SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to Split the Corner. What can we get you? What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Split the Corner podcast. My name is Kyle. With me, as always, is my co-host and dear, dear friend, Kaz. Kaz, how you feeling today, big boy? Feeling great, man. Feeling strong. Feeling great strong. You look great, strong, and fresh. If I was going to take three adjectives to describe you right now, it's great, strong, and fresh. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

I feel like they're all things that you would say about a Viking. Or an avocado. The same Viking, but you know, and it's a diaspora of Vikings. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Well, speaking of Vikings. Speaking of Vikings, today's a very important day in the pantheon of national days because today is national superhero day. And I gotta say, this is a good one. This is a big one because there's so much to dive into with this. And we both have children of school age. And I know you have a daughter, and I have two sons, and my two sons have been in and out of superhero phases uh thus far. And I'm sure your daughter had one or two that she was more into than others. But from your point of view, Kaz, who's the greatest superhero?

SPEAKER_03 1:56

I don't know if I have a greatest superhero. I I think what I'm learning while doing this podcast is I'm a fairly indecisive person, and I'm good at like clustering together things that I like. I'm very bad at picking one. Right? So I I'm I can say in the in the world of superheroes, I do tend to I tend to be a bigger fan of the Marvel than the DC. Same. Um but I I there's so many of them that have so many I'm a big fan of Spider-Man's wit, right? Like the comic book Spider-Man, it always had that kind of sassy, you know. I'm not only am I gonna kick your ass, but there's gonna be a witty comeback while I do it. Like I was always a big fan of that. I love what Ryan Reynolds has done with Deadpool and Deadpool as a concept was always a lot of fun, but I was always a big X-Men fan, also.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Same, same. So I have an affinity for Spider-Man now because my oldest son went through two and a half years of an absolute obsession with Spider-Man, and I went down a very deep Spider-Man rabbit hole that did not include comic books. Funnily enough. Funnily is funnily enough the way you say that, or funny? I'll allow it. Alright, cool. Um, I will say that of the three Spider-Mans, uh Spider-Man. Spider-Man, of the three Spider-Man. Yeah, sorry. Of the three Spider-Man. Spidersmen?

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Sorry, I had too many plurals. I'm I felt birds are not gonna be good today. I'm just gonna keep apologizing for them.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

That's right. On an audio medium, outstanding. I feel as though the movies got better as they went on. Uh Toby Maguire, I thought, was a really weird choice for the original Spider-Man. He just never struck me as the kind of guy that you would say, hey, that's a that's a good Peter Parker. That was the thing. He was a good Spider-Man, but I don't think he was a very good Peter Parker. Andrew Garfield brought a different spin on it altogether, and I enjoyed his portrayal. But this last iteration of Spider-Man with the fucking with Tom Holland has been been the best of of both worlds. I think he's been really great as Spider-Man, and the last couple of adaptations have been have been the best of the series, is is although I will say in the what was it, the last one, uh Homecoming or Can't Come Home or something with home. I think they all have home in them somewhere. But the fact that they incorporated all three of those dudes was that was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

That was just fun. Like that was just a gift for the audience. Like that was really well done.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Uh, but Spider-Man, I don't think, would be my favorite of the superheroes. I think if I was to give my favorite superhero, I think I would have to go classic Superman.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

That was gonna be my first question for the panel. Was is Superman too super? Like it is, is that is that too he just has all the powers. He's got all of them, right? Is that too many powers?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Are we just he did get killed off, you know? I know that there's a having never been a comic book guy in my entire life, I do know that through whatever ways that one would learn these things, I know that there's a a strain in the Superman multiverse where he gets killed by Oh, Death of Superman was a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Was it a real big deal? That got all sorts of special editions and hardcovers, and that when that happened in the comic book, that was that was big. Yeah, that was like the death of uh Mary Jane when MJ died in spoiler alert in Spider-Man. Uh it's a comic book. Read the book. It's been out for a while, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

If you don't know it by now. I think that well, speaking of Vikings, as we said earlier, you know, I thought what they did with Thor was really cool in the Marvel universe. But I will say this as much as I enjoyed the Marvel movies, I think the Thor series was my favorite of all of them. And I think that if you were going to get somebody to play a Norse god, I don't think you can do much better than Chris Hemsworth. I mean, the dude is a freaking Adonis. I mean, it's it's not fair that people get to look like that and also be talented and successful. Like, pick pick Elaine. Either be good looking, be talented, or be famous and rich. Like, don't check off all the boxes, you selfish son of a bitch. Right, save some boxes for the rest of us. Right? But what they did with that character, I thought was really cool and made him kind of a goofball in a lot of ways. But uh the problem that I have with the Marvel universe in all of these movies, and I don't know if it's necessarily a problem so much as it is a Kyle thing, is that it got convoluted as shit. And I had a really hard time keeping up with everything that was going on in all of these movies. But to be fair, and to give Marvel its due, this was quite possibly the smartest thing that anyone has ever done in the history of cinema by giving all of these different characters their own storylines and then bringing them all together, and then being able to take these characters and put them in different places and put them in different movies and having all of these different things happen and all of these different representations. And I mean, that is just the smartest freaking thing I can think of. In no other franchise has that ever happened. I mean, DC showed up and did Batman versus Superman, which by the way, that stupid suit that Batman was wearing, come on, Ben Affleck, do better. Superman's still gonna kick your ass.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

I feel like DC's not delivering in the movie realm. They're just not, they're just not making the same quality of film that the Marvel Studios are making. And I and I think that's a shame because I think it's doing an injustice to the to the DC characters, right? Injustice to the Justice League.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Ah well, I mean, outside of Batman, right? I mean, we can we can argue that.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Yes, Batman's been explored and done and and uh and could you know arguably be one of the one of the Mount Rushmores of of you know cinematic superheroes. Um because we I every you know Batman's become a rite of passage for a male actor, right? Well like you you you made it, but did you play Batman? You know, like so I just it's such it's such a shame because the DC universe is so strong, right? Between Superman and Batman and you know Wonder Woman and The Flash and You know Green Lantern and all of these worlds that are that are fantastic and and it just hadn't it just hasn't translated to film the way the Marvel ones have and I I don't I don't know if it's uh a tech thing, I don't know if it's the CGI that I have issues with, but pretty much everything that comes out with that DC logo on it, I know is just gonna be not that great. With the exception of the Dark Knight series, yeah, of whatever the new Batman is gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

And and what's his face? Christian Bale was my least favorite of the Batmans.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

They were just ranking the Batmans the other day on the radio, and everybody put Christian Bale at the top, and I strongly disagree. Strongly disagree. I I the I like the story that he got to tell. Yeah. But the gravelly, growly, I am Batman. It just it it it irks me. Like it's it just feels you you change your voice when you put the costume on.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

That's so strange. Here's a hot take. I think Clooney was a fantastic Batman. Out of all the Batmans, nobody incorporated a better Bruce Wayne than George Clooney.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

I was just gonna say I think Clooney was a fantastic Bruce Wayne. I think shitty Batman with the nipples on the suit. That was so awkward. Yeah, yeah. Like Val Kilmer's Batman suit where he couldn't turn his head. Yeah. Eaton had the same problem. So, like the that's called a cowl, by the way. Batman is a cowl. Look at that. Um so alright, let's let's pivot a little. Uh bar conversation. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 11:05

See, this is a this is a toughie because there are there are, in my opinion, there are two that usually get the most play. And I think it's the power of flight and the power of invisibility. And I think that they are both very solid answers. I don't think you'd find anybody that said, hey man, like I can give you the power of flight, and they would turn that down. But I think I'm gonna pivot a little bit, and I'm going to say that Wolverine's regenerative power, the power to just, you know, take a bunch of yourself. Yeah, basically, yeah. I mean, I can think of so many more instances where that would be a convenient superpower over flight or invisibility.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

See, I go, I go with you. I don't go flight or invisibility, I go a completely different path. But I would like to speak every language. I would like to instantly be able to communicate with any species.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

That's that's what I want. Whether or not it includes animals is semantics, and we'll figure that out when we get to issue four. But I just the ability to uh anyone at any time I can communicate with. I I speak all the languages, I do you know, like I I understand all of the languages of history, like I just walk through the pyramids and be like, oh yeah, ha ha, you get the joke. Um so I I think that would be the the one that I pick. I I think it would have a fun it would have a fun like superhero it doesn't it doesn't make me super valuable in battle. I mean like I'm not one of those superheroes that you call when aliens invade, but I am one of those superheroes that's around because I'm I'm hella useful for dealing with the humans. Or the aliens, because I speak their language too, right? They show up and I'm like, oh hey, what's up? And they're like, how do you speak our language? And I'm like, superpower.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

The Avengers show up to fight a bunch of aliens, and they're like, we don't understand them. Someone get language boy.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

Heck yeah. Heck yeah, old LB to the rescue. No, no, they're not calling you LB, they're calling you language boy. That's too long. That doesn't call me language boy, it doesn't fit in a crest on the on the universe.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

What's your job outside of that? Like everybody else has a job. Like during battle, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 13:40

I'm a translator.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Are you bringing them water?

SPEAKER_03 13:43

No, I'm I'm in the control center. I'm in the control center. That's I'm I'm one of those guys. I get to stay in the office and coordinate the militaristic efforts of all of the different countries that will eventually just be futile, right? So I'm that guy that's like Russia, shoot more missiles, and China, you shoot more missiles too. Meanwhile, we know that the missiles aren't doing they're blowing up on some guy's force field, but that's how I make myself useful. Your comic book I coordinate efforts.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Your comic book would be so boring. It's just 90 pages of logistics, different languages. That's right, it'd be so hard to read because it'd have to be done in the same language, it would have to be written out in Chinese and Japanese and Russian.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Yeah, but you'd be it'd be the only comic book that's released in all the countries, because it has to be like only if there's a language that my comic book isn't available in, then nah. Like, cuz because what do you mean if language boy is not available in you know lower west Nigerian? I don't care, it's gotta be available there. Language boy would be, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

But think about it. If they get the comic book, right? And and it's written in every language that you're speaking in the comic book, they would get to write, they get to read four sentences.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Yeah, but imagine how much they would learn in four sentences, they would learn different languages from reading my comic books. How? There'd be multilingual kids all over the world, they'd be like, Thanks, language boy. And then season two, I get to become language man. It's only if you complete tasks. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Language man.

SPEAKER_03 15:37

It's a working title. We we can shop it around later.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

I am I am I am a hard stop on language boy. I don't care if you're in your 40s, if you have a power that is simply linguistic, you only get boy at the end of your name.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

I do like the thought that A, part of the character arc is that he's always fighting for a better name. And B, his sidekick gets to be a man and he doesn't, and that becomes a point of contention. Your sidekick is Rosetta Stone. He's punctuation guy.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Grammar man. God, what is it he's the grammar? That's right. His cape just has a big semicolon on it.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

I know all the languages. He corrects all the grammar. He's just constantly whispering in my ear that I used the wrong the wrong voice and tense and all sorts of you you can't use a subject there. You you need an adjective.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

Like you needed you needed to use the formal with dead when you are talking to the main bad guy.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

God damn it, Grammar Man. Leave me alone.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

It wouldn't be until later that he gets to learn martial arts, and then the slogan becomes that actions speak louder than words. That's that's how we would spend that. You know, like the third season of Chuck when he goes from super nerd to ninja's secret agent without a single lesson. Yeah, right. We would do something along the same lines. There would be a moment.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Yeah, but then it would just be Chuck.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

Well, just God, the movies would be boring. I'm I'm trying to figure out how I'm defeating a villain, and I'm like, maybe I could maybe I could talk to him. Maybe maybe words hurt. Maybe in like maybe in like all the languages, I also know all the insults, and I can really just break a guy down. And then I'm like, no, I don't really want to watch that. That sounds that sounds horrible. The whole climax of the movie is just 40 minutes of insults.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

They read so many monologues. What's the worst part of any movie? The monologues.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

That's all your movie is, is just a string of them.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

And you can't see any of it because it's 14 languages of closed captions.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

Your job is your daytime job is international trading, and it's just you on the phone with different countries trying to get better prices for pork belly.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

Yeah, I would assume I'm some sort of, you know, political translator, some sort of governmental, you know. I I work for the consulate of whatever the whatever the fictional yeah, maybe I work for Wakanda or something like that. Like one of these fictional fictional Marvel countries that, you know, are or or Marvel uh governmental bodies or the the shield or something like that, and I get to I get to be the official translator during the day. And then and then when danger calls, I get to put on a ridiculous suit and do the exact same thing. You get to do your job. I'd be the equivalent of Bruce Wayne's superpower was throwing money at things. You you put on the suit and then you do the same thing, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Hey, where'd Kaz go? We need somebody to do some some language interpretation. Don't worry, it's me, language boy. Kaz, that's obviously you. You're wearing you're wearing an eye mask. It's obviously you, dude.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

No, it's it does it does kind of give it away when you're the only one in the room that understands the dog. That was funny. That was that was funny over there, Scoob. And then I put my suit on and I come back in, and the dog knows that it's still me, and then it just gives it away to everybody.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

I think this is not going to work. I think you need to rethink this language boy.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

It's not gonna work as a movie, no, or a TV series, or a comic book, or a regular book. Oh, it might work as a regular book. And it's got strong potential as a radio show, but only on AM.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Oh my god. Well, happy national superhero, everybody. Superhero Day, everybody. Happy National Superhero Day, everybody. And uh from Language Boy and myself, we hope you celebrate appropriately.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Uh, but now to get into the real meat and potatoes of today's episode, we are getting back into our callback to episode one with the 25 greatest sports movies of all time. A couple weeks ago, we ran our basketball movies that are going to make it into the top 25. And because we are recording this on a Friday, that means that we are in day two of the NFL draft. And we thought it very appropriate, considering the time of the year, to use this time to talk about the best football movies that are going to make it into our top 25 greatest sports movies of all time. Caz, would you like to take us through what it was we have established as our ground rules?

SPEAKER_03 21:38

We are back to the movie lists. I'm excited. Um ground rules has to be an actual movie, not a documentary. Uh, so it's gotta have a plot and a story, and you know, actors. It can be based on real life or real events or real people. But it it has to be a a movie, a scripted movie, not a documentary. I think that was it.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

I think the other one was it has to be the central focus of the movie. So football or basketball or baseball or whatever has to be the central focus. It can't be like Right.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

There can't be a football scene or something that happens at a football game so that would make it a football movie. It has to be centered around football as a story. Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

And to bring everybody back to what we decided on our five basketball movies were going to be, I'm just going to go down the list in no particular order as we determine them in our basketball movie episode. And it was Hoosiers, White Men Can't Jump, Space Jam, He Got Game, and Semi-Pro. Controversy all up and down the list, but that is the official split the corner, five best basketball movies of all time. Kaz, you still happy with that list? Because we locked it in, dude.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

I'm happy with it. I semi-pro, it just makes me chuckle that it ends up on the list, but uh objectively I can't I can't go change any of it now. I still I still agree. It does it does make the football movies seem a little daunting, though. I'm uh there's there's just so many more to choose from. I I feel like it's it's a it's a movie subject that I think has been done significantly more, maybe just in America, than I think definitely than basketball movies, probably more than anything except baseball movies. So I mean this we're we're here, we're at the big leagues. We gotta we gotta put together a list of of there's gonna be some things cut that are gonna hurt some feelings.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

I agree. Well, in the interest of following protocol that we have not officially established, are there any movies that you think are going to make the football movie list without any kind of controversy attached to them? Remember the Titans. Remember the Titans? Okay. What about Remember the Titans makes it a no-brainer?

SPEAKER_03 24:31

It to me that movie is is what I want to watch when I want to watch a football movie. It it's the the perfect breakdown of of training camp and team bonding, and and then you get you know an awful lot of actual football clips, and they're they're the exaggerated football clips that you want to see in the movie, right? The guy gets hit and he flips four times before he touches the ball inbounds and lands, you know, or or they throw him through the Gatorade table, you know. Like I I love that stuff. I I want it to be, you know, I don't I don't want to see two guys run into each other five yards down the field and then fall down like they do in regular football. I want to see something super extreme while telling a heart-wrenching story, and you know, and and the actors are great and the cast is great and it launched a bunch of careers, and I I think Remember the Titans is a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

I agree with you. I think it's funny that you brought up the the extreme hits and everything because every movie, I think, with the exception of one that I'm thinking of, has that over exaggerated violence. If you were to watch one of these movies that we're going to talk about and you had never watched American football before, you would think that every single play, someone is going to get absolutely decimated. And that just isn't the case. But they do it for dramatic effect, they do it for the visual effects, and I'm I'm here for it, don't get me wrong. But I think it's just like the silliest thing that all of a sudden you're making a football movie, and every single play would definitely see an A at least an ACL torn, if not a concussion that is going to lead to some major problems down the road for the individual that takes or or gives the hit. I just think it's a really funny thing that that is because you don't see it really in other movies, with maybe the exception of boxing movies. Like, like if you watch Rocky, right? If you watch Rocky and you had never seen boxing before, you're going to think two things. One, these guys can't defend themselves. And two, every blow is a knockout punch, and these guys have heads made of concrete. Because Rocky, I mean, dude, have you watched Rocky recently, any of the Rockys recently? It's just two hours of Rocky Balboa getting the ever-loving shit knocked out of his head.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Yeah, he tends to block punches with his face.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Which, having never been a professional boxer, I can tell you that that's probably not right. That's probably not a good sound strategy. I would throw hot.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

They were like, Oh, I can just block with my face. Just no defense, just just all offense. Balls to the wall. They're all very hurt right now. Can't figure out why it didn't work out for them.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Or why they can't remember how to do long division. Or what they were talking about. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

But remember the Titans, man, I think that's a good pick. I think I I'll lock that in with you. I think one of the great things about that movie is that it actually shows you some behind-the-scenes football stuff where you're talking about why you run certain plays and how certain plays are supposed to work without it being dull. So I think if you were to talk to you know Joe Schmoe on the street about why an inside handoff works when you have to pull the left guard to go right and he's blocking this guy, and the tight end has to do this, and the wide receivers have to faint this way to go that way, and pretend like they're running a route to make sure that the DBs fall back so you have some open backfield. I think there's a lot that goes into that stuff that we, as maybe American football fans who have been watching football for the better part of 30 plus years, we take for granted, you know. We just know that when you see the guard pull and you see the this happen or that happen, like we know why that happens. We maybe never had that explained to us, you know, in our faces, but we know and understand why it happens. But I think that and remember the Titans, they talk a lot about fundamentals and they talk a lot about assignments and things like that without it becoming a documentary of sorts. So I think it checks off all the boxes, and I think that that's a really solid start.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

I like that it gives you the coach's perspective from the sideline. 100%. When they go to the football games, you're not hearing, I mean, yeah, you're you're hearing what the quarterback is saying, but a lot of these games give you you know, the quarterback is the main character, and and and you're in the quarterback's head, and you're hearing his inner monologue, or or you're hearing him mic'd up into his helmet. But for the vast majority of the, remember the Titans games, you're hearing Denzel bark from the sideline, and you're hearing the things that he's telling the players. You know, here's the play I'm calling, run in and tell him, and you know, you gotta you gotta get me that ball, and you gotta mark your man, and and you you really get a a glimpse into what the coaching aspect of it look looks like as well. Similar to uh similar to like a Hoosiers, how how it's more than just the team, it's it's kind of the whole thing. Right. Plus the the socio you know the the socio historical aspect of it with the the merging of of racial lines and and coming together and everything that has the conflict there and how the football team is the metaphor that you know gets them through and and then everybody comes together and that whole thing is is also phenomenal and beautiful. So it it's it's just a it's a great story, it's well told, it's well done. I I think that's a lock.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

It's a perfect example of what we talked about in our episode where we were talking about fandom and like why sports matter more than just what happens on the field, you know, the the race relations and the the coming together of two different, you know, cultures, really. I think that's a really and it's told beautifully, you know, it's told in a way that doesn't necessarily uh pick on anybody, you know, in a in a very sensitive topic. I think it's done in a way where it shows that yes, people are brought up in a certain way in a certain era, but it also shows that you don't have to stick to that. You don't have to be the guy that sticks to the things that you were brought up on because you had experiences outside of what it was you were taught, and you're able to make up your own mind about who people are as individuals versus who they are on the outside. So that movie top and bottom.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Yeah. The opportunity to draw a new line social. Yeah, I agree. 100%. Yeah, society says the line is here, but as a sports fan, I don't care about that line. I only care about this line, right? Like, are you on board for the team or not? That that's the new line. Are you in or are you out?

SPEAKER_02 31:52

It's the new line of scrimmage.

SPEAKER_03 31:55

Oh, plus, all right, throw in the soundtrack because great soundtrack.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

It is I great soundtrack.

SPEAKER_03 32:05

Does doesn't the Holly's long cool woman in a black dress just make you want to watch football clips? Now it does, yeah. Like I that just I I'm just I hear that song and I'm like, yeah, let's go watch some football. Like that that's I I don't know why. All right, moving on. What what throw throw another one at us? What uh your turn, you're up.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Rudy. That was one of the biggest travesties from the Hollywood Reporters top 25 greatest movies of sports movies of all time. The fact that they left Rudy off that list, I still am not over it. And I will be the first person to tell you I don't think Rudy is the best football movie ever made, but I do think Rudy is so far and away people's understanding of what a football movie should be from a certain generation that if to leave it off of this list would be a travesty. I agree. It's the the little guy making his name, even if it's only from one play. I mean, that that movie encapsulates what it is to be a fighter, it encapsulates what it is to never be told no enough to stop.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Plus, it introduces you to the college sport world. Yeah. Right. Remember, the Titans is our is our high school. A couple of these will be pro or pro-adjacent, and and this one is is college, and it's it shows the difference, you know, how you get into these programs, what it takes from an academic standpoint as on top of an athletic standpoint, and how sometimes you got to transfer from one school to another. There's the the phenomenal speech uh about with Rudy's dad, uh, about working in the mines and what the team means to the blue-collar working man, and and and the the beauty of sport is explained in that moment, and and Rudy's dad has become sort of an archetype for sports movies going forward. You have this you know, Rudy's dad character, who's the the hardworking father that just wants to see his son succeed, and you know, there there's all different ways to spin him. He shows up in a bunch of sports movies. Sometimes he makes it to the last game, sometimes he doesn't, sometimes he skips town, sometimes you know that that character, and I think it starts there. It starts with Rudy's dad, has become an archetype in the sports world, and you can't you can't ignore that.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

You could argue that the Mark Wahlberg vehicle, invincible, about the Philadelphia Eagle walk-on special teamer, Vince Papali, is basically Rudy, but 1980s Philadelphia. His dad is there, his boys are there, you know, the whole the whole thing. And I love Invincible. I thought it was a great movie, maybe just because I'm an Eagles fan, but uh it it really is another adaptation of what Rudy was at its core, which was the underdog finally gets his shot, and when he does, he takes the most of it.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Yeah, plus you know, the hallowed grounds of of Notre Dame football. You know, you get to go in the stadium, you get to go in, you know, like they they did a lot to pay tribute to that historic culture and the the the universe that it inhabits, right? Of the the fans of college ball and and the way that all fits together in a in a movie sort of universe. Uh I yep, I don't argue with that one.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Do you put Invincible on this list?

SPEAKER_03 36:09

No, cause it because Rudy is the better telling of that story. I've I've always kind of felt, and I don't know why, because because it is Invincible is a great movie. Um I've always felt it's kind of a guilty pleasure movie for Eagles fans.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

I get that vibe too, but I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Yeah, it's got a great cast, it's it's chock full of celebrities. Elizabeth Banks plays the the Giants fan bartender love interest. I it's it's a great movie.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

I just think I think I think for me it's it's because some of the dialogue is a little cheesy. Like some of it's a little bit over the top. Shout out Sylvester Stallone. But it it it's a it's it's a great movie, but it is one that I'm gonna watch like right before the first game of the year to get like pumped up.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

If I was standing in a thrift store and I saw a copy of Rudy next to a copy of Invincible, and Rudy was ten dollars and invincible was ten dollars, Invincible would feel overpriced.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

I like that in this scenario it's 2012 and there's no streaming.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

If I was looking at Amazon Prime's ability to purchase digital copies of physical media, and all the things that I just said were still true, I'd still feel the same way. No, I listen, I don't disagree with you. So you you click the top of your remote and you say Rudy and you find out that Rudy's not on Netflix and Amazon's trying to charge you 10 bucks. I I'd probably go, well, I don't own Rudy. I should probably own Rudy.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

If the same thing happened for Invincible, I'd be like, nah, just wait for it to come back on Netflix.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

At Disney Channel will be playing it anytime.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yeah, well, nah, I'll just wait.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

Alright, so we're locking in Rudy. We're locking in Remember the Titans. What's next?

SPEAKER_03 38:13

This is where it gets personal preference-y for me. Okay. Little Giants. Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

I knew it was gonna come up because it's on my it was on my list of things to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

I I think in the same vein that we're saying yes to high school, yes to college, we have to say yes to little kids. Okay. And the the youth football movies, uh, Little Giants is is the one, right? If you put it next to the other kid football movie, Gridiron Gang, and things like that, I I still think I still think Little Giants wins, and it's just one of those movies that I will always watch when it's on.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

I'm glad you brought up Gridiron Gang because I have a question about that movie. Uh, that's a movie if anybody's not familiar. The Rock plays a juvenile correctional facility employee, and he starts a football team for these kids that have found themselves in some trouble, and basically gives these kids the opportunity to care about something that isn't their neighborhood or their gang or whatever. And it's based on a true story, and it's a wonderful movie, it's really, really well done. The thing about that movie, though, is I have a hard time calling it strictly a football movie because yes, football is at the center of it, but I think it's far more coming of age slash doing better by your fellow man, and football is more of the backdrop to these kids becoming better people. I'm not saying it's not a football movie, but I think Little Giants is more of a football movie than Gridiron Gang is a football movie.

SPEAKER_03 40:15

I think Gridiron Gang is a story that's been told in pretty much every sport. You know, it it's a football movie because Hardball is a baseball movie and you know, it yada yada yada of the of the we're gonna use sports to help the kids, you know, become bad. It's kind of bad news bears in a in a way. Coach Carter. Yeah, exactly. So I I like little giants because that one's kind of different. Yeah, the the the Ed O'Neill and and Rick Moranis as the as the brothers trying to fight out their own little rivalry, and then the kids and and and they get you know a team full of misfits that all got cut, and I just I I they did such a great job with all of it. The the the ability to include the girls and the nerds and you know in in ways that they hadn't been included in sports movies before was fantastic. I I it's it's in it's on my list.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

I'd be I you're making a whole lot of good points. I'm gonna I'm gonna wait to lock it in. I'm not saying it's not making the list, I'm not saying that at all because I from all the things that you just said, I agree on on every front, but there are four more movies that I want to talk about that may edge it out only because of their proximity to the game. And and and there are four movies that I think are all wildly different in their portrayal of the game. And the four movies that I'm still thinking about are Any Given Sunday, The Waterboy, The Replacements, and Draft Day. And there are three on that list that I might put over Little Giants.

SPEAKER_03 42:14

The Waterboy's on my list. Uh the other three uh replacements replacements is tough uh because because I want it to be on my list, but I feel like it's just on the outside. Uh what about varsity blues? That was that was the the next one, yeah. So I I don't I don't put any given Sunday on there, and I don't put draft day on there because let me make an argument for draft day, if I may, please.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Because draft day is unlike any of the other movies on this list, although it checks off all the boxes. It's the only one out of all of the movies that we've discussed that there's going to be zero football action, and everything happens behind the scenes, and I think that that makes it such an outlier, and it makes it such a different perspective of the game that it you'd be hard pressed not to put it on there. It's like money ball, you know, it's the money ball for football. You're watching a floundering Cleveland Browns team trying to march themselves into a new era, and there is such a hype around draft day, and we are right in smack dab in the middle of the draft as we're recording this episode right now, that there's so much that is centered around this for a football team. Your future can either be made or broken on the day of the draft. Your number one pick, your number two pick, for Christ's sake, your number five pick, my Might be the guy that all of a sudden comes out of nowhere and destroys the world. How about Tom Brady? If the Patriots don't make that pick, they don't have 900 Super Bowl victories. And I think that the emphasis put on the front office stuff makes it a very, very different movie, but it makes it a very important movie for the game of football.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

I think that's a strong case for why it gets a special honorable mention. But I I don't think I can put a movie with no football on my football movie list. But it's a movie about football. But there's no hits, there's no throws.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

That doesn't necessarily make it not about football. The entire movie centers around the number one pick in the NFL draft, which is the most important thing.

SPEAKER_03 44:56

But I want there to be football in my football movie. And I don't feel like that's an unreasonable ask.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

That's not an unreasonable ask at all. But I also think that you're talking about mortgaging the for the future of your franchise in a movie and showing the wheeling and dealing and the the different aspects to that side of the game. It's definitely about the game of football, but it's not showing the actual game. It's showing the business side.

SPEAKER_03 45:24

You're assuming that I give a shit about the business side of it. That's a fair point.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

I am assuming you're giving a shit about it. See that that movie goes on my list without hesitation, but I understand why you would think differently.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

You can watch all of draft day and come out the other side and still feel like you need to watch some football.

SPEAKER_02 45:51

Yeah, but isn't that the mark of a good movie?

SPEAKER_03 45:54

No, that's the mark of a movie that didn't press the football button.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

I could watch varsity blues and still think I need to watch more football.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

I mean you've seen football.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Yeah, but now I want to go watch real football. I watched draft day, now I want to go watch the number one draft pick.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

Yeah, see, right there. You said it right there. I watched draft day and then I want to go watch the draft.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

No, I don't want to watch the no, I don't want to watch the draft. I want to go watch the number one draft pick play football. Sorry, I didn't finish my my sentence. See, and this is this is a this is a good thing, though. This is this is why this is a good list to make because you talked about it earlier, and I had a harder time coming up with football movies than I did basketball movies, but I'm having a much harder time agreeing on some of these movies than I am than I did on the basketball movies. Okay, all right, let's let's table that. We'll table that next to Little Giants. I think out of the ones that we talked about, I think varsity blues has to go on the list. Because we talked about high school football already, but now we're looking at a different side of high school football. We're looking at the societal norms in Texas high school football. And you talk about hard hits, that entire movie is one long concussion.

SPEAKER_03 47:12

Shout out Billy Bob. Uh but if we're if we are championing the high school football category, do we not have to also consider Friday night lights?

SPEAKER_02 47:26

See that that made my list as well of movies to talk about, but it maybe it's personal preference, but it's it doesn't hold up in my to some of these other ones. I'd rather watch varsity blues over Friday Night Lights.

SPEAKER_03 47:40

I do find varsity blues more entertaining, but I it's also it also is a better football movie.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

Is it a better football movie? Because I would be I would be willing to concede that argument.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

It's a more entertaining movie. I don't know if it's a better football movie. It it it varsity blues is a lot. Varsity blues is kind of is kind of all of the the tropes rolled into one. You know, you've got a backup quarterback with the pressure of the town and the and the the main quarterback goes down with an injury at the most inconvenient time, and he's gotta step up and the coach is a villain, and and the whole you know, his dad is on his case, and and the center gets injured, and the wide receiver feels like no one supports him because he's black, and and it's all of the it's all of the tropes rolled into one. So it does it gives you everything, which is which is great, because it's a jam-packed hour and a half of non-stop tweeter dancing, uh it which sounds real inappropriate if you've never seen the movie. But is it a is it a snapshot of the day in a life? Because holy crap, that would be exhausting.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

They all look tired except for Paul Walker, who R.I.P. But that dude never looked bad. I don't all right. Look, we're gonna start getting ourselves into a into a merry-go-round of shit if we don't start making some decisions. So what is your what is your argument against any given Sunday? Again, another film that is two hours of concussions.

SPEAKER_03 49:36

Makes my top ten not my top five. Whoo! I just I would I would rather see I would rather see longest yard on this list, but which one? Neither.

SPEAKER_02 49:54

Over any given Sunday, I'm not putting I'm not putting either longest yard over any given Sunday. Personally. So if we're gonna make this a split the corner official list, I think you and I are gonna have to figure out a way to compromise here, buddy. Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. So let's let's let's figure this out real quick. We have not yet put on a professional football movie. So the ones that we have on our on our side list here, we're talking about any given Sunday, the replacements or the water boy.

SPEAKER_03 50:30

Waterboy's college, but um it is college, right?

SPEAKER_02 50:34

Does Waterboy make it?

SPEAKER_03 50:38

We have three sp two spots left, three spots left. Three spots left. For best football comedy. I'll allow it. Is there a better football comedy than The Waterboy? Not the longest yard. The replacements is pretty funny. Replacements is funny. Replacements or waterboy. That that would be that would be my my two. In terms of football movies, in terms of better football movies? In terms of the crown of football comedies. Oh, Waterboy.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

Waterboy is funnier than replacements, but I think replacements is a better football movie.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

God, this is getting complicated. It really is. Alright, so remember the Titans is a given. Rudy is a given. Rudy is a given. What is your what is your gut reaction say the other three are? Just gut reaction?

SPEAKER_02 51:54

It's gut reaction. Is little giants, draft day, and any given Sunday. Alright, so I think we can agree on little giants.

SPEAKER_03 52:03

Alright, little giants going on the list for the children. I think I can I can live with any given Sunday being on our list. I can't live with draft day being on our list.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:15

I'll give you any given Sunday. And then I think that last spot goes to either Waterboy or replacements.

SPEAKER_00 52:23

I really don't understand you're not putting draft day on. There's no football in the football movie. It's all about football. But there's no football.

SPEAKER_03 52:32

But they're talking about. All right, you know what? Look here, language boy. Talking about it's not a damn superpower.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

According to that's your whole gimmick as a superhero. It's just talking. Jesus. Alright, all right, all right.

SPEAKER_02 52:52

I will I will very unhappily concede draft day to your very silly point that you made. But I think you gotta go. It I mean varsity blues or replacements. Or waterboy. There's other three that are left. On the count of three, we are going to say what we think of the three left is the best one. And just to reiterate what those are, it is varsity blues, the replacements, or waterboy. Okay. One, two, three, replacements. Waterboy. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 53:29

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

Yeah, we had two. I thought that was gonna, I thought that was gonna work out. You know what? I'll I'll I'll tell you this. I will concede Waterboy. It's it's that I don't have a problem putting Waterboy on this list. I think it is uh it's a great representation of down south college football. Yes, it's funny as hell, and no, it's not realistic at all, but it's all about football. So I think I'm willing to concede that, and I want you to know that for the next list that we do, if from all the conceding that I've done, prepare to concede. When we come to do the next movie list, you put on your conceding pants, my friend. Because I've conceded a hell of a lot. Don't bring sports movies that don't have sports in them. It's about football, it's about talking. You're about talking.

SPEAKER_01 54:12

We've already been through this. All right, it's logged in in the official split the corner notebook of sports movies.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

It's like Pee-wee Herman's ball of tinfoil. Like we just it's just another prop that we didn't need for a radio show.

SPEAKER_01 54:32

Like this is all down, it's official. All right, we're locking it in. The official split the corner.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

Five football movies to make the 25 greatest movies of all time are Rudy, Remember the Titans, Little Giants, Any Given Sunday, and The Water Boy. Now we know that this movie, this movie list is going to create some controversy, and we are here for the controversy. Bring it. Let us know why Draft Day deserved to be no, don't let us know. Let Kaz know why Draft Day deserved to be on this list and why he's a dum-dum.

SPEAKER_03 55:15

And you know what? You know what? Don't bring any of that nonsense that we left the program off of here. Yeah, I'm good on that too. Yep. Yep. That movie can kick rocks.

SPEAKER_02 55:25

Yes, sir. I'm I'm I'm glad we're back to agreeing on things. Yeah, like I that is not, that's just not a great it's not. It's like necess, what is it, necessary roughness?

SPEAKER_03 55:38

I kind of like that one. Oh, well. That one's a little fun. What about it's not it's not top anything, it's probably guilty pleasure, but that that's the Goldie Han one, right? Where she did 17 and that's Wildcats.

SPEAKER_02 55:50

Oh, okay. I think, yeah, Wildcats was a good one. Um, I think Necessary Roughness is like more of like a slapstick kind of maybe I'm thinking of something different. But Wildcats actually was on my list of movies to talk about. But we have run out of time. We have locked in our list. Please let us know why this list is complete caca. Why we needed a movie about front office, but we didn't get it.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

Or, you know, just champion the annexation of Puerto Rico. There you go. Cass, this is a fun one, dude. I enjoyed this. Yeah, it it's it's good to it's good to come to an official agree. I can't wait to see this final list. I I feel like we're 10 movies in and I already like it better than they're 25.

SPEAKER_02 56:41

Oh, absolutely. But that's because we have done it better. Yes, 100%. So just to keep everybody here in the loop, we've got four episodes left here in season one. We are taking a break for the summer. We are gonna go and do some things and figure out some things, but just know that there are four episodes left in this season. If there's anything you'd like us to cover in those four episodes, please let us know. If you'd like to get involved in this discussion about football movies, we are more than happy to hear it. Get a hold of us on Instagram, on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Facebook. Our email is split the corner at gmail.com. Hit us up, we'd love to hear from you. And as always, the next round is on us. Cheers, guys.