I've have always enjoyed sports movies, but then I have always loved competing. Whether it was seeing who could eat their meal faster, launch a rock further, or dominate in a game of one-on-one, I've always been interested in engaging in that struggle. Sports movies, at their very core, take the competition and struggle, ratchet up the action and drama, and provide a plot that sucks you in and makes you care.

With that said, I'm not sure that Semi-Pro will prove to be a sports movie as such, but I'm excited to be going to see it. Maybe it's because I just need a break, an opportunity to settle into an uncomfortable theater seat with my popcorn in one hand and my Slurpee in the other, or maybe it's because the Will Ferrell commercials on ESPN have hooked me (I doubt it&ellips;), but I have to go see this movie!

Talledega Nights was a sports movie, if you consider NASCAR—riding around in giant machines that do most of the hardest work—a sport. But it was also some fine entertainment, complete with laugh-your-head-off humor and some indictments of the human condition. There's our American predisposition to criticize what we don't know (the French driver) and the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that we manipulate Jesus ("I prefer him as a little baby"). Ferrell proved that he was funny, but that he had some opinions, too, and he wasn't afraid to share them. (And I'm leaving Blades of Glory alone.)

A singer who turns his first (and only) single into the purchase of a professional basketball team and then makes himself the starting power forward? C'mon, can't we see a little social commentary there? I'm not saying that it's the point of the movie, but it's an interesting examination. We are so involved in the consumer market mentality that we think we should be the center of attention even if we have absolutely no reason, rhyme, or ability that lends itself to the situation. We buy our experiences, or rather think that enough money gives us the right to dictate that experience—the "American dream" at its finest.

I'm not willing to knight Ferrell as a genius just yet, but it's certainly remarkable how he's rocketed to fame and taken us with him. I'll be interested to see if a Ferrell-driven movie (Wedding Crashers wasn't really his show) needs an R-rating or if it diminishes what he's done. Seriously, Elf is still my favorite Ferrell movie, even if it wasn't about sports, and I wonder if the critical/audience response has anything to do with the rating.

All in all, it's a competitive front out there, and Ferrell has been serving notice for years that he's ready to rumble. Regardless of what happens, I'm reasonably confident that I'll laugh (at least once) so hard that it hurts, that my popcorn will be buttered, and that I'll spend a relaxing hour and a half forgetting the work of the last week and the worries of the world. That's the beauty of movies, and the beauty of sports, and when you get them into the same space and time, the result can be wonderful.

I'll race you there: who's in?