The Adrian Moment

This week, Ocean Murff and Jim Pullen review For Love of the Game, the 1999 Kevin Costner film that is as much about loss as it is about baseball. It is a film where the act of throwing a baseball is about memory, regret, and the search for meaning in the final moments of a career.

Ocean Murff and Jim Pullen set out on an odyssey of their own, peeling back the layers of myth and spectacle surrounding Hidalgo, the 2004 film that dares to ask whether a man and his horse can outrun not just their rivals, but their own pasts.

What if a boxing match could change the trajectory of global politics? What if a single speech, delivered in the heat of a fictional Soviet arena, could thaw decades of ideological frost? In this episode of The Adrian Moment, Ocean Murff and Jim Pullen step into the ring—not to throw punches, but to wrestle with the idea that Sylvester Stallone’s 1985 classic Rocky IV might have done more than entertain; it might have shifted the tectonic plates of geopolitics.

Ocean and Jim tackle the ’90s sports comedy Necessary Roughness, debating its merits as both a heartwarming underdog story and a “sick movie” best enjoyed with your brain turned off. Join them as they uncover the hidden depths of this surprisingly complex comedy, exploring its relevance to the modern world of college sports and celebrating the comedic genius of Sinbad.

From high school fields to Hollywood’s portrayal of college football, Ocean Murff and Jim Pullen explore the pervasive influence of the game on and off the screen. Join them as they dissect the 1993 film “The Program,” exploring themes of ambition, ethics, and the pressures faced by athletes, sparked by the complex character of Steve Latimer.

Did Ron Shelton steal our catchphrases? Ocean and Jim uncover a bizarre connection to “White Men Can’t Jump,” unearthing a shared history with the film’s most iconic lines and exploring the movie’s surprisingly relevant themes in a conversation that’s part nostalgic trip, part existential crisis.