Ask Athlon Sports: Sports Movies

Q: My son and I love to argue about the best sports movies. But which sports movie is the most successful in history?

— Irene Delores Chervitz, St. Louis, Mo.

A: There have been blockbusters with a sports component — “M*A*S*H,” for example, had that hilarious football game — but I assume you mean movies that are actually about sports. If you adjust for inflation, four of the top five all-time box office champs (among sports films) are Rocky movies. But just looking at total dollars, the winner is “The Blind Side.” The heartwarming biopic of Ravens lineman Michael Oher and his surrogate Memphis family made almost $256 million (according to BoxOfficeMojo.com). It also earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar. Meanwhile, you didn’t ask, but my favorite sports movie is “Kingpin.” It’s the Farrelley brothers at their infantile best. Woody Harrelson is sharp as a one-handed, down-on-his-luck bowler Roy Munson, but Bill Murray, sporting a flyaway combover, steals the movie as Munson’s nemesis, Ernie “Big Ern” ­McCracken. Watch it with your son and tell us what you think.

— Rob Doster, Senior Editor

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