Sports movies resonate with many of us, helping us relive glories of yesterday or watch the worst team in the league suddenly win the big game. For years now, sports movies have been part of our culture, evolving with our ever-changing world and bringing larger-than-life characters to the big screen.
Not only do the movies themselves become etched in our memories, but the quotes of characters become part of our everyday conversation, worming their way into our language until we wonder how we ever did without them. But which one is the best?
Warning: Some of the videos have NSFW language, so be careful.
#20 - Major League 2
Harry Doyle: It looks like Willie Hays is trying to hit Rick Vaughn, and why not? Everybody else in the league does.
Harry Doyle is the epitome of what a movie baseball announcer should be: funny, critical and drunk. You could probably make a list of Harry's best quotes, but for today, we'll just pick one and let you know there are tons more. Juuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit outside.
#19 - The Replacements
Shane Falco: I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn't be our style. Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory...lasts forever.
Is it cheesy? Absolutely. Is it Keanu Reeves? Unfortunately, yes. But within the context of the movie, it works and has a chance to give you a hint of those goosebumps we love so much.
#18 - The Karate Kid
Tommy: Get him a body bag! Yeah!
Seriously, have there ever been more hated teenage boys than the Cobra Kai? I mean, they took the role of high school bullies and pushed it to new limits. I couldn't decide on this one or "sweep the leg," but this one elicits more laughs and is therefore the better quote.
#17 - The Sandlot
Ham Porter: You play ball like a GIRL!
Come on, who didn't use this insult at least once while playing Little League? Ham Porter busted out the big guns just when the snotty kids with the real uniforms deserved it. Not only that, but he backed up those words and celebrated by puking tobacco all over unsuspecting carnival-goers.
#16 - Hoop Dreams
William Gates: People ask me, will I remember them if I make it? I tell them, will you remember me if I don't?
One of the most underrated documentaries about sports, Hoop Dreams follows the story of young inner-city youths trying to work their way out of poverty through basketball. It's an amazing story that young people everywhere should see and it provides great moments like the one above.
#15 -Hoosiers
Norman Dale: If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners.
In what some have called the best sports movie out there, tiny Hickory High School defies odds time and time again to beat bigger and better-funded schools. Gene Hackman's performance as coach Norman Dale has often been imitated but never quite duplicated.
#14 - Friday Night Lights
Gary Gaines: Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn't one more thing you could have done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman, you're perfect!
In the ultimate ode to big-time high school football, Friday Night Lights brought back memories for all former players, no matter if they were stars or not. In a town obsessed with winning, coach Gary Gaines put in perspective what it means to be a real winner, something that is lost on a lot of people today.
#13 - Miracle
Mike Eruzione: I play for...the United States of America!
Unless you're dead (or Canadian), it's almost impossible not to get goosebumps during this scene. After a particularly bad game against an inferior opponent (Norway), USA coach Herb Brooks skates his team until they are about to drop. Only team captain Mike Eruzione saves them when he realizes that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.
#12 - Remember the Titans
Coach Yoast: All right, now, I don't want them to gain another yard! You blitz...all...night! If they cross the line of scrimmage, I'm gonna take every last one of you out! You make sure they remember, forever, the night they played the Titans!
Even though Turk from Scrubs gets replaced with the guy from The Notebook, this scene still remains my favorite in the whole movie. After being cheated by racist officials, Coach Yoast decides to leave no doubt on who the better team is. I think it's a great quote because of the line itself, and also because of Will Patton's great delivery.
#11 - Field of Dreams
Ray: Hey Dad...wanna have a catch?
What guy can't relate to throwing the baseball around with his dad? It is almost acceptable for a man to cry during this scene, but not quite. That honor is reserved for an entry later on this list.
#10 - Rocky III
Clubber Lang: No, I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool.
Mr. T was a 1980s icon and, seriously, is one guy more well-known for a single quote than this one? Our hero, Rocky, was getting a little full of himself and it took a Mr. T beating to regain that eye of the tiger.
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