Clearly inspired by Mike Tyson’s real life incarceration the decade before; George “Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames) plays a bad ass former Heavyweight Boxing Champion who winds up in jail. The normally likable Rhames, turns that switch off and he finds himself in a contest with the prison champion (Wesley Snipes). Although the film was not critically respected, we did like it, though we found Rhames miscast, as he was 43 when the film was out, and looked significantly older. He may have still resembled a bad ass boxer, but one who was at the prime of his career? Not a chance.

At what point did any casting agent look at Ryan O’Neal and think that he could be a credible boxer? Actually, we are still trying to figure out who thought he was a credible actor in the first place? We have no problem stating that this is one of the worst fictitious boxers we have ever seen, but “The Main Event” was a box office success, so maybe we are in the minority here.

This time the star of the basketball film cliché of “selfish player learns the value of team work” was actually played one of the great basketball players of all time: “Dr. J” Julius Erving. Incidentally, that is NOT what made this a cult classic, as Erving’s acting, while significantly better than Shaquille O’Neal in Kazaam (which is not exactly a difficult thing to do) was still in the Fred Dryer of Hunter fame (remember that show) school of monotones and expressionless. Rather it was the fact that this movie was given a disco soundtrack, had a complete 70’s fashion and feel and was released two months BEFORE the 1970’s ended.

1980 brought an almost instant change in fashion and music. Disco died, bell bottoms left, and less than a year after it appeared in the theatres, “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” was a film that looked like it was already from another era. If you haven’t seen the film, we will sum it up with the following five points.

1. The Pittsburgh Pythons stink.

2. The Pythons ball boy comes up with an idea that if everyone is under the same astrological sign, they will play in harmony.

3. The team is now made up of misfit players (and one star, Moses Guthrie who is played by Dr. J.) all under the same sign, Pisces.

4. The team is now renamed the Pisces and they win games.

5. Disco is played in the whole music.

Got it? It was a foolish premise for a film, though there have been NBA General Managers who have stocked their rosters on worse ideas. Since Guthrie was the star of the team, he makes our ballot, and this is the ultimate test of a cult film representative making our Hall.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979)

Actor:
Julius Erving

Position Portrayed:
Power Forward

Played for:
Pittsburgh Pisces

Why you should vote for him:
This is about as close as you can get to a legit sports star playing a fictitious one.

Why you should not vote for him:
The lack of acting skill of Dr. J.

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Probably the worst athlete on this ballot, Lucas Bly was a small, socially awkward nerdy kid who tried out for the Football team in a desperate attempt to win the heart of a girl and if you are looking for a Hollywood scene where he made good on the field; well that didn’t happen here. You would expect an unathletic kid to get destroyed on the gridiron, and by God that is what happened. Still, it was the guts that he showed to put himself in an impossible situation that finally earned him the respect of his classmates and earned Corey Haim a ticket (albeit a four year one, with a massive downfall) to stardom.  



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Lucas (1986)

Actor:
Corey Haim

Position Portrayed:
“Prone”

Played for:
The Pirates

Why you should vote for him:
You won’t find a bigger underdog than this one.

Why you should not vote for him:
Lucas was an emotional win, not one based on any real athletic accomplishment.

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