Best sports for dramatic film?

Baseball and boxing are specially suited to film dramatization. To cite just one example, both sports, especially baseball, have predictable and unpredictable pauses in physical exertion that allow audiences and players the opportunity to savor moments of suspense and reflection which makes for terrific theater. Also, filmmakers can draw on exceptionally rich histories full of great stories and great characters. There is no need for filmmakers to write new fascinating stories on the subject - they need only check out the history books for inspiration. Finally, today, sports saturate our public consciousness. There was no such excess back in the day and both of these sports matured alongside the art and technology of cinema. It meant that both cinema and baseball/boxing experienced "golden ages" that complemented each other beautifully. Something like that just cannot be recreated out of thin air.

I think it's because individual sports are usually better suited to dramatization than team sports. With individual sports, you already have a main protagonist to root for, whereas for team sports it's an ensemble cast, thus making it unclear who exactly is the main protagonist that we're supposed to root for.

I'm no expert on baseball (since it's not popular in the UK), but even though it's a team sport, it has elements of individual sports because of its turn-based nature, in contrast to football where all the players are playing simultaneously.


"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM???!!!!!"

I dont follow Baseball closley but The Natural Kicks ass.

Remember the Titans is a quality Football Film.
The Football parts of Jerry Maquire were quality.
The Hustler (its got pool right?) is great.
Escape To victory is chessy but good viewing.
White Men Cant Jump is good.