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Captain Robert Hatch
Jul 27, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
We could hear Germans watching this movie and groaning. Not because of the depiction of them as the bad guys, but by the fact that an American Goalie was could be a force in a game against them.
Sure, the United States have embraced soccer to the point where they are fringe World Cup contenders, but in 1981 the Americans had zero interest in the sport, beyond the first wave of badly coiffed soccer moms, so when you mix World War II (which Americans knew) with soccer (which Americans didn’t), you had a movie with sparse interest in North America; with the exception of fans of Sylvester Stallone, who was the aforementioned goalie.
Stallone may look like an athlete, but was awkward looking as a goalie (which at least the movie tried to explain). This isn’t “Sly’s” best performance in an athletic role, but it is not his worst, and this is a movie worth checking out on a cable rerun. This however is not the athlete we remember most from the movie as a certain Brazilian had our attention instead.
Cal Naughton Jr.
Jul 27, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
Just where does the bungling sidekick, turned adversary, turned sidekick again does fit into the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame anyway? Or does he at all? Actually we are trying to figure out if we can nominate Chest Rockwell instead, as he may have been our favorite sidekick of all.
Billy Clyde Puckett
Jul 27, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
On the one hand, we loved 1970’s Burt Reynolds and his slimy, yet undisputable charm. We also love the name “Billy Clyde Puckett” as one of the all-time greatest sports character names. On the other hand, the common criticism for Semi-Tough is that for a movie that looks like it is about Football; it really isn’t. Rather it is a love triangle set on the backdrop of a gridiron with a spoof on New Age thinking (which doesn’t exactly age well). We’ll say this, Reynolds got the girl in the end, so….victory for the Bandit?
The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Semi-Tough (1977)
Actor:
Burt Reynolds
Position Portrayed:
Running Back
Played for:
Miami Bucks
Why you should vote for him:
Burt Reynolds is practically a god for this Hall of Fame.
Why you should not vote for him:
Like we said, for a football film, there was not a lot of football in it.
Art Long
Jul 27, 2013
Published in
The Athletes
If you look at the overall career of Dennis Quaid, your first thought might be…”Holy Shit, this guy has been in way more films than I realized” or “does this guy ever age?” We have stated this in other entries about Quaid roles; in that he is at his best when cast in basic likable characters; much like the case here with the Country and Western singing tough-man fighter, Art Long. Overall, the film was average, and trying to capitalize on the tough-man (basically sloppy boxing) craze, though it failed to capture an audience in its “Rocky meets Cowboy” approach. Still, as this is Dennis Quaid, we can’t help but put him on the ballot and see what happens.
The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Tough Enough (1983)
Actor:
Dennis Quaid
Why you should vote for him:
This is Quaid; one of our icons for this Hall.
Why you should not vote for him:
This might be his most obscure athletic based role.
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