The 10 Greatest Sport's Movie Villains Not Named Ivan Drago

A fact that is sadly neglected by history scholars in worldwide is that it was in fact Rocky Balboa that ended the Cold War by defeating Ivan Drago.

That's how big this character was.

Drago, who shares a striking resemblance to Josh McCown of the Carolina Panthers, had the perfect makings of a sports villain.

He was strong, he was mean, and he killed Apollo Creed.

The man killed Apollo Creed!

To this day, whenever I'm attending a football game and a big hit takes place, I turn to the person next to me and say in a thick Russian accent "If he dies, he dies."

Whenever I'm arguing about the greatest sports movie villains with my friends, we always land on Ivan Drago as being hands down the best.

But who else deserves mention?

Here are the ten greatest sports villains of all time who are not Ivan Drago.

10. A League of Their Own: Kit/The Prevailing Logic of the Time

Admittedly, Kit doesn't fit within the mold of a "villain" but there's a good chance that she's the most annoying movie character ever.

Try to think of a less likable character in a movie. Go ahead, I have time.

Most villains at least have some redeeming qualities. Either they're funny, or particularly skilled, or are just really good at being a bad person. But Kit just all-around sucked at everything, and most of the movie all she did was complain about how much she sucked.

But while Kit was certainly a downer, the main antagonist in this movie was the widely held notion that girls can't play baseball.

Are you kidding me?

I tried to draft Dotty Hinson in the first round of my fantasy draft and Yahoo! didn't have her name available. Marla Hooch could hit like Frank Robinson, and there's no way you can convince me that Rosie O'Donnell's character wasn't juicing.

Overall this was a great sport's movie, and the scene below stands alone as one of the ten best in cinematic history.

9. Rocky III: Clubber Lang

While Dolph Lundgren was clearly the best Rocky villain of all time, Mr. T as Clubber Lang was certainly no slouch.

Clubber Lang offered up some pretty legendary one liners that have endured much longer in American minds than Mr. T's career has.

My main knock on Lang is that I think Mike Tyson is a more compelling character, and he's a real person. But the Cherokee influenced jewelery he wears in the movie puts him solidly on this list.

8. D2 The Mighty Ducks: Coach from Team Iceland

The anonymous actor who played the coach of Team Iceland absolutely stole the show in a movie that introduced the world to the "knucklepuck."

Even by 90's movie standards, Wolf Stannson was an outstanding campy bad guy.

In a lot of ways, the coach didn't get enough credit in the movie. I mean, he turned freaking ICELAND in a world junior hockey power. That doesn't happen overnight.

He probably got a bad rap for telling his players to cheat and slash kids playing on the other team, but you don't take Iceland to hockey prominence without cutting some corners.

I can only hope the Maple Leafs hire this guy.

7. Little Giants: Spike

Man, this kid was an animal.

Everybody knew a kid like Spike growing up. He was the big kid that hit puberty at 9 and absolutely cleaned up in little league, which made him a cocky little punk. His life was awesome until he turned 12 and everybody else started catching up with him. From there, things weren't as easy for him. He may have played some varsity in high school, but eventually he had to drop out in order to get a job at Jiffy Lube and take care of his three kids.

The citywide game in Little Giants was Spike's moment to shine. Outside of the Icebox, there was nobody in the movie that belonged on the same field as this kid. Junior was an OK quarterback, but his five step drops were off, and he always stared down his first read. Definitely not D-1 potential.

But Spike came up short, and I imagine him and his crazy, crazy dad were never the same.

6. King Pin: Ernie McCracken

I think there are many actors who could have played Woody Harrelson's character in this movie, but only Bill Murray could have pulled off Ernie McCracken.

Murray killed every single scene he was in in this movie. The final act in which he's bowling in the finals and gradually losing his hair may be among the best sports movie scenes in history.

While the movie itself doesn't have the consistency to be a comedic classic, McCracken's character makes it a must watch for any fan of sports or laughing.

5. Varsity Blues: Bud Kilmer

A strong front runner for "best bad movie of all time," Varsity Blues always has a way of violating my Texan sensibilities. Every time it airs on TBS, I become a shell of a man and woefully contemplate what has happened to our dear world. Do the actors realize how much they suck? Is this satire? Is this serious? Is this real life?

Jon Voight plays coach Bud Kilmer in the movie. He's the stereotypical high school coach who will do anything to win, including put up with James Van Der Beek's shameful accent.

He basically covered the bases in terms of bad things to do. He was racist, he blackmailed a player, and he potentially concussioned poor old Billy Bob to death, although it's likely his character would have succumbed to heart disease first.

The video below has nothing to do with Bud Kilmer, but it's worth studying.

4. Jerry Maguire: Bob Sugar

Jay Mohr hasn't done all that much of note in his career, but he absolutely killed it as Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire.

The personification of everything Maguire hates about the industry, Sugar not only fires Jerry from the sports agency, but he steals all of his best clients too.

While he doesn't dominate the storyline, he steals every scene that he's involved in.

I still get a slightly sick feeling when I watch the scene in which Jerry answers the phone the night before the NFL Draft, and Sugar, thinking he's talking to Matt Cushman, let's Maguire know that he has stolen his more important client.

3. Caddyshack: Judge Smails

Judge Smails was one of those classically unlikeable movie characters that you can't imagine being played by another actor.

Caddyshack's parody on country club culture was both outrageous and on the mark at the same time, making it arguably the most beloved sports movie of all-time.

The juxtaposition throughout the movie of Smails and Rodney Dangerfield's character is the third funniest aspect of this movie behind the Bill Murray/Gopher storyline, and anything Chevy Chase did.

2. Bad News Bears: Coach Roy Turner

The Bad News Bears is a very underrated sport's movie that fairly accurately portrays the absurd vicarious competitiveness that dominates children's athletics today.

Although Greg Kinnear was solid as the coach of the Yankees in the remake, I have to give the nod to Vic Morrow, who defined the role masterfully in the original.

Much like with Spike, every person that has played sports knows the coach who took things way too seriously.. Roy Turner encapsulates everything such a person represents, and is a dark character in an otherwise lighthearted and fun movie.

1. Happy Gilmore: Shooter McGavin

Others will surely object, but my favorite sport's movie villain, outside of Ivan Drago, is Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore.

Happy Gilmore was released during a beautiful time period in movie history in which Adam Sandler was ... Adam Sandler.

Along with his amazing name, McGavin did a masterful job of setting up jokes throughout the movie. I think he actually may have had more dimes in this film than Steve Nash did in 2007.

McGavin was berated enough for you to want to feel bad for him, but a bad enough character to ensure that you couldn't.

That makes him a near perfect comedic villain in my book.