Unguarded

Chris Herren was a rising basketball star in his home town of Fall River. Like his brother and the local heroes before him, he was destined for greatness; to run through a basketball filled college career and become and NBA All Star. His journey was put to a halt due to overwhelming pressure, and countless dark addictions. “Unguarded” is an ESPN film directed by Jonathan Hock. It tells the story of the adversity and difficulty Herren went through to find life’s true meaning, and the value of life based on what you enjoy and want, and what you feel you need to do.

“Unguarded” focuses on the challenge Herren went through as a boy growing up through college. The biggest problem in his life, before he started drugs, was the weight that was thrust onto his shoulders of restoring his town to its former glory, and succeeding where his brother could not: the NBA.  When it seemed like he was on the right track to fulfilling this destiny, Herren’s life took a dark turn. Rather than becoming an NBA super star, he became an addict. Herren had difficulty keeping his mind on the game, and instead of thriving in what he had wanted his whole life, he began a steep downward spiral at the mercy of the drugs he was taking.

I thought this was a great documentary because it gave a real in depth look at Herren and his life. I believe the reason it was so good was because Herren sees it as a learning experience for other people who are in similar situations as he was. Due to this similar learning experience, he clearly isn’t shy about sharing it all with ESPN. I think that’s great because it really lets us get 100% into the story and see a full view of his life.

Overall, I would say this was a great documentary and would recommend it not to just any sports fan, but anybody. If your someone who enjoys learning and seeing a different view to things than you are used to, then this is a great film for you.

Pride of The Yankees

“Pride of The Yankees” directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, was a film released in 1942, a year after the passing of the movies centerpiece, Lou Gehrig. “Pride of The Yankees” is a sports movie, clearly, but it is not a focus of a team and their struggle through adversity to succeed in their sport, rather, it is the tale of a humble, homely, sincere, affectionate, and all around kind human being: Lou Gehrig.

Gehrig was a softhearted man who valued family, friendship, and love more than anything else. The stumbling onto a baseball field and discovering an utter talent beyond belief was simply a pleasant surprise. Lou stumbled upon this surprise when struggling to pay the bills to support himself and his family, a true depiction of his great character. The film did a great job with depicting things such as these to show what a great man Lou really was.

While the storyline of a great character arc was truly remarkable, I had a difficult time appreciating a sports movie, which focuses on one of the greatest baseball players of all time, yet didn’t have that much actual baseball in it. The movie primarily works on showing the great character of Lou himself, and does an excellent job of winning the viewers over into appreciating its main character; however, I would have enjoyed seeing Lou crush the ball a little more.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty solid movie. However, I don’t think I would put it into the qualifications of one of the greatest sports movies of all time, but it is clearly a classic, and is essentially about one of the most influential and loveable sports figures of all time, therefore it still won me over as a good movie in general.

Remember The Titans

“Remember the Titans” directed by Boaz Yakin tells the story of the Virginia T.C Williams High School football team, the Titans. Starring Denzel Washington, and Will Patton as coaches of the first young mixed-racial football team in Virginia. This is the greatest sports movie of all time. Why? Because it incorporates everything: great sports scenes, its based off an amazing true story, has great character driven plot lines, and above all deals with the overwhelmingly emotional story of the integrated young black and white men who represented more than just their high school football team.

The story starts with the integration of blacks into the T.C Williams High School, and the hiring of a new head football coach, Herman Boone (Washington). The team is sent to Gettysburg Virginia to attempt to gel as a team in pre-season training camp. The team comes together, but returns back to reality at T.C Williams to realize the racial barriers were still very much alive outside of their family. The team struggles through adversity throughout the season in your typical sports movie depicting the rising success of a sport team. However, what makes “Remember the Titans” different is that all along, you are experiencing the issues the boys went through first hand. Between teammates getting into school fights, being kicked out of restaurants, and the overwhelming tragedy of Wood Harris, team captain linebacker, getting paralyzed in a car accident after the team’s big win. These emotional twist and turns in the movie are what make it truly remarkable, and a one of a kind sports movie that does not come around very often.

So between the amazing story, fantastic character plots and developments, struggling era of our country, and bad ass sports scenes, this movie is by far the best. With so many great characteristics in a single film, it is hard to make an argument saying it is not a phenomenal movie. If you haven’t seen “Remember the Titans” before, you’re an idiot, and your missing out. Go watch it now!

Rocky I

The classic sports drama "Rocky" starring Sylvestor Stalone as Rocky himself, is the first of seven Rocky movies. With the story being about a simple minded, rough, backstreet Philly boy who starts as a simple club fighter to pay the bills, and gets the chance to win the boxing World Title, you would expect nothing but cliché after cliché. However, “Rocky” brings us more than that. Stalone plays a personable hero who is a fan favorite right from the start, and by the end of the film, you can’t help but root for those clichés.

               

         “Rocky” is more than a good story though, and brings up some of the best sports scenes in film today, including the epic title fight against Apollo Creed. Moments like these are what makes the movie so great. Between the intense training montages with scenes such as Rocky triumphantly running up the City Hall steps, classic scenes between Rocky and his trainer Mickey, and the backbone story between Rocky and Adrian, “Rocky” has everything you’d want in a great sports movie. It is about more than the simple tale of Rocky fighting his way to the top. It is about the adversity he overcomes, and the stigma of being a poor Philly boy that he is constantly fighting against. “Rocky” envelopes you in a story that brings more to the table than good fighting sequences, and draws you into the story of a hero striving for the chance to prove himself.

        Overall, "Rocky" is a great movie, and is a classic that I believe should be seen by all sports fans. The story behind the fighting will also capture in any viewers who would prefer a dramatic plot, with character driven stories and an emotionally exciting ending.

More Than A Game

People who don't like sports are idiots. Sports are so important to everything ever created. Look at Tom Brady for example; how terrible would the world be without him? But more importantly, how terrible would the world be without sports?

Sports have proven time and time again that they are much more than just a game. Some people view sports as a hobby or liesure activity, but most people how are passionate sports fans, see it for what it truly is. Sports are a way of bringing people together that nothing else can do. Even Clint Eastwood knew that when he talked to all of us through his Chrysler commercial. His inspiring/creepy commercial was a great way of inspiring America to rally together and keep fighting, and what better way to send a message to America then through a commercial in the worlds most watched television event, the Super Bowl. Football, America's game.

Sports can do more than bring a Nation together though. Why stop at a Nation when you can have the world? A perfect example of the world coming together through the excitement of sporting events rolls around every two years. Of course you know what I'm talking about; the Olympics. For the Olympics, all of the countries around the world cullminate in one area to boast their nation's sport and athletic prowess. However, it is more than just a competition. Their have been plenty of examples where sports brought people together in the Olympics. Take for example, the story of the mens US Olympic Hockey team in 1980. Other than the fact that it was the most epic thing ever, it did some other pretty cool stuff as well. The events of their story took place during the time of the Cold War, and radical Soviet actions were being performed, such as taking American hostages. To parralell the Soviets political personality, they had a hockey team to match it. The Soviet hockey team was one of the best in the world and simply could not be beaten. Coach Herb Brooks saw a weakness in them though, and a hunger in his young team. America saw this as well. When the American team was due to play the Soviets, American fans everywhere rallied to their cause. It was about more than simply beating the Soviet team for a medal; it was about making a statement as a Nation that we would not be denied, and that we had more than a hunger for victory in the Olympics. This just goes to show how easily sports can turn something from a game, to a unity of people, to even a political statement. Plus the movie kicks ASS!