Many critics and fans alike had issues with Adam Sandler taking on the role of convicted Quarterback, Paul “Wrecking” Crewe. Honestly, we understood it, as Burt Reynolds’ 1974 portrayal of the same role was one of the best roles of his career, and a great sports film. We won’t say that the Adam Sandler remake was as good, but the comedian did not try to replicate the Reynolds’ version as though the plot was the same, the tone and delivery were completely different, making it purely a Sandler vehicle. We actually meant that as a compliment, as we are referring to the earlier Sandler and not the “Jack and Jill” version he turned into.

I guess what we are saying is that we were able to appreciate Sandler’s version (especially with the homage he paid to the original by having Reynolds in a great role as Nate Scarborough) and though he is a comedian who does not look like he can be athletic, actually is. Would it be so bad if both versions got into the Hall? Actually, I think this is a case where it could happen….but please Burt first!



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Longest Yard (2005)

Actor:
Adam Sandler

Position Portrayed:
Quarterback

Played for:
The Mean Machine

Why you should vote for him:
Sandler was better in the role than a lot of people thought he would have been.

Why you should not vote for him:
Like we said, the 74 version should get in first.

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We will go on record and say that of all the many sports roles that Burt Reynolds had, that the one as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, the incarcerated Quarterback was easily our favorite. Actually, we will do one better, and say that it is our favorite Reynolds role period. Crewe was cocky, belligerent, tough and cool, and we watched him struggle with a moral compass, without falling too deeply into Hollywood cliché’s. For a Fictitious Athlete Hall, The Longest Yard (both versions actually) was a film that had brilliant football scenes and built up the end game perfectly. We would be shocked if Crewe (74) did not get selected to the Hall early.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Longest Yard (1974)

Actor:
Burt Reynolds

Position Portrayed:
Quarterback

Played for:
The Mean Machine

Why you should vote for him:
This was a great role, a great movie, and a great performance.

Why you should not vote for him:
Did the remake overshadow this one?

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We can’t say that we cared whether or not Ryan Dunne made it to the Major Leagues. Actually, we can’t remember much of the Baseball in this movie at all. Based on how often this gets shown on cable, we don’t think a lot more people will be pondering this rhetorical question.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Summer Catch (2001)

Actor:
Freddie Prinze Jr.

Position Portrayed:
Pitcher

Played for:
Chatham Athletics

Why you should vote for him:
We really don’t have much here.

Why you should not vote for him:
This movie was abysmal on every level.

Class of 2014 Inductee: Roy Hobbs

The Natural (1984)

New York Knights Outfielder

In the early years of cinema, baseball and boxing dominated sports films, though each one took a vastly different narrative. Boxing flicks showcased the sport’s dirty underbelly, where the mafia and corruption took the forefront. Baseball took a vastly different approach where there was almost a magical appeal to it. Perhaps, that is what made the 1984 film, “The Natural” so effective as it combined the magic that is associated with the game, at a time when the sport was becoming in the eyes of fans as a “business”. Perhaps that is why this film ages so well and why Roy Hobbs entered the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame on the first full ballot.

We first see Hobbs as a 19 year old pitcher in 1923 on his way to try out for the Chicago Cubs, and along the way at a carnival he strikes out “The Whammer”, the top hitter in baseball and draws the interest of a woman who obsess over ball players and lures the young phenom to her hotel room shooting Hobbs and committing suicide, but that isn’t the last time we are to see Hobbs.

He returns to the screen as a thirty-five year old hitter, a rookie signed by the New York Knights whose management was deliberately tanking (thus signing an unproven 35 year old) so that due to a previous deal where if they won the pennant, the Manager (Pop Fisher played by Wilfred Brimley) would not become make a part owner of the team.

Once Hobbs gets a chance to play, he literally blows the cover a baseball with his bat; and it was not just any baseball bat. It was “wonderboy” a bat made from a tree that was struck by lightning from his youth.

With his bat, his skill and his leadership, the Knights push towards the pennant, though not before Hobbs has to turn down a bribe to throw games and the residue of his gun shot wound from his youth, which is threatening to not just end his career, but his life.

It’s a story of morals and perseverance and one where the love of Baseball trumps a lot of the wrongs in the world.

Robert Redford, who was 48 when he played the 35 year old rookie, still had that boyish charm that made him believable in the part, brought that every man character that allowed him to become a star to both sexes. In his youth, Redford was considered one of the best looking actors in the business, bordering on being a pretty boy; but he had such a down to earth quality that even when he didn’t look the part; he still looked the part.

Perhaps that is why when we watched Redford, it didn’t bother us that he looked a little old, or that he didn’t quite look right in the batter’s box. Redford WAS Roy Hobbs, and for a man who had a lot of great roles in his career, this remains the favorite of many. No wonder he got in right away. Now pardon our pun as we say Hobbs was a “Natural” fit for the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.

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