One of my favorite movies of all time is “Bull Durham” with Kevin Costner as career minor leaguer “Crash” Davis. He has meny memorable lines in the movie, but the best one was what Wikipedia describes as a “harangue” to Susan Sarandon’s character (Annie) when he was challenged by her about his “beliefs”. Some of it is not suitable for my nice little blog (but it’s all on Wikipedia), but here’s an edited “PG” version:
“Well, I believe in the soul, the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated @#&*. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
Those who remember the movie probably remember Annie’s reaction – let’s just say she was impressed by the passion of his beliefs, whether she agreed with them or not.
Today I happened to think about this movie and this sequence and it made me wonder – if somebody challenged me on my core beliefs, how would I respond? Would it be in such a passionate way like Crash? Could I fully articuate such a jumbled but yet oddly cohesive summation of myself? While I know my list would be different and a little less crude, although I agree with the amendment outlawing Astroturf 
, I’m going to give this some thought and get back to you all.
What about you – what’s your belief statement? I’d bet the interesting thing about this one would be how it would reveal how unique each and every one of us really are. And that’s pretty darn cool if you ask me!
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That’s one of my all-time favorite movies – and movie speeches. “Oh My” indeed.
Hmmm…you’ve given me some great food for thought – and my upcoming Friday post! Thanks!
Glad to “feed” your thought process Mary! Look forward to your post – I’ll most likely post my belief statement on Friday too. Thanks for stopping by, and all the best.
Great post, especially from an Iowa guy’s perspective.
I also remember Costner’s giggle at the end. Like he knew his passion was contagious, hmm?
I may join the fun on Friday, though I’ve done something like this on my “about” page.
I look forward both of your Friday passions…err…postings
Thanks Mike – I do love that movie. You must love Field of Dreams too, I bet (that one really gets me). I just posted my take on a belief statement, so yes indeed join the fun! All the best.
I loved that movie too. Named my dog after Crash Davis. I would take out the Oswald acted alone part. Always liked the “you couldn’t hit water if you fell out of a freakin’ boat” line.