“You’re out of your damn mind!”

That’s what Stephen A. Smith would say to Max Kellerman – who (along with Molly Qerim Rose) is his co-host on First Take – if Kellerman had come up with this list. I adore Stephen A., but REALLY!?! I have to call him on it…

Last Friday, Stephen A. Smith unveiled his Stephen’s A-List: Top 5 Sports Movies:

1. Rocky III (WTF!?!)
2. A League of Their Own
3. Friday Night Lights
4. Jerry McGuire (again, WTF!?!)
5. Any Given Sunday

A shout-out to A League of Their Own but I’ve never liked the Rocky franchise and stopped seeing them after Rocky II. (Although I admit to loving the Rambo series.) And Jerry McGuire?? What the hell is up with that? When I hear the words “sports movie”, that is one that NEVER – EVER – comes to mind.

So, what would be on MY A-List: Top 5 Sports Movies? Glad you asked!

1. Driven
   
   

   

   C’mon the film has Burt Reynolds, Stallone (who wrote the screenplay and co-produced), Kip Pardue, AND Gina Gershon – plus some killer special effects – where tasteful amounts of CGI were used! (Yes, I have the DVD.)

2. The Replacements
   
   

   

   

   An all-too-oft-told story (My favorite!) about a group of misfits who save the day! Solid cast: Gene Hackman, Keanu Reeves (I’m a BIG fan.), Orlando Jones (Office Space, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Don Favreau, Rhys Ifans (Vanity Fair, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Informers), Jack Warden, and a number of NFL alumni. My favorite scene involves the Replacements’ cheerleaders:

3. Slap Shot
   
   

   

   FUCKING HANSON BROTHERS!! (Can you guess which two were played by brothers?) Stars Paul Newman (He needs NO introduction.), Michael Ontkean (Twin Peaks), Lindsay Crouse (Bye Bye Love, The Arrival), Swoosie Kurtz (Sisters) in her first movie role, and Paul Dooley (Breaking Away, Sixteen Candles, Grace Under Fire). A classic. (I have the DVD…’cause it’s a CLASSIC!!!)

4. Remember the Titans
   
   

   

   Set in 1971 and based on a true story, the movie has a stellar cast: Denzel Washington (Philadephia, Fallen, The Bone Collector), Will Patton, Wood Harris (The Wire), Donald Faison (Clueless, Scrubs), Ethan Suplee (Blow), Kip Pardue (Driven), Hayden Panettiere (Raising Helen), Ryan Gosling, Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush). I especially loved the ongoing repartee between the two little girls. Inspiring – with the underlying message still relevant today.




AND MY TOP PICK…drum roll, please…

5. Major League
   
   

   

   Again, top notch cast and a Sports Movie CLASSIC! (Do I have the DVD? Need you even ask…) We’re talking a bunch of rag-tag misfits saving the day once again, only this time it’s MLB. Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen – an underrated actor who I love, and fuck all you haters (Two and a Half Men, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – the only one worth watching in that film, Wall Street, Young Guns, The Arrival, Spin City), Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law), Margaret Whitton, James Gammon (Urban Cowboy, Silverado), Rene Russo (The Thomas Crown Affair), Wesley Snipes (New Jack City, Rising Sun, Demolition Man, Blade franchise), Neil Flynn (Scrubs), and Dennis Haysbert (Waiting to Exhale, Allstate ads) as Pedro. To this day when I hear the song “Wild Thing”, this is what plays in my head:

ℳ –