Every now and then when I talk movies with my friends, someone will bring up a show and inevitably add the words, "Oh, you'll love it ... it's about sports."

Polite guy that I am, I'll nod and smile, all the time saying to myself, "oh, no, what will they do to mess it up."

For sports fans, and those of us fortunate enough to make a decent, but pleasant, living chronicling the games people play, nothing Hollywood puts out can top the human drama of athletic competition, as the late Jim McKay used to say.

Just watching the Giants on Thursday and Friday was proof enough, with a near no-hitter by Tim Lincecum, and then the nearly perfect effort from Jonathan Sanchez on Friday.

Now, you would expect the no-hitter from the man they call The Freak just about every outing, with the zone he's been in the last few starts, but is there any logical way to explain Sanchez's effort, other than it was against the Padres?

Here's Sanchez, who's had his struggles this season as the No. 5 starter and was even dropped from the rotation a few weeks ago in favor of Ryan Sadowski from your Fresno Grizzlies, but gets back into the rotation after an injury to Hall-of-Famer in the making Randy Johnson.

And think about this: Not only was Sanchez just one play away from a perfect game, due to a ball booted by Juan Uribe, he gets the requisite sensational defensive play, Aaron Rowand's catch against the center field wall for the second out of the ninth inning, to keep the no-hitter alive.

(Did anyone else besides me have a flashback to Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series while watching Rowand chase down that ball, by the way?)

Can this get any better, you ask (turning up sappy music our friends in Hollywood would insert here)? Of course it can ... because Sanchez's dad happened to be in town, visiting from Puerto Rico, and went to the game, even getting a chance to go down on the field afterward.

Have you seen anything on the silver screen (or mammoth plasma set, for that matter) lately that can top that? I know I haven't.

They probably would have added Sanchez visiting a child in the hospital with a disease thought to be fatal, only to have a miraculous recovery while watching the game, or have him find some flea-bitten mutt along the Embarcadero that goes on to win Best in Show at Westminister, or something totally overcliched.

Maybe that's why the Hollywood folks don't let the facts get in the way of many a good story when it comes to sports flicks.

Recall "Remember the Titans" with Denzel Washington and a young Hayden Panettiere, about the high school football team in Virginia that won the state title in the first year it was integrated? There's a whole Web site maintained by members of that team, www.71originaltitans.com, that tells the true story.

The film version of "Friday Night Lights," with Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw, reshuffles some facts and game locations, but is relatively close to the real story. The TV series takes yet another direction, both of which are OK considering the amount of territory covered by H.G. Bissinger in his marvelous book that launched this franchise.

But then there's "Chariots of Fire," the tale of British runners Eric Lidell and Harold Abrahams in the 1924 Olympics, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1981? Yes, you can always check the Wikipedia entry to see what liberties were taken with history, but the story is better told by David Wallechinsky in "The Complete Book of the Olympics." It's made what's an inspiring story unwatchable.

We could go on, but as the saying goes, time and space is limited. My best advice? When you see the words "based on a true story," add a grain of salt to your pre-show diet.

And now, a few more thoughts hopefully worth a second cup of coffee on a Sunday morning as we look forward to the Home Run Derby tomorrow (but not Chris Berman), and, of course, the All-Star Game itself.

* So, you may be wondering, do I have favorite sports movies? Of course, but most of them use sports for a backdrop to carry the real story, such as "Bang the Drum Slowly" (with a very young Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarity), "Mystery, Alaska," "Slap Shot" (with Paul Newman and the Hanson brothers, but also Melinda Dillon, who also played Ralphie's mom in "A Christmas Story"), "For Love of the Game" (which stars Vin Scully as much as it does Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston) and the first, second and last films in the "Rocky" series.

* Shawn Estrada is a late scratch from Thursday night's boxing/mixed martial arts card at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino after catching the flu, the folks at Goosen Tutor Promotions in Los Angeles tell us.

Richard de Give is The Sentinel's sports editor. He can be reached at 583-2430 or rdegive@HanfordSentinel.com

(July 12, 2009)