Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Glory Road (2006)

Starring Josh Lucas

Glory Road is a moving, heartfelt depiction of some key events in the history of college athletics and racial relations. It is based on a true story, which makes it a doubly significant film.
It’s 1965. Obscure girl’s high school basketball coach Don Haskins (Lucas) has become the coach of an obscure Texas college with a weak basketball team. As part of his efforts to revive the team he recruits black athletes from all over the country to play for Texas Western University.

So far, so good. He begins his program for whipping his disparate group of players into a team with discipline, hard work, and more hard work. I’m a sucker for coach-based sports movies, and this movie satiates my yearning for authority, the application of willpower, and the expression of love through the demand for excellence. The players resist, but a young unformed college kid is no match for a mature man with absolute certainty, passion, and a plan.

The team gets good, overcomes obstacles, and enters conference play. And they win. And they win some more. As they win, the narrow-minded folk in their town stop worrying about the fact that the coach is using black players and start cheering for their school. The black players must overcome problems on the road, including threats, harassment, and even violence. They must find it in themselves to continue on and remain united as a team of both black and white players.

So, seemingly inevitably, Texas Western University gets into the NCAA Tournament. Further, they do so well that they reach the finals and find themselves playing against the top team in the country, Kentucky, who has won four national titles in a row. Kentucky’s Coach Rupp has been voted the Coach of the Year. Jon Voight is great and understated as Rupp.

Haskins makes a controversial decision to use only his black players in the championship game. He wants to show the world that black athletes are just as talented as white athletes. Though Kentucky is widely favored, the game is surprisingly competitive. Do they win? Only in the movies could such an underdog team rise up to defeat the national champions. You’ll have to see the movie to learn the outcome: I’m not telling.

This is a great sports movie. It offers a direct demonstration of how far we’ve come in this country with regard to race, at least in the athletic area. It’s inspiring seeing brave people trying to make a difference in the world. I had tears in my eyes as the movie closed.

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