Original subtitles

? What would you do if I sang out of tune? ?

? Would you stand up and walk out on me? ?

? Lend me your ears, and I'll sing you a song ?

? I will try not to sing out of key, yeah ?

? Oh, baby, I get by ? ? By with a little help from my friends ?

? All I need is my buddies ?

? High with a little help from my friends ?

? I'm sayin' I'm gonna get higher ? ?Try with a little help from my friends ?

? Whoa-oa-oa-oa ?

? Oh, oh, oh, oh ?

? Somebody who knows quite sure ?

? Baby ?

? By with a little help from my friends ?

? Said I'm gonna make it with my friends ?

? Try with a little help from my friends ?

? Oh, I'm gonna keep on trying ?

? High with a little help from my friends ?

? I'm gonna keep on trying now, baby ?

? Ooh, ooh, ooh ?

[ Cheers and applause ]

High school. It's a complicated time.

Full of passion, excitement.

The crazy joy of being young.

At my school one spring,

all that craziness came together in one word...

basketball.

- Defense! Defense! Defense! - Defense! Defense! Defense!

For us, it was more than just a game.

It was ritual.

For the first time in years, McKinley high had a winner.

And we owed it all to one guy.

- Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! - Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!

Number 11. Bobby Riddle.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Great!

Forget Cousy. Forget Maravich.

Bobby was magic.

A genuine high school hero.

Well, to me, anyway.

[ School bell rings ] And I should know.

After all, Bobby had the locker next to mine...

Hey, Bobby.

- How you doing? - Hey.

- You really killed 'em, huh? - Yeah.

Well, they weren't much.

Tell me about it.

Which put me right smack in the eye

of the basketball hurricane.

Hi, Bobby.

- Great game! - Thank you.

- He's so cute! - I know!

A pretty good place to be, all things considered.

So how do you think we're gonna do this Friday, Bobby?

About the same.

Going this way?

Sure.

Not that our relationship was all one-sided.

I mean, he respected my opinion...

Yeah, I hear Claremont�s got this center,

he's hitting 60% of his shots.

And I respected his.

The guy's a cherry picker.

He doesn't even get back on defense.

Yeah, you can probably shut them down

with a floating zone...

hey, Bobby.

You hear coach is calling a special practice today?

Oh, man, what's his problem? It's only Claremont.

Yeah, really.

Whoa! Did you see Peggy this morning?

- Yeah. She was hot. - [ Laughs ]

Okay, so we weren't exactly Butch and Sundance.

So what?

See you later, Kev.

I was on first-name basis with a superstar,

a guy who had the world at his fingertips.

As opposed to, say, my Dad.

Here, honey. Maybe this'll help.

The only things at his fingertips

were dull pencils and Alka-Seltzer.

I hate these damn reports.

Well, do you have to do them all tonight?

If I don't do it, nobody else will.

Well, I just hope they appreciate all the work you do.

[ Sighs ] Yeah.

There it was. Portrait of the worker ant.

His nose to the grindstone

and the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Not that we didn't appreciate him.

Give me the sports section.

- No, I'm reading it. - Give it!

We just had more important things on our minds.

Hey. Hey.

Hey!

I thought you were supposed to be studying.

Well, I am.

I'm just taking a little break

and reading about the team this week.

You know, Dad, you really ought to check out a game.

I don't have time.

Somebody's got to put the food on the table.

Thanks, Dad.

But, Dad, we're having a great season.

We got this point guard, Bobby Riddle.

He can't miss.

I mean, he's leading the league in... in almost everything.

He's unbelievable.

Don't you have a test coming up?

Well, yeah, but I...

I don't think basketball stats are gonna be on it.

[ Chuckles ]

All in all,

made you wonder if the man ever went to high school...

because out there, in the world of the young,

things were hopping.

And we were all caught up in it,

to a man.

Well, got to hit the books.

What?

We got a test tomorrow, remember?

Paul, we just slaughtered Claremont.

We're supposed to be celebrating!

Okay. I celebrated.

Now I have to study.

You should too.

Of course, the guy was right.

Still...

Look, there's Bobby Riddle.

You know him, don't you?

Hmm, let's see here. I had a choice.

I could go home and cram

or...

Hang around and be a big shot at the burger place.

Hey, Bobby. Great game.

Oh, hey. What's up?

Not much.

Oh, this is Winnie and...

oh, we've already met.

Oh, what's up, pat?

Hey, when you're hot, you're hot.

And when you're not, you're... Pat.

I really thought the team was great tonight.

Yeah, well, we were lucky.

Yeah, this was great.

Hanging out. Hobnobbing with the stars.

Okay, it was nice seeing you, Bobby.

- We got to go. - What?

I told you.

We have to study.

Geez, did this kid have no sense of social graces?

Come on, Paul. Don't be a jerk!

We got plenty of time.

[Scoffs] So we skip an hour of homework.

What's the worst that could happen?

A "d"?

How could you get a "d"?

Rats.

Well, I don't know, Dad. The test was hard.

Tests are supposed to be hard, Kevin.

How'd this happen?

I don't know.

Maybe I was just tired.

Tired?

Whoops.

Maybe you were tired

because you've been hanging out too late

celebrating basketball victories.

He had me nailed.

This called for a brilliant tactical move on my part.

You're absolutely right, Dad.

You got to be more sensible.

I will. I promise.

Good.

Okay.

So, uh, great! I'll see you later.

Where the hell are you going?

To the game.

Fact... when you're 16,

your sense of irony isn't particularly well developed.

Oh, come on, Dad.

If we win this one, we go to the state tournament!

Did you hear a word I just said?

Jack, maybe we should let him go.

He's only young once.

And there, finally, a blow for the cause of freedom.

I owed her my eternal gratitude,

my undying respect.

Thanks, Mom! See ya, Dad!

But, then, I was in a hurry. [ Door slams ]

- Defense! Defense! Defense! - Defense! Defense! Defense!

Defense! Defense! Defense! Defense! Defense! Defense!

Defense! Defense! Defense! Defense!

The final game of our regular season.

Win this and we moved on to the regional playoffs.

Our future was hanging in the balance.

Defense! Defense!

What's going on here?

I thought you told me these guys were supposed to skate.

Don't worry. We'll pull it out.

Don't worry?

We're 3 points down and 30 seconds left...

I'm worried!

It was pretty clear what we needed was a miracle.

- Defense! Defense! - Defense! Defense!

Still, miracles were commonplace to Bobby Riddle.

- Defense! Defense! Defense! - Defense! Defense! Defense!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Face it... it didn't matter

if we were down by 3 points or 30 or 300.

This wasn't just basketball. It was magic.

It was fate.

[ Cheers and applause ]

And when Bobby took that ball down court for the last time...

Come on, Bobby.

Somehow we all knew...

The game...

The night... The title...

The world...

was ours.

[ Buzzer ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

And all because of one guy...

number 11... a real hero.

- Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! - Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!

[ Band playing ]

Fellow students, it's my pleasure to introduce

the 1972 conference champion McKinley knights.

By the day of the big game,

basketball fever had turned into basketball frenzy.

We were on our way to the regional finals.

And we all knew whose shoulders this rested on.

[ Air horn blows ]

It was the most amazing thing

any of us had ever been part of.

Almost any of us, anyway.

See ya, Dad.

Wait a minute.

Where are you going?

Rats.

I got to go meet the guys on the bus.

To the arena?

Dad, the big game's tonight.

Oh.

Wait a minute.

Did you finish your homework?

Oh, brother.

Well... No.

But I was gonna do it when I got home.

But it was clear it was going to take

an impassioned plea here

to turn the great curmudgeon around.

Dad, this is important, okay?

I mean, 20 years from now,

I'm not gonna remember my homework.

But this game...

[ Horn fanfare playing ]

This is something I'm gonna tell my children about.

Maybe even my grandchildren.

There.

Worthy of the Gettysburg address.

Fine, then.

Great.

I'll take you.

What?

This way you can finish your homework

and still make the tip-off.

Yeah, but, Dad, the guys are expecting me!

Besides, you say this team is that good,

maybe I ought to take a look, see what all the fuss is about.

What do you say?

So, what could I say except...

Sure, Dad. That sounds... Great.

[ Adding machine clatters ]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the division III...

And there you had it.

Possibly the biggest night of my high school's life

and I was arriving with...

Big, huh?

My own personal truant officer.

What'd you expect?

Hey! Kev!

We got some seats over here.

- Oh, great. - Uh, Dad?

Let's sit over here.

No, thanks. We got two over here.

Which is not to say I was embarrassed

to be seen with the guy.

Even though I was.

[ Buzzer ]

Game's gonna start.

Yep, this was great... just me and Mr. basketball.

[ Whistle blows ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

Still, once the game started...

A funny thing began to happen.

Bobby Riddle, 2 points!

[ Whistles ]

He's got a good shot.

- Told you so! - Yeah.

My Dad began to get swept up by Bobby Riddle�s magic.

[ Whistles ]

All right!

And the way Bobby played,

pretty soon we were cheering together...

Yeah! Nice shot!

Till finally Dad was even asking the same questions

we'd all been asking.

How did he do that?

Sure, the game was close, but Bobby was incredible.

He just couldn't miss.

Until he did.

He'll make the next one.

Mm.

After all, we hadn't come this far to blow it now.

We had destiny on our side.

Yeah! All right! [ Cheering ]

And we went into halftime all tied up.

So, what do you want on your hot dog?

Uh, the works.

- Hey, Kev. - Hey.

Man, this is close.

I'm not that worried.

Did you see that layup Bobby made from behind the basket?

The guy's amazing.

Okay, we were all in agreement,

to a man.

So, Mr. Arnold, what do you think?

I don't know.

I just hope southwestern doesn't have Bobby's number.

What are you talking about?

The guy's got like 19 points.

Yeah, but that was before they double-teamed him.

Looks like they'll keep two men on Bobby

and use a three-man zone to defend the rest of the team.

And in the face of this sage piece of basketball wisdom

there was only one response.

I think we'd better get back to the seats.

Yeah. See ya.

Geez. What's his problem?

I couldn't believe it.

You say the works?

Here I'd been nice enough to bring this guy along,

practically dragged him to the game,

and he had the nerve

to stand around and pop my balloon?

- Nice going, Dad! - Huh?

You have to spoil everything.

I was just talking about strategy.

You have to put everything down!

I mean, you just can't stand it if I'm having a good time!

Can you?

[ Buzzer ]

Okay, so maybe I'd flown off the handle.

A little.

I wasn't sorry.

I was just waiting for my team to show this stick-in-the-mud

how wrong he was.

Here we go with the second half.

[ Whistle blows ]

And I knew Bobby wouldn't let me down.

Only somehow... Things went wrong.

It was as if the other team

followed my father's strategy to the "t."

Blocked shot! Number 55, southwestern!

And the more my team fell behind,

the more I resented my Dad.

I guess magic doesn't last forever

no matter how much you wish it would.

Destiny can turn on a dime...

and cut like a knife.

Southwestern with the rebound!

That night, a high-school dream of victory came true.

But not for us.

2 points, southwestern!

And as they pumped in point after point,

Bobby Riddle�s season of glory ended...

in defeat.

[ Buzzer ]

[ Cheering ]

Final score...

southwestern Bengals 76, McKinley knights 65.

Thank you.

We sat there for a long time.

I just wasn't ready to leave.

Somehow I just couldn't quite believe it was over.

Besides, I figured, we'd stuck together in victory,

we'd stick together in defeat.

Bobby?

You played a good game, man.

It wasn't your fault.

They had their whole team on you.

Besides, we wouldn't have even gotten this far

if it wasn't for you.

It was a homage to a guy I really admired.

A real hero.

We?

Hey, get off my back, will you, kid?

I'll never forget how I felt at that moment.

I wanted to crawl under the floorboards.

And I was sure that everyone in that arena had heard.

And everyone had.

Things were pretty quiet heading home.

There wasn't much to say.

I'd made an idiot of myself. I knew it.

And worse, I knew he knew it too.

Tell you what...

There's a diner a few Miles up here.

Mind if we stop for a cup of coffee?

Sure, Dad.

Why not?

I'd always heard coffee went well with crow.

The thing is, I wasn't sure which he was gonna do first...

bust me for being a snotty-nosed wiseguy

or gloat about the game.

You know, Kev...

My guess was gloat.

They really didn't play that bad.

- What? - Your team.

They gave it a pretty good shot, right?

Dad, they got creamed.

And that Bobby kid, he did okay. Don't you think?

I mean, good ball handler, tough from the corner.

And that little loopy jump shot.

And that's when I realized... he wasn't just gonna gloat,

he was gonna take Bobby Riddle and rub him into me till I...

look, Dad.

In the first place, Bobby stunk, okay?

In the second place, he's not that good.

He was never that good, okay?

So I'm sorry you had to waste your time coming down.

I'm sorry about the test. I'm sorry...

I'm sorry we can't all be like you.

[ Chuckles ]

Something funny?

Nah, it's just...

you're a hard man to please, you know that?

And then that man...

Mr. pencil stubs and Alka-Seltzer,

Mr. pay the bills and go to work...

said something I'll never forget.

Let me tell you something, Kev.

It's not easy being a hero.

And I knew he wasn't talking about Bobby Riddle.

He was talking about himself.

No.

I guess it isn't.

You know how I knew they were gonna double-team him,

use that three-man zone?

When I was in high school...

Some heroes pass through your life and disappear in a flash.

You get over it.

But the good ones...

the real ones, the ones who count...

stay with you for the long haul.

The thing is, after all these years,

I couldn't tell you the score of that game.

What I remember is sitting in that diner,

up late, being young,

drinking coffee with the only real hero I ever knew.

My Dad... Jack Arnold.

Number one.

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