Well, I started with just jotting down some comments as I watched Hardball for the second time today.
I fear it's going to reach re-cap proportion in length however. So I am going to do it in parts here, and maybe eventually make a page for it once it's done. SO...

Krix plays Hardball (in her VCR)

~Y'all gonna make me lose my mind.....~

Ok- first off, preview for Crossroads? Thank jebus for FF buttons.
I like movies that start out with him wet, hee!
I wonder why he was wearing the tux.
Anyway, nice intense opening scene. I hear that he really cut his hand on the car window. Suffering for his art yet again.
Passing out in the puddle, no one faints like Keanu.
Cripes, this is gonna be long, but I also have to comment on the "coming to" close up. How does he make looking like death warmed over so sexy? huh? HUH?.
Damn~ I love his little lip scar, too. Always have. I actually have one that almost matches, but mine's not from a puck, it's from some home pimple surgery went awry. ANYWAY....
Yadda-yadda..jail. Ticky tries to bring the funny, but the "zackleys" joke is pretty lame. Up to Conor's seedy digs and WHAM! He's in a towel. I'm pretty sure it's not integral to the plot but who cares? VIVA la gratuitous towel scenes! Frankly, it should have fallen off when he ducked the baseball bat...I'm just sayin'.
Conor up in whatshisname's business office. Even if this character would have turned out likable, his hair-don't makes me hate him.
Moving onward...Nice groove as we fly over Cabrini Green.
It's our intro to the kids. Fun and swearing in the dugout. I really liked the individual characters that are immediately established .None of them seem stereotyped at all. Andre rocks, Bryan Hearne is sure to grow up to fill Chris Rock's shoes.
Here comes D.B. Sweeney already being an asshole. More dugout hijinks. "Can we cool it with the 'bitches'"? Heh.
More atmosphere/exposition. Kids knowing guns by the sounds of the shots. We get a feel of how it is in the projects without it being rammed down our throats. Keepin' it real and all. It's actually sobering when you stop and think about it.
Then it's a not-too-terribly-dressed (except for those shoes) Conor going to see Miss Wilkes (Diane Lane) for the first time. A little slapstick with the door, I don't see Jim Carrey having anything to worry about though. Reeves pulls it off OK, not BWAH! funny, but cute enough. There's a little chemistry between Conor and Wilkes, or Reeves and Lane as the case may be. That smile of his is more than an act, that's for sure.
Conor's attempt at bullshitting her is hilarious. "Business part" of Canada? Puh-leez.
Conor back in his element at Duffy's trying to cover his ass. We're learning just how deep he's gotten himself...any deeper and he'll have to worry about more than his thumbs, I'd say.
Back on the field, we meet Kofi, Lamont and G-Baby for the first time. G's about the cutest thing ever and Michael Perkins....well, let's just say I'd really like to see him in about 5 years.
So it's the first real practice and coach Conor has his hands full. Or he would if he were doing anything but biding his time waiting for Ticky to show. Husky little Jefferson wants to leave early and we'll see why in a bit. In the meantime, boys will be boys and there's a scuffle to be broken up, Ticky shows up and practice is over. Conor goes off to deal with his own shitty life and Jefferson ends up walking home after dark. There's a gauntlet to be run to get home and it's all very tense. I half expected the crackhead that lights up in the doorway to be wearing a hockey mask ala Micheal Meyers in Halloween. Oh wait, was that Friday the 13th? Whatever, you know what I mean...Jefferson, armed with only his inhaler, tries another approach but is cut down by some big kids on bikes that rough him up and steal his backback. Speaking of Halloween, I had my candy stolen by big kids one year and this gave me flashbacks, but being pushed down in the street and having your bunny ears torn off is a cakewalk compared to the brutal beating this poor kid takes. For a fucking backpack, what the hell?. Now we know why he wanted to get home before dark. Every night is as scary as Halloween in the 'hood. Conor goes to visit Jefferson in the hospital the next day. The boy's mom is very cold to him, but remains calmer than I would expect. I think in reality there would be some screaming involved instead of just the nose-wrinkling and cutting remarks she gives Conor. He tries some damage control but not even Jefferson is buying that he gives a damn.
"You're never gonna stay being our coach"
Sure don't look like it to me at this point, either.

..to be continued.