“When The Game Stands Tall,” the new movie about the De La Salle football team’s 151-game winning streak, was not atop the list of must-see movies for many Cal High students when it was released on Aug. 17.

Honestly, much of Cal’s student body, myself included, was not excited to see the movie about a team that crushes Cal every single time they play us.

Most of the football players I spoke to,declined to be quoted for this article, but the few that did see the movie had a general feeling of hate toward the movie. Understandable, considering losing to the same team year after year couldn’t be fun for anyone.

If I could’ve put aside the fact that the movie was about Cal’s rival, I probably would’ve thoroughly enjoyed the story and plot. But just like most students at Cal, I couldn’t stand the fact that a school that beats us every year, had a movie made about them and their success. Cal’s varsity football coach, Eric Bellici, was on one of the De La Salle teams during the streak, but he did not see the movie because he said he already knows everything he needs to know about the team.

Bellevue High School in Washington was the first football team to beat De La Salle and end their streak on Sept. 24, 2004. The 39-20 loss left Spartan players devastated, but head coach, Bob Ladouceur,  knew this day would come eventually and made sure the players kept their heads high and so they continued to travel and play nationally ranked teams throughout the nation.

“Playing a high school sport is about playing for the community you live in,” varsity football player Travis Reid said. “De La Salle travels all across the country to play teams.”

Cal and all other teams in EBAL stay local, and do not travel around the country to play other high school teams. De La Salle seems to play to prove their rankings rather than play for their community.

The movie focused mostly on Ladouceur, and his influence on his players’ lives on and off the football field.  Ladouceur wanted his players to have integrity, honor, and good character, and made every game about teamwork and giving 100 percent effort instead of focusing on winning. Ladouceur received several job offers from colleges, but declined each and every one of them because he was so invested in his players at De La Salle.

“The movie was good and showed a lot of what we really do,” said varsity De La Salle football player Damon Wiley, “but at the same time it was very Hollywood and cheesy.”

The film shows how the players spent almost every waking hour of each day with each other. For some of the players, the football team was all they had. Most of the boys lived in crime-ridden neighborhoods, so football was their escape, but it couldn’t keep all of them out of trouble.

Terrance Kelly, a starting running back for the Spartans, received an offer for a full ride scholarship from the University of Oregon. Just days before he was to leave for college, he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting while picking up a fellow teammate from a local party in Richmond.

The Spartans stayed united through the hardship, did everything as a team, and that is what made them different from other high schools. It was not just a team , not just a sport, but a brotherhood to all of them. Their lives revolved around football, teamwork, integrity, honor, and good character, all thanks to their coach.

“When The Game Stands Tall” is another great football movie, and I enjoyed it to an extent. But just like any other fan of an EBAL team, because it was about De La Salle, I could not fully appreciate it.