Good movie for sports minded. Has historic inaccuracies.

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2006)

I loved the movie. It's a basketball movie about a small west Texas school that wins the NCAA tournament. The catch is they are all black and play an all white team, Kentucky. The movie depicts the struggle this team has with racism both within and outside the team. It kind of reminds me of "Remember the Titans", "Rudy", "Hoosiers", or "Miracle". David vs. Goliath or underdog does good. As a Kentucky basketball fan, I almost found myself rooting for Texas Western. The movie is based on a true story but there are some liberties taken. The scene that disturbed me the most was during the championship game. Behind the bench, Kentucky fans were waving the Confederate flag. I can assure you this did not happen during the real game in Cole Field House. None of the stars on the flag represent the state of Kentucky as Kentucky was not part of the Confederacy. I realize this is Hollywood and the film makers were trying to emphasize racism in this movie, but their point had already been made repeatedly throughout the movie (especially the scene in the Commerce, Texas motel). This was an unnecessary smear to the University of Kentucky and the state. If not for this, I would rate this movie among the top sports movies made. Other minor errors in the movie include Texas Western coach Don Haskins being hired before the historic '65-'66 season, when in reality he was hired 4 years prior. Also I don't think
the Iowa vs. Texas Western game was televised. All in all it was a good movie that parents could take their sports minded children to.