What is it about sports films that can turn even the hardest of men into blubbering idiots? Tragic tales of unspeakable hardship or unrequited love will pass by without so much as a whimper.

But show them a story of how a crappy team somehow rises from the ashes to become the best in the league and it won’t be long before they’re crying like newborn babies. Maybe it’s something in the male genes. Crying and sport seem to go hand in hand.

Films about sport can have the same reaction. OK, so they don’t replace the thrill of scoring a late goal, hitting a match-winning home run or scoring the touchdown that wins your team the Super Bowl, but they come close – the good ones that is.

Sure, some sports films can make you cry without being any good at all. The Fan made us want to weep for Robert De Niro‘s career, for example. However, sometimes directors get it right; sometimes they capture why sport is such a global obsession.

Here are Hecklerspray’s perfect 10…

10. Jerry Maguire (1996)

This film is so good it made us like Tom Cruise and sports agents – for about an hour and a half at least.

9. Rocky (1976)

OK, everyone loves an underdog – and they don’t get much better than Sly Stallone‘s Italian Stallion. The boxing sequences, of course, are ridiculous, but they’re propped up by some of surprisingly fine acting and good story telling.

8. The Hustler (1961)

It is a disgrace that Paul Newman didn’t get an Oscar for his gritty portrayal of pool ace Fast Eddie.

7. Bull Durham (1988)

The fact that this baseball movie spawned the unholy union that is Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins almost disqualified it from being on the list. But the superb script and Sarandon’s faultless performance meant we really couldn’t leave it out.

6. Escape to Victory or Victory (1981)

We’re well aware that Sly Stallone accidentally appears on this list twice, but there is no way we could miss out this classic about a group of POW footballers trying to escape from a German concentration camp. It’s Michael Caine in the Great Escape, with football in it. Perfect!

5. This Sporting Life (1963)

We liked this kitchen sink drama about a brutal rugby league player in Northern England so much we almost started to watch rugby. All right, maybe not.

4. Hoop Dreams (1994)

A biting documentary about two promising, inner-city basketball stars both hoping to become the next Michael Jordan. You’ll like this, even if you don’t give a shit about basketball, which is the true test of a great sports film.

3. Caddyshack (1980)

The fact it has Bill Murray in it means it just beats The Waterboy to the title of the funniest sports movie ever made.

2. When We Were Kings (1996)

With Muhammed Ali at his most entertaining, how could you possibly not get swept up by this majestic documentary about the legendary Rumble in the Jungle.

1. Raging Bull (1980)

Martin Scorsese‘s dramatic biopic of the downfall of the unlovable, stubborn middle-weight boxing champion Jake La Motta is an unforgettable classic. It’s Robert De Niro’s finest film.