Summer has finally reached a closing. For most, summer is a time of relaxation — a word that can be interpreted in many different ways. Some relax by spending a day lounging at the beach; others see it as time spent with air conditioning and a good book, but many relax during the summer by playing sports. As an athletically disinclined person whose skin tone borders on vampirically pale, sports in the summer sun has never been a pastime that has appealed to me. I have found other ways to participate, though. Thus, I bring to you, Germ readers, the top five best sports-themed movies, so if you are like me, you can still stay in the sporty spirit.
5. The Blind Side
Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband, Sean (Tim McGraw), take in Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a homeless, black teen. Oher quickly becomes a part of the Tuohy family and is eventually legally adopted. They soon realize Michael’s larger size and protective instincts make him a formidable football player. The story follows the impact that the Tuohys had on Michael and vice versa.
4. Caddyshack
To raise money for college, Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe) works as a caddy in the bourgeoise Bushwood Country Club. As a way to get votes for a college scholarship reserved for caddies, Noonan becomes a caddy for Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight), a prominent and influential club member. Noonan also struggles with the stress of preparing the Caddy Day golf tournament while receiving New Age advice from Ty Webb (Chevy Chase).
3. The Sandlot
In the San Fernando Valley during the 1960s, Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood and tries to befriend a local gang of boys who play baseball together. With little aptitude for the sport, he is initially shunned, until another boy named Benny (Mike Vitar) helps him hone his skills. During one game, the ball is hit over the fence into a yard where the Beast lives. The Beast is a dog that’s so large and menacing that he’s become a part of the local suburban legend. Smalls saves the game by letting them use his stepfather’s treasured baseball, which is then also hit into the Beast’s lair. The film then follows the boys attempts to get Smalls’ ball back.
2. A League of Their Own
World War II has been hard on America and, more importantly, on its baseball leagues. The shrinking number of men able to play in major league baseball gives candy maker Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall) an idea. He starts an all-female baseball league in the midwest. The film primarily focuses on the two sisters Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (Lori Petty), whose competitive sides often cause them to butt heads.
1. Whip It
When Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) meets the Hurl Scouts, a roller-derby team, she realizes that she has found an opportunity to break free from her mother’s beauty pageants and her small Texas town. She tries out for the team and wins a spot on it. She finds friendship and freedom in her new hobby, but when the championship game and the Bluebonnet beauty pageant are on the same day, her secret threatens to be revealed.
Hopefully this list gives you some way to enjoy the festivities of sports without having to actually participate. Happy sporting!