The Rookie commentary, part 6: 'State! State! State!'

We come out of the montage and into the Owls locker room with the players excited, whooping and hollering about their string of victories. Coach, with yet another shot at the football team, tells his players to “keep it down. Folks are going to think that football season started already.” Anybody that loves Texas football but doesn’t care for baseball probably shouldn’t watch this movie.

Coach Morris brings the boys back down to earth a little bit, offering a compliment by saying he’s proud of them and how amazing it is that they’ve won so many games in a row. But… tomorrow’s district-championship game still remains.

“Let’s finish this thing up.” -Coach Morris, as the players start chanting “State! State! State!”

And then, a guy appears almost out of nowhere in the team locker room. He’s from Fort Worth and wants to talk to Jimmy about that application he sent in. OK, first of all, how did the guy get in the locker room? What great timing, too. Let’s have a job interview when he’s dirty and sweaty minutes after coaching his baseball team in the biggest game of the season to date.

But then, we see that one of the players looks over and notices the conversation. Ah, alright then. This whole scene was for that benefit, so we can set up the will he/won’t he go situation. It all has a very movie-thing feel to it.

Case in point, the next scene is Jimmy talking over the situation at home with Lorri. She tells him that his players will understand because, as we all know, high school coaching jobs don’t get any better than Fort Worth. She references how much the family could use the money, planting a seed that money is definitely a factor here for these two school employees with three young children. I mean, it’s very understandable.

Remarkable turnaround for the Owls
We’re treated to another shot of a newspaper clipping mentioning the district championship game for the Owls. The camera pans up to a shot of the beautiful, green grass on the ball field the next day. Jimmy is in the locker room dressed in uniform – white with Vegas-gold lettering with “Owls” scrawled across the front, complete with yellow ball caps with the Owls logo.

It’s nowhere near Herb Brooks level, but Coach Jimmy Morris revisits the history of the baseball program, probably more for the audience than the dramatic effect for the players. A few years ago, the Owls were a one-win team. Same thing last season. This year? Their turnaround led to 16 victories. But he reminds them that they need No. 17.

Then we circle back to that player who just happened to see the Forth Worth guy snooping around. It’s the outspoken Wack, who asks if coach is coming back next year. Coach could be a politician with the dodge he provides, saying “let’s worry about this year first.”

To finish up the pregame speech, Coach Morris calls for hats-off and leads the team in a prayer. This warms my heart. And not that I’m looking for similarities and comparisons, but Jimmy Dugan also led his team in a pregame prayer before Game 7 of the World Series in “A League of Their Own.” Good stuff.

Setting the scene for the big game
After the prayer, the camera cuts to shots of shoes and socks from the ground level for both teams on the field as they’re lined up for the national anthem. The opponent is none other than a team the Owls faced earlier in the season, with that big hitter who looks so much older than high-school age. A pan to his teammates down the line reveals a bunch of tall, athletic fellas who also look like they’re closer to their 10-year reunions than high school graduation.

Now there’s also a better look at the rest of the team lined up, jawing their gum with smug looks on their faces. One of the players looks like he’s in his 30s. I’m not kidding.

Seriously though, why do so many of these competitive/sports children’s movies (Iceland team in “Mighty Ducks 2”, I’m looking at you.) feed the audience such a David versus Goliath feature when it comes to opponents? These are supposed to be high schoolers, not 25-year-olds. And yes, I know that sometimes in Hollywood actors cast in roles are older than the characters they play, but it’s usually pretty close and doesn’t leave the audience questioning anything.

Anyway, enough of that soapbox. The movie’s old friend, Henry, sings the national anthem, then gives a little point to Jimmy at the end as a silent “good luck.” It’s nice that they’ve kept a friendship after all these years.

Next, it’s time to play ball. 

The Rookie commentary, part 1: ‘What kind of baseball do they have? … They don’t.
The Rookie commentary, part 2: ‘There are more important things in life than baseball’

The Rookie commentary, part 3: ‘Yeah dad, bring the heat!’
The Rookie commentary, part 4: ‘You don’t have dreams, you don’t have anything’
The Rookie commentary, part 5: 'You got your shot at baseball. You got hurt.'