It’s hard to think of a popular comedy that can make audiences today squirm as much as The Bad News Bears. Released in 1976, the film was a smash hit, depicting an alcoholic Little League baseball coach played by Walter Matthau attempting to lead a collection of juvenile delinquents and untalented losers to victory. In the film, we watch as the middle school–age players curse, use racial slurs, discuss being on birth control, ride motorcycles, and even knock back a few beers, all under the watchful eye of their coach. There’s not a helicopter parent in sight.

But what stands out in 2026, for an altogether different reason, is the depiction of the “bad guy” team matched against the Bears, the top-ranked Yankees. While they’re excellent ballplayers, the Yankees’ coach, played by Vic Morrow, is intense, abusive, and drives them to a joyless, fear-driven victory — the alcoholic coach of the Bears looks like the model patriarch by comparison.

For audiences in 1976, the behavior of this coach was far more shameful than that of the Bears coach and his impieties. For anyone watching today, however, the winning coach looks much more familiar to contemporary American life: a harbinger of a “travel team” coach you could find in any suburb in the country.