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The Athletes

Billy Tully

A forgotten film, “Fat City” shows the dark underside of Boxing via Billy Tully, a boxer way past his prime, and an alcoholic to boot. Released a few years before Rocky, there is no “Rocky” ending here. Frankly, this movie would not have worked if it was. The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Fat City (1972) Actor: Stacy Keach Why you should vote for him: This is one of the boxing characters you pity the most. Why you should not vote for him: This movie has been forgotten.
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Billy Young

Forgetting that Roy Scheider was way too old to be playing a baseball player, even in the last year of his career, a lot of people enjoyed watching the Disney Channel film, Tiger Town. He was linked with a young super fan who when he closed his eyes and wished hard enough, would result in a Home Run. Sure, it was as far fetched as Scheider being a baseball player, but it was a decent family film and we enjoyed the cameos from actual Detroit Tigers, though we doubt that Sparky Anderson ever legitimately thought about playing him in the…
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Bingo Long

We are thrilled that we have found a way to nominate Lando Calrissian….er…Billy Dee Williams, who could be one of the coolest men of all time. As Negro League pitcher, Bingo Long, Williams uses his signature charm to start his own breakaway barnstorming Baseball team, and formed the most entertaining team in Baseball. The movie had its moments, but failed to capture a sizable audience…at least not as much as he did as Lando…or even when he pitched Colt 45. The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: The Bingo Long All-Stars & Travelling Motor Kings (1976) Actor: Billy Dee Williams Position Portrayed:…
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Blip Sanders

A bit (or a lot) of a generic character, Blip Sanders (was this name inspired by former Padre, Bip Roberts?) seems to merely there to be in the “friend” role, AKA, the sounding board for the main characters.  A former minor league teammate of Ginny Baker and coming off of his first All Star Game, we learn that he is a good payer but until we learn more about this character it is hard to imagine him gaining traction here.
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Bliss Cavendar "Babe Ruthless"

Although the movie did not perform well, “Whip It” was a cute little critically respected film about a young woman finding herself through Roller Derby. Actually, there is a lot of positive with the film in regards to how sport can give women (or really anybody) confidence, and a chance “to be their own hero”. Nothing wrong with that message! The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Whip It (2009) Actor: Ellen Page Played for: The Hurl Scouts Why you should vote for him: This is a decent example of female empowerment in sports. Why you should not vote for her: Chances…
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Bo Callahan

We all know that just because you win the Heisman Trophy, it does not mean that you will be a certifiable star in the National Football League. We have seen flops, stars, Heisman winners go undrafted and everything in between. In Draft Day, we have Bo Callahan, the Wisconsin Quarterback who was the reigning Heisman winner, and the expected number one pick. It didn’t happen, and we watch him plummet in a similar fashion that Aaron Rodgers did years ago. It is implied by the Cleveland Browns General Manager (played by Kevin Costner) that there are character issues with Callahan,…
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Bo Duke

We admit we are reaching on this one. Bo Duke (John Schneider) was the main driver of the General Lee on the Dukes of Hazzard, but it was implied that he raced professionally at various points in the series and the reunion shows. Should it count? We will let you decide. On another tangent, this allows us to wonder aloud that Cooter (the only man who appeared to own a garage in Hazzard County) had to be the richest man in town as every week the police wrecked their cars chasing around the Duke boys.   The Bullet Points: TV Show…
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Bob McGraw

In an attempt to replicate Animal House, the screwball comedy, saw the group from fictional Lepotomane University are “voluntold” to represent the school in a collegiate white water raft race. Frankly, we don’t remember why the Dean of the University cared, but we do remember that predictable shenanigans occurred and the team was led by Tim Matheson who played a twelfth year senior, though someone we will always remember as “Otter” from Animal House. In case you didn’t figure it out, the sad sack team from Lepotame won and taught the mean Military School team and the stuck up Ivy…
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Bobby Rayburn

Wesley deserved better here. The movie “The Fan” was a great idea, though the execution was a little muddled. We grant that Wesley Snipes (Bobby Rayburn) may not be on the same acting plane as Robert DeNiro, but he wasn’t given a character with much reason for viewers to care about. At the very least, Wesley Snipes is one of the few actors who you could buy in any athletic role, but without drawing empathy from the audience, does it really matter if he is the object of DeNiro’s obsession? The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: The Fan (1996) Actor: Wesley…
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Bodhi

Here is another curious entry on the ballot. Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) was the leader of a surfer/criminal organization, and the sport of surfing was a vital part of the film. Still, the competitive aspect of the sport was not present in Point Break which may taint the chance of anyone from this film entering the Hall. We will say this though; watching Bodhi surf that final wave into an impending end is one of the better cinematic ends to a character on the ballot. The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Point Break (1991) Actor: Patrick Swayze Why you should vote for…
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Bootney Farnsworth

We could vote for him just on the name alone. Played by Jimmie Walker, Bootney Farnsworth is a boxer who through the scamming of two fraternal lodge brothers (played by Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby) they use hypnosis to convince him that he is a much better fighter than he is, and you know the power of persuasion don’t you? Farnsworth becomes a local champion, and Poitier and Cosby make substantial loot in the process. Taking away the absurdity of the plot (and even bigger absurdity that Jimmie Walker could knock over a broom, let alone another man), this all…
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Brenden Conlon

With believable fight scenes and decent acting skill, we enjoyed Joel Edgerton’s role as Brenden Conlon, the older dependable brother who fought his younger sibling at the end of the Mixed Martial Arts film, Warrior. The end fight scene alone, might propel one of the actors (either Edgerton or Tom Hardy) to our Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame; though we do think that depends on how time perceives this film and MMA in general.        The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Warrior (2011) Actor: Joel Edgerton Why you should vote for him: There are limited opportunities for MMA fans to have an…
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Brewster Baker

We have no problem saying that we are a fan of Kenny Rogers; although we qualify that by saying we are referring to the early 80’s Country Pop dynamo with the rugged good looks who knew how to “hold em”, and not the one who became the poster boy for awfulplasticsurgery.com, with his Liberace like makeover. Rogers starred as Brewster Baker in the racing film “Six Pack”, where he is trying to get back to the big leagues, AKA: the NASCAR circuit. Along the way, he encounters a group of orphans who had stolen parts from his car, and rescued…
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Brian "Smash" Williams

The Television version of Boobie Miles on Friday Night Lights, Brian “Smash” Williams was arguably the talent of the Dillon Panthers, and the one who transformed his swagger to confidence (not easy to do) and was one of our favorites to watch on the program. Last we heard, Williams did success after a horrible injury to make it to Texas A&M, and though we suspect he never would have made it to the NFL, somehow Smash will land on his feet…maybe as a surgeon in Seattle. The Bullet Points: TV Show Appeared: Friday Night Lights (2006-11) Actor: Gaius Charles Position…
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Brian Newell

Sixteen year old basketball enthusiast, Brian Newell has no talent on the court; that is until the hoops talent of perennial All-Star, Kevin Durant magically transfers over to him. Granted, what happens after is predictable, and though we wish Denzel Washington’s acting talent somehow transferred to KD, realistically the OKC standout did what was asked (something Shaq usually struggled to do). Here is what we did like. Overall, the film had a positive message where it showed that proper skills are to be achieved by hard work and dedication. Sure, that is corny, but was that so bad? In this…
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Brian Shute

It was not that Brian Shute was such a villain, and he did not do anything to really provoke the hero. No, he just looked like an unbeatable amateur wrestler who had little to say and knew how to fight. Actually, we liked that he was a little one-dimensional, but does that effect his chances overall? It probably will.   The Bullet Points: Movie Appeared: Vision Quest (1985) Actor: Matthew Modine Played for: Hoover H.S. Why you should vote for him: His role was to be a seemingly unbeatable opponent. Mission accomplished. Why you should not vote for him:There was never…
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Bruce Pearson

The role that launched Robert DeNiro’s career was as a slow witted Catcher who has terminal Hodgkin’s Disease. As Bruce Pearson, he showed limited intellect, and was not a star on his team, the New York Mammoths, though his closest friend was. DeNiro was often the butt of the jokes on the team, and was the focus of our sympathies. However, when the nature of his illness is unveiled, the team rallies around their comrade, and learn to win and become better people in the process. That sounds like a simple equation, but often those are the best stories told.…
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Bud

Apparently there are five of these movies, and we haven’t seen any of them. All we know is that they are kid friendly and involves a dog playing sports. Automatically this has to make these movies better than Juwanna Mann. The Bullet Points: Movies Appeared: Air Bud (1997) Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) Air Bud: World Pup (2000) Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002) Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) Actor: A bunch of different dogs Position Portrayed: Multiple Played for: Multiple Why you should vote for him: We have no idea. Why you should not vote for him: Because it…
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Bugs Bunny

This is one for us seems thirteen shades of impossible. We can’t nominate Michael Jordan; because there really is a Michael Jordan. Same goes for Bill Murray. Technically, there really is a Bugs Bunny in a cartoon universe; but what does that mean for us? This is the grey area we find ourselves in, but we will err in the side of caution. Bugs Bunny was the leader of the Looney Tunes, and had co-billing with the greatest Basketball player of all time in his only foray into motion pictures. Guess what? This messed up equation worked, and it was…
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Butch Coolidge

We did not see much of Butch Coolidge’s in ring performance where he pummeled a boxer to death and shafted over crime boss, Marcellus Wiley, who he had earlier agreed to take a dive, but it was his other actions in the movie that made Butch a memorable character in the cult classic, Pulp Fiction. We saw Butch take out Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and save the man who wanted him dead for his earlier betrayal (Marcellus) from continued sodomizing; you know, your typical weekend. More than all of that it put Bruce Willis back in the “cool kids” table…
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Butch McRae

This may seem disrespectful to Anfarnee “Penny” Hardaway, but while compiling our ballot we forgot about his role in “Blue Chips”. It was not that he did a bad job, as he was perfectly effective as Butch McRae, the Point Guard recruited by Nick Nolte whose mother received help from Western University boosters. However, when you think of the basketball performances in the film, McRae is a distant second to Shaquille O’Neal’s “Neon Boudeaux”, which coincidentally would foreshadow Hardaway being in the shadow of Shaq as a pro in Orlando. Come to think of it, when you think of Penny…
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Calvin Cambridge

The movie was standard Disney fare (even though it wasn’t Disney, but was actually produced with NBA Entertainment, which explains the amount of NBA stars in the film) and was predictable at every corner. If you haven’t seen it, basically an orphan finds a pair of shoes that once were worn my Michael Jordan, so naturally by wearing them he can play “Like Mike”. Frankly, we are imaging scenes in which Bow Wow (who played the orphan) berates Kwame Brown or becomes one of the worst executives in the NBA, but that may be part of a still yet to…
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Captain Chaos Victor Prinzi

Jamie Blake (Dean Martin playing off his alcoholic and womanizing image) said it best when he warned his partner Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) to watch out for the “Blimp”. Once the rotund Victor Prinzi (played by Dom DeLuise) felt the need to defend himself or his friends, the sound of “Dun Dun Dunnnn” would fill the air and suddenly Captain Chaos would emerge with his cape and mask to save the day. It wasn’t a traditional looking superhero (although much of mannerisms were ripped from a comic book), but it didn’t matter. Considering this was an All Star cast (in…
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Captain John Colby

For the record, we love Michael Caine, and we are sure we are not alone on this. As Captain John Colby in “Victory”, we got to see an actor we love in a sports related film. Colby was a former star in West Ham, who as a Prisoner of War was given the task to organize a team to play against the Germans, which he did so in return for better conditions for the prisoners. Although Caine was not a trained player, he looked like he belonged (or maybe we are biased, because we think he can do wrong…..even when…
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