sports movies

Pirate will “Let it Go” at the plate this season

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Frozen continues it grip on pop culture by now getting involved in baseball

Frozen continues it grip on pop culture by now getting involved in baseball

Unless you’ve been under a rock the past three months you’ve had to have heard the song “Let it Go” performed by the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem, I mean Idina Menzel. If people thought Frozen’s popularity would fade as winter began to thaw into spring, you’d be wrong. In Pittsburgh, catcher Tony Sanchez has announced that the smash hit “Let it Go” will be his walk up song when he comes to bat in 2014. Talk about an unusual choice. It may have won an oscar, but Let it Go is a rapid departure from the usual hard rock and hip hop walk up songs the big leaguers usually use. Who knows? If Sanchez helps the Pirates win and makes an all star team, maybe will be hearing more of the Walt Disney soundtrack throughout major league ball parks. Sorry Pirates parents, looks like your not escaping Frozen just yet! For the full music video check out the link here (Frozen “Let it Go”). Comment and follow below!

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Where are they now? Gordon Bombay: The Minnesota Miracle Man

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From community service to legendary coach

From community service to legendary coach

In any relationship there is give and take. When it comes to Gordon Bombay and the game of hockey, it’s been a rocky but satisfying relationship. It’s had heartbreak; The death of his father, being pushed to far as a kid by a ruthless coach, and blowing out his knee missing out on his opportunity to play in the NHL. However, for all the blows that hockey has dealt, it’s the positives that Bombay is known for. Taking the worst team in Minnesota to the state championship, and having the U.S.A. junior team to pull off the major upset against the best team in the world, Iceland. After the Junior Good Will victory, Bombay shocked the hockey world when he accepted the American ambassador role for the Good Will games. “I felt that I could’ve helped more kids in need in that position. The Ducks had grown up and I knew that I needed to let them soar on their own. Was it hard? It was the most difficult decision in my life but in the end I knew I would always be there for the Ducks whenever they needed me”. After helping hundreds of kids, the games would come to a close in 1998 and Bombay would be out of a job. What to do? The Ducks were all grown up and had gone their separate ways. While in L.A. Bombay was one of the driving forces

As a coach Bombay helped establish 2 NHL franchises including the Mighty Ducks

As a coach Bombay helped establish 2 NHL franchises including the Mighty Ducks

behind Anaheim getting a pro hockey franchise. When they looked a namesake, they looked no further than Bombay’s team for inspiration and adopted the banner Bombay helped to create. Although, it’s no coincidence, after all Bombay was always great at persuasion from his lawyer days. After establishing a franchise in L.A., Bombay used his abundant free time to help bring back a franchise back to Minnesota. After the North Stars departed after the 1993 season, Minneapolis was without a pro franchise. Bombay would be one of the men who lobbied to get an NHL franchise back, and in 2000 the dream was realized. Since their inception Bombay has remained in the Wild front office and is in charge of the player development. When asked if he would ever return to behind the bench again, Bombay smiles and stays with a chuckle, “I’m retired”. However, I follow the Minnesota miracle man after he leaves the Wild facility. When he stop his black Lincoln on the edge of a sea of glass ice, he puts on a pair of skates and grabs his stick from the backseat. Then I look out through the frozen mist and see the Ducks, like apparitions gliding through the winter evening. The stop when they see their former protege and burst out in a joyous roar. Then I see the group that enthralled a nation, resume what they’ve been doing for years, flying across the truth. Then I remember those famous words that Bombay once said and know that it is really true. Ducks will always fly together!

Where are they now? Ricky “The Wild Thing” Vaughn

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The "Wild Thing" tattooed his unique legacy on the classic game

The “Wild Thing” tattooed his unique legacy on the classic game

Like a cowboy in the wild west, when Rick Vaughn stared you down through those spectacles it made even the toughest man quiver in their boots. Is it because he can hurl an object at your head at a hundred miles per hour? Or that he could he beat you to a pulp in the blink of an eye? The answer is yes to both. When Ricky Vaughn broke into the Majors in 1989 he was raw power. A fastball that sat at a 100 MPH was his weapon of choice, the problem is he had no idea where it was going. With control problems garnering him the infamous nickname “The Wild Thing”, it wasn’t until Vaughn was given a pair of horn spectacles that he truly became one of the game’s elite.  Armed with a fastball he called “the terminator” he helped to bring respect back to the Indians organization. After one of the best seasons as a rookie pitcher, Vaughn struggled in 1990 when he tried to “reinvent himself” by trying to improve on his secondary pitches and cleaning up his “bad boy attitude” It was a roller coaster season that led to Vaughn being demoted to the bullpen after a drop in velocity and sub par secondary pitches. However, in the Playoffs Vaughn found his velocity and attitude to once again become a force in the World Series. However, Jim Taylor decided to keep Vaughn in the bullpen, a decision he openly admits was a mistake, as the Indians would lose game seven while Vaughn, now the closer, never got into the game. The next two seasons Vaughn would win 20 and 21 games and helped the Indians to two more World Series appearances. But After the third consecutive World Series loss, Vaughn’s career would take a sharp down turn. On the way to the 1993 Spring Training, Vaughn crashed his Harley while doing a 120 MPH on the freeway. The accident caused severe head trauma and tore his rotator cuff. After rehabbing for a year and a half it looked like Vaughn would be able to join the Indians late in the 94 season, but the baseball strike that season brought that dream to an end. The late 90’s were not kind to Vaughn as he missed more time off the field with altercations, injuries, and

After years of turmoil Vaughn has found peace, for now

After years of turmoil Vaughn has found peace, for now

suspensions. These included bar fights off the field, failing drug tests, and suspended by the Indians for inappropriate “staff” relationships. After the 1999 season the Indians refused to resign Vaughn citing the off the field issues and a severe drop in velocity. With no other teams offering him a contract, Vaughn did what every washed up ball players does, head to the broadcast booth. This turned into a disaster when his constant swearing lead to a disagreement with Joe Buck. Vaughn would punch him live on TV in the face for “not shutting up” according to Vaughn. The Wild Thing has remained true to his namesake in the first decade of the twentieth century. With three different arrests including one for driving his Harley across the field during an Indians game, wearing only his sunglasses and a pair of underwear. After a second stint in rehab it looked like Vaughn was on the right track. But just as mysteriously as he arrived in the big leagues, he vanished. No one knows where Vaughn is these days, but he maintains a twitter account with over five million followers. It seems that Vaughn has been traveling around the country on his Harley occasionally posting a bizarre tweet or picture, just like last week when he posted a picture of himself giving a McDonald’s employee a wedgie. The reason? Apparently he wouldn’t give Vaughn a free meal for being a “celebrity”. Wherever he is one thing is for sure, he will always be the bad boy of baseball. “Wild Thing” you made baseball interesting.

One too many: Sports sequels that destroyed great film franchises

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Sports movies are great sources of entertainment. They combine the thrill of sports with a roller coaster of emotions and back story that only hollywood can provide. These movies not only entertain but spark a child’s life long passion for sports. For me both the Sandlot and the Mighty Ducks inspired  my  passion for baseball and ice hockey respectively. There are so many sports classics that have touched millions of people, but Hollywood has a knack for ruining a great thing. The infamous sequel can be a great movie, but like Shaq at the free throw line, these movies often miss the mark and can tarnish their predecessor’s legacy. Here is my list for the top 5 worst sports sequels that ruined some of the best sport movie franchises.

5) Slap Shot 2

This sequel missed the net

This sequel missed the net

When a sequel is made 25 years after the original you know it’s going to be bad news. With the original considered the perfect and quintessential hockey movie, it’s impossible to improve or repeat perfection. Now you have the Hanson brothers  25 years older, the team is moving, Stephen Baldwin is the new player coach, and did I mention their new gig is being the losing team to the Omaha Ice Breakers. They’ve gone from the batboys of minor league hockey to the scripted losing team in hockey’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. Plus Paul Neumann isn’t in this movie. He was hysterical and it’s Paul Neumann, enough said. It’s a shame this movie was made with the original being perfect for its time in the 1970s, an age where hockey violence and shenanigans were at its peak. This new version doesn’t fit the times and slams the legacy the of this franchise into the boards. Thank god this film is mostly forgotten because it doesn’t do the original any justice.

4) D3: The Mighty Ducks

From Minnesota miracle to JV?

From Minnesota miracle to JV?

The Mighty Ducks franchise created two classic hockey movies. In the original, the Ducks overcame the Hawks to win the state championship. In D2, the team beat Iceland to be the best junior team in the world. Things were going so well after two hit movies, a cartoon series, and an actual professional franchise named after them. However, D3 nuked the franchise and officially fried the ducks. It took away Gordon Bombay, the charismatic coach tried to fill the void with actors trying painfully too hard to get a laugh. The icon of the series, Charlie Conway, went from being the perfect role model to a snarky and stuck up brat that you just wanted to see get slammed into the glass. Did we mention that there a JV team? Seriously I understand being the underdog but if they beat Iceland shouldn’t they be good enough to be a varsity team? This movie took everything that was great about the first two movies and completely threw it out the window. This movie turned out to be a quack.

3 The Sandlot 2

Not only was this movie a swing in a miss but it spawned another sequel

Not only was this movie a swing in a miss but it spawned another sequel

Growing up the Sandlot was one of my favorite movies. Anyone whose seen this just wants to gather up the neighborhood kids and go play ball! Everybody wanted to be Bennie “The Jet” Rodriguez, even though they were clearly a Smalls. However, hollywood decided to take the Sandlot’s great name and drag it through the dirt. The sequel has the same exact premise as the first one, literally. They just did the same story except a decade later and with characters so bad they made you cringe.  No one was memorable and this movie didn’t teach us anything. The first taught us about chewing tobacco, how to insult other ball players, and most importantly how to make smores. I don’t know whats worst the fact that this movie completely took the great idea of the Sandlot and turned it into a joke or that this movie spawned a third Sandlot movie. Either way this sequel struck out looking.

2) Major League 3 Back to the minors

This franchise deserved a demotion after this wild pitch

This franchise deserved a demotion after this wild pitch

The first Major League was hysterical, and the sequel was a solid follow-up. However, the old cliché that the third time is the charm clearly doesn’t apply to this film. We go from the “Wild Thing” and the major league shenanigans to the minor leagues? Seriously if there was a minor league for actors all of these actors in this movie would never see the pros. This film removes almost every trace of the original including the Indians, and replaces it with the Twins minor league team the Buzz. Instead of the Indians trying to win the World Series this train wreck focuses on not one but two games where the Buzz try to defeat their major league counterparts. Charlie Sheen may have been “winning” in the first two Major League films, but this sad attempt to revamp the beloved film franchise deserves a demotion.

1) Caddyshack 2

Forget hitting the fairway, this film is way out of bounds

Forget hitting the fairway, this film is way out-of-bounds

One of the greatest comedies every made was the original Caddyshack. The crazy gopher, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bill Murrary were the perfect ensemble cast and have created laughs that will continue for decades. But once again hollywood just can’t resist sacrificing a film’s legacy in the pursuit of the all mighty dollar. Where to start, first with only Chevy Chase returning to this franchise while the others wisely jumped off this runaway golf cart. A sequel eight years after the original, two-thirds of the comedy trio not returning, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Instead of trying to find funny actors, lets bombard the audience with ridiculous eye candy. Seriously, it looks like a miniature golf course threw up all over this movie. Jeez, I though the worst thing in golf was Happy Gilmore’s putting. Boy was I wrong. Do you agree you disagree? Which terrible sports sequel made your eyes and ears cringe? Comment and follow below!