Among my many favorites are Hoosiers, We Are Marshal, Remember the Titans, Major League, Sandlot, Seabiscuit, Million Dollar Baby, and Angels in the Outfield. However, I have to admit that my favorite sports movies are probably the Rocky movies. You don't get much better than Burgess Meredith (Mickey) instructing Sylvester Stalone on the finer points of chasing a chicken around or shouting out lines such as "You're gonna eat lightning and crap thunder!". And, although I feel like a traitor to my chosen sport of long distance running, I would argue that the beach scene montage from Rocky III is by far better than the Chariots of Fire beach montage.
The Rocky movies, like all good sports movies, seek to applaud and promote the benefits of perseverance and hard work; attributes that lift the underdog from obscurity to fame. The heroes of these sports movies often demonstrate strong work ethics, an optimistic nature, and an uncanny ability to motivate themselves and others even in times of hardship and stress. However, one of the themes of the Rocky franchise is humility. Rocky is only successful when he is humble. He demonstrates great humility when he returns to the gym in Rocky II willing to carry spit buckets and mop up at the end of the day just to be around the sport he loves, even though he believes his fighting days are over.
Our sport, that of long distance running, is just like that of boxing in that you must posses humility in order to be successful. You must accept that running requires sacrifice, hard work, and patience. If you cut corners in your training you will pay the price, however, if you are honest with your training you will reap the rewards. The road is a merciless judge and jury and if not respected can certainly be an executioner. However, if the runner is humble, if the runner puts in the training, if the runner has faith, the runner will succeed.
Happy trails.
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