Glory Road

LINKS
—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages

This picture is a classic underdog-wins-it-all story. (And no, I'm not giving away the end, since this actually happened.) Yet despite knowing the outcome, Glory Road is a film well worth seeing—one that I will probably end up owning as it portrays the gritty self-assurance that can lead to winning more than basketball games.

Jerry Bruckheimer’s film tells the story of Don Haskins (played masterfully by Josh Lucas) and his under-funded West Texas University basketball team that wins the 1966 National NCAA Basketball title. In fact, the entire cast was as accomplished a team as the basketball team they were portraying. Yet what is troubling about this movie is that only 40 years ago, racist bigots nearly ruined the lives of these fine ball players and almost bankrupted the entire WTU basketball program. You see, this team was composed of several black players, and “that just isn’t done at West Texas University in 1965.� But what was behind the racism? Did those opposed to having black players on the team think they couldn’t play well enough? Or were they bugged that they were “allowed� to participate at all? If starting five black players were all that we were considering, Coach Haskins should be canonized just for proposing it. But these men won! Not because they were black, but because they had all of the ingredients that it takes to win. Character and talent mixed with desire, discipline and intelligence all add up to make champions—not just in sports, but in every aspect of life. The players’ lives after college hoops prove that point. Many of them went on to contribute to their communities in areas unrelated to basketball. That is the part of this movie that is so touching to me. Basketball gave them an opportunity to get an education, and they used that education to make a positive impact.

Like most movies based on true stories, a post-script in the credits lists what most of these men did after college. Generally, they did not go on to play professional basketball, (in fact I think only one did), or even follow basketball as passionate sportsmen. Several became teachers and coaches, which is probably more of a testimony to Coach Haskins than to how they may have changed the game of basketball itself. I only hope that the real racists depicted in this movie ultimately realized that these men (regardless of their skin color) had talent and character, which supercede their (admittedly spectacular and historically significant) winning season.

While the film raises this issue, it also makes several educationally relevant statements through the telling of the story. We learn that the team members didn’t have to always obey the coaches’ strict curfews. We watch as they have to actually get into shape. We see their natural abilities. We follow them as they learn that they have to play as a team. We observe the entire team supporting each other, regardless of color. We learn that conditioning and fundamentals win seasons and championships. And we are willing witnesses to the ways in which this team changed the game forever.

But which of these things have anything to do with race? What about the character and teamwork they had to develop? College basketball was changed because someone was brave enough to buck the system. Coach Haskins introduced five black kids with talent, intelligence, drive, discipline and character—and it so happens that they won a championship. They demonstrated that regardless of your upbringing and the potential others perceive in you, a team has the potential to become greater than the sum of its members.

Would it be fair to these guys to say that they won because they were black? Wouldn’t that be the same racism we are disgusted to witness in this film? We think they changed the color of the game. What they and Coach Haskins actually did was add someone that was missing in college basketball: they added five (actually more) fine college basketball players who were not only black, but were fine people.

Continue:
—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages