What I Learned From Movie X

By Tom Houseman

October 13, 2009

That dog will do their homework later.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
2) The Knuckle Puck

From: D2 The Mighty Ducks

Awesome Factor: 8

The Flying V was cool, but the Knuckle Puck was absolutely crazy. Created by a young gentleman from the Southern California ghetto (where they play hockey, apparently), this is a move that can only be performed by Kenan Thompson, and is completely unstoppable, sending goalies into seizures faster than Japanese cartoons. Fashioned after the knuckleball, a baseball pitch that few have mastered, the knuckle puck spins through the air, twisting and diving unpredictably until it's in the back of the net and the Icelandic goalie is in tears. Every kid who has ever seen this movie has no doubt tried to perform the knuckle puck.

Realism Factor: 1

But it never worked, and there's a very good reason for that. It's called the laws of physics. Yes, the idea that a scrappy group of lovable losers can defeat a more talented, more athletic, better trained team is a little unrealistic, but it's the stuff that childhood dreams are made of. The knuckle puck is the kids sports movie equivalent of Santa Claus and the Easter bunny having a baby that's a dragon. It's not just unrealistic, it's totally inconceivable. No hockey puck has ever traveled through the air like that, and it never will. It took me years of futile attempts and lots of therapy to come to terms with that fact, but I've finally accepted it.




Advertisement



3) The Annexation of Puerto Rico

From: Little Giants

Awesome Factor: 7

Little Giants is somewhere between The Mighty Ducks and Big Green in the pantheon of kids' sports movies, but nothing in those films comes close to being as outrageous as The Annexation of Puerto Rico, the play developed by Tad, a shrimpy kid but a genius when it comes to trick plays. By believing in themselves, all the kids who were cut from the town football team join forces, led by Rick Moranis and his thirst for revenge against his athletic brother, to kick the butts of the kids who are actually good at football. Everything comes down to the last play, the absurdly named The Annexation of Puerto Rico: studly team quarterback Junior Floyd (who is no Joshua Jackson, I should point out) takes the ball and puts it on the ground. Every player runs to the left, except for one offensive lineman, who grabs the ball and runs left. Amidst the chaos the other team has no idea where the ball is, allowing the Little Giants to score the game winning touchdown. As a result, the two teams are merged together to represent the town, at which point it's assumed that all the actually good players are given starting positions and the losers sit on the bench all season.

Realism Factor: 8

As far as trick plays go, this one puts everything else on this list to shame. Why? Because it's an actual play! Of course, it's not called The Annexation of Puerto Rico, but it's a play that has been used multiple times in high school and college football. Invented by John Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy, the Fumblerooski is a classic trick play, one that was once used in a College Football National Championship Game. Nebraska pulled off the Fumblerooski against Miami in 1986, and their right guard ran the ball 19 yards for a touchdown. The play was also attempted by Florida State in 1990, but they made the fatal mistake of not picking the ball up after putting it down. Auburn recovered the ball and ended up scoring a touchdown on the following drive, tying the game and proving that not every college football team is as talented as the Little Giants.


Continued:       1       2       3

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Friday, May 3, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.