I never was in the Little League. Probably it was just as well, as I never really got into any sporting activity until I discovered swimming. But my nephew was in the Little League in Connecticut, and his career was distinguished by being in the outfield, and enjoying looking at the sky and clouds, or the green grass, or the back wall - and rarely looking at the thing mattered most: the ball.<br /><br />It has become a commonplace piece of knowledge that for many kids being on a baseball team in the Little Leagues around the country is a nightmare. The kids look forward to the fun of playing baseball games with kids their own age. The problem is that all too often the enjoyment of the game (and the teaching of good sportsmanship) are sacrificed for the sake of the grown-ups who are in the background (parents, patrons of the teams) and the managers. These grown-ups are only concerned about winning. They have taken the view that winning is the end-all and be-all of living, and that second or third or fourth place in the standings is worthless. Unfortunately too many grown-ups feel this way. After all, how many people are active fans of the real major league teams that constantly are in the cellar? Occasionally such a team (the old Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1920s - 1930s or the original New York Mets comes to mind) do have such a following, but that is a rarity.<br /><br />THE BAD NEWS BEARS was the first film that tackled this problem of bad sportsmanship and enshrining winning within what should be the purest form of baseball. After all, Little League is for kids...isn't it?<br /><br />There are similarities in the film between the character of Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) and Tom Hanks' character in A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, about the women's baseball league of the Second World War era. Hanks and Matthau have serious drinking problems. Hanks is in the majors with a Chicago team but is washing himself up with management - and takes this job managing the woman's team as a last chance to square things with his boss. Butterworth was a promising rookie in the minor leagues, who once (in a practice game) struck out Ted Williams. But contract disputes (he claims) prevented him from getting into the majors, and he takes the job managing the Yuma Bears for a salary. It is obvious that the parents behind this (led by a Councilman played by Ben Piazza) have little faith in his long dormant abilities - the Councilman even tries to palm off an unsigned check to Butterworth for his services at the beginning (a real sign of contempt). Subsequently the Councilman even drops supporting the team when it loses it's first game by a score of 26 to 0.<br /><br />Certainly the team is full of misfits, an overweight kid with a loud mouth (Gary Lee Cavagnaro), a would be African-American militant (Erin Blunt), and two Spanish speaking kids (Jaime Escobedo and George Gonzales) being only a portion of them. And initially the opportunist in Butterworth makes his work as manager become second-rate (he rarely trains them when sober, and he even has them assist him in his job as a swimming pool cleaner). But their unhappiness at their first defeat is too much. Also there is the unasked for and patronizing advise of fellow Coach Roy Turner (Vic Morrow, in a good performance), who is stressing how embarrassing the Bears are, and how they have no place in the league, and should quit. Matthau takes such a dislike to him that he is determined to turn the team around.<br /><br />He does this first by actually training the team, so they start cohering together (and start actually playing the game correctly). Then he goes after his one great discovery. When he was romancing her mother, Butterworth was training Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O'Neill) on pitching and fielding, so that she is a powerhouse (though not as good as a hitter). He manages to get her to join the team, agreeing to pay for her ballet classes and for a pair of European jeans she wants. Later he also manages to get another good all-around player, Tanner Boyle (Chris Barnes). The result is that the team soon is zooming up in the League to the point that it and Turner's "Yankees" are to play the deciding game of the summer.<br /><br />Butterworth does not realize that Amanda's willingness to go along with him is based on the hope that he (a man she actually idolizes) will marry her mother. As for Tanner, he's a pint-sized hood who happens to decide to join the Bears only because he dislikes the self-important Turner (who keeps harassing him on the baseball field).<br /><br />The final twenty minutes of the movie deals with the "price" the poor kids in both teams pay for the glory of the adults. Butterworth shows a mean opportunism that the kids resent on his team, while Turner manages to permanently louse up his relationship with his son and wife by humiliating the boy for not following his orders. By the way, Turner's son gets one of the best revenges on an adult I've ever seen in any movie dealing with inter-generational and family relationships. Let us just say Turner is not facing a happy future when the film ends.<br /><br />A comedy about an area rarely touched until then in films (a scene in the James Garner - Kim Novak comedy BOYS NIGHT OUT was one of the few that dealt with Little League before this full study of it), THE BAD NEWS BEARS is a nice reaffirmation on what sports is supposed to be about: fun.