As part of Sportsnet magazine’s upcoming sports movie package we’re seeking to determine the greatest fictional athlete in film history. And we need your help to do it.
“Greatness” is open to interpretation. Some of the names appearing in the bracket overcame extreme adversity, others single-handedly took their team from laughing-stock to champion, while a select few were flat-out dominant in their respective sports.
Each day this week on Sportsnet.ca we’ll be asking you to cast your vote, with the final results appearing in the next issue of Sportsnet. With a seemingly endless list of worthy candidates and a rule that only one athlete from a movie can be represented, on Monday we asked you to help whittle the list down to 16 names that will make up the bracket. Tuesday and Wednesday we cut through the eight first-round showdowns.
Now it’s on to the second round.
Vote on the following matchups: Dottie Hinson vs. Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez; Adam Banks vs. Rocky Balboa; Roy Hobbs vs. Rod Tidwell
And so here we go. In this matchup we’ve got a battle of sporting mavericks:
Happy Gilmore, golfer
Despite extremely poor swing mechanics, essentially no golf IQ and an obvious alcohol problem, Gilmore, a multi-sport athlete, overcame the odds to win back his grandmother’s house and make Chubbs proud.
Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, P, Cleveland Indians
After making the single greatest entrance in the history of fictional or actual sports, Vaughn—in unfamiliar territory as a reliever—had two problems.
At the plate was a man who’d knocked him around all year; to his right, playing third base, was a teammate whose wife had seduced the young fireballer the previous night when he was sullen and vulnerable because another pitcher was tabbed to start the one-game playoff versus the New York Yankees. But having received assurances from Roger Dorn that all that really mattered was the K, ‘Wild Thing’ reached back and blew three straight pitches past Clu Haywood to end the Yankees threat in the ninth. In the bottom half, Hayes scored from second on a bunt by Vaughn’s batterymate, Jake Taylor. The only hit Vaughn endured was a hard right-hand from Dorn after the game. Then they all got super-wasted.
Stats: 189 games (103 starts), 733 IP, 613 Ks, 46-40 W/L, 3.78 ERA (career)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mi3KNEpbA4