Ranking the Top 10 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time

Sports have existed for thousands of years in one form or another. The original Olympics in 776 BC may be the first official sporting event, but people have been playing games since they developed the concept of fun.

Movies have been around for over a century and have been made to reflect every facet of the human experience, from the horrors of the holocaust to a yellow family escaping their domed-in town.

Sports movies are typically successful because they combine so many different genres. Generally, a sports movie can be classified as drama, comedy, action or an amalgam of all of them.

Some of these movies, like "Rocky" and "The Blindside," have gone on to win Oscars, while others have been considered poor efforts, like "Two for the Money."

These movies have the power to inspire people with stories of triumph and strength while also providing a positive message for today's youth.

There are many great sports movies, but here I will try to pick the ten best.

10. Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise starred in this movie about a sports agent who is fired after making the proposition to his company that they should focus less on money.

The only person to follow him was the secretary played by Renee Zellwegger. They attempted to start their own agency with the one remaining client Cruise had left, the brash football player played by the award-winning Cuba Gooding Jr.

This film spawned more catchphrases than any of Cruise's other movies.

"Show me the money" and "You had me at hello" are so iconic that some people may not even know the movie they came from.

While the star of the movie was not playing an athlete, the performance that ended up winning an Oscar went to Gooding Jr., who did play a Football player.

This movie is considered by many to be a cheesy comedy, but it is also a film for fans of football as well.

9. Space Jam

Criticize me if you want, but when I was a kid, this movie was the best thing ever. It combined my favorite cartoons with my favorite basketball player.

While this may not hold up against some of the other movies on this list by the standards of some adults, it's the kid in me that is forcing me to put this on the list.

I will still to this day watch this movie if I see it is playing on TV. Michael Jordan was never going to be a great actor, but this movie gave him a chance to have some fun while doing it.

I am sorry to those who may have thought this list would only contain serious sports movies. But it's my list, and I like this movie.

8. The Wrestler

A movie about pro wrestling seemed far-fetched. To base a film on a sport so many people look down on was tricky. In order to pull it off, they got themselves an amazing director in Darron Aronofsky and a bona-fide movie star in Mickey Rourke.

Rourke put in a lot of effort to make the role believable by taking lessons in wrestling and bulking up his physique to match muscle-bound wrestlers of the 80's era.

The look into a life of a has-been wrestler who is trying to hold onto his former glory was both poignant and true to life, as many wrestling stars of yesteryear are still touring today for a few hundred dollars a night.

While the film was lauded for its performances, it should be noted that the wrestling scenes were very well done as well, even to the point where I would forget I was watching a movie for a second while the scenes played.

To anyone who did not give this a chance, I will say this, you do not have to like wrestling at all to like this movie.

7. Ali

Muhammed Ali is undoubtedly one of the greatest boxers of all time, so it is only fitting that he be portrayed in one of the greatest sports films of all time.

Will Smith was becoming more and more of a force in Hollywood, but this movie pushed him into the Oscar race. His portrayal was so good that Ali's family even said they could hardly tell the difference.

The movie takes place between 1965 and 1974, following Ali from his fight with Sonny Liston all the way to the fight with George Foreman.

In between those years, the story goes over his conversion to Islam, his outspoken political beliefs and his time away from boxing while he was banned.

To have a movie of this caliber made about your life is surely a fitting tribute to such a beloved athlete.

6. The Longest Yard (1974)

The original version of this film starred Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewes, a pro football player who gets into a fight with his girlfriend and, after stealing her car, is sentenced to 18 months in jail.

While in jail, Crewes meets a variety of strange characters, including the warden. After rejecting the offer to coach the prison's team of guards, Crewes is given heavy work as a punishment.

Finally, he agrees to form a team of inmates to play the guards in a warm-up game. He finds a bunch of prisoners with no football experience and trains them to play the game.

While the team is nothing short of awful, they possess power and speed, which, combined with Crewes' knowledge, makes for a formidable opponent.

The game ends with Crewes getting the winning touchdown after being stuck on the 1-yard line.

This movie was both funny and had social commentary on the prison system at the time.

If you have only ever heard of the Adam Sandler version, I urge you to look for this one because it is a classic.

5. Field of Dreams

There is not a whole lot I can say about this movie that hasn't been said before. It is one of the best sports movies of all time and has one of the best performances by Kevin Costner in his career.

The movie stars Costner as Ray Kinsela, a down-on-his-luck farmer who hears an ominous message from his corn fields. Taking this as a sign, he begins to construct a baseball field at the expense of most of his crops. He eventually meets Shoeless Joe Jackson's ghost, who wants to bring in more players to play on the field.

Soon, Ray goes on a journey and tracks down Terence Mann, an author whose books played a big part in Ray's life. Mann at first refuses to accompany Ray to his farm, but he eventually gives in.

On the way, they pick up a young man by the name of Archie Graham. When they get home, there are enough players from heaven to field two teams, and they begin playing a game which thousands of people line up to see.

The film offers a little bit of everything, but it is mostly a story about faith and never giving up.

4. Major League

Charlie Sheen may be known these days as the guy who dated porn stars and spouts out catchphrases, but before that, he was known as Ricky Vaughn, AKA the Wild Thing.

"Major League" was a different kind of sports movie, as it was based completely on a fictitious story. Ricky Vaughn was a pitcher in jail when he was approached to play for the Indians.

A former showgirl inherits the teams and intends to move it to another city, but the new coach puts together a team of "has-beens and never-will-bes" to create a team that goes on to win the World Series.

Corbin Bernsen and Tom Berenger round out the cast with Wesley Snipes and James Gammon. The film relied more on comedy than drama to tell its story, and it became so popular that it spawned two sequels, although they were both much more child-friendly than the raunchy original.

Charlie Sheen has been talking about doing another Major League for awhile now, but the original will always have a special place in my heart as being one of the funniest movies of all time.

3. Happy Gilmore

This may not be the best golf movie in the world, but it is the funniest. The standout scene is one that many who have never seen the movie may know already.

Adam Sandler plays Happy Gilmore, an aspiring hockey player who must help his grandmother get her home back from foreclosure.

Spotted hitting cans with a hockey stick by Chubbs Peterson, he is given the chance to become a pro golfer.

Happy agrees after learning he can win enough money to get the house back, but the house is eventually purchased by his new archenemy, Shooter Mcgavin.

Happy makes a bet with Shooter that if he wins the next tournament, he gets the house. Happy starts working on his putting, which is his biggest area of concern. He learns to focus by going to a happy place where he sees the girl of his affections in lingerie serving pitchers of beer.

Happy wins the tournament and the house, and the movie ends with a celebration. This is by no means a work of art, but the movie is one of the funniest of Sandler's career and is still my favorite golf movie, but only slightly over "Tin Cup."

2. The Rocky Series, Minus No. 5

Rocky Balboa is arguably the most iconic sports figure in movies. His story may be fictional, but it is no less entertaining.

The first "Rocky" won Sylvester Stallone an Oscar for writing, but the subsequent movies were less well received. Rockys 1-4 were all great movies, and Rocky Balboa was also amazing, but "Rocky 5" for some reason just did not resonate with fans.

The reason No. 5 may have done poorly is because Rocky never actually boxes in the movie but instead trains a young boxer, who he eventually fights in the streets of Philadelphia.

Rocky Balboa was an underdog in every sense of the word, which is what made you want to root for him. The movies themselves were funny and had good messages of overcoming adversity and family values.

Pauly made for the comic relief most of the time, but it was Rocky and Adrian's relationship that made the series important. The legendary scene with Rocky yelling Adrian's name has been redone so many times that it may be the most repeated line of all time.

It was impossible to list these movies separately, but I had to list them because they are all great movies, except for the fifth one.

1. The Sandlot

Being a kid from the 80's, this movie means a lot to me. I was roughly the same age as the main character when this movie was released, so it resonated with me.

The story of a shy boy whose mother moves in with a new man is one that has been told many times before, but this movie was special for many reasons.

Scotty Smalls meets some neighborhood boys after moving to his new home, and they invite him to play baseball. Being more of an erector set kind of kid, Scotty had not idea how to play baseball.

The kids teased him, but not in a mean way, in a way that let him know he was one of them. The group of kids were like any group of kids, they were rude to each other but helped each other out when needed.

Smalls' best friend was Benny Rodriguez, the best player of the group and mentor to Smalls. Benny shows Scotty sympathy by giving him his baseball hat and spare glove. Scotty is excited and begins playing baseball with his friends everyday.

In an effort to impress his friends, Scotty brings a ball with him one day that he does not realize is priceless because it is signed by Babe Ruth.

The ball gets hit into a yard one day, but the kids don't go and get it because the owner of the house has a huge dog who eats baseballs. They attempt to get the ball any way they can without actually entering the yard.

The owner is played by James Earl Jones, who catches Scotty trying to get the ball. After realizing the old man is not scary, as all the other kids had said, he befriends him, and they talk about baseball.

After hearing that the ball had been destroyed by the dog, Jones's character gives Scotty his own autographed Babe Right ball to put in its place so his step dad will not know what happened.

The movie ends with Scotty calling the game in which Benny is playing as a Major League star.

I know some people may think it is insane that I made this the No. 1 pick, but I don't care because this is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

Honorable Mentions

Million Dollar Baby

The Blindside

Leatherheads

Remember the Titans

Run Fatboy Run

Badnews bears

The Rookie

The Scout

Hoop Dreams

Hattrick

Miracle

Legend of Bagger Vance

The Hurricane

Cinderella Man

White Men can't Jump

Baseketball

Hoosiers

Point Break

The Babe

A League of their Own

Little Giants

Mighty Ducks