'Glory Road'

By Katy Full
   Glory Road, a Walt Disney film, is a successful sports story that exceeds many others. It not only tells the typical underdog story; but takes a landmark moment in history and brings it to life, showing how one coach helped open college sports in the South to hundreds of African Americans.
   Focusing on the ever-popular underdog theme, Glory Road begins by placing a new coach into the hands of struggling players, coincidentally producing a nationally ranked team. Of course, there were many problems along the way, with players only wanting to perform the way they liked, and the rookie coach expecting everything to be done in his style. In the end, everything worked out quite nicely, and not surprisingly, the team won the “big” game. It is in that instance that Glory Road is the typical sports movie.
   However, the film does not completely focus on the underdog team and winning the big game. Glory Road exposes the racism in American sports, particularly on the 1965-66 Texas Western University basketball team. It was at this time that coach Don Haskins, played by Josh Lucas, decided to recruit African Americans. This was a breakthrough, because although basketball teams were integrated in Texas, there was an “informal rule” that you never played more than one African American at home, two on the road, or three if the team was behind.
   When Texas Western University made it to the NCAA championships, Haskins (Lucas), started five African Americans, and had them play the entire game against the all-white Kentucky team, coached by Adolph Rupp (Jon Voight). After defeating Kentucky, the former champions, the rules were rewritten and modern college and professional basketball began.
   Glory Road portrays the story in an interesting way, using issues of the time to reel in viewers. It portrays the prejudice both African American and white players faced while at away games. The motel rooms are destroyed, some players are beat up, and the team is constantly being spat on. Yet the players continued to pull together, forming a special bond that many people did not understand. On the night of the championship game, Kentucky coach Rupp turned to his players and stated, “This is a special team.” He knew that if they could not rise to this historic moment they would lose.
   At the end off the film, interviews with former players were shown. NBA coach Pat Riley, who played on the Kentucky team the night of the game, stated, “Haskins and his team wrote the Emancipation Proclamation of 1966.”
   Walt Disney exceeded all expectations with Glory Road.  Disney put a special twist on the typical story and made it into something unforgettable.