Sports Movies You've Never Seen (but should)

I like sports and I like movies, but most sports movies really suck. Here are two movies that are kinda sorta sports movies that I'm guessing not a single reader of this blog has seen. I like them. You might. But you probably won't. If you do decide to watch one, it's your hour and a half, not mine.

Strictly Ballroom
OK, so you likely don't consider ballroom dancing a sport. But this movie is about a competition that requires athletic training and ability. Furthermore, this Baz Luhrmann masterpiece has all the trappings of a sports movie. The scrappy underdog, struggling at first but willing to work. The brash talent that plays by his own rules. Long practice montages set to music. The mentors/coaches. The villainous competition. The corrupt association. The dramatic final competition scene.

Baz Luhrmann is my favorite director: I find in his films a metafictional flair and a mastery of movement, color, and music. You might not care for a movie about dancing, but seriously, it's really a sports movie in disguise.

Beer League
OK, so I think Dirty Work is a masterpiece, and Dirty Work co-writer Frank Sebastiano and co-star Artie Lange team up to bring us this movie about a softball league. It's dirty. It's sleazy. And the karate kid is in in. It's really a vehicle for raunchy jokes about trashy sex, but it's also about a softball team, and you might like it.