With the little-horse-that-could flick Seabiscuit opening this week, the already-short attention spans at Sports Online were further diverted by a raging debate: what's the best-ever sports movie?

We'll let you vote on that. But in the process of coming up with a short list of 10 for the poll, we frightened ourselves by unearthing almost 70 sports-themed movies. Some are obviously great, worthy of a rental and an evening with your home theatre system. Some are mildly amusing, hokey throwbacks.

And some are hideous pieces of celluloid that should never have left the heads of the hacks who created them. Rent those and you'll want to return your home theatre system for a full refund.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS | BRIAN'S SONG |
BULL DURHAM | CADDYSHACK |
HOOSIERS | THE LONGEST YARD |
THE NATURAL | RAGING BULL |
ROCKY | SLAP SHOT

For anyone who grew up in the 70s and came anywhere near a ball diamond, The Bad News Bears meant something. We knew the phys-ed misfits on the Bears -- overweight Engleberg, loser Lupus, nerdy Ogilvie, Tanner the mouthpiece. Some of us were those kids.

The Little League politics, the sad-sack coach, the losers-and-winners mentality of kids' sports were all wickedly showcased by director Michael Ritchie, who coaxed terrific performances out of those kids, as well as stars Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal.

One of the few movies to deal with sports at the entry level, Bears tapped into all the childhood emotions around sports without being cloying. And it packed a fair size wallop too: who can forget coach Turner's confrontation with his son on the pitcher's mound, or Buttermaker's meltdown when he started taking the game seriously?

One more kudo: few films penetrate pop culture to the extent that their titles take on their own meaning. But The Bad News Bears is now synonymous with a ragtag collection of underdogs.

The one movie on our list that wasn't a theatrical release, the made-for-TV Brian's Song is the male version of Beaches. It's also the one flick that Maxim readers will openly admit to crying to.

The true story of Chicago Bears teammates Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, Brian's Song dealt with bigotry (Sayers black, Piccolo white) as effectively as it dealt with death. The film was made 32 years ago but didn't shy away from controversy.

It also didn't shy away from trying to make guys weep. First it's Piccolo overcoming his prejudice to form a bond with Sayers, next it's Sayers leaning on Piccolo through a devastating injury, then it's Sayers and his teammates struggling to deal with Piccolo's impending death.

As one web reviewer put it, "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to play football."

Bull Durham makes the top-10 based on its intriguing cast of characters and the memorable dialogue they churn out.

Admittedly, the film as a whole has its flaws. But the on- and off-field adventures of veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), pitching prospect Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and groupie Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) provide an entertaining, if not always accurate window into the lives of minor-league ballplayers and their fans.

The baseball elements of Bull Durham work because writer/director Ron Shelton, who briefly played in the minors, reveres America's pastime. However, he still isn't afraid to poke fun at the game's love of clichés and rituals.

The players' eccentricities are only surpassed by the movie's witty exchanges and now-iconic dialogue, with Davis' "I believe" speech leading the way.

Carl the groundskeeper sizes up the enemy VC (varmint cong)

Caddyshack thumbs its nose at some of golf’s snootier ways and isn’t afraid to riff on the country club lifestyle (pick from any number of Dangerfield’s one-line barbs). If only more golf courses were like Bushwood.

Another based-on-a-true-story flick, Hoosiers follows the familiar theme of underdogs battling huge odds and winning.

But there are more underdogs here than just the team: Gene Hackman plays a coach with a checkered past and Dennis Hopper is his assistant, the town drunk looking to reclaim his dignity.

The strength of the characters make this movie. The power and empathy exuded by Hackman and Hopper are more than a match for the pure sports action, and the subtle theme of life in the American heartland of the 1950s is compelling.

It would have been easy to make Hoosiers a pure basketball flick, and it would have ended up on our heap of 60-odd other sports movies. To director David Anspaugh's credit, it's more than that.

The football version of The Dirty Dozen (also directed, not coincidentally, by Robert Aldrich).

If you're looking for art or tapestry, you'll be disappointed, but The Longest Yard promises nothing but pure fun. What else could you expect from a 1974 Burt Reynolds sports flick set in a prison?

OK. Maybe the word 'fun' isn't exactly appropriate to describe Reynolds' character Paul Crewe whipping a football not once, but twice, at a guy's crotch. But it is funny, and in the context of the film, nicely rewarding.

A strong current of anti-establishment sentiment runs through The Longest Yard, to the point where you'll be rooting for the Mean Machine despite the fact they're a collection of criminals, including murderers and rapists.

But, in the tradition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it's the inmates we have to root for.

If Ken Burns had decided to make a baseball movie instead of his epic documentary, this would have been it.

Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) swings for the subtly-lit fences

The Natural knows that baseball is replete with cliches, myths, legends, and fuzzy, soft-focus moments. And it embraces them.

We've got the corrupt owners, the wide-eyed batboy, a bat cut from a tree struck by lightning, the crusty manager looking for a winning season. And Robert Redford as a baseball golden boy looking for redemption.

But for sports fans, this is a great story that isn't entirely made up. Baseball, real baseball, has given us some of those characters -- the Whammer, for instance -- and plot lines too.

Sure, the final scene when Hobbs rounds the bases in slo-mo amid a torrent of sparks could be written off as unrealistic, sentimental sap.

Except for that real-life moment in 1988 when the Dodgers' Kirk Gibson stepped to the plate...

This black-and-white biopic about former boxing champion Jake La Motta is beautiful to look at, even when the on-screen action teems with violence and self-destructive rage.

Robert De Niro earned an Oscar for his portrayal of the ex-middleweight king and garnered extra kudos for packing on the pounds to play a portly, retired La Motta.

The film is widely acclaimed on many levels. Martin Scorsese’s direction is intoxicating, Paul Schrader’s words strike all the right chords and the actors turn in first-rate performances. The fight scenes provide edge-of-your-seat thrills, while the human drama outside the ring is equally engaging.

Raging Bull evades simple labelling. It’s so much more than just a boxing or sports movie, rating as one of the most fascinating character studies in cinema history.

This Oscar-winner gave birth to four sequels of varying merit, creating one of the most successful franchises in film history. But before Rocky went toe-to-toe with Mr. T or hauled logs around a Siberian training camp, he was a just another bum from the neighbourhood dreaming of his one chance to make it.

Rocky's down but not out. He's got at least four sequels to film.

The original Rocky has all the elements of a classic. It’s the blueprint tale for the underdog figure trying to overcome numerous life-barriers for a shot at glory and personal redemption.

The film works on many levels. Rocky is at its quiet, engaging best in the scenes where the Philly club fighter interacts with the key figures in his life -- Mickey the trainer, Adrian the love interest, and her cousin Paulie. And who could forget the entertainment value provided by the cocky, charismatic heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)?

The well-choreographed (if slightly cartoonish) fight scenes also pack a wallop, while Bill Conti’s heart-pumping musical score makes even the most sedentary beast want to suck back a raw egg and race through the streets.

ESPN says it's a top 10 movie. Who are we to disagree?

Slap Shot scores with the right mix of comedic violence, a dash of the profane, sharp dialogue and a heartfelt respect for minor-league athletes, teams and the small communities that support them.