RADAR Magazine considers ESPN personality and Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser as No. 9 on its list of the Web’s ten most hated people because he dared to tell it like it is about bloggers who consider themselves as credible as credentialed, trained sports journalists working for legitimate media. With Leatherheads fresh in peoples’ minds, it got me thinking about true villains of sports — big screen sports villains, and because Clooney’s film failed to develop a good one, other films need to be recognized for brilliantly developing loathsome, if not lovable, villains.
 

MY LIST OF THE MOVIES’ TOP TEN SPORTS VILLAINS

10. MICHAEL JETER as Norm Snively, the clumsy birthday party performing clown in “Air Bud” who lost his dog and whatever was left of his dignity in trying to get it back from a fatherless boy who had fell in love with it and its basketball playing ability. I actually felt sorry for the dude, found myself rooting for him near the end, which is why he comes in at No. 10.

9.  BOB BARKER playing himself in Happy Gilmore. Much more interesting the then the true villain in the picture Shooter McGavin, but again once he started landing some right hands to the mush of Happy Gilmore, he made a big swing in my book from villain to hero.

8. MARGARET WHITTON as Rachel Phelps, owner of the hapless Cleveland Indians in Major League. She was more a villain to common sense in this picture because, gee, if you want to sell, wouldn’t you want your team to win and your stadium to fill up so the team’s value spikes?

7. HELLEN KALLIANIOTES as Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber. I don’t remember much about this film accept that she was a great bad mama-jama and regularly kicked the daylights out of Rachel Welch’s character.

6. TED KNIGHT as Judge Elihu Smails in CaddyShack. Possibly the most lovable villain of all, certainly the most well versed: “It's easy to grin when your ship comes in and you've got the stock market beat.  But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when his shorts are too tight in the seat.”

5. BILL MURRAY as slimy professional bowler Ernie McCracken in Kingpin. If your name’s McCracken in a movie, chances are you’re a bad mother. Ernie McCracken may have been the villain who thought out of the box the most — witness the facilitating of the amputation of Roy Munson’s hand after it had been jammed down the ball return.

4. BEN STILLER as White Goodman in Dodgeball. Was there any doubt he’d end up alone in bed stuffing his face?

3. DON JOHNSON as pro golfer David Simms in Tin Cup. Problem is, the professional tours are loaded with uptight guys like David Simms who’ll take a string of pars any day over taking a risk or two that might actually endear them to fans.

2. Tie between EDDIE ALBERT as Warden Hazen and CHARLES TYNER as Unger, both loathsome characters in The Longest Yard, starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe. Unger was an unforgivable creep because his plot to kill Crewe backfired causing the death of  lovable Caretaker, but you can almost say the warden put him up to it.

1. PAUL D'AMATO as Tim “The Hook” McCracken, chief punk for the Syracuse Bulldogs in Slap Shot. Small roll, but the only villain I know of in a sports movie bad enough to  have a bounty placed on his head.

Honorable mention: CARL WEATHERS as Apollo Creed in Rocky.