Blue Chips (1994) * * *

Directed by:  William Friedkin

Starring:  Nick Nolte, Shaquille O' Neal, Mary McDonnell, Anfernee Hardaway, J.T. Walsh, Ed O' Neill,  Alfre Woodard, Bob Cousy

The question posed by Blue Chips in 1994 is the same today for college athletics:   Can't we just pay these athletes out in the open already?    This way, we drop the pretense of the "student athlete", since many of the top players don't play four years anyway.    Most use college as a one or two-year waiting period until they can enter the NBA draft, and that is only because the NBA prohibits drafting players right out of school.    They must wait at least one year, but then this turns the top college programs into one-and-done institutions.

As Happy (Walsh), the chief booster of the fictional Western University says, "We owe these kids!"   His logic is that the university makes millions and the NCAA makes billions on the backs of these athletes, so what's wrong with buying a recruit's father a new tractor?   Or the mother of another blue chipper a house?    Or $30,000 in cash to another recruit?   These are mere pittances compared to the revenue these kids bring in.

Blue Chips begins with Western basketball coach Pete Bell (Nolte) enduring his first losing season in his storied career.    He won two national titles, but that was a long time ago, and the restless "friends of the program" wants to know what Pete has done for them lately.    Now, Pete is in a quandary.   He needs the top recruits to come to his program, but to do so, he must violate NCAA (or in this film NCSA) recruiting rules.    Pete always ran a clean program, but with the pressure to win weighing on his shoulders, he relents and breaks the rules for the first time in his life.

This brings two of the top national recruits to Western, courtesy of some payoffs, and also a 7'4" monster named Neon (O'Neal) who plays pick-up games in his hometown and can dunk like no other.    But, at what cost?   Pete struggles with his conscience and a local reporter (O'Neill) starts snooping around after unearthing some pretty damning evidence of illegal recruiting.    It is amusing when Happy tells Pete the money and paper trail are untraceable, yet the reporter is able to gather up his information within ten minutes.

William Friedkin's film is a morality tale about college athletics and no doubt sides with Pete's point of view, but Happy's argument can't be denied.    A lot of investigative headaches could go away if the players receive even a stipend to play ball, as well as a lot of hypocrisy.    Universities wouldn't have to keep pretending the athletic programs aren't revenue streams which bring millions into the schools' coffers.    Nolte is at his best when he spews angry tirades at his team and froths at Happy, but we like him even when he is kicking basketballs into the stands during arguments with referees.   You would think Pete is playing Bob Knight, only Knight himself appears in the film and is relatively calm compared to Pete.   Who woulda thunk it?

Pete is under intense pressure as he battles the media, his conscience, and tries to win back his ex-wife (McDonnell) who he still loves, so we feel for him and makes him a sympathetic hero.    O'Neal isn't just a hulking basketball player, but a kid at heart who loves to play basketball, and there is a joy to his performance.    He doesn't even ask for a handout, but the boosters attempt to send him a Lexus anyway.    The other recruits aren't so bashful, especially the mother (Woodward) of one of the recruits who explicitly spells out her needs to Pete.   

There is basketball action in Blue Chips, but the outcome doesn't matter because in Pete's mind any victory is tainted.    The boosters, school, and fans have no such qualms, which is of little comfort to the coach.    The point of Blue Chips is that the rules are made to be bent and broken and it takes someone with less of a moral compass to play the game.