Publishers' Letter: Favorite Sports Movies

From the Sky Box

The aisle seat is open
Hollywood has produced some great sports movies. Among the more popular ones that immediately come to mind are Bull Durham, Hoop Dreams, Rudy, A League of Their Own, Dodgeball, Kingpin, last year’s Invictus, and the list goes on and on. Recently, we were discussing sports-themed movies when someone posed this question to the two of us: “What is your favorite sports movie of all time?” Just like on most topics, we had very different answers.

Eric answered quickly Hoosiers, paying tribute to Butler University, where Eric attended his freshman year of college. Butler University’s gymnasium is featured in the film. “It’s more than just Butler, though, why I love about the film,” Eric said. “It’s the idea of teamwork — working together with a common purpose that is demonstrated throughout the film. It also relates to Compete. Just like Hickory (the fictional basketball team featured in Hoosiers), Compete has been seen as the small-town underdog competing with such seasoned publications as Instinct and Out.

As much as Eric is the “rah-rah” team player, David — more the independent spirit — took a few minutes before delivering his answer: Rocky, the popular 1976 drama that shot Sylvester Stallone to fame. David, like the title character Rocky Balboa, is often on his own working on the Compete website or traveling solo to Compete events while everyone else travels as a group.

While Eric can hum the Rocky theme and David is happy to jump in when the Compete team needs him, it is their differences that complement each other and help make Compete the best gay sports magazine in the world. By the way, what is your favorite sports movie of all time? Let us know. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .