Review for Class

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2009)

When it comes to racial equality, Glory Road creates a very inspirational picture of how much the United States was against it. Coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) was known as the 'color blind" coach. In the 1966 Championship Game, he put his all black line-up against powerhouse Kentucky, who was all white. It was the first National Championship won by an all black starting line-up.
Glory Road follows the season of the Texas Western basketball team. It not only focuses on the basketball, but the racism and hatred faced by the entire team. You also understand fully how the players are feeling throughout the movie. At first, the black and white players don't mesh very well, but when the white players see how the African American players are treated they begin to understand and back them up. This seemed to be the focus of the movie.
I also liked the emphasis put on the fact that University Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp was a very racial coach. Haskins has only a few encounters with Rupp throughout the movie, and they aren't very friendly ones. Rupp seems to feel bad for the coach and what he is doing to himself and his players thus giving them no respect. While watching the film there was a quote that our group found funny. Texas Western was being criticized by coaches and one opposing coach said, "Basketball will never be a black man's game." Living in the time we do now, we realize how false this comment is. African American players are just as athletic as and maybe even more athletic than some white players. It is an even playing field in society now, and Don Haskins helped propel that movement.