SI Associate Editor Richard Deitsch recently interviewed actor Billy Bob Thornton [www.billybobthornton.net] for the magazine's weekly Q&A. The 49-year-old actor plays coach Morris Buttermaker in Bad News Bears. Here are additional excerpts from the interview.

Baseball has been a big part of Billy Bob Thornton's life for a long time. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

SI: The original Bad News Bears is a seminal film for sports fans. Do you feel confident that the new version lived up to the original?
Thornton: Yeah, I think so. [Director] Rick Linklater kept the same tone of the original movie instead of making into a big commercial kind of comedy. He kept it pretty low key, which is great. We're real proud of it. I think it's a good one.

SI: You would have been 21 or so when the original film came out. Do you remember seeing it then?
Thornton: I saw it when it came out and loved it. The main memory I had of it was Walter Matthau. I remember the way he walked. I always loved the way he walked. He kind of bent over, kind of threw his legs out in front of him. Hilarious.

SI: Your Morris Buttermaker is different than Matthau's. Yours is much more cocksure and sexually charged. How did you approach the character?
Thornton: Well, I just did it as if there had never been an original movie. I just approached it like this was the first time this movie had been done and just kind of did my thing with it. You kind of have to do that to certain degree, kind of treat everything like it's the first time.

SI: The screenwriters for the film are your guys from Bad Santa. How did the film end up coming your way?
Thornton: It was generated by my manager's company. It was like: "Wouldn't it be interesting if you were to remake the Bad News Bears." I was like: "Yeah, that sounds good." It seemed like a natural part for me to play. They just called up Paramount and said, "Hey, you guys own Bad News Bears. Why don't we remake it?" They said OK. We got the guys from Bad Santa to write it because they are very funny. If they had any problem in this one, it was holding back.

SI: Bad News Bears Director Richard Linklater was a college outfielder at Sam Houston State. Did he ever get out there and show off his skills?
Thornton: He sure did. The guy can hit. He was banging them out of there. I was always a crappy hitter but Rick's a great hitter. His form his terrific.

SI: You were a high school pitcher, and you had a tryout with the Royals as a teenager. What happened?
Thornton: It was pretty strange. I was probably there for a half hour. They had us all out in the field throwing, so I had warmed up with a guy. Then they were taking some infield practice and I was standing behind the first baseman, and the third baseman threw over and the first baseman wasn't looking and the ball me right in the collarbone. At first, everything was kind of numb and then later on it started to smart [he broke it]. I was a high school pitcher, a junk pitcher. At the time, it was devastating. Later on, I kind of got over it because I was into music, so I was in a band and everything. I really turned my attention to music and worked as a roadie for groups. Then I eventually became an actor. I tell my friends all the time: Let's say, by some miracle, I had gotten to the minors, I could have washed out after three years. Let's say the greatest possible scenario happened and I became a pitcher in the major leagues. I'd be retired for a decade already. And probably selling cars.

SI: Would you trade the Academy Award for one year in big leagues?
Thornton: That's a tough one because the Academy Award means so much to my family. If I knew that I was going to win the Cy Young or MVP that year, well, maybe I would.

SI: What did Friday Night Lights teach you about what makes for a great sports film?
Thornton: I think a lot of it  -- and this is a tribute to director Pete Berg -- is that you gotta shoot a sports movie in a way that shows the excitement of what it is really like to be on the sideline or on a bench. You can't just go out there and turn the camera on. You have to create almost an artificial excitement to show people what it feels like. Berg did a great job of that. You have the quick cuts and the handheld stuff because that is what it really feels like to be there. You have to get that across to the audience and it doesn't hurt to use real athletes.

SI: You were the drummer in a band called the McCoveys, after Willie. How good were you guys?
Thornton: We were little kids. I was 9 or 10. I was such a baseball nut that I wanted to name my band after a baseball player but none of the Cardinal names really sounded good for a band. The Floods. The Gibsons. But I always loved Willie McCovey, even though I wasn't a Giants fan. I thought he had so much class. And it sounded like the name of the bands of the time, like The McCoys. What's funny is when we were up in San Francisco playing on tour a couple of years ago, we were playing at the Fillmore. I was doing a radio interview and the guys brought the name of the band, and McCovey called into the radio station. He invited me to the Giants game that afternoon. So we sat in his box and had a great time.

SI: You know fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton a bit. Have you and the former president ever watched the Razorbacks together?
Thornton: We've talked about them, but I've never been to a game with him. Maybe I should. I'd have better security.

SI: Baseball is a big part of your fabric. How did you become a Cardinals fan? Thornton:The farm club for the Cardinals, the Arkansas Travelers, played in Little Rock, where I grew up. I saw a lot of people coming through there. Keith Hernandez. Jose Cruz. We were just all Cardinals fans because we didn't have a our own major league team, so St. Louis was the closest one to us and our farm club was there. Everybody in Arkansas is a Cardinals fan.

SI: Which means 1982 was a good year for you and '68 was hell, right?

Thornton: Well, '67 was good and '68 was awful. I was talking to Willie Horton in Detroit at the All-Star Game and I told him I get a little bit of a chill being in Detroit because my Cardinals got beat by his guys that year. It was an awful year for me.

SI: How bad was watching last year?
Thornton: What was funny about it is that you can't help but pull for a team that had not won a World Series in that many years, so I always feel bad for the Cubs and the Red Sox, but I felt worse for the Sox because they are not in our division. The way I had to look at, it once they swept us, I thought it was just destiny. They were going to win that thing. When I saw the Cardinals in the dugout during the first game, they didn't have the fire in their eyes the way the Sox did. I know this will sound corny, but I think the Sox's spirit was just stronger. The Cardinals were the better team, I think. But I just think the Sox were meant to win last year.

SI: What has been the best sporting event you've attended because of your celebrity?
Thornton: This year's All-Star Game ranks right up there. I'd also have to say the day I went to Busch Stadium and threw out the ball. It was Jack Buck Day and I got to go up in the booth and sit with him and Mike Shannon for awhile.

SI: Your sons play youth hockey. What kind of sports parent are you? Thornton: I think everybody ought to play Little League. I know it meant a lot to me. I'm not one of those real intense sports dad. I want the kids to have fun. Of course, I want them to win because then they are happy. But I have taught them the "it's not whether you win or lose" thing.

SI: Your list of phobias is odd and famous: antiques, germs, Komodo dragons. Is there anything in baseball you are allergic too?
Thornton: The Yankees (laughs).