It isn’t necessary to be a sports fan, or even much of an athlete for that matter, to star in a sports movie, and on one level that makes perfect sense.
Al Pacino was never a mafia don (or a bank robber, or a cocaine smuggler, or blind) in real life, and we never held that against him in “The Godfather,” “Dog Day Afternoon” or “Scarface,” or “Scent of a Woman,” right?
Still…well, a sports fan can tell, pretty quickly, if an actor is simply acting, or doing something more when he’s starring in a sports flick.
Gary Cooper and Ray Liotta couldn’t, or wouldn’t, learn how to hit left-handed when cast as two of the greatest left-handed swinging baseball players ever, Lou Gehrig and Joe Jackson.
When Ted Danson started playing Sam Malone on “Cheers,” he couldn’t name five Red Sox past or present.
But Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs? Kevin Costner as Crash Davis? Even Burt Reynolds as the original Paul Crewe? There isn’t a doubt in your mind, the moment they swing a bat or toss a swing pass, they know what they’re doing.
“I think it helps when you’ve spent a huge portion of your life as a competitive athlete, because you know how much it meant to you, and why it meant so much to you,” Jim Caviezel says. “You know how powerful sports can be.”
Caviezel stars in the terrific CBS television series “Person of Interest,” and he has been in close to 30 motion pictures across the past 23 years, including a highly credible turn as the title character in 2004’s “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius.”
Next Friday, Caviezel will hit theaters portraying Bob Ladouceur, who coached De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., to 151 straight victories from 1992-2003 in the big-screen adaptation of the book “When the Game Stands Tall.” (The film’s director, Thomas Carter, owns his own sports-drama cred thanks to his time playing Hayward in “The White Shadow.”)
There is little to wonder about Caviezel’s passion for sports. A native of Washington state, he was sitting inside MetLife Stadium last February with his son, waiting for their Seahawks to take the field before Super Bowl XLVIII, and his mind was going a hundred different directions.
He had rejoiced when the Sonics won the ’79 NBA Finals, then winced as they bailed for Oklahoma City.
He has been a Mariners fan since their birth in 1977 when he was 9, but grew disillusioned and later became a Yankees fan, too, after seeing Jeff Nelson and Tino Martinez become Yankees “because after a while I just figured I’d have to follow the Yankees to see all my favorite Mariners.”
And as the Seahawks were finishing off their 43-8 dismantling of the Broncos, father turned to son and said, “This might not happen again until after I’m dead. Let’s enjoy this as much as we can.”
Yes. That is a sports fan.
In portraying Ladouceur, though, Caviezel was able to draw upon the other aspect of his background: He was a terrific schoolboy basketball player, good enough to play two years at Bellevue College before transferring to Washington after hurting his foot.
But Caviezel’s real insight into the mind of a coach may have come from John Wooden, for whom his dad, James Sr., played at UCLA, and who Caviezel grew to know very well through the years.
“As I read the script it struck me how similar Coach Wooden and Coach Ladouceur were, and not just because they both won so many games. You saw the effect they had on their players: They were able to see into their players’ souls, and their players could see into their souls. You could see the players’ eyes gloss over, that moment just before you cry, you’re so eager to play for this man and for each other. That’s what I wanted to reach in this movie.”
Whack Back at Vac
Alan Hirschberg: The Mets pitcher I would never, ever trade is a guy you didn’t even mention in your list of the team’s young arms: Steven Matz.
Vac: Add the fact that he’s a local, and that does make him untouchable.
Wendell Ramey: Rick Ankiel couldn’t find the plate, so he re-invented himself. Don Mattingly’s back left him, so he left the game. Which will be the ending of Tiger Woods legacy?
Vac: You think maybe Mickelson can lend him a set of lefty clubs?
@MJP1313: The Mets went from “90 wins” to “if we don’t collapse…” I’ve about given up. Until the team is sold why should any fan care, if they don’t?
@MikeVacc: That is the $86 million (or thereabouts) question, isn’t it?
James Gerbe: Harvey and deGrom bring an electricity to the park when they pitch, IMHO they are the only two untouchables. For the right bat I’d trade Wheeler, Montero and Syndergaard in a heartbeat.
Vac: You just can’t win with that offense. Can’t. Cannot. Something has to change.
Vac’s Whacks
Two players who have emerged from a lost New York baseball summer as fun to watch and more fun to root for: Brett Gardner on one end of the bridge, Lucas Duda on the other.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to see “Chef.” All I know is I’m glad I finally did.
Even the most patient Mets fan probably has already reached this conclusion about Matt Harvey at this point: He had better be worth it.
Maybe Bartolo Colon should give Melo a call.