Milwaukee's Daily Magazine Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010
Today
Hi: 28
Lo: 18
Wed
Hi: 24
Lo: 13
Thu
Hi: 24
Lo: 11
Section Sponsor
Article Tools
Print this Article
Make text larger
Related Twitter Posts

  • MrandMsNiley:
    @believeinmcyrus I was thinking it could be a video of the persons favorite hollywood besties like memi or semi :) but idk about the prize..

  • gracethefallfan:
    RT @myspace: Mark your calendars, watch the ALICE IN WONDERLAND great big fan event live stream on MySpace or go to Hollywood & Highland on 2/19!

  • myspace:
    Mark your calendars, watch the ALICE IN WONDERLAND great big fan event live stream on MySpace or go to Hollywood & Highland on 2/19!

  • 01000101:
    @Lilylauren haha! well, in Old Hollywood that's what the starlets and sirens insisted on having to keep their hair smooth (or silk scarves)

  • BUGZY9:
    RT @SeskiDawl: Hollywood tonight or Pasadena?! I'm lokey leaning towards HOLLYWOOD!< pickin H-wood over the homie smh so typical


Follow us on Twitter ...
In Sports
Sports' true stories are always better than Hollywood's fiction
 
By Steve Czaban RSS Feed
Special to OnMilwaukee.com

E-mail author | Author bio
More articles by Steve Czaban

Published Jan. 18, 2006 at 5:10 a.m.
Tags: glory road, hollywood, namath

There's a new sports movie out called "Glory Road." It's about the 1966 NCAA Championship game where Don Haskins' Texas-Western team fielded a starting five of all-black players to beat Adolph Rupp and Kentucky.

Oh wait a minute. That's NOT what the movie is about.

The movie is really about changing factual history to fit a social agenda. And yet, some people still want to call it a "great" movie.

Please.

See, here's the rub. The movie has Haskins telling his team the night before the big game that he was going to go "all black" in order to "make a statement" about race relations. Problem is, Haskins has said time and again, in every instance where he's been asked about it, that such a thing was NEVER on his mind!

No, get this. Haskins just wanted to WIN the game. Imagine that. And his five best guys, just happened to be black. Again, imagine that?

But that didn't stop Jerry Bruckheimer from bastardizing sports history, just to make a movie. Hey, why let facts get in the way?

This again points to why sports movies about ACTUAL sporting events and moments in history, are often the cheesiest, lamest, least enduring pictures in the genre. Because incredible things that happen FOR REAL, are always more compelling than anything Hollywood can slather on top of it.

Take the Miracle on Ice. The real thing in 1980 shall be remembered forever by anyone old enough to have seen it happen live (or actually, taped, as the game vs. Russia was). I did. And I was 12.

HBO did a documentary on it, which is perhaps the single finest 60 minutes in sports video history.

Disney did a movie about it, and it was, well, a nice paycheck for Kurt Russell.

But if we are going to take historic sports events, and just totally re-write the facts around them, then let's go ahead and have a field day! Here's a few movies I'd like to see.

"The Mexico City Stretch"
Juan Carlos and Tommy Smith take the medal stand, raise their gloved fists to the sky. But instead of claiming it was a social statement about racism in America, Carlos and Smith instead say it was an effort to kick start their fledgling glove business they planned to start with the money made from their medals. The two struggle to gain a foothold in the racist glove industry, but finally get the last laugh by founding what is now known as Isotoner, Inc.

"Rollie's Choice"
On the eve of Villanova's would-be upset of Georgetown in the NCAA Championship, Coach Rollie Massimino finds guard Gary McLain snorting a massive 8-ball of cocaine in his hotel room. Tortured over what to do, Massimino suspends the guard, and goes on to lose the game by 30. The next year he's fired, but is shocked and angered to find out that McLain has won the lottery, using a ticket purchased with the team meal money at the Final Four. McLain then hires a down and out Massimino to clean the pool at his mansion, and the two men strike up an uneasy friendship as they try to untangle their unfortunate past.

"Broadway Joe's Change of Heart"
Joe Namath says before Super Bowl III that he "guarantees" the Jets will win the game. Unknown to everybody however, is that Namath had so little faith in his team, that he wagered his entire year's salary on the Colts that day. As the game progresses, a conflicted Namath struggles with whether a historic win will be worth more than his wager, or if he should just tank it and cash the ticket. The defining moment comes when Namath catches a glimpse of his bookie in the end zone, who gives him a thumbs-up with a sleazy smile. Sickened at what he's about to do, Namath leads the Jets to a win. Running off the field, he is seen wagging his finger in the air. Historians took it to mean "we're number one" but in reality, it was Namath signaling to his bodyguards to start the car, so he could make a safe getaway from angry bettors who thought the fix was in.

"Harvey's Revenge"
A despondent Ben Crenshaw, having just buried his longtime mentor Harvey Penick, goes on to win the Masters years after his best golf was behind him. Historians call it one of the most amazing "karma-inspired" wins in golf history. However in this Hollywood blockbuster, it is found that Crenshaw cheated that week, using an undetectable silicone based grease on his driver to keep balls in the fairway. Crenshaw is caught in the lockeroom afterward by an irate Jack Nicklaus, and stripped of his green jacket. Crenshaw returns to the grave of Mr. Penick, and tearfully confesses, saying to Penick's tombstone that he only wanted to do it in order to "honor his teaching accomplishments." Suddenly, Penick's rotting arm comes up through the ground like in the movie Carrie, and strangles Crenshaw to death.

Look, I know all these so-called Hollywood "script changes" might seem a bit radical or somehow "sacrilegious" to true sports fans. But come on people, lighten up. We're making movies! Let's live a little and get creative.

6 comments about this article.
Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Jan. 20, 2006 at 3:17 p.m. (report)

george said: I think it's great to take some really great story like Texas Western making a major run in college basketball. Turning a remarkably rare feat into some stupid ass political issue. Yeah, that's how Texas Western venerates 1966...a political victory. Afterall Steve, when we take a look back at the 2006 Rose Bowl in 2046 through some cinematic masterpiece it'll be about a black quarterback beating a white quarterback. That should be painstakingly obvious with Hillary's comments of W running his administration like a plantation.

Rate this:
  • Average rating: 0.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


Posted by OMCreader on Jan. 20, 2006 at 1:40 p.m. (report)

Jon D. said: What did you expect? It's a Jerry Bruckheimer production distributed by the Walt Disney Co. Of course it's not going to be nuts on accurate.

Rate this:
  • Average rating: 0.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


Posted by OMCreader on Jan. 20, 2006 at 12:49 p.m. (report)

schneider said: you guys might have a valid point, but the fact is that about 75% of the people seeing this movie were not even born in the early 60's so hollywood could get away with "spicing" up the movie. seriously if i wanted to see 5 black dudes playing basketball i wouldn't go to the movies i would just turn on any given channel with a basketball game on. if adding things to movies were not done, non of these movies make the big screens.

Rate this:
  • Average rating: 0.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


Posted by OMCreader on Jan. 19, 2006 at 8:54 p.m. (report)

Boaz Yakin said: I don't see anything wrong in monumentally heightening racial bigotry in movies. (a pinch of sarcasm folks)

Rate this:
  • Average rating: 0.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


Posted by OMCreader on Jan. 19, 2006 at 9:14 a.m. (report)

AP said: Steve-O I couldnt agree more. Hollywood sports flicks on REAL sporting event SUCK! I wont be spending a dime on the latest abortion! I'd rather watch Lady Pres! I'M JOKING!

Rate this:
  • Average rating: 0.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5




Show me the other Talkback
OnMilwaukee.com is part of the In Click Network. Other In Click sites include: 30RockReport.com | Behind The Scenes at OnMilwaukee.com | BetterRecipes.org | Bimmer Digest | Brain Brawn & Body | BrewCityBeats.com | Brewcitybigscreen.com | britneysnation.com | BritPop Rocks | Brooklynbanter.com | CactusLeagueReport.com | Caffeinateddigest.com | Culinary Piedmont | Cycling Chainring | Daily Lost Update | Daily Milwaukee News | Daily Spa | DannyGokeyMilwaukee.com | Dogs Blogs | EarthFueled.com | Edible Wisconsin | FanaticPhotog.com | Gadget Deals and Steals | GolfLinksWisconsin.com | H1N1 Alerts | H1N1 Blog | H1N1 Prevention | H1N1 Reporter | H1N1 Tracker | HogEnthusiast.com | Informed Runner | iPhone Daily Report | Man United Nation | Milwaukee Brewers Nation | Milwaukee Bucks Blog | Milwaukee Dad | Minnesota Wild Nation | MomMilwaukee.com | My Super Stocks | MyGayMilwaukee.com | MyHangoverHelper | News on Draught | NY Mets Nation | OnAtlantaGA.com | OnAustinTX.com | OnBaltimoreMD.com | OnBirminghamAL.com | OnBostonMass.com | OnBuffaloNY.com | OnCharlotteNC.com | OnCincinnati.com | OnClevelandOH.com | OnColumbusOH.com | OnDallas.com | OnDCmetro.com | OnDenverCO.com | OnDetroitMI.com | OnDoorCounty.org | OnFortLauderdale.com | OnGreenBay.com | OnHartford.com | OnIndianapolisIN.com | OnKansasCityMO.com | OnLakeCountry.com | OnLosAngelesCA.com | OnLouisvilleKY.com | OnMadison.com | OnMemphisTN.com | OnMiamiFLA.com | OnMilwaukee.com Cars | OnMilwaukee.com Metro Headlines | OnMilwaukee.com's Bartender Olympics | OnNashvilleTN.com | OnNewOrleansLA.com | OnNYCny.com | OnOrlandoFL.com | OnPalmSprings.com | OnPhiladelphia.com | OnPhoenixAZ.com | OnPittsburgh.com | OnPortlandOR.com | OnProvidence.com | OnRichmondVA.com | OnSacramento.com | OnSaltLakeCity.com | OnSanAntonioTX.com | OnSanDiegoCA.com | OnSanFran.com | OnSanJose.com | OnSeattleWA.com | OnSinCity.com | OnStLouis.com | OnStPetersburg.com | OnTampaBay.com | OnTucsonAZ.com | OnTwinCities.com | OnWichita.com | OnWindyCity.com | Packers Posts | Porsche 911 Fans | PriusFans.com | Roller Derby Network | SnuggieFans.com | SummerfestRocks.com | Swine Flu China | Swine Flu Reporter | The 24 Reporter | The Barack Obama Fan Club | The Brilliant Manager | The Comic Book Reporter | The In Click | The Office Fan Blog | TheHDTVReporter.com | TheNetbookBlog.com | TheNewParentBlog.com | Trueguitarheroes.com | Vintage Mets | VW Busses | WaukeshaWeekly.com | Weekly Media News | Wisconsincustomhomenews.com | WisWomen.com | Woodworker Digest