The night the Boston Red Sox won the World Series was one of those moments that Sox fans will always remember. The guys you followed through thick and a lot of thin running onto the field in triumph, players hugging each other, pandemonium, and Jimmy Fallon and Drew Berrymore dancing.
What? I expected pigs flying, Satan ice skating and WMDs being found in Iraq after the Sox had won, but Drew and Jimmy on the field? It turns out that they were filming them on the field for a movie called "Fever Pitch." Immediately, I hated the movie.
There's something about sports movies that riles us up more than others. They draw out emotions that usually don't show up in a movie theater, evoking passions that people save for their La-Z-Boy or stadium. That's the great thing about them, because how often do you actively root in a movie theater, even when you know the outcome?
Sports movies touch us because they are something we can experience ourselves. Who hasn't taken out a golf club and done the "Cinderella story ... Former groundskeeper ... Now Masters champion" speech from "Caddyshack?"
Who hasn't watched a baseball game and said after a particularly wild pitch "jussssst a bit outside" from "Major League?"
And although it isn't a sports movie, I can't go into a bowling alley without quoting lines from "The Big Lebowski." Can you really do these things with other movies? It's not every day I'm kicking terrorists off Air Force One, or taking the red pill and hanging out with Laurence Fishburne, as cool as that would be.
The other great thing about sports movies is that it's the only time in a theater a man is allowed to cry. Show any tough guy the last 10 minutes of "Rudy," and even the most tattooed and intimidating guy will tear up a little.
Yet there is a dark side to sports movies: They're really hit or miss. For every "Hoosiers" there's a "He's Got Game," for every "Slapshot" there's a "The Mighty Ducks," and for every "Caddyshack" there's a "Caddyshack 2."
When people talk about these movies, it becomes so personal that if you tell someone you don't like one of his favorites, it's like a slap in the face. It's much more than people defending their other favorite movies, as I've never heard anyone get in a fight over "Titanic" or a hotly contested debate over what movie is better, "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Legally Blonde." Sports movies are just another opportunity for people who have a passion to yell at each other more.
All this brings me back to "Fever Pitch." The movie is the ultimate catch-22. I do love the Red Sox, and any opportunity to see more of their glorious 2004 run is something I'm interested in. However, chances are that this is one of those "Caddyshack 2" sports movies, and it's very probable that there couldn't be a worse pick for a gigantic Red Sox fan then Jimmy Fallon, except maybe Ben Affleck.
In the end, chances are I won't be seeing "Fever Pitch," just like many baseball and Red Sox fans out there. The movie is trying to capitalize on this wave of Red Sox popularity, but chances are it will turn the tide, and people will say "enough is enough."
The problem is that good sports movies aren't specific to one era, but are supposed to be timeless, something that touches you no matter when you watch it.
I have a feeling the only thing I'd be feeling after seeing "Fever Pitch" is that even I'm sick of the Red Sox. Yet this will not be the last sports movie made, and it won't be the last bad one either, so there's hope for every team and every fan out there that perhaps their passion will be put on the big screen. I can't wait for a Washington Nationals movie, can you?
