A college basketball team overcomes racisms and makes history in the college basketball flick, Glory Road.
Glory Road - College Hoops Underdogs
Glory Road is based on the story of the 1965-66 Texas Western University Miners basketball team - the first college hoops squad to win a national title game using a squad of only black players. The team was put together by Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas), a first year college coach who began recruiting African-American players because no white players wanted to play for Texas Western - a small school with a long history of losing. The team combines Haskins' emphasis on fundamentals with his players' playground style of hoops to create a college basketball powerhouse. Derek Luke plays the role of Bobby Joe Hill, the star player who leads the team to their improbable victory over the University of Kentucky.
Glory Road - Same Formula, Slightly Different Result
Like a lot of sports movies, Glory Road follows the same formula of an underdog coach who takes a team of players that nobody else wants, and turns them into winners. The plot of the movie is more predictable than an Atlanta Hawks losing streak, and the number of overused sports cliches is too numerous to count - but the true story of this film is what makes it different than most other overdone sports movies. Glory Road is more of a movie about racism in sports and society during the 1960s, than it is about Texas Western's 1966 NCAA title. It's hard to believe, when looking at college basketball today, that just 40 years ago, racist attitudes kept most of the country's top players from going to college to play basketball, just because they were black. The victory by Haskins' Miners in 1966 changed all that and opened the door for generations of basketball stars, including Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan to shine.
Glory Road - DVD Features
If you're a basketball fan, the Glory Road DVD will definitely be one to add to your collection. The features include a typical basketball practice with Coach Haskins, highlights of Coach Haskins' career with commentary from the real Coach Haskins and interviews with tons of professional players!
Glory Road - Bottom Line
Although it's painfully predictable and over-dramatic at times, Glory Road is an entertaining feel-good sports movie. If you're a college hoops fan who appreciates sports history, Glory Road is definitely worth checking out. While the rascism in the film will make you cringe sometimes, Glory Road tells a powerful and important story that changed college basketball forever.
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