Site Admin

Dorf

Aug 26, 2013

Published in The Athletes

Is Tim Conway pretending to be a very short person that funny? Granted we may not think so, but we laughed every time at the shenanigans of Super Dave Osbourne, so what do we know?

Derice Bannock was the leader (and inadvertent killjoy on occasion) of the Disney version of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled team. Although we know this was hardly a representation of what really happened, we did love the drive and love Bannock had to compete in the Olympics. It was not the most heroic sports character of all time, but in some ways it was among the purest. That should be worth something.

Dave Stoller

Aug 26, 2013

Published in The Athletes

Funny how Dennis Christopher was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer in the Golden Globes, though his co-stars (Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley) would all go on to have far more successful careers in Hollywood. Despite that fact, “Breaking Away” was the coming of age story of Dave Stoller (Christopher) and his attempt to find a better life for himself via cycling, and by proxy European culture. It is the often told story of the common vs. the elite, and an inspirational one at that with Stoller winning a cycling competition on behalf of the “Cutters” (the term used to slam those who worked the quarry, and thus the ‘common man’) and rode his team to victory. It is a simple story, but these are often the ones that work best, and it was considered one of the better sports films ever. Christopher may not have come close to a role like this again, but is he alone in that? Not at all!

Daniel LaRusso

Aug 26, 2013

Published in The 2018 Fictitious Athlete Inductees

First off, let’s get something out of the way. For our purposes; the Karate Kid Remake starring Will Smith’s snotty kid never happened. With that out of the way, one of the great underdogs in sports cinema history has to be Daniel LaRusso. In the first film, LaRusso got the crap beaten out of him constantly by a group of karate fighting California teens with a merciless trainer. With the most unlikely help (the iconic Mr. Miyagi), LaRusso managed to learn the art of self defence…while learning how to paint a house.

He had the chance to face his bullies in a fair fight, the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, and we were treated with the best opening round wins in the perfect 80’s montage. (Come on, you were humming “You’re the Best”, right now, weren’t you?) Of course he won, even after his opponents used unscrupulous tactics (Sweep the leg!), and gave us an athletic heartwarming story.

On the flipside, let’s forget Part III, where he defended his All-Valley championship (at the age of 40 it looked like, and again he was getting the snot pounded out of him prior to) and won by doing a dance (kata) and a basic palm thrust to the chest; which won him the match but inflicted no damage to his opponent. Really lame, Daniel-San!