Maybe it's because baseball is still in the air (and the advent of a Tampa Bay Rays - Los Angeles Dodgers World Series is so enticing), but I've been thinking of one of my favorite movies of all time.
Remember when I said in the last post that there's a balance between taking sports too seriously and not seriously enough? Well, sports movies reflect this as much as sports media. These movies tend to fall into three categories: the "based on a true story" movies such as The Express (coming out on Friday) and Miracle (an underrated film, even if you have a disdain for Disney), the dramatic and wistful fictional films like The Natural and Field of Dreams or the sports comedies such as The Longest Yard (both versions) and the movie of the clip below.
Some of us comb through the "true story" films for accuracy and any embellishments. Some of baseball history buffs may find the irony in James Earl Jones' role in Field of Dreams. Some of us just can't watch a sports comedy, especially if the genre is mired with terrible ideas like The Comebacks. Some of us accept the balance between them all and can appreciate them for what they are trying to tell us.
Can you appreciate the absolute stupidity of this scene? I know I do.
Black Hammer, White Lightning
You can add this one as well... the actual game itself.
And if anyone has the famous "Marbles" clip... well, I'll just thank you for now.
Perception is reality, the saying goes. Modern players can never transcend time, athletes only care about the money and the fan is never wrong. Yet, all you need to do is dig a little deeper to find the truth. As a freelance sportswriter, my job is to give the audience a story around what just happened. As a consumer, I expect that sports will always provide more than I bargained for. As a fan, my hopes are to be enlightened by more than points. Welcome to the mind of a sports scribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment