The 8 Most Absurd Sports Scenes Ever, From ‘Teen Wolf’ to ‘Top Gun’
I have played tennis approximately three times in my life and embarrassed myself each time. As such, it takes a lot to get me to watch tennis—even on film. Fortunately, Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s steamy tennis drama, has granted us a vehicle to pretend we’re innocently watching sports, when we’re all really here to see Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor make out while Zendaya watches.
While Challengers is hot, it also features a lot of tennis (of the non-tonsil variety)—which is surprising coming from a director who professes to dislike the game. It got me thinking: If I can’t get paid to write a list of the questions raised by this being the second film about a love triangle to come out of the marriage between Celine Song and Justin Kuritzkes, perhaps there’s something to be said about how surprisingly excellent Challengers’ sports sequences are and what other similar sporting moments can be found in TV and film? What moments were so shocking or so good that they made me consider buying a pair of shorts and slithering outside? I don’t mean the best sporting moments or even the most iconic—but the moments in TV and film that are most memorable for their quality and, importantly, absurdity.