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The List: Best quotes
from sports movies

Page 2 staff



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Continuing our movie theme of the past couple of weeks, Page 2 lists its top 10 quotes from sports movies.

Check out our list of the 10 best sports movie speeches, then see how Page 2 readers ranked the best sports movie quotes. And be sure to vote in the poll to crown the all-time best quote from a sports film.

Here's our list:

Kevin Costner
Crash Davis offered some words to live by in "Bull Durham."
1. Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) in "Bull Durham"
"I believe in the soul ... the small of a woman's back, the hanging curveball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."

2. Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in "On The Waterfront"
Terry Malloy: "It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, 'Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson.' You remember that? 'This ain't your night'! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palookaville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.

Charlie Malloy: "Oh, I had some bets down for you. You saw some money."

Terry Malloy: "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."

3. Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) in "Caddyshack"
Bill Murray
"Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know."
"So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald ... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one -- big hitter, the Lama -- long, into a 10,000-foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga ... gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the 18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

4. The Voice in "Field of Dreams"
"If you build it, he will come."

Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan
Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan listen for "The Voice."
5. Tanner Boyle (Chris Barnes) in "Bad News Bears"
"All we got on this team are a buncha Jews, s----, n------, pansies, and a booger-eatin' moron!"

6. Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy (Kevin Costner) in "Tin Cup"
"Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them."

7. Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) in "Slap Shot"
Reggie Dunlop: "They brought their f------ toys with 'em!"

Joe McGrath (Strother Martin): "I'd rather have 'em playing with their toys than playing with themselves."

Reggie Dunlop: "They're too dumb to play with themselves!"

8. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) in "Any Given Sunday"
"You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game -- life or football -- the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the f------ difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying!"

9. Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) "White Men Can't Jump"
"You can put a cat in an oven, but that don't make it a biscuit."

Any Given Sunday
Though "Any Given Sunday" was a cliché-riden turkey, Al Pacino's speech made our list.
10. Mickey (Burgess Meredith) in "Rocky"
"You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"

Honorable mention:
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) in "The Natural": "So then people would see me walking down the street and say, 'There goes Roy Hobbs. The best there ever was, best there ever will be in the game.' "

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in "Rocky": "I can't beat him. But that don't bother me. The only thing I want to do is to go the distance, that's all. Because if that bell rings and I'm still standing, then I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood."

Clubber Lang (Mr. T) in "Rocky III": "No, I don't hate Balboa. I pity the fool."

Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) in "Raging Bull": "I remember those cheers they still ring in my ears, and for years they'll remain in my thoughts. 'Cause one night I took off my robe and what'd I do, I forgot to wear shorts. I recall every fall, every hook, every jab, the worst way a guy could get rid of his flab. As you know, my life was a jab... Though I'd rather hear you cheer when I delve into Shakespeare. A Horse, a Horse, my Kingdom for a Horse, I haven't had a winner in six months. I know I'm no Olivier, but if he fought Sugar Ray, he would say that the thing ain't the ring it's the play. So gimme a stage where this bull here can rage. And though I can fight I'd much rather recite That's entertainment. That's entertainment."

"Fast" Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) in "Color of Money": "You gotta have two things to win. You gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. And you got too much of one and not enough of the other."

Haywood (Pete Vuckovich) in "Major League": "How's your wife and my kids?"




ALSO SEE:
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Readers' List: Best acting performances by athletes

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The List: Greatest streaks by teams

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The List: Greatest career records

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The List: Most beloved New York athlete of all-time

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The List: Greatest sports wives of all-time

The List: Least likable football player

The List: Most beloved football players

The List: Least likable baseball players

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The List: Worst calls in sport history

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The List: Best owner in sports

The List: Coolest athletes

The List: Biggest upsets





 
    
 
 
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