KEEPING IT RAHEEL
Raheel Ramzanali: 4 other present day sports movie sequels we need
May 8, 2018, 4:59 am
YouTube Red hit it out of the park with the critically acclaimed series Cobra Kai. The series follows present day Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence and how they’re dealing with the fallout of the legendary Crane Kick. I highly recommend you watch it not only for the nostalgia, but because it’s a really good show on an emotional and storyline level. While I was watching it this weekend, I started to wonder about some of my favorite sports movies growing up and how the characters would be doing in 2018. So, here are four movies I want to see done in Cobra Kai style with a sequel:
Mighty Ducks - Emilio Estevez is a young 55 right now and has to be in this present day sequel as the commissioner of a local hockey league that is struggling to find teams because kids are more interested in playing Fortnite and not an actual sport. It’s an age old, “kids are too lazy, but we can’t let the sport die” plot. In a moment of inspiration, Gordon Bombay creates a Facebook account despite all the threat of losing his data and friends the entire roster from the first movie. In a tragic turn of events, Coach Bombay finds out that his star Charlie Conway passed away in a freak scuba diving accident while off the coast of Mexico during a summer trip. Charlie left behind a 12-year-old son that lost all hope in mankind, but when Coach Bombay messages him, he finds new hope. Coach Bombay ends up mentoring the kid, they have the typical fight because Coach wants Charlie Jr. to be more like his dad, fast forward a few minutes and they end up becoming friends again when Coach Bombay gives Charlie Jr. his dad’s hockey stick. The kid ends up recruiting a bunch of kids to the hockey league and they save it. The end.
The 6th Man - I watched this Marlon Wayans classic at least once a month growing up. A&K ALL THE WAY! Few movies capture the heartache and love of brotherhood like The 6th Man did for me. However, the sequel isn’t as fun and loving as the original. After the Huskies won the national title, we find out that Kenny Tyler was actually diagnosed with schizophrenia when he tried to tell everyone about seeing his brother Antoine. Kenny spent the next 20 years trying to convince everybody that he really did see Antoine, but nobody believed him. In fact, he was put into a mental hospital and on a heavy dose of medicines. There’s actually no silver lining to this movie. It’s a dark and uncomfortable look at the dependency of medicinal solutions to mental problems in our country. Think Requiem for a Dream meets The 6th Man.
Above The Rim - I always considered this movie to be the Allen Iverson story so it’s only right that Kyle Watson went on to lead the 76ers to the NBA Finals with a D-league team. Kyle is now 42-years-old and trying to find a new purpose in his life. He tried playing in a 3-on-3 league, but was always late to show up and sometimes didn’t show up to the games. In a moment of self-realization, Kyle decides he needs to mentor the youth. Kyle still has a nice relationship with Shep so he creates an AAU team featuring the best New York City ballers. This is where the movie picks up because Kyle and Shep find out about the dirty underbelly of the AAU circuit. They go on a quest of mentoring young kids and cleaning up the summer basketball circuit that once made them happy to play the sport they love so much. The final scene is them cutting the ribbon on the brand new Birdie and Buggalo Community Center.
Rookie of the Year - Henry Rowengartner experienced success at such an early age that he, like many child stars, had to deal with the consequences of said fame. Unfortunately, that “dealing with” came at the cost of a crippling addiction to drugs. One night Henry was so wasted that he had a dream of being in a table receiving shots from a faceless doctor. The dream felt too real. It wasn’t a dream, it was his life. We keep seeing flashbacks to this dream and piece-by-piece we find out that his rocket arm wasn’t because of some lame thing like his tendons being “a little too tight” after the cast came off - it was because he was the subject of some illegal government testing on kids. With every clue he gets closer to finding out who did this to him and eventually the faceless man has a face: It was his mom’s boyfriend Jack Bradfield. Henry eventually hits his mom’s ex-bf with a 100-mph fastball and gets a congressional medal for shedding light on these illegal experiments.
C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson found themselves in the same spot when they met in Week 2 last season.
Both quarterbacks were top-five draft picks, lost their season openers and seemed to be facing a steep learning curve.
Richardson won Round 1 in Houston, although he didn't finish the game.
Stroud took Round 2 in Indianapolis with the injured Richardson watching from the sideline as Texans clinched the AFC South title and Stroud locked up his runaway selection as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
On Sunday, each QB begins his second pro season — with a lot still to prove.
“I’m excited. First official game back with my guys and my teammates,” said Richardson, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last October. "I want to win. So, whatever I’ve got to do to do that, I’m going to do it.”
Winning a season opener certainly would be a welcome change for a franchise that last started 1-0 in 2013. The 10-game winless streak is easily the NFL's longest active streak.
But that's just a start for Richardson.
He needs to improve his accuracy after completing a pedestrian 59.5% of his throws in 2023 and must demonstrate he can finish games. He missed 13 last season and only finished one of his four starts because of an assortment of injuries, including the concussion that knocked him out of that Week 2 matchup at Houston after he ran for two scores.
Stroud, meanwhile, is coming off one of the most successful rookie seasons in NFL history.
He became just the third player in a half-century to lead the league in yards passing per game (273.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.6 to 1), won a playoff game and made hist first Pro Bowl appearance.
How can he improve on a season like that? By showing last season was a building block — not a fluke. He has a stronger supporting cast, too, with Joe Mixon, a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Stefon Diggs, who has four straight 100-catch seasons, now in the mix.
The long journey begins Sunday in Indianapolis.
“I want to just start fast,” Stroud said. “It doesn't have to do with a certain game, just in general this season. Last year, we started off really slow and just kind of had to build our way back. It's not an easy thing to do, so I would say this year we want to start fast.”
Houston receiver Nico Collins had two of his biggest games last season against Indy — catching seven passes for 146 yards and one TD in the Week 2 matchup only to outperform those numbers with a 195-yard day that included a 75-yard TD catch in Week 18.
He could play an even bigger role this time with Indy's young secondary trying to match up not only with Collins but also Diggs, Mixon and tight end Dalton Schultz.
“Nico is a playmaker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Every time I see him, he’s a true playmaker. So, you just have to get Nico the ball in any way, shape or fashion. Just find a way to get him the ball just to see how explosive and how dynamic he is.”
Injuries and a contract dispute prevented Jonathan Taylor from replicating the form he used to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Starting against the Texans could be just what he needs.
In six games against Houston, Taylor has rushed for seven TDs and 135.2 yards per game — his highest average against any team he's faced multiple times. And in that rematch with Houston in Week 18, he finished with 30 carries for 188 yards, the NFL's highest single-game total all season.
Houston defensive end Will Anderson, last season’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, will play Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury that limited his training camp snaps.
The No. 3 overall pick in 2023 had 45 tackles, 10 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks as a rookie. He expects to be even better this season.
“I’m way more comfortable,” he said. “Just going into Year 2 knowing the scheme better, knowing what to expect a little bit more and knowing what’s going to happen gives you more confidence.”
The Colts lost their 2023 sacks leader, Samson Ebukam, with a torn Achilles tendon during training. But they may have the perfect replacement.
Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player taken in April's draft, at No. 15 overall, and he's shown coaches that the moves he used to record 23 1/2 sacks over his last two college seasons can work in the NFL.
“We know that there’s going to be a learning curve there," defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "We know there are going to be plays that we’re going to come in and say there were some good plays, and there were plays he wishes he had back — we understand that. But just his overall mentality and skill set, we’re very excited to see.”