Sports Movies....What If?

We all have movies that when they are on TV we have to stop and watch regardless of what else is on or what we have to do. My list includes Ocean’s 11, Independence Day, Rocky IV and Shawshank Redemption. I make no apologies for any of these but just know if they are on, I am watching. Today the TV schedule blessed me by showing Rocky IV and I watched from start to finish. It gets the job done every time.

In sports, there are countless “What Ifs?” that we can go back and wonder how one event could have changed the course of sports history as we know it. Whether it is a trade, big play or off-the-field incident, single events have changed the way we remember history. What if the opposite or a different course had happened? What if Michael Jordan stayed retired, John Elway chose baseball, Laettner missed “the shot”? Each of these events as is had a deep impact on the sports landscape but the “what if” is interesting to contemplate.

Today when I was watching Rocky IV, as Rocky stood there frozen while Apollo Creed got the shit kicked out of him by Ivan Drago, I thought to myself, things may have been drastically different if Rocky had thrown the damn towel. If he had, Apollo would have lived, Rocky would have no reason to fight Drago and Russia might have gone on to win the Cold War. Good gracious. Sorry Apollo, your death was a sad but necessary event in American history.

This got me thinking about other sports movies “What Ifs?” are out there. There are surely more but here is a list of a few with some commentary on each:

Mighty Ducks: What if Gordon Bombay had blown a .007?

Thoughts: Bombay would have remained a hot shot lawyer and the Hawks, Iceland and the Varsity team would have all gone onto glory. Doesn’t sound like a world I want to live in. I think we can all agree it was the only positive DUI in history.

Happy Gilmore - What if Happy never learned how to putt?

Thoughts: His career would have gone a lot like Sergio Garcia’s has.

Jerry Maguire - What if Jerry had signed #1 pick Frank Cushman?

Thoughts: Fucking Bob Sugar….

Rocky III - What if Rocky and Apollo didn’t hug on the beach?

Thoughts: We wouldn’t have to question Rocky and Apollo’s sexuality.

Major League - What if Rick Vaughn went curveball on the 0-2 pitch to Clu Haywood?

Thoughts: Clu Haywood would have blasted it for a homerun, the Yankees would have won and the only happy memory in Cleveland sports history would not have been. Hmmm….is there still time for a rewrite?

Hoosiers - What if Jimmy Chitwood went 19-23?

Thoughts: Don’t even want to think about a scenario where Hickery High doesn’t win. I can’t take it.

Space Jam - What if the aliens took Hakeem Olajuwan’s powers instead of Shawn Bradley’s?

Thoughts: Wow. Where to begin. The Aliens would have won the game, Michael Jordan would become prisoner of the aliens and never return to the NBA to win three more titles. We might be living in a world where Shawn Kemp and Karl Malone are NBA Champions. Just be grateful the aliens are suspect NBA scouts.

Tin Cup - What if Roy McAvoy didn’t ask for another ball?

Thoughts: We’d probably remember Tin Cup as the movie version of the 2006 US Open with Roy McAvoy playing Phil Mickelson.

The Sandlot - What if Benny the Jet never put on his PF Flyers?

Thoughts: Not sure he clears the wall and the Beast probably eats him and the rest of the kids are traumatized for life. On a related note, The Sandlot would probably have received a PG-13 rating.

Some interesting and potentially disastrous possibilities. Lucky for us, you can’t change history, only contemplate it.