14) Invincible, and 15) Stealing Home. I left off my list The Longest Yard, The Hustler (no sports movie should include pool), Caddy Shack (not a sports movie – slapstick comedy), North Dallas Forty, Pride of the Yankees (I hate the Yankees), Hoop Dreams and Brian's Song. I moved into the top 15 Chariots of Fire, Remember the Titans, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Rookie, Invincible and Stealing Home. Truth to tell, if Invincible and Stealing Home were filmed about Boston, they never would have made my top 15 list, but since they are about Philadelphia, I couldn't leave them off. It is hard for me to believe that Didinger and Macnow did not put Miracle and Chariots of Fire in the top 15 and absolutely incredible that Remember the Titans was only 19 on their list. Chariots of Fire was a great movie period, Miracle may have been one of the best sports movies ever made, Million Dollar Baby not only was an inspiring sports film but Hilary Swank won the Academy Award for Best Actress and Clint Eastwood for Best Director. Eastwood was also incredible as Hilary's trainer.

My biggest disagreement with Didinger and Macnow was them ranking Field of Dreams 11^th. There were so many great moments in Field of Dreams, and it was so interesting how the voice that kept saying, "If you build it, he will come" had several iterations as to who "he" was. It was filled with great moments, like when James Earl Jones talked about what baseball has meant to America over the years. It was filled with great performances by Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan and two truly memorable performances by two of the best actors of all time, Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones.

But the real reason I believe it deserves to be number one is because of what it means to every son who played ball with his dad. The day before Father's Day in 2014, I wrote about that relationship with my dad and with my son Jesse. I wrote that for several years before my dad died (when I was 14), he and I would go to the park near our home to have a catch on a grass field. My dad would go behind the only bare patch within the field using it as home plate, while I pitched. Thirty years later, I took my 8-year-old son Jesse to that same park, found that same bare patch and played catch again.

The very next year, Field of Dreams came out and in the movie, Kevin Costner's character's dad had died when he was a teenager after they had a bitter fight. Years later, he realized that his dad was one of the players on the field with all of the deceased stars, and it hit him: "If you build it, he will come" was referring to his dad. He asked him if he wanted to have a catch, and his dad answers, "I'd like that" and they did. The catch gave Costner's character a way to erase the memory of that bitter fight. In Didinger and Macnow's, they quote Sports Illustrated writer Peter King who said, "Every kid who grew up playing baseball at some point played catch with his father. You don't think of it as an emotional experience, but when your dad is gone, it really is. Every time I see that movie, I bawl. I can't help it!"

Me too, Peter, me too. Which of why Field of Dreams must be number one.

In any event, if you haven't read the Didinger and Macnow book, you should buy it and use it to make up your own list. You surely won't agree with them on every ranking, and you definitely won't agree with me!