What’s “Champions” About?

A former minor-league basketball coach (Woody Harrelson) is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team CAN go further than they ever even imagined they ever could!

Champions Are Survivors ….Anywhere!!!

The movie was all about champions with Down Syndrome – that is what this team – and the name of the team is called, The Friends. Just in writing this review, I am getting a tad bit sentimental simply because while writing just the above sentence I am automatically reminded of the unity in these young children who are more than just a team- they are like a family – a very strong family that has each other’s backs. Just because they are intellectually challenged does NOT mean that they should be seen or treated any differently than any other person in the world and that is the problem with people in the world today.

It Takes A Large Heart To Be Kind-Hearted …Gentle …And Sympathetic to a Champion Child!

There are so many Americans who are so closed-minded and want to treat special people so differently & that is so inappropriate not to mention inhumane a plethora of many other words and phrases come to mind but I will not mention them, but I know that you can feel my anger and disgust for those type of close-minded individuals. I do not even want to call them human because there is NO human being that would act the way that some of the people in this movie acted toward these challenged children. Champions.

Prevailing Amongst All Else Is What Makes A Champion!

Just the word – champions describes these miraculous children and everything that they had to overcome and will have to overcome every single day of their lives. All of the obstacles that they have to face from the haters in the world are because of the way that they look; speak; act; walk, talk; dress, etc. People are hurtful in this cold and very cruel world – do you know what and who is sharper than those people? Words! I know that you remember that slang phrase ….” sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me!” I call straight-up BS on that one. I am here to tell you that …WORDS DO HURT! Words DO INDEED offend people! They are more painful than physical abuse.

Abuse is Abuse – NO matter if it’s Verbal or Physical! NO means NO!!! STOP!!!

Verbal abuse is a killer just more so than physical abuse. How much can a person especially an intellectually challenged person; a teenager even take of being belittled or made fun of before they try to harm themselves – or God only knows what? Bullies have no idea the impact or implications of how their words can affect very sensitive individuals with disabilities such as the kids in this movie and kids as such do exist in the real world. I loved the movie for the message that it relayed, and I think that I relayed it mighty well myself! The children on the Friends Team are champs for handling adversity that was being thrown their way and they are champions in every sense of the word!

Trav’s Conclusions on What It Means to be A True Champion!

All you can say is the damn word champion over and over and over again because no matter what angle you choose to look at it from – that is what they all are – NOT were; ARE: CHAMPIONS! The protagonist in the film, to me, was Alex and not Marcus. Alex was trying to get Marcus to see the positive and good in coaching the Friends whereas he was using the publicity of the team to get him a job in the NBA. Of course, that was the wrong motivation, but you need a good and a bad to balance it out in a movie like this so was Marcus a champion in the end you think? Champions!!!