Sometimes (actually, a lot of the time) it is difficult to defend being a fan of professional wrestling. The movie, “Ready to Rumble” did not help anyone who is standing on that soapbox at all.

Rather than go into the details about what was wrong with the film, allow us to say this: If they were going to get a legitimate actor to play a pro wrestler could they not have found one who at least looked the part? With all due respect to Oliver Platt, (who was cast as Jimmy King, the object of two dimwitted wrestling fanboy’s hero worship), he was physically out of place in the role, and it was not like Platt was a big enough name to bring serious attention to the movie. Surely, there was someone else in Hollywood that they could have found to play the role, as it was not as though the film did not have funding, and the film was not cast with no names. Incidentally, World Championship Wrestling, which was the setting and producers of the film, went out of business a year after the film came out; although if we had to point fingers it would be more at David Arquette than Oliver Platt.

As the lead character in “Bend it Like Beckham”, Jesminder Bhamra crossed gender and racial lines and gave us what was overall a very good film; and not just one of athletic accomplishments. Indirectly, this is more of a coming of age female flick than a sports one, so should that matter? We will let you decide on that one.

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Professional Golfer

Does this make it a clean sweep for hockey for the 2015 Inductees?

While Gilmore was a washout as a hockey player, he did have a booming shot, which was about the only real hockey skill he had.  Gilmore would parlay that skill to hustling on the driving range, and when he learned from one armed golf pro, Chubbs Peterson how much money he could make playing professionally, he took to the links in order to raise enough money to save his beloved grandmother’s home.

Gilmore would gain a lot of fans on the tour and changed the dynamic of who watched golf.  The new blue collar slobs who frequented the gallery didn’t make Gilmore a lot of friends within his new peers, especially the slimy Shooter McGavin, who desperately wanted Happy off of the tour.

You know what happened right?  Happy Gilmore won the championship, saved his grandmother’s house and got a pre Modern Family, Julie Bowen, and on golf courses everywhere duffers constantly ask the ball if they are too good for their home when they miss their putt.

The Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame is proud to welcome Happy Gilmore to the 2015 Class!

In watching “Youngblood”, we still are not sure if Patrick Swayze was a real good actor, or just someone who did not stink while surrounded by idiotic lines and weak acting. Maybe, it is a bit of both. As Derek Sutton, Swayze was the star Centre for the Hamilton Mustangs (despite Swayze being 34 years old at the time, fourteen years older than the oldest player in Junior Hockey) and was thankful to be in a sport for “middle sized white guys”. He was the leader of the team, which is until the Hollywood injury to the opponent’s goon took him out. Of course he was avenged by Rob Lowe…..wait, the guy from Road House was avenged by the Oxford Blues guy? That can’t be right.