Sports Movies Too Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cool Runnings

The incorrect choices are baseball films. "Eight Men Out" from 1988 was about the Chicago White Sox World Series of 1919, often dubbed the Black Sox Scandal, where members of the White Sox were paid to 'throw the series". "Major League" (1989) was a very funny film about the Cleveland Indians and the team's effort to win it all so they don't have to move to Miami. "Moneyball" (2011) was about the Oakland Athletics and their manager trying to outsmart the richer baseball teams. "Cool Runnings" (1993) was a great movie about the first Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team (who had never even seen snow before) and a disgraced coach (John Candy) trying to win!

Answer: bowling

Well, we can name tons of movies about football, e.g. "North Dallas Forty" released in 1979; movies about tennis include "Wimbledon" (2004) and "Match Point" (2005); surprisingly, there are even rowing movies like "Miracle at Oxford" (2004) and "The Sixth Sense" (1999) where Bruce Willis' character had been a rower, but bowling? One of the best bowling films of all time would have to be "The Big Lebowski" from 1998, directed by the Coen Brothers. Jeff Bridges played Jeff Lebowski "the Dude", an easy-going likeable burnout who happens to get confused with a millionaire (with the same name) whose wife owes a lot of people a lot of money.

Answer: Harlem Globetrotters

"Go, Man, Go" was an old black and white film about Abe Saperstein, played by Dane Clark, and his efforts to start a basketball team and take them on the road. The team was the Harlem Globetrotters and what made the idea so controversial was this was the 1950s and the team was made up of all black players.

It shows the remarkable talents of the players, like Curly Neal and Sweetwater Clifton, Meadowlark Lemon and even Wilt Chamberlain. In a minor role in the movie we find Sidney Poitier playing Inman Jackson and showing signs of greatness even then.

As for who broke the color barrier in basketball: C. Cooper/drafted, Nat Clifton/signed and Earl Lloyd/played.

Answer: Walter Matthau

The film that started the trilogy, "The Bad News Bears", featured Walter Matthau in the role of the beer-guzzling former minor league coach, Morris Buttermaker, who seeks redemption by trying to win with a team of misfits in little league baseball in Southern California. Surprisingly, this was one of the top-grossing movies of 1976. Walter Matthau (1920-2000) may be best known for playing Oscar Madison in "The Odd Couple" opposite Jack Lemmon. Matthau won a Tony Award for the 1961 show "A Shot in the Dark" for Best Featured Actor in a Play, and he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the film "The Fortune Cookie" (1966). (Hackman played a coach; Ditka was a coach; Malden looks like a coach.)

Answer: surfing

Bruce Brown directed and wrote this seminal surfing movie. The film was the result of 10 years of documentaries about surfing; Brown follows two California surfers around in world in the quest to find the 'perfect wave'. They travel from West Africa, Australia, Tahiti and beyond to capture the kind of movie footage that had never been seen before.

It would take until the mid 1960s to explore the possibility of just 'following your dream', and for audiences to appreciate the excitement of the sport and the beauty of the photography.

It wasn't until 2002 that a female version of surfing, "Blue Crush", was released in theaters.

Answer: Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis (1944-2014) was an actor, writer and director who was responsible for the 1980 movie "Caddyshack", with Bill Murray, about an exclusive golf club and a destructive gopher. Ramis also directed Murray in the 1993 film "Groundhog Day" (1993), as well as writing and acting in "Ghostbusters" (1984), "Ghostbusters II (1989) and "Stripes" (1981).

As for the incorrect choices: Ivan Reitman directed both "Ghostbusters" and the sequel; Bennett Miller directed the 2011 Brad Pitt movie "Moneyball"; and Peter Berg is responsible for the 2004 Texas football film "Friday Night Lights" which was later made into a TV show.

Answer: Hoop Dreams

William Gates and Arthur Agee played themselves in this 1994 documentary of two African-American Chicago high school students who show great potential in basketball and hope to earn a college scholarship and a ticket to the NBA. The film shows Gates and Agee through four years of high school, i.e. their training, injuries, maintaining their grades and continuing to follow their dream, whatever the cost.

The other choices are also basketball films: "White Men Can't Jump" (1992) with Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes, "Blue Chips" (1994) with Nick Nolte, and "He Got Game" (1998) from Spike Lee.

Answer: Penny Marshall

I hope I didn't fool you... Penny Marshall did not act in "A League of Their Own" in 1992, she directed the film. The movie took place during World War II and, with men in sparse supply, a professional women's baseball league is started in the Midwest.

The cast includes Tom Hanks ("There's no crying in baseball"), the choices above and a little nepotism, i.e. Garry Marshall (Penny's brother) and Tracy Reiner (Penny's daughter). Penny also directed "Big" in 1988 (with Tom Hanks), "Awakenings" in 1990 (with DeNiro and Robin Williams) and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986) with Whoopi Goldberg. And a tip of the cap to Laverne DeFazio... you've come a long way, baby!

Answer: Breaking Away

Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley starred as four 'townies' or 'cutters' (as the Indiana University students call them) who have just graduated from high school in 1979's "Breaking Away". Dave Stoller had always dreamed of competing in a cycling race.

When he is able to keep up with the Italian team, one of the racers causes Dave's bike to crash. But his friends urge him on to form a cycling team for the Little 500, and what happens in that race is one of the most inspiring sports races you will ever see.

The other sports represented are boxing ("When We Were Kings"), rollerball ("Rollerball") and football ("Any Given Sunday").

Answer: Carl Weathers

Two sports quizzes without one "Rocky" question... unforgivable! So almost everyone knows the story of Rocky Balboa, the 1976 movie with Sylvester Stallone as a small time boxer from Philadelphia who is randomly given a chance to fight heavyweight champion Apollo Creed when Creed's scheduled opponent in injured. Apollo Creed is played by Carl Weathers who was a football star in real life with San Diego State and then with the Oakland Raiders.

He retired in order to concentrate on acting. He played Apollo Creed until Creed's death in "Rocky IV" (1985). Sean Astin was "Rudy"; Will Ferrell was in "Blades of Glory"; Denzel was in "Remember the Titans".