A-Z Of 'Things' With Sports In Them | Vital Football

A-Z Of 'Things' With Sports In Them

herringthorpe

herringthorpe

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An idea from what Mike said about having films around sports in our last A-Z.

This can be songs, plays, films, book that include a sport - doesn't have to be in the title.

A A League Of Their Own - film about a woman's baseball team with famous 'remember there's no crying in baseball' line.
 
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C "Chalkdust - the Umpire strikes back" by The Brat. 1982 UK novelty hit single, written by comedians Kaplin Kaye and Roger Kitter. The song was a satirical tribute to Wimbledon tennis champion, John McEnroe.
 
D Deacon Blues - classic song by Steely Dan (from the "Aja" album) , sort of about NFL gridiron footballer David "Deacon" Jones. The song is a lament for professional sportsmen, jazz musicians, etc, who in their opinion, never quite made it to the very top of their professions. Jones was inducted into the NFL "Hall of Fame" in 1980 though!

The gridiron football college league club , University of Alabama , nicknamed "The Crimson Tide", gets a mention too.
 
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E - Can only be the incredibly naff Escape to Victory, a 1981 American-British-Italian sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team.
The film also starred professional footballers Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen and Werner Roth. Several Ipswich Town players were also in the film, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner and Kevin O'Callaghan. Other Ipswich Town players stood in for actors in the football scenes – Kevin Beattie for Michael Caine, and Paul Cooper for Sylvester Stallone.
I sort of collect sports-themed movies but won't have this stinker in the house!

 
:p

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F "Football Crazy" - song written by James Curran in the 1880's, and originally titled "The Dooley Fitba' Club". The song was a 1960's minor hit single for Scottish folk duo, Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor, The song was also recorded in 1953 as "Fitba' Crazy" by folk musician/archivist Ewan MacColl, who was the father of singer-songwriter , Kirsty MacColl.

We used to sing it in class at Brinsworth Junior School
 
mikemiller said:
:p

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F "Football Crazy" - song written by James Curran in the 1880's, and originally titled "The Dooley Fitba' Club". The song was a 1960's minor hit single for Scottish folk duo, Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor, The song was also recorded in 1953 as "Fitba' Crazy" by folk musician/archivist Ewan MacColl, who was the father of singer-songwriter , Kirsty MacColl.

We used to sing it in class at Brinsworth Junior School
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There's a Millers reference in it :clown::khat:
The captain says “McGraw!
Would ye kindly take this penalty kick
Or we’ll never win at all!"
So he ran like mad, and kicked the ball
And it went up like a cork
And the last we'd saw, it was over the stand
And headin' for New York
 
I'd forgotten about that bit!

Reminds me of a penalty that Andy Roscoe once took for us at Bootham Crescent in front of the Minstermen's home end. He slipped as he kicked the ball , and it went almost vertically upwards. The York fans didn't give him any abuse, because they were looking around for where the ball had gone, as many must have thought that what they had witnessed was an optical illusion!
 
G "Goal - 1966 FIFA World Cup official film". Documentary-style fim of the tournament. Also footage of the fans, football grounds and nearby surrounds. As well as the football, it gives a feeling of what life in England was like back in 1966. Got it on video(y)
(Whole film on YouTube)
 
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H - Hoosiers, a 1986 American sports drama film which tells the story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that enters the state championship. It is inspired in part by the Milan High School team who won the 1954 state championship.
Gene Hackman stars as Norman Dale, a new coach with a dodgy past. The film co-stars Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper, whose role as the basketball-loving town drunk earned him an Oscar nomination. Jerry Goldsmith was also nominated for an Academy Award for his score. In 2001, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
 
Lindum said:
E - Can only be the incredibly naff Escape to Victory, a 1981 American-British-Italian sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team.
The film also starred professional footballers Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen and Werner Roth. Several Ipswich Town players were also in the film, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner and Kevin O'Callaghan. Other Ipswich Town players stood in for actors in the football scenes – Kevin Beattie for Michael Caine, and Paul Cooper for Sylvester Stallone.
I sort of collect sports-themed movies but won't have this stinker in the house!
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I love it!
 
I "I think therefore I play" - autobiograpphy (2013) of Andrea Pirlo, Italian international footballer (116 caps for Italy, 13 goals). Not read it.
 
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herringthorpe said:
I Idol of the Crowds - a John Wayne film about Ice Hockey. As an Ice Hockey player he made a good cowboy! (I'm not a John Wayne fan).
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I liked him in the John Ford cavalry trilogy which included She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, in The Shootist, Stagecoach and of course The Searchers. Didn't like him in any non-Westerns and in a couple of films he played a romantic part that was not nice to see!
 
Another I - a film I have watched a few times is Invincible, a 2006 American football drama based on the true story of Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976 to 1978 with the help of his coach, Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear).
Set in a working class area of recession-hit Philadelphia the club invite fans to try out for the team. Only one makes it - bartender Papale. The rest is history (or sort of!)
 
J "Johnny Haynes : Portrait of a football genius". Biogrraphy witten by James Gardner, about the famous Fulham and England player. (56 caps for England, 22 as captain). I haven't read the book, but I saw him play at Millmoor.
 
K - When We Were Kings, a 1996 American documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship that was held on October 30, 1974, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) between world heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. It features archival footage of celebrities, including James Brown, B.B. King, and promoter Don King, in the lead-up to the fight and accompanying Zaire 74 music festival, alongside interview footage of Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee and Thomas Hauser from the 1990s.
Or,
The Karate Kid, a 1984 American martial arts drama film, the first installment in the Karate Kid franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka.
 
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