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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Take 10: Best high school sports movies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Around Take Ten Headquarters, if we’re not watching sports, we’re probably catching the latest movie. Yes, we’ve been to Oscar parties. And yes, we may have dressed up like Humphrey Bogart for Halloween last year. We confess. So with the Atlanta Film Festival starting this week, we have the perfect excuse to combine our two favorite things.
Vote for your favorite! Check our photos from the Take 10 movie list. Then pick or pan Jeff’s list. Photos: Rate Take 10’s favorite films
These are the top 10 high school sports movies of all-time:
10. America Brown (2004) This is an independent film about a West Texas high school football star who doesn’t know where to go with his life after his older brother dies, so he takes a bus to Brooklyn to talk to his school’s last great player, who is now a Catholic priest.
9. Friday Night Lights (2004) It’s not as good as the TV show it spawned, but it isn’t bad. Billy Bob Thornton does well as the small-town Texas high school team’s gruff coach, and even country music star Tim McGraw shows he can act in this one, playing an abusive father who wants his son to be a star player.
8. Hellfighters (2007) When he sees there isn’t a high school football team for kids in Manhattan, former NFL player Duke Fergerson tries to assemble a team from different high schools on the island. This documentary looks at their struggles to piece together a team, become eligible to compete and what happens when the different kids join together.
7. He Got Game (1998) You watch this movie and wonder why it’s the only time NBA star Ray Allen has starred in a film. He plays the nation’s top-ranked high school basketball player with an imprisoned father (Denzel Washington) trying to reduce his own sentence by directing his son toward playing for Big State.
6. Finding Forrester (2000) It’s hard to believe Rob Brown was just 16 when he played Jamal Wallace, a high school kid who could play basketball but was an even better writer who finally got some direction from the reclusive William Forrester (Sean Connery).
5. Remember the Titans (2000) Denzel Washington plays the coach of a new D.C.-area football team formed when a white and black school were integrated into one in 1971. It avoids being preachy but still gets across its message.
4. Go Tigers! (2001) This documentary is like the real-life “Friday Night Lights,” looking at a football season at a Masillion, Ohio, high school. It looks deeply at the players, coaches and community on and off the field; seeing it all up close is pretty fascinating.
3. The Basketball Diaries (1995) It’s dark, disturbing and mildly depressing, three qualities we love in a movie. Before “Titanic” became the biggest scourge ever on teen-age boys trying to go on dates, an unknown Leonardo DiCaprio played a high school basketball player addicted to drugs and spiraling out of control.
2. Hoop Dreams (1994) The best of three documentaries on this list, Hoop Dreams follows William Gates and Arthur Agee, talented high school basketball players living in the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago. You watch them through all four years of school, trying to earn a college scholarship. Great stuff.
1. Hoosiers (1986) Even on a list of non-high school sports movies, this one might end up No. 1. Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, small-town Indiana basketball, a great underdog story. It should be illegal for a high school sports fan not to enjoy this movie.
Vote for your favorite! Check our photos from the Take 10 movie list. Then pick or pan Jeff’s list. Photos: Rate Take 10’s favorite films
Go on. Take Ten. What’s your favorite high school sports movie? Do any of these not belong on the list? What should we add? Here’s your chance to show what a big movie nerd you really are.
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Georgia High School Baseball Blog
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The staff at Hardball holds no bias against non-metro Atlanta baseball teams, and we sometimes venture outside the metro area to find some great teams you may not know about. Here’s a look at three of the best from beyond the perimeter.
Pierce County, Blackshear
Despite dropping their first game on Monday against Toombs County, the Class AA Bears from Southeast Georgia are 15-1 and are threatening to improve last year’s victory total of 25. Senior right-handed pitcher Caleb Lairsey and junior left-hander David O’Neal are each 5-0, and last year’s state pitching leader Hugh Lee is getting back to form after recovery from two strained forearms. Scary thought for opponents.
South Effingham, Guyton
The Mustangs reached the state semifinals in three of coach Tony Kirkland’s first four seasons. It looks promising for a return trip for the Southeast Georgia team with seniors Colby May (University of Georgia commit) and John Roberts (Armstrong Atlantic State commit) creating havoc for opposing pitchers. Roberts has 10 home runs and 34 RBIs in 15 games while hitting behind May in the lineup.
Aquinas, Augusta
Everyone knows Augusta’s other baseball powerhouse, two-time Class AAAA champion Greenbrier. But the Fighting Irish are 17-1 after Monday’s victory against St. Pius. Aquinas has reached the state playoffs in each of the last three seasons, reaching the quarterfinals in 2007 after consecutive first-round exits.
Pike County, Zebulon
The departure of Boston Red Sox minor-leaguer Hunter Strickland hasn’t slowed the Class AA Pirates, who are 14-2 and unbeaten in eight Region 5-AA games. Pike County, located 50 miles south of Atlanta, reached the state playoffs in each of coach Don Hanson’s four seasons. The 2008 team, which has won 10 consecutive games, is led by senior pitcher D.J. Tice and senior catcher Butch Brown.
AJC Top 10
1. Brookwood (1): Broncos on seven-game winning streak.
2. Columbus (4): Only two losses were one-run setbacks to Brookwood and Parkview.
3. Harrison (2): Loss to Kennesaw Mountain not a bad one, especially after the Hoyas dropped McEachern earlier in the week.
4. Heritage (7): Patriots haven’t lost since March 1.
5. Holy Innocents’ (6): Ace Mark Grimm looking good for defending AA champs.
6. Greenbrier (3): Slipped with consecutive losses to Lakeside-Evans and Marist.
7. South Effingham (9): Matt Zettler 5-0 on mound for 11-4 Mustangs.
8. East Paulding (8): Only one loss to Georgia schools.
9. Valdosta (9): 2-1 week capped by region victory against Coffee.
10. Dunwoody (NR): Defending Class AAA champs have won 10 straight.
(X) - last week’s rating.
Squeeze bunts
Chase Hawkins had a fun night in No. 1 Brookwood’s 8-3 victory against Parkview: CG, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 6 strikeouts, victory on the mound; 3-for-3, 3 RBIs. … Jackson County starter Trevor Booth pitched back-to-back shutouts in victories against Clarke Central and Dacula. … No. 9 Valdosta is 15-2 because of Kyle Rowe, who is 7-0.
Friday’s Scores
Alexander 18, Lithia Springs 5
Armuchee 18, Temple 5
Brookwood 6, Shiloh 0
Butler 1, Hancock Central 0
Callaway 3, Heard County 1
Cass 11, Villa Rica 1
Chattahoochee 6, Wheeler 4
Coffee 8, Wayne County 4
Dalton 4, Northwest Whitfield 1
Druid Hills 13, McNair 0
Etowah 10, Murray County 1
Gilmer 15, Johnson-Gainesville 0
Greenbrier 13, Evans 0
Harlem 7, Thomson 1
Henry County 3, Ola 2
Hillgrove 7, Sequoyah 6
Kell 8, Roswell 1
Jackson 2, Woodland-Stockbridge 1
Jefferson 11, Hebron Christian 1
Lakeside-DeKalb 6, Southwest DeKalb 1
Lassiter 4, Milton 1
Loganville 9, Winder-Barrow 5
Lovejoy 9, Forest Park 6
Manchester 15, Macon County 5
Miller County 14, Calhoun County 7
Miller Grove 13, Mays 2
Monticello 7, Hancock Central 0
Mundy’s Mill 12, Morrow 4
North Gwinnett 11, Collins Hill 6
North Forsyth 7, Peachtree Ridge 1
Pacelli 16, Greenville 1
Pike County 13, Marion County 5
Pope 6, Centennial 2
Redan 13, Newton 3
Ringgold 8, Ridgeland 6
Sandy Creek 16, Haralson County 0
Savannah Christian 13, Charlton County 8
Shaw 18, Kendrick 0
South Forsyth 7, Duluth 4
St. Pius 13, Cedar Grove 2
Tattnall County 7, East Laurens 5
Taylor County 4, Brookstone 2
Telfair County 7, Montgomery County 5
Tucker 18, Columbia 6
Wesleyan 13, Paideia 0
Wesleyan 12, Cross Keys 0
Wilkinson County 17, Glascock County 4
Westminster 17, Carver-Atlanta 1
Woodstock 17, Marietta 0
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