Open Thread Friday: Motivational Speeches

No, we’re not talking that kind of motivational speeches. We’re talking about the kind of speech that gets the brain pumping whatever chemicals are responsible for motivation and drive. We’re talking the speech that would motivate you to punch out a horse or run through a brick wall. Kind of like the speech that hit YouTube last month of Ohio State assistant coach Kerry Coombs talking to some future Buckeye recruits, including Missouri running back Ezekiel Elliot.

So the other day the sportsMonkey and I were discussing our favorite motivational speeches. What we were trying to do is figure out where Coach Coombs’ speech ranks among those. So for this Friday’s Open Thread, let’s discuss some favorite Motivational Speeches.

(This post is video heavy, so hit the jump for the rest)

Jeff Beck over at Eleven Warriors looked at why Coach Coombs’ speech was so effective. That got us to thinking, what other speeches have affected us? And where does the Coombs’ speech rank among the greats? Here are a few that we came up with.

One of my personal favorites didn’t make the list, but since this is my blog, I get to include it. Some starting off this list as an honorable mention would be:

Honorable Mention: Mikey’s speech in the well of The Goonies

“That all over the second we ride up Troy’s bucket.

5. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers

4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

3. Morgan Freeman in Lean on Me

“We meet our fate TOGETHER”

2. Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday

“Inch by inch, play by play.”

1. Theoden’s speech, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

“Forth! And fear no darkness!”

“Arise, arise riders of Theoden. Spears shall be shaken. Shields shall be splintered. A sword day. A red day, ere the sun rises!”

So those are some of our favorites. Where does Coach Coombs’ speech rank in there? What speeches did we miss?

Comments

  1. Sorry, guys- this list cannot be complete without the speeches from Braveheart and Henry V

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr_OpFxCx-A

  2. How could you forget the immortal crie de coeur of future Senator John Blutarski?

  3. No doubt the St Crispin Day speech is the pinnacle of ‘getting your game ace on’ speeches. If I hadn’t been having a Friday afternoon cocktail with my ‘bro-in-law’, I’m sure I’d caught this article earlier. We, too, were getting our games faces on for this evening…

  4. No Independence Day? Bill Paxton nailed it…..

  5. I would’ve gone with the entire fifth season of Friday Night Lights.

    • I know this is going to be blasphemous, but I have not watched a single minute of FNL. I have never been able to reconcile my love of sports with the Hollywood depiction of said sports on the big or small screen.

      That being said, I know people say it’s not all about the football being played. I probably should Netflix FNL one of these days.

  6. Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can’t Lose….

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