In the sports world, there are few words as sexy as the term phenom. When an individual is labeled as such, there are only two ways for the story to unfold: Either said prodigy goes LeBron James and exceeds the hype. Or, the unlucky youngster is crushed by the pressure of high expectations and turns Jennifer Capriati.

They are the prodigies of the silver screen. The next big thing. Sporting brilliance captured at the rate of 24 frames per second. Youngsters with game beyond their years. Those with talents that can’t be taught and, at times, psyches that can’t be coached.

Here are the 10 best phenoms to appear on celluloid.

10. Lizzie Bradbury – Wimbledon

Aside from the Entrapment factor of a young hottie falling for a creepy guy twice her age, Lizzie lives up to the hype by winning a few majors and goes on to birth another phenom with her grandpa husband.

9. Dean Youngblood – Youngblood

Youngblood could be the next Wayne Gretzky or the next Pat Falloon. We’ll never know because this hockey flick is actually a revenge movie. While we never see Youngblood make it in the NHL, we do get to see him go Tie Domi on the man who took out his mentor. Rob Lowe avenges Patrick Swayze in a climatic fight to close out this classic.

8. Henry Rowengartner – Rookie of the Year

After breaking his arm in an attempt to catch a fly ball, Henry Rowengartner comes out of his cast throwing Nolan Ryan heat. The Chicago Cubs immediately sign Rowengartner after he wows the crowd at Wrigley Field by tossing a homerun ball from the bleachers to home plate. Most important of all, Rookie of the Year gave us the term “Funky Butt Loving”.

7. Santiago Munez – Goal! The Dream Begins

Santiago is the Mexican Wayne Rooney. After he is discovered by a scout while playing in a semi-pro league in Los Angeles, Munez gets a chance to play for Newcastle United. Eventually, he makes his way onto the squad, delighting the Geordie fans as he scores both on and off the field.

6. Roy Munson - Kingpin

His is the saddest tale of all. Roy was destined for bowling greatness until he got Munsoned by his arch rival Big Ernie McCracken. Minus his best hand, down on his luck, Munson was munching yeast riddled carpet to pay his rent before he met a new prodigy, Ishmael Boorg.

5. Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez – The Sandlot

Before Benny stole home as an L.A. Dodger, he became a neighborhood legend when he pickled the beast to save an irreplaceable Babe Ruth autographed ball. He was one phenom whose out-of-this-world talent was exceeded only by his larger-than-life heart.

4. Nuke LaLoosh – Bull Durham

He’s either the next Roger Clemens or the original Todd Van Poppel. LaLoosh is mentored by minor league lifer Crash Davis on the fine points of everything from throwing heat to chasing groupie trim.  Tim Robbins, Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon star in one of the greatest baseball films ever made.

3. Neon Boudreaux – Blue Chips

Boudreaux is the definition of a diamond in the rough. The 7-foot Louisiana giant, played by Shaquille O’Neal, is the star of a recruiting class that could give the Fab 5 a run for their money in both on court success and in NCAA violations.

2. Jesus Shuttlesworth – He Got Game

Talk about pressure. Jesus is  the basketball savior who is trapped in a vicious recruiting war. He’s got every coach in the nation on his jock, plus a bomb piece of tail named Lala (Rosario Dawson) being used as recruiting bait and a pops (Denzel Washington) who’s out on conditional parole as a mission to get him to commit to Big State. Ray Allen might have a wet jumper, but as his acting career was washed up after this Spike Lee joint hit the theatres.

1. Jimmy Chitwood – Hoosiers

The best basketball movie ever made stars the greatest phenom to ever grace the silver screen. Chitwood is the celluloid version of Larry Bird. An Indiana kid who helps lead Hickory High to the all-comers state tournament title.

(Chris Shellcroft is the lead blogger for Just Blog Baby, occasional contributor on Lake Show Life and an all around righteous dude. You can follow him on Twitter.)