When we were putting together the initial ballot for voting in The Athletic’s Top 100 Sports Movies of All Time survey, we asked the staff to nominate their favorites. The list quickly filled with the usual suspects — “Raging Bull,” “A League of Their Own,” “Bull Durham” “Hoop Dreams” and “Rocky” (“entire collection,” someone noted) — and by the end of the first day, we had a robust roster of sports movies. But did we have everything — or at least something close to it?
The next morning, a Saturday at about the same time CBS then ABC aired Looney Tunes in the ’70s and ’80s, I had a thought I thought was damned genius: “‘Baseball Bugs!’ Of course. As loony as it is, that’s a sports movie. Definitely a sports movie.” (Or, maybe not.) I added it to the list. But a few moments later, there was another problem: I started thinking again.
“Well, if…
