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Old Tue Jan 17, 2006, 11:06pm
dave30 dave30 is offline
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Here is what I don't like about this movie. I am from Texas and they make it seem like everybody in Texas is a bunch of backwards rednecks. It is not and was not true for the great majority of people. The movie itself acts like black players had not been accepted at all before the Texas Western team started five black players.

In fact, in 1962 Cincinnati won the NCAA title with four black starters. In 1963 Loyola won with four black starters. The NBA's best players at the time were Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor. The best college player was Cazzie Russell.

Coach Haskins did not recruit black players to prove a point. They didn't come out of nowhere to win the title. They made the NCAA tournament in 63 and in 64. Coach Haskins just wanted to win, and he used the best players that he had who just happened to be black.

The fact is black players were already making huge strides and being accepted by a white audience and it would have only continued to go that way as black players showed their talents on the court with or without the Texas Western win.

I read most of this in a Chicago Sun Times article by Ron Rapoport and it made a lot of sense.

For a feel-good movie, it hit the mark. For total accuracy, it was just Hollywood doing their thing again.
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