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I currently own two "movies" about Pete Maravich. In 1991, a movie called The Pistol: the Birth of a Legend was produced, depicting the early life of "Pistol" Pete Maravich. Also, there is a video collection called Maravich Memories: the LSU Years that focuses on Pete's years at LSU. I highly recommend both of these collections for any basketball or Pete Maravich fan.
The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend
This is a great movie about the early years of Pete Maravich. He depicts how he was a "social misfit" and his struggle to start on the varsity basketball team. Not only is this a great movie about the early life of Pete Maravich, but also an inspiring story about how dreams can become a reality. It's a fantastic family movie, and I can not recommend it highly enough.
Synopsis from the back of the box:
Young Pete Maravich was a skinny kid chasing a grownup dream. Wise parents recognized Pete's gift for basketball and taught him to mix desire with dedication and discipline to make his dream a reality. When 14-year-old Pete started playing on the varsity basketball team, his agressive, new style didn't fit with a dated game plan and infelxible attitudes. Pete's parents knew the pain and confusion he felt would help him grow. As jealousy divided the team, Pete struggled to prove his worth to the coach. A loving father helped Pete understand confidence; the difference between thinking he could succeed and knowing it. Guided by his father's vision, Pete turned his dream into destiny, taking basketball to a whole new level.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from this great movie! If you have anything you'd like to add, please e-mail me!
Press: You thought you could do it. I knew I could. Confidence.
Adult Pete: Despite Pop's inspiration it didn't change the fact that at school, I
was a total social misfit, an unpopular little kid with big dreams. But wasn't this country
founded by ordinary guys who dared to believe that big dreams do come true? That's what
I was taught.
Adult Pete: How could I possibly put a dream into words, something I felt in my
heart? When I was in the eighth grade, all I wanted to be was a great basketball player like my
dad. At five foot two and ninety pounds, who could believe it? I guess only my dad and I
could believe it in the beginning. When I went on the basketball court all I could think of
was how some other kid was out there somewhere practicing more than me. I felt they
somehow might get the scholarship that was meant for me if I didn't try harder.
Adult Pete: As far as Pop was concerned, the way a guy played basketball was
a reflection of the way he would live his entire life. His teams knew right where he stood.
When he spoke, people listened.
Adult Pete: I wasn't being cocky, it was confidence telling me I could play better
that most of the guys. Confidence which came from practicing Pop's basketball drills over ten
thousand hours since I was five. Dad helped me develop discipline, dedication, and a desire
that helped me believe I could take any guy's place on the team, and that included Buddy
Pendleton. And if it hadn't been for Carl Cannonfield, I would've been totally bored. As the
others celebrated our winning season, I found myself collecting a lot of splinters in my seat,
wondering if I'd ever get my chance to play in a game.
Press: When you're down on the ground, everything looks hard--it's like you're
fighting wind mills. Give me the other ball. But a guy who believes that sees limits. But a
dreamer, he's the kind of guy that believes two balls fit through the hoop! In your
dreams, anything's possible.
Press: Just think of it as a dream is nothing more than a big challenge that plays
within yourself.
Helen: It's after 10:00, Press Maravich--the neighbors just called.
Press: Pete, who is the best basketball player ever?
Sandy: What are you doing?
Press: Your mother and I...we can't afford to send you to college. But if you
dedicate yourself and use your God-given ability one day you will start on the varsity team--I
know that, son. And if you're good enough you can get a college scholarship--maybe even
play on a championship team.
Helen: (Removing a basketball from Pete's side in bed.)
Most kids sleep with teddy bears.
Press: When I was Pete's age I was scratching just to get out of the steel mills in
Aliquippa, and my, my lungs were full of black smoke and my hands they were...they were
raw from working fifteen hours a day! You don't think I was hurting? But it built character,
Helen. That pain down deep in my soul kept driving me to be something better! I can coach
him until I'm blue in the face, but until he feels that burning in his soul my words mean
nothing!
Adult Pete: It's tough being a kid chasing a grownup dream. Through the pain
and tears and confusion, I knew I had to keep pursing my dream--for Pop and for me,
whether or not anyone else ever understood what was happening inside. And the emotion and
pressure would overcome me. I lost myself in the drills Pop had taught me. Finger-tip control,
backspin, follow-through. Many of those lonely nights, my dad's basketball drills were the
only things helping me make it through.
Reporter: Kid, where'd you learn to shoot like that?
Buddy Pendleton: (Reading from a newspaper about the previous night's
game.) "...There were times when Pistol Pete's teammates..." Pistol Pete? What the heck
is Pistol Pete?
Adult Pete: Pop would talk long into the night about his two favorite subjects:
basketball and me.
Press: Take Pete for instance... Right here in my house I've got the guard of the
future. He can execute at the blink of an eye and leave the defense scratching their heads.
Pete: (During a bet that he couldn't spin the basketball on his finger for an
hour.) I can't! ...
Buddy: You're gonna run out of magic acts real soon, Pete.
Buddy: (Speaking to a member of the opposite team about Pete during a
game.) You guys think he's a hot-dog? He said you're a wienie. I heard him--he did. He
said you're a wienie.
Press: ...They called us the 'Iron Five.'
Helen: Pete! What are you doing? You can't go out there!
Press: You need your muscles for that district final, and green beans put on
inches so eat up.
Press: (Talking to the coach about having Daniel High play Cleveland High.)
Vern, do something unconventional in your life for once.
Adult Pete: It was then I realized I was a social misfit. Put me in an area with a
basketball and hundreds of people and I'd be very social, but on the dance floor at Treats...
with Sandy?
Helen: Don't tell me you cut those dancing lessons I paid for.
Pete: (Practicing dancing with Helen to music from the earlier half of the
twentieth century.) Can't we at least dance to music from this century?
Pete: (After being made fun of by Buddy at Treats.) Butthead!
Sandy: Watching you makes me want to dream.
Pete: Do your dreams of basketball ever get you down?
Pete: No hard feelings?
Vern: (Pete is dribbling between his legs.) Pete! Settle down!
Adult Pete: Words can't express how I felt at that moment. I was now heir to a
dream, a dream that was becoming a reality. Pop was right--the fans did want to be given
a magical moment. A moment when they would allow their imaginations to soar and believe
anything was possible. Win or lose they did come back game after game to see a floppy-socked
kid known as the "Pistol."
Press: I am not spending valuable hours of my life teaching you boys just how to
put a ball through an iron hoop! This is a way of life! I want players to think, work, sweat,
challenge themselves, discipline themselves, because anything else boys--it just isn't worth it...
to anyone. The problem with you boys is simple: you're all a bunch of dummies because you
think you know it all! Give me the ball. (He draws a circle about the size of a dime on the
basketball.) You see this circle? The size of this circle represents everything that I know
about basketball, but the size of this ball represents everything about the game that's never
been discovered. (He then places a tiny dot on the ball.) This dot is what you know...
combined!
Press: No kidding? Well, they're up awfully late, aren't they?
Helen: George Mikan.
Pete: Nope.
Press: In the 1950 playoffs he averaged over 31 points.
Pete: So?
Press: All right, how about Nat Holman--orginal Celtics, great thinker, great
passer?
Pete: Nope. Too limited.
Press: Too...listen to you!
Helen: What about Dutch Dehnert?
Press: Invented the pivot play, not to mention he was my coach in the pros.
Pete: Close, but no cigar.
Press: No cigar! Ok, wise guy, who is the best basketball player ever?
(Pete turns around, bounces the ball behind his legs, making it into the basket.)
Pete: You tell me, Pop.
Press: That's my boy.
Pete: Running.
Sandy: We've got a game in an hour.
Pete: I know. No use in saving all this energy for the bench.
Adult Pete: I must have heard those words a thousand times, and it was that
night I realized I wanted to be the "Pistol."
Pete: My backyard.
Reporter: You know you shoot from the hip like a gunfighter?
Pete: Thanks!
Vern Pendleton: It's a showbiz name...like Houdini.
Buddy: You can't?
Pete: I can't...stop!
Pete: Because you were so tough?
Press: They only could afford five players.
Adult Pete: Looking deep into my father's eyes told me everything--he didn't
have to say a word. I couldn't physically take on the guy that hurt me. But there was no way
he was gonna knock me down and keep me out of the game. Sitting there reminded me of the
ten games I'd spent on the bench. I'd always tried to pretend it didn't bother me, but it did.
This was a moment of truth for me, a time to make a choice, a chance to prove them wrong.
My body screamed no, but my heart screamed louder: Put on a show.
Pete: Mom, I could play this game blindfolded!
Pete: You said that about cauliflower.
Press: You wanna be tall, don't you?
Pete: Yes, sir.
Press: Didn't you ever hear of a tall guy being named String Bean?
Pete: (Laughing.) Shut up!
Pete: It was a waste of time! I had to practice with Pop!
Buddy: What'd you say?
Pete: You heard me. That's what you are. Always thinking of yourself, except
for the win and Sandy.
Buddy: Is that what you think?
Pete: That's what I know. If you're such hot stuff, why don't you play me in a
game of one-on-one? If I win, we play Cleveland.
Buddy: And if I win?
Pete: I quit.
Buddy: You think you're that good?
Pete: I know I am.
Pete: About being an actress?
Sandy: About everything.
Press: Yes.
Pete: Do you know why?
Press: I think so.
Pete: Then why do you do it?
Press: If you can create a magical moment, if you can show a fan something
they've never seen before, they'll come back again and again--win or lose. It's up to you to
take them to a place they've never been before--give them a little hope. I guess you get down
when you realize half of the people who see you will never understand.
Pete: They call me a hot dog, but they're always there, waiting for me to put on
a show.
Press: Then do it.
Pete: Sometimes I just want to stop...and fit in.
Press: Well, that's a choice only you can make for yourself, Pete. But if it were
me, I'd give 'em a show they'll never forget--no matter what. I love you, Pete. I'll always love
you.
Buddy: No hard feelings. For us to win tonight, you and I have to work together.
Pete: Hey, Buddy, I still think you're a butthead.
Buddy: Me too.
Here are a few pictures from the movie (click the text description to view the picture), if you have any pictures you want to add, please e-mail me--I'd really appreciate it!
Press teaching Pete a new basketball drill
COMING SOON: Cast information from the movie! Stay tuned!
Dreaming about basketball...
Listening Dad talk about his two favorite subjects: basketball and Pete
Losing felt like a knife in my heart...
Maravich Memories: the LSU Years
This is a GREAT video collection about Pete's career at L.S.U. It has awesome clips from the games, interviews with the people he played with and others, wonderful original music, and an interesting look at the leading all-time scorer in the NCAA!
From the back of the box:
Pistol Pete Maravich...
the name still rings in teh ears of basketball fans across America. Who could forget the
floppy socks, behind-the-back passes, between-the-leg dribbling, and wondrous assortment
of shots.
He lit up the skies over Louisiana in his meteoric three-year career at LSU and emerged as college basketball's all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points and an incredible 44.2 points per game average. Pete Maravich was a three-time All-American and was named College Basketball's Player of the Year.
Now experience the record-breaking career of college basketball's move prolific scorer and greatest star.
"Maravich Memories--the LSU Years."
The story of Pistol Pete Maravich is retold through never-before-seen highlight footage, interviews, and original music on this collector's edition video.
This is a great collection to have!
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