The villain is often one of the most important characters for a movie, so it should come as no surprise to learn that a lot of people remember the villains in their favorite movie villains from the 90s. Naturally, different people will have different favorites when it comes to their sports movie villains, which is as true for us as it is for other movie-goers out there.
Here are our five favorite sports movie villains of the 90s:
Shooter McGavin – Happy Gilmore
Happy Gilmore was centered around a man named Happy becoming a golf sensation through his hockey skills, so naturally, there had to be a golf pro to oppose him in the form of Shooter McGavin. Unsurprisingly considering that it was an Adam Sandler movie, McGavin didn’t just see Happy as a threat to himself but also as a threat to his chosen profession as a whole, which was why he showed no hesitation in using dirty tricks such as deliberately setting him up to lose his temper and buying his grandmother’s house to exert pressure on him.
Bud Kilmer – Varsity Blues
In Varsity Blues, Bud Kilmer was interesting in that he was the protagonist Mox’s own coach rather than someone on an opposing team. As a result, the choice led to a different narrative from what one can expect from the usual sports movie, though no less dark for it. In fact, an argument can be made that the choice actually made Bud Kilmer worse than the standard sports movie villain, seeing as how he used his power as a successful football coach to abuse the teenagers who trusted him by forcing them to play in spite of serious injuries for the sake of buffing up his already impressive record.
Ernie McCracken – Kingpin
Ernie McCracken in Kingpin was rather curious in that he won the final competition, though that did not stop the protagonist Roy Munson from winning as well. In brief, McCracken was the one who convinced Munson to help him in hustling other bowlers, which resulted in Munson losing his hand while he went on to become a national bowling superstar. Furthermore, McCracken was the one who provoked Ishmael Boorg by insulting Munson, which resulted in Boorg breaking his hand just before the final competition. Finally, McCracken actually beat Munson in their match by one point, which made it sting all the more.
Kevin O’Shea – Little Giants
Danny O’Shea lived in the shadow of his more successful brother Kevin, which convinced him to start a second football team to compete with the one coached by his brother. Naturally, Danny’s team went on to win in spite of the extensive experience of Kevin’s team as well as a dirty play by one of Kevin’s players. However, what is interesting is that Little Giants actually ended with the brothers reconciling while their teams merged to create a newer, better, and stronger team.
Happy Kuykendahl – Blue Chips
Blue Chips featured Happy Kuykendahl as a corruptive influence on a college basketball coach by the name Pete Bell, convincing him to secure talented players for his college basketball team by outright bribing potential candidates. As a result, Blue Chips stood out in that the victory over Happy was not represented by a win over a rival team but rather by Pete Bell becoming disgusted enough to confess what had happened and accept the consequences of their corruption.
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