If you aren’t familiar with Dubsism, it’s a combination of two things which usually don’t go together; rabid enthusiasm for all things sport, and an infatuation with classic cinema.  I think that came about the first time I got a John Wayne western in lieu of a rained-out baseball game. Thus began the double-helixing of sports and movies in my oft-concussed brain.

To make the proverbial long story short, I discovered blogging, and then I discovered the classic film blog-a-thon.  I dipped my toe into that world by offering some episodes of my series “Sports Analogies Hidden in Classic Movies.” The classic film blogging community has given me such a positive response that I’m jumping in with both feet by hosting my first blog-a-thon! Since it’s my first time, Paul S. from Return to the 80’s was gracious enough to join me to make sure I don’t bump into the furniture.

This blog-a-thon is all about movies featuring actors who used to be athletes at the college, Olympic, or professional level, OR movies in which a famous athlete appears. It is NOT about movies which have a sports-related theme. This is about actors who once were jocks, or big-time jocks who make cameos.

If you are a contributor, once your piece is published, send us the link and we will take care of the rest.

• Day One: Send it to Paul S. from Return to the 80’s by email at returntothe80s@gmail.com
• Day Two: Send it to J-Dub from Dubsism by email at dubsism@yahoo.com

Participants:

Dubsism:

• Mister Roberts, 1955 – Features a cameo as an island tribal chief by Duke Kahanamoku.  If you’re not familiar, Kahanamoku won gold medals in swimming at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics, as well as a silver in 1924, losing to the gold to Johnny “Tarzan” Weismuller.
• They Were Expendable, 1945 – Before becoming arguably the biggest star in the history John Wayne played guard for the University of Southern California.

Return to the 80’s:

• Rocky III – Eye of the Tiger, baby…

Reelweegiemidget Reviews:

• Brings us an awesome look at Burt Reynolds with a retrospective spanning a selected body of his work.

Taking Up Room:

• Prefontaine, 1997 – Before he was “Al Bundy,” Ed O’Neill was a defensive lineman for the Youngstown State Penguins, and earned a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Wonderful World of Cinema:

• Dangerous When Wet, 1953 – Virginie Pronovost dives into this Esther Williams classic. Williams may very well have been an Olympic gold medalist in swimming had World War II not happened.

Sat In Your Lap:

• Take Me Out To The Ball Game, 1949 – Michael from Sat in Your Lap doubles down on Esther Williams

Pale Writer:

• Return to Me, 2000 – Before the X-Files, David Duchovny was an “X and O” guy on the basketball floor for Princeton University.
• Raw Wind In Eden, 1958 –  She is also bringing the third Esther Williams contribution to this blog-a-thon.

It Came From The Man Cave:

• Into The Sun, 2005 – Here’s a guy looking to win the first Box Office Jocks Heisman Trophy by looking at former Ohio State/Tennessee Titans star Eddie George in this Steven Seagal vehicle.

Love Letters To Old Hollywood:

• Sun Valley Serenade, 1941 –  Our first tribute to figure skating legend Sonja Henie.

The Midnite Drive-In:

• Major League, 1989 & Major League II, 1994 – Quiggy from Midnite Drive-In goes juuuuusssst a bit outside going inside the work of former catcher and Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker’s portrayal of the movie voice of the Cleveland Indians, Harry Doyle.

Crítica Retrô:

• Black Orpheus, 1959 – Le Magalhaes takes us through a tale set in Rio’s Carnival with Brazil’s two-time gold medalist Ademar Da Silva

Mike’s Take On The Movies:

• Mike brings us an All-Star championship team.

Here’s to some solid reading about Box Office Jocks!

You’ll also want to keep tabs on my Blog-a-thon page because that’s where new projects are going to be announced for 2019 and beyond!

Got a question, comment, or just want to yell at us? Hit us up at  dubsism@yahoo.com, @Dubsism on Twitter, or on our Pinterest,  Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook pages, and be sure to bookmark Dubsism.com so you don’t miss anything from the most interesting independent sports blog on the web.