Scott Holleran » Sports

Movie Review: 42

Scott Holleran — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:25:41 +0000

Jackie Robinson is the subject of the poorly named 42, an overly sentimental movie about how to change a culture one man at a time that can’t help but be powerful and moving. Unlike other fact-based historical films centering upon an individual, such as Good Night, and Good Luck and Schindler’s List, there is fundamental [...]

The post Movie Review: 42 appeared first on Scott Holleran.

On Lance Armstrong

Scott Holleran — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:22:41 +0000

You probably know the key facts of bicyclist Lance Armstrong’s downfall: that the world champion athlete who had taken on cancer, cycling competitions and people (later, a sports bureaucracy) that constantly accused him of drugging his way to winning was recently the subject of a report with apparently conclusive evidence that he chronically took drugs [...]

The post On Lance Armstrong appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Movie Review: Undefeated

Scott Holleran — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:17:45 +0000

One of the Oscar-nominated documentaries, Undefeated, sounds more dramatic and engrossing than it turns out to be: set in north Memphis, Tennessee, in the arena of inner-city high school football players during the chronically losing Manassas Tigers’ 2009 football season, a tough coach steps in to inspire the students to win the first playoff game [...]

The post Movie Review: Undefeated appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Anti-Hero Worship

Scott Holleran — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:48:03 +0000

“You’re our hero,” read a sign at a statue of the late government-college football coach Joe Paterno, who died on Sunday at the age of 85. But Paterno, who by his own admission sidestepped, ignored or evaded allegations of child rape, is not a hero. He was a football coach at a state college and [...]

The post Anti-Hero Worship appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Movie Review: Moneyball

Scott Holleran — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:04:36 +0000

Brad Pitt’s version of real life baseball manager Billy Beane (that’s his name), which powers Sony’s Moneyball, hates losing more than he wants to win, as he puts it. Unfortunately, that’s both the movie’s theme and what makes its message so dreary, joyless and unenjoyable. Watching someone hate losing for two hours and 13 minutes, [...]

The post Movie Review: Moneyball appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Oscar de la Hoya: Recovery is Selfish

Scott Holleran — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:29:57 +0000

In a Yahoo! Sports article by Kevin Iole, world champion boxer Oscar de la Hoya admits to being an alcoholic, cheating on his wife, and considering suicide. Read the article here. But in an act that may take more courage than getting in the boxing ring, de la Hoya says he’s chosen to seek help [...]

The post Oscar de la Hoya: Recovery is Selfish appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Book Review: The Soul of a Horse

Scott Holleran — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:14:49 +0000

Some years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing a real Hollywood maverick named Joe Camp. You might remember that Joe created the Benji movies, those independent features that shocked the studios and made a bundle of money by offering simple stories about a persistent little mutt named Benji. Camp, whose son, Brandon, recently directed [...]

The post Book Review: The Soul of a Horse appeared first on Scott Holleran.

The Vancouver Kiss

Scott Holleran — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:44:31 +0000

The story of the young couple in this photograph merits a moment of attention. According to an interview with NBC’s Today Show, the woman on the street, Alex Thomas, was pushed by Vancouver, British Columbia, riot police to the ground, where she apparently started to panic until her boyfriend, Scott Jones, kissed her to calm [...]

The post The Vancouver Kiss appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Lamar Hunt by David Sweet

Scott Holleran — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:47:48 +0000

Sports writer and editor David Sweet doggedly gets down to the business of professional sports, especially the early days of pro football, soccer, and tennis, in his biographical Lamar Hunt: The Gentle Giant Who Revolutionized Professional Sports. Sweet’s account of the extraordinary son of Texas oil titan H.L. Hunt tracks his successes and failures and [...]

The post Lamar Hunt by David Sweet appeared first on Scott Holleran.

Mario Lemieux on Sportsmanship

Scott Holleran — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:41:06 +0000

Kudos to athlete and businessman Mario Lemieux, former center forward and current owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, for denouncing the National Hockey League’s sanction of malicious initiation of physical force (as against rough play during competition) in hockey. The NHL didn’t do much to discipline the New York Islanders after they attacked the Penguins in [...]

The post Mario Lemieux on Sportsmanship appeared first on Scott Holleran.