Glory Road

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Josh Lucas)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

The Road to the Final Four is one of my favorite yearly events: watching college basketball from November to April is the best! Thanks to the wonders of cinematography, watching Glory Road makes the viewer feel like they’re watching March Madness, with the inside profiles of the 1965-66 Texas Western team but without the annoying voice of Billy Packer! With Josh Lucas as Don Haskins, Derek Luke (apparently a two-sport player, he was previously Booby Miles in Friday Night Lights!) as Bobby Joe Hill, and Jon Voight as Adolph Rupp, there is plenty of acting talent to spare.

Haskins is the epitome of the guy who just won’t quit. He loves basketball and wants to work hard like his dad, but he blows out his knee. He wants to coach but he’s a girl’s basketball coach (and not at a big-time program.) He wants to coach in the big-time, but all that he can get is a dorm parent/coach role at isolated Texas Western. He’s rough as a coach, but even in his roughness, the strong desire he has for his players to become men is apparent.

I can’t go any longer without pointing out the obvious: Haskins has a movie about his team because he started five black men in the NCAA Championship game against the University of Kentucky. Over a hundred years after the Gettysburg Address, the black men on this Texas Western team underwent enormous scrutiny and abuse—just because they were black. I hope that because of the fair but PG rating, that families will go to see this movie, and people will share with their children about the prejudices of the past, and of the present. The film itself seems to represent both sides in the race issue here: the white and black college students have to adjust in 1965 to getting to know people who are different from them. That’s okay, but too often, we settle for what we think we know, not what we could know if we showed love/compassion to others.

The seven black members of the team work through their differences with each other and show love by standing together. The white players are later included in that, as well as other adults around the program. Remarkably, by the movie’s depiction, this earth-shattering (at the time) team represented more than a team, or a school, or basketball itself. By standing for something more, this team moved from competition into heroics. Each player, coach and family member paid the price for their final victory, but the freedom that many people experience now makes their sacrifice justified.

Jesus Christ made a sacrifice that is bigger than that, and is eternal. The team took a stand because they needed it, while His was solely for others. Still, rather than cave to the opposition, the team made a stand for something bigger than themselves. Throughout the movie, we’re provided with the highlights of their sport accomplishments, the humor and poignant moments of their follies, and the growth of their love for the game and each other. Jesus came to save and set an example; we would do well to follow the example of the 1965 NCAA National Champions.

— Overview