‘March Madness’ at the movies

Bill Knight column for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, March 5, 6 or 7

Football and the Winter Olympics are over, but baseball’s Spring Training is underway and – as area sports fans know – high school and NCAA basketball tournaments are coming alive. Add NBA and NHL seasons accelerating, NASCAR, the PGA, World Cup skiing, even the Iditarod, and it’s “March Madness,” and even couch potatoes can enjoy the month.

Sports movies show heroics on and off the field, usually with athletes overcoming overwhelming adversity. Talking about “Rocky,” sportswriter Frank Deford said, “Who could not be uplifted by this movie? It proves that self-discipline, determination and a belief in oneself can make a champion out of an underdog.”

That could describe “Bull Durham,” “Breaking Away” or  “Brian's Song.”

Most of the 700-plus sports movies author Rob Bergan lists in “Sports in The Movies” are on video or online. Here are 20 recommendations from different sports (excluding roller derby, surfing, skating, rowing and arm-wrestling among others).

Football: “Knute Rockne: All-American” (1940) is the best gridiron picture out of dozens, ranging from “Paper Lion” to “Any Given Sunday.” Besides Pat O'Brien and Ronald Reagan, Alonzo Stagg and Pop Warner have cameos!

Basketball:  It’s no “Love + Basketball,” but “Hoosiers” (1986) is wonderful, with solid acting from unknown youngsters plus Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper, as a small school competes for Indiana’s championship.

Baseball: “Bang The Drum Slowly” (1970) stars Robert DeNiro in an adaptation of Mark Harris' poignant novel about the New York Mammoths, their star pitcher, and a second-string catcher with Hodgkin’s Disease.

Boxing: There have been many boxing movies, from “Requiem for a Heavyweight” to “Raging Bull,” but “The Champ” (1931), with Oscar-winner Wallace Beery as a washed-up boxer and Jackie Cooper as his kid, is a sentimental gem.

Hockey: “The Mighty Ducks?” Are you quacked? “Slap Shot” (1977) is the real deal, with Paul Newman as an aging player/coach trying to get by before the owner of the last-place Charleston Chiefs gives up and sells out.

Auto racing: Bonnie Bedelia stars as Shirley Muldowney, formula racing's first female driver in “Heart Like A Wheel” (1983). Both uplifting and touching, it co-stars Anthony Edwards and Beau Bridges,

Running: “Running Brave” (1983) is so weird, it’s fun. Robby Benson stars as Billy Mills, the Native American who went from obscurity to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Golf: Forget “Happy Gilmore” or “Tin Cup.” For the sport described as “a nice walk spoiled,” the 1950s’ comedy team Martin and Lewis excels in “The Caddy” (1953). The goofy duo’s at Pebble Beach, where linksman Dean Martin is “helped: by Jerry Lewis, a would-be pro who can't stand public attention.

Olympics: Burt Lancaster was a real-life gymnast who brought considerable skills to his portrayal of “Jim Thorpe: All American” (1951), the Native American track and field star who won the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Bowling: “Kingpin” (1996) is flat hilarious, with Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray starring.

Soccer: Sylvester Stallone stars in John Huston's “Victory,” a 1981 action pic co-starring Michael Caine and Pele -- the world's first soccer superstar.

Skiing: Robert Redford is perfect in “Downhill Racer” (1969), a character study of a small-town skier seeking a big-time break to the Olympics.

Gymnastics: “Purple Rain” filmmaker Albert Magnoli directed “American Anthem” (1986), about a gymnast with challenges in his sport and at home. Mitch Gaylord, who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, stars.

Wrestling: The whimsical “Take Down” (1979) stars Edward Hermann as a prep coach recruited from the English Department to train a team of misfits.

Swimming: Filmmaker Mervyn LeRoy's musical “Million-Dollar Mermaid” (1952) stars Esther Williams as 1890s swimmer, actor and businesswoman Annette Kellerman.

Body building: Filmmaker Bob Rafaelson's offbeat “Stay Hungry” (1976) features one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's first film appearances, an early performance by Sally Field, and a superb job by Jeff Bridges as a rich Southern brat.

Tennis: Last year’s “Battle of the Sexes” is fine, but 1951’s “Hard, Fast And Beautiful” is more fun, a cheesy melodrama about a selfish woman pushing her daughter to the top in professional tennis.

Horse racing: “Seabiscuit” is great, but actors make “National Velvet” (1944) a family classic about a girl (Elizabeth Taylor), her beloved horse, and a determination to win the Grand Nationals. An understated Mickey Rooney co-stars.

Bobsledding: “Cool Runnings” (1993) stars the late John Candy in a romp about Jamaicans who long to compete in the Winter Olympics.

Martial arts:  “Karate Kid” is Kid's stuff; Chuck Norris is a cowboy. “Enter The Dragon” (1973) stars Bruce Lee as a kung fu master recruited by British spies to infiltrate a crime boss’s fortress. It features a glimpse of a young Jackie Chan.