I’m constantly being asked about the best sports movies of all time. As a film critic and a sports talk show host and columnist I’m the “Only Guy” not the “Every Guy” as a friend of mine calls he and I.

First, sports does not historically make into great film. "Caddyshack" is an exception, but it is more of a comedy than a sports film. It represents others sports comedies ("Slap Shot," "Bull Durham" and "Major League") on this list that are more comedies than sports films.

Good or even great sports films must have great drama and an ark for the team or athlete to travel. All of the films on my list, with the exception of "Caddyshack" fit those criteria.

"Rocky" and "Hoosiers" are the two that moved me the most, the original "Rocky" was like nothing that came before it. Plenty of underdog films have follow in Rocky’s wake.

Rocky was at the precipice of destruction as we met him. His character is barely winning club fights in dingy gyms, and he is a henchman for a shylock on the streets of Philadelphia. The break Rocky gets is out of the blue, and unwarranted, his low self-esteem won’t even allow him to think about fighting the greatest fighter in the world.

The film is defined by the line from Apollo Creed’s manager, “He doesn’t know it’s a damn show, he thinks it’s a damn fight.” And fight Rocky did, for another five films, including "Rocky Balboa" (2006), which I referred to it in an interview with Sylvester Stallone as Rocky 60. He laughed.

"Hoosiers" worked for me because I was a basketball player who always dreamed of winning the state championship. All my days on the playground making that last second shot as my brother counted down the imaginary clock went for naught. Until I went to see "Hoosiers," I was transported to that little team from rural Indiana, and we won it all.

I left the theater in tears, partly because it was the dream that never happened for me, and partly because when I was a small child my father had a serious drinking problem. We were constantly teased about it in a cruel world we refer to as childhood. My father cleaned up his act, mostly with the help of my mother, who had had enough. He joined AA back in 1956, and never had another drink until his death almost 40 years later.

This is a living list which is subject to change at a minutes notice, but if you have your own favorites give me a call on the Sports Nooner.

"Rocky" (1976)

"Hoosiers" (1986)

"Caddyshack" (1980)

"Raging Bull" (1980)

"Field of Dreams" (1989)

"The Natural" (1984)

"Cinderella Man" (2005)

"Chariots of Fire" (1981)

"Eight Men Out" (1988)

"Million Dollar Baby" (2004)
 

Pictured: Gil Whiteley and Sly Stallone (He said I could call him Sly)