Top 10 Tuesday: For the Love of Underdogs

Fall is here and you know what that means…  Football is in the air.  Although I’m not much of a football fan, I do have an autumn ritual that I engage in every year at this time that involves football.

I watch the movie Rudy.

My enjoyment of Rudy has less to do with the game of football, but more with the pursuit of attaining a goal or a dream.  In the most simple explanation, it's the tale of an underdog who succeeds.  Anyone who knows me knows that love a good underdog story.  

Yes, I am the quintessential fan of the underdog.  Maybe it comes from my West Virginia coal mining roots.  West Virginians are always looked down upon.  We are viewed as inferior, backwards, and unintelligent, so of course I love it when West Virginians succeed and prove the naysayers wrong.

In honor of my love of underdogs and of underdog movies, here are my personal Top 10 Underdog Movies of All-Time: 

Honorable Mention:  Cool Runnings (1993)

Honorable Mention:  The Hunger Games (2012)

#10 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

#9 The Karate Kid (1984)

#8 Angus (1995)

#7 Billy Elliott (2000)

#6 Breaking Away (1979)

#5 Forrest Gump (1994)

#4 Rudy (1993)

#3 Rocky (1976)

#2 Shawshank Redemption (1994)

#1 October Sky (1999)

I guess it's no surprise that my #1 is the story of a fellow West Virginian, Homer Hickham.  Hickham, who seemed fated to be a coal miner like his father, dreamed of something bigger, something extraordinary, something beyond the mountains of southern West Virginia.  Through hard work and perseverance, he achieved his dream.

Do you have a favorite underdog movie?  If so, what is it?  Feel free to share below.  Thanks for stopping by!