Watched Glory Road last week, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Based on the true life story of a team that changed everything. It is about a basketball coach who selects/recruits blacks or coloureds for his team at a time when no blacks played Division I basketball. It depicts racist America, the discrimination the blacks faced and their struggles in a society dominated by the whites. The coach is a hard taskmaster who, through sheer grit and determination builds a team from scratch that went on to win the NCAA Championship. The film really reminds me of the discriminatory and racist attitude of mainland Indians towards the people of Northeast India, and I can really relate to the story. Let me reproduce here some of the great and inspiring conversations from the movie here:
The conversation between the coach and Bobby Joe Hill when he tries to recruit Bobby:
“You get real talent, why waste it, son?”
“I’ll tell you why. Ever since I was a kid, I only loved one thing-that was playing ball. Do you understand what that’s like? To have that ball in your hand. It’s like making sweet music with your hands. Only thing is you don’t wanna hear that song.”
“You gonna let a black player play from the get-go?”
“I don’t see colour. I see quick, I see skill, and that’s what you have. And that’s what I’m putting on the court.”
Coach to players:
“You’re here to learn fundamental, disciplined defensive basketball. Now, that means both on and off the court. No girls. No booze. No late nights. Nothing besides fundamental basketball. I speak. You listen. I don’t wanna hear “I can’t” or “won’t” or “Coach, I’m bleeding.” I don’t wanna hear anything except the basketball bounce. You play basketball my way. My way’s hard.”
“You wanna quit? You quit right now. You’re gonna quit everyday for the rest of your life.”
“I can’t have a big man who’s afraid to play like one.”
Coach to Bobby Joe:
“My old man drove a truck for the better half of his life. Now, there ain’t nothing wrong with that. Other than the fact that he hated it. But that’s the only way he knew how to put food on the table and give his kids a chance to do something they loved. I love the game. I love this game. I never was the greatest player. But I busted my butt, and I outworked better players. I ain’t the smartest coach, but I busted my butt and I outworked smarter coaches. And when I see the talent you got and I see you wasting it, it ticks me off.”
Cager:
“Coach, I’ll die if I don’t play. Coach, my whole life I only loved playing basketball…but I never stopped playing in the street. Never. ‘cause not to play, coach, man, that was like having something just crawl up and die in me.”
“They’re trying to take our dignity from us.”
“Your dignity’s inside you. Nobody can take something away from you if you don’t give them.”
The conversation between the coach and Bobby Joe Hill when he tries to recruit Bobby:
“You get real talent, why waste it, son?”
“I’ll tell you why. Ever since I was a kid, I only loved one thing-that was playing ball. Do you understand what that’s like? To have that ball in your hand. It’s like making sweet music with your hands. Only thing is you don’t wanna hear that song.”
“You gonna let a black player play from the get-go?”
“I don’t see colour. I see quick, I see skill, and that’s what you have. And that’s what I’m putting on the court.”
Coach to players:
“You’re here to learn fundamental, disciplined defensive basketball. Now, that means both on and off the court. No girls. No booze. No late nights. Nothing besides fundamental basketball. I speak. You listen. I don’t wanna hear “I can’t” or “won’t” or “Coach, I’m bleeding.” I don’t wanna hear anything except the basketball bounce. You play basketball my way. My way’s hard.”
“You wanna quit? You quit right now. You’re gonna quit everyday for the rest of your life.”
“I can’t have a big man who’s afraid to play like one.”
Coach to Bobby Joe:
“My old man drove a truck for the better half of his life. Now, there ain’t nothing wrong with that. Other than the fact that he hated it. But that’s the only way he knew how to put food on the table and give his kids a chance to do something they loved. I love the game. I love this game. I never was the greatest player. But I busted my butt, and I outworked better players. I ain’t the smartest coach, but I busted my butt and I outworked smarter coaches. And when I see the talent you got and I see you wasting it, it ticks me off.”
Cager:
“Coach, I’ll die if I don’t play. Coach, my whole life I only loved playing basketball…but I never stopped playing in the street. Never. ‘cause not to play, coach, man, that was like having something just crawl up and die in me.”
“They’re trying to take our dignity from us.”
“Your dignity’s inside you. Nobody can take something away from you if you don’t give them.”
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