I am a Cry Baby

I am a sucker for sports movies. I love them even though they make me cry pretty much every time, no matter how many times I watch the movie. Whether its a happy ending or a sad ending, I will end up in tears. (Don't even get me started about the "One Shining Moment" montage at the end of the NCAA National Championship game!) I could turn on certain sports movies with ten minutes left and just start crying over that. And I like this about myself. I don't find it embarrassing at all. It's a part of who I am. There is something about thrill of sports and the blood, sweat, and tears that go into it that gets me every time regardless if the story is fiction or not.

I am and have always been a huge sports fan. I played sports all my life and still continue to play (and dominate, obvi) in adult leagues. Sports bring people together. They build character. Instill discipline. Create camaraderie. There is so much more to athletics than winning and losing which is why they are so great. There are emotions that I have experienced on the playing field that are impossible to describe.  Ones that I will never forget and watching sports movies brings a lot of these emotions back. When I watch, I put myself in the athlete's shoes and experience what they experience because a lot of the time I know what they are feeling because I have felt it before. Below are some of the best clips from some of my favorite sports movies. I couldn't necessarily find my favorite clips from each movie, but did my best to find a scene that either gave me severe goosebumps and/or tears. Watching these clips alone made me tear up. God, I am such a loser.

1. Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault This is my all-time favorite sports movie. It was made as an HBO special movie and I highly recommend it. Its a heart-wrenching true story and the acting is spectacular. You WILL thank me later.

2. Coach Carter The end of this movie had me sobbing. Basketball is one of my greatest loves and the ending of this movie was very similar to how my senior year of high school basketball season ended. Heartbreaking.

3. Rudy Even though I despise Notre Dame, I absolutely love this movie. It would be even better if it were about a kid from University of Illinois. No joke.

4. Friday Night Lights This is the halftime speech from the State Championship game. Seriously, how can this not make you cry?! And if it didn't, the end will break your heart (I had to include it as well.)

5. A League of Their Own As a female athlete, watching this when I was younger was so inspiring and so fun. These women really were incredible.

Honorable Mentions: Hoosiers, Warrior, Hoop Dreams, Mighty Ducks (1, 2, AND 3), Remember the Titans, Miracle, The Rookie.

Once again, finding these clips was a lot of fun. I could watch them all over and over again, but would need way more Kleenex handy. Next time I need a good cry, I might just have to go to the archives of this blog to find this entry. Hey, it beats watching Marley and Me and The Notebook (my go-to crying movies).