I've been on a kick lately watching kids sports movies from the 90's that I loved as a kid. With my downtime I like to watch shows and movies, and for the past couple weeks I have been craving older sports movies. It all started one afternoon when I heard some people on a podcast mention the movie "Rookie if the Year". I adored that movie as a kid. It had everything I wanted in life. Kid breaks his arm, it heals weird, he can throw super fast and he ends up on the Cubs. It was an absolute dream. From there I would endlessly watch movies like "The Sandlot", "Little Big League", "Little Giants" and "The Mighty Ducks" among many, many others. I watched them all. Even some movies that were not, by definition sports movies, like "3 Ninjas", I watched because they had a few sports scenes. I couldn't get enough.

As I got older though I kind of left those movies behind. I have become a bit snobbish when it comes to movies. RD calls some of my early reviews "Cloves and Fedoras", and he is not wrong. I prefer indie movies. I love a good documentary. I want to watch movies that make you think. But I have been craving movies that I used to enjoy. I have had these feelings of wanting to go back and see if these movies still hold any weight for me.

I am very happy to say that I still get the same feelings when watching these movies. I understand that they are fantastical and you have to remove any kind of sense when watching. That makes it more fun for me now as a father, husband and a 40 year old. I have enjoyed watching these movies with my wife and I think she has had fun too. She has said she is at the very least. But my love for these movies is not the basis of this blog today. I could go on and on and on about my love. But today I want to take the time to tell you all about the straight line each of these movies have. They all have similar plots and villains and endings. They have the old hand, the young star and the family. They are all fun and satisfying because they are all the same. You can watch any of these movies and know how it will finish. It is comforting.

Let's look at "Rookie of the Year" real quick. Kid breaks his arm, conflict. It heals weird, but he can throw hard all of the sudden, fantastical. Goes to the Cubs and learns under the veteran, Rocket, played by Gary Busey, yikes. The villain is the Mets and their slugger. Henry Rowengartner strikes him out with an underhand toss and the Cubs win. It is stupid and phony and wild and I love it. They were even able to get a love story with the mom. This is how a 90's kids sports movie goes.

Take "The Sandlot" next. Star player plays with his buddies, they beat the bullies, the nerdy kid gets the girl, the star player and the new kid are best friends into adulthood, the villain is a dog who turns out to be nice and each kid has their own happy ending. It is my favorite sports movie.

"The Mighty Ducks" have the grisled former hockey star in town deemed with coaching the rag tag misfits. He turns them into a respectable squad. He gets a team from the rival team to come play for his team. The villain is the coach's former coach. He is still a jerk. They beat them in the finals. The kid closest to the coach on the team essentially sets his coach up with his mom. It is almost too perfect.

"Little Big League" brings us a genius kid who isn't good at playing baseball, but knows the game incredibly well, he ends up coaching the Minnesota Twins. He is tasked with the job from his grandpa. He helps turn the Twins around after some skepticism from some vets. The main vet helps him out though, takes his side and that is when things turn. The villains on the team come around but this movie finds a way to make Ken Griffey Jr a villain. I couldn't believe it. The only way this movie differs, and why I still love it to this day, is that the Twins don't win in the end. But they all have fun.

"Air Bud" is the wildest of them all. This movie is about a dog who plays receiver for a local kids team and is the star. This is the most fantastical of them all and it is endlessly watchable for me.

"Little Giants" is great because it features brothers versus brothers. Ed O'Neill is the "villain", but he is actually a good dude in the end. This movie is so great because it gives the little guy the limelight. The "nerds" find a way to beat the jocks and it is a fun football movie. It is also one of Rick Moranis' last roles and he crushes it here. The movie also introduced all of us to Becky, The Icebox, O'Shea. She is a kids sports movie legend.

"Space Jam" is wildly odd and weird and not very good. But I can watch that movie time and again and be very happy.

I could list more and more movies here, but they all have the same, safe and watchable premise. These movies are by no means good, but damn are they fun. I cannot wait to watch more of these because the rewatch of the first couple has been so well remembered. I suggest you do the same if you grew up similar to me. These 90's sports kids movies still rule. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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