The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award
1979 Indiana peak; parents understanding their son; Yates’s America; Quaid–Costner career swap
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:23Read transcript
- The hottest take calls 1979 Indiana’s Apex: Knight recruiting Thomas, Bird, Gretzky and Messier’s WHA connection, Breaking Away, Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, Mattingly’s draft, the Indy 500, Jane Pauley and Letterman.
- The film is fundamentally about parents finally understanding their son before he leaves, rather than about sports.
- Yates is said to understand America better than most American directors, with his city portraits and this film’s documentary-like final stretch.
- A counterfactual argues Quaid could have had Costner’s career if their roles and timing were exchanged, with No Way Out, American Flyers, Bull Durham, JFK and Yellowstone offered as plausible fits.