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The 6th Man (1997)

Rate: 1
Viewed: 11/03, 10/11

6man
10/11: The 6th Man is a hard picture to watch because it basically says cheating is okay as long as nobody is hurt in the process.

It doesn't teach moral lessons but rather depicts selfish individuals who make me sick to my stomach. At the same time, many scenes look awkward. Every game the team cheats in, it looks more of a fraud as they come closer to the national championship game. That's why lately many schools in NCAA sports have been stripped of victories, scholarships, and eligibility to participate in postseason games because it's illegal and ruins the fair play doctrine.

Things are worse, given between five and ten million spectators for NCAA basketball, there's not a single skeptic pointing out how everything looks out of place. I mean, opponents are always studying the tape to prepare for upcoming games. Of course, it's invariably omitted in the film because nobody wants to deal with the white elephant. Obviously, the ending is as predictable as it gets, so why bother?

Hence, Blue Chips is perfect because it shows how real the world of NCAA basketball is and why I, for the past two decades, don't want to watch or follow the sport. If I notice the irony in the cameos made by actual NCAA coaches, they are Jim Harrick, Jerry Tarkanian, and Nolan Richardson.

Jim Harrick is the walking poster child of NCAA violations as his résumé includes academic fraud, improper benefits, lying to investigators, and illegal recruiting. Next is Jerry Tarkanian who's infamous for illegal recruiting and point-shaving scandals. The third is Nolan Richardson who may or may have not cheated, but his son certainly has committed many NCAA violations and, at one point, brandished a gun in front of his assistant coach during basketball practice. Can that be attributed to the proverb: "Like father, like son"? Also, why did the University of Washington, coming off a major football scandal in 1993, agree to lend its name to a film that condones cheating?

All in all, The 6th Man is wrong, wrong, wrong.