Review: Glory Road

Glory Road
4.5 Lloyds – Family-Friendly
PG for racial issues including violence and epithets, and momentary language

“It’s not about talent, it’s about heart. It’s about who can go out there and play the hardest. They’re not going to give you anything, so you have to go out there and you’ve got to take it.”

- Coach Don Haskins

It seems only appropriate to review a movie we picked as one of our Top Picks for 2007. Glory Road, starring Josh Lucas as Coach Don Haskins depicts the life of this legendary coach, who passed away on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at the age of 78. Coach Haskins, credited with helping break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western, died Sunday afternoon.

Haskins retired in 1999 after 38 seasons at the school and a 719-353 record. Aside from the season wins, he helped his team win seven WAC championships and went to 14 NCAA tournaments. Texas Western also went to the NIT’s seven times and Haskins worked briefly as an adviser for the Chicago Bulls.

Former Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight said;

“The word unique does not begin to describe Don Haskins. There is no one who has ever coached that I respected and admired more than Don Haskins. I’ve had no better friend that I enjoyed more than Don Haskins.”

For Coach Don Haskins, the dream was always about winning. Winning with guts, winning with heart and winning with grit. Winning with self-respect, and winning even when the odds are completely stacked against you. What he didn’t know in 1966, when he was a small town family-man trying to make a mark in his first job as a collegiate basketball coach, is that his underdog team’s victory would transcend the sport of basketball. This victory not only changed his life and the lives of his players, but the country itself.

Glory Road, released in June of 2006, is based on the true story of the Texas Western basketball team that won the 1966 NCAA Championship with the first all African-American starting line up of players. I must admit I enjoy “based on a true story” movies when they give a glimpse of history in a time when many people don’t know history, or simply choose to ignore it. While such movies also contain elements of exaggeration for effect, in my opinion, there’s nothing like a true story coming to life on the big screen. Many points of history come together in this movie, making the plot line even more exciting. In 1965 Congress had just passed the Civil Rights Act. Basketball was gaining in popularity, but Texas Western was known as a football school, not as a basketball school. As a result, the face of collegiate sports was in for change as well.

Glory Road is rated well, and while we do say it’s family-friendly, keep in mind this is a PG movie, not a G movie. In other words, this is not a movie for really young kids. But, it is family-friendly for kids around the ages of 10 and up. This is the type of movie Disney excels in as it’s full of great messages with lots of lessons. One of our favorite lines comes from Coach Haskins when he’s encouraging his team after they’ve had somewhat of a meltdown and breakdown of trust and teamwork. Coach Haskins reminds his team that “Nobody can take something away from you, that you don’t give them. Your dignity is inside of you.”

Glory Road is a story about discipline, perseverance, family, teamwork, and standing up for what’s right. But, probably one of the strongest messages and lessons to come out of the movie is respect for yourself, and respect for others.

With another dismal looking weekend at the movies this week, our pick is in honor of the late Coach Don Haskins. Pick up a copy of the Glory Road DVD and enjoy a great movie, with some fantastic historical truth to it at the same time.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus