The Greatest Sports Movies Ever Made

After a "bloody battle royale," the sports staff of the New York Daily News has anointed the best sports films of all time. Among the contenders:

• Raging Bull: Robert De Niro's knockout performance as boxer Jake LaMotta makes this one of the greatest movies of any kind ever produced.
• Hoosiers: The heartwarming underdog tale loosely based on a real Indiana basketball team beats out other hoops flicks.

• Rocky: The story of unknown fighter Rocky Balboa's rise to the heavyweight title grabbed three Academy Awards in 1976. The studio wanted Robert Redford to star, but Sylvester Stallone refused to give up his script if he didn't get the title role.
• Slap Shot:: This perennial puckhead favorite stars Paul Newman as a coach trying to save a minor-league hockey team from extinction.

Click the link below for the full list. (More Rocky stories.)