Saw the movie Rudy on TV the other day.  It was about what I always expect sports movies to be.  Totally predictable, and thus somewhat dull, even though the acting, cinematography and music were all pretty good.  It’s based on a true story, and to its credit remained relatively true to the actual events.  You can see film of the actual play  by Daniel Ruettiger here.

What surprised me a little about the movie was the extent to which it is a giant ad for the University of Notre Dame.  That, and the fact that Rudy, as depicted in the film, seemed a little unhinged in his obsession with playing football for them. I don’t know if the real  guy was like that–probably not–but the character as shown in the movie seems overly fixated on it to me.

I’m not saying a person shouldn’t want to play football for their favorite team, and I am totally behind the “don’t give up on your dreams” message, but still, there’s a difference between “never giving up” and “obsessing to the point of madness”.  It made it difficult for me to relate to the character.