Friday Is ‘Glorious Day’ For Miner Fans

EL PASO, TX. – It’s been all “Glory Road” all the time sinceSun City residentsknew the movie was going to be made. Now for El Pasoans who have been waiting years to see the story of the triumphant Texas Western Miners, the wait is over.

Fans showed up at the Cinemark on the west side for the first screening here10am Friday. Since that time, it’s been a steady stream of orange-clad movie goers after that with shows almost every half hour.

As ofFriday afternoon, the manager at Cinemark said none of the shows sold out yet. Most El Pasoans ABC-7 spoke with had rave reviews of the movie. Reactions ranged from tear-filled admiration to hoarse-voiced pride about the long-anticipated movie.

The film starring Hollywood heartthrob Josh Lucas has been getting good reviews by both film critics and sports afficionados across the board, but there are bad reviews. One newspaper calls it a sad retelling of racism and one sports editor was turned of by cliches.

While “Glory Road” reviews are starting to pour in, at least 25 major newspapers across the country have already picked the film apart. Many of those reviews are positive, however other reviewers have given it a ‘thumbs down’ because of its inaccuracies.

El Paso City Councilman Steve Ortega says he’s read every book that’s been written about the 1966 championship season. He saw the sneak preview last weekend and tends to agree with some of the negative reviews.

Mr. Ortega tells ABC-7, “I know it’s Hollywood, but there were three depictions in the movie that could have stayed true to how it happened and it would have enhanced the movie.” Those three things include his impression that the movie depicts Texas Western as more prejudiced than Kentucky.

Ortega adds, “Texas Western was the first college in the state of Texas to have African Americans on their sports teams. People have always said that El Paso at that time… race wasn’t as big an issue.”

The most questionable scene in the movie involves Coach Haskins speaking to his team the night before the championship game. In the film, “the Bear,” played by Josh Lucas, is shown saying he is going to play only black players.

Its that statement that the author of Glory Road, Dan Wetzel, says slights Coach Haskins. Wetzel tells ABC-7, “The idea that the night before, Don Haskins decided he’d only play five black players is completely unreal and untrue. He obviously played five blacks prior to the 65-66 season and I think it’s a little unfair to coach who really was a color blind individual.”

Another major problem with the movie for some is the depiction of racial strife between the black and white players on the team. The starting center on that team, David Lattin, said that simply did not happen.

Mr. Lattin tells ABC-7, “There are some things that they portrayed in the movie that didn’t happen, of course…if they [other fans] did some of those things I’m not aware of them … but the story line is right on … Texas Western did beat Kentucky and this story was about the players and what happened in their lives.”

While it may be simply based on a true story and some of the scenes in the movie didn’t actually happen, El Pasoans who saw the movie last weekend give it a thumbs up anyway

As for comments from Coach Haskins, as he is under contract with Disney he is prevented from criticizing the film. “Glory Road” director Jim Gartner told ABC-7’s Darren Hunt simply, the movie is simply based on a true story.

Josh Lucas has stated several times during the pre-release publicity blitz that every single moment in “Glory Road” is legitimate. But El Pasoans who see the film this weekend may decide that “Glory Road” has a few more twists than the road Don Haskins’ Miners traveled in 1966.