Moneyball: Deserved Oscar Nomination Makes Movie All-Time Great Sports Flick

Moneyball was awarded with an Oscar nomination on Tuesday. It's an honor that guarantees the film, which features the Oakland Athletics' rise to greatness in 2002, will take its rightful place among the best sports movies in history.

Brad Pitt received a nomination for best actor in a leading role for portraying Billy Beane, while Jonah Hill also got one for best supporting actor, playing Peter Brand, who wasn't an actual member of the Oakland front office but is based mostly on Paul DePodesta.

Sports movies usually don't garner much hype during award season because they only tend to attract a fringe audience. Moneyball is different, though. It's really a tale about overcoming adversity when the odds are stacked against you in seemingly every way possible.

It's a common movie storyline; it just so happens that baseball is the avenue of telling it this time around. That made it unique enough to warrant an Oscar nod.

Having a megastar like Pitt around to grab attention certainly helps. He plays the role of Beane perfectly. Somebody who's willing to think outside the box and take chances because maintaining the status quo would have led the Athletics down a dead-end street.

As good as Pitt's performance was, Hill's was even better. He played the role of a number-crunching sidekick to perfection, showing how analyzing numbers truly changed how general managers around the league look at the game.

“He gets on base,” was Hill's most common line, explaining to out-of-touch scouts that there are more important things than batting average and speed.

By bringing together their own island of misfits, the Athletics are able to reach the playoffs. They fail to claim the World Series, which would have been a fitting end to the story, but the goal of changing the game is realized.

The numerous different life lessons that can be learned earned rave reviews from critics and helped attract that niche audience.

So, while it might not be in the same category as Hoosiers, Rocky or Raging Bull, Moneyball is definitely a sports film that will have the same long-lasting characteristics as those three famous movies, even if it doesn't take home an Oscar.

One thing's for sure: It's a must-see for all sports fans.