Ray Sanchez
also served as a consultant for the movie
Glory Road about the 1966
Texas Western College Miners team
which won the
NCAA national basketball championship.
-
"Ray Sanchez was totally responsible
for 'Glory Road' being produced and shown as close to the way it
really happened as Hollywood would allow," Haskin said.
(read article).
Ray Sanchez and
Josh Lucas discussing the movie.
Josh Lucas
portrayed Texas Western coach Don Haskins.
AWARDS
Ray Sanchez has earned many literary awards,
including Scripps Howard honors for column writing and news reporting. UTEP
presented him with its highest journalism honor, the Hicks-Middagh Award for
Excellence in Journalism, in 1993.
He has been inducted into five El Paso
sports halls of fame. He was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1978, the El Paso High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1985, the El Paso
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, the El Paso Boxing/Karate Hall of Fame in
1993 and the El Paso Golf Hall of Fame in 1995.
In 2011, he was named winner of UTEP's
Golden Nugget Award
which recognizes exceptional graduates who have distinguished themselves in
their professions and lives, given back to their communities and alma mater,
and served as an inspiration for future generations of Miners.
CURRENTLY
After retiring from the Herald-Post,
he wrote a column for the El Paso Times for several years and now is a
columnist for El Paso Inc. He has written or co-written six published books on sports
and written for numerous national
publications. The six books are:
The
gods of Racing (A humorous novel about the many trials and tribulations of
horse racing fans).
Haskins: The Bear Facts (An autobiography of legendary UTEP basketball coach
Don Haskins.
Basketball’s Biggest Upset (Texas Western changed the sport with a win over
Kentucky in 1966).
El
Paso’s Greatest Sports Heroes I Have Known (A historical novel).
From Browns to Diablos (The history of
professional baseball in El Paso co-written with Bob Ingram).
The Miners (The history of sports at University of Texas at El Paso
co-written with Bob Ingram)
photo courtesy of Ruben Ramirez, the El
Paso Times.
February 2, 2006
Headline: ’66
Iowa-Miners movie
game was great
editing
One of the
complaints most
often heard about
the movie Glory Road
concerns the way the
Texas Western
Miners-Iowa game was
depicted ... It
showed the Miners
trailing by as much
as 20 points and
coach Don Haskins
telling Bobby Joe
Hill to go ahead and
play his style of
game … Actually, it
was a masterpiece of
editing, and I’ll
tell you why …
THE ABOVE incidents
didn’t happen in the
Iowa game – but they
happened in other
games. … The Miners
came from 20 points
behind to win and
David Palacio was a
key player and Hill
went wild, just like
in the movie, but
that was against New
Mexico! … And as
for Hill unleashed
to play his game,
that didn’t happen
in the Iowa game, or
even that season, as
the movie showed. It
happened the
previous season ...
DO YOU see what
Disney did? The Iowa
game was important
because it was the
first time the
Miners beat a ranked
team (Iowa was No. 5
at the time). The
Miners’ victory over
New Mexico was the
greatest comeback of
the season and
showed what the
Miners were made of.
And Hill was
unstoppable after
Haskins threw up his
hands and let Hill
loose … Filming
separate games would
have made the movie
much longer so
director James
Gartner and whoever
else was responsible
incorporated those
three extremely
important facts into
one scene …
OKAY, SO you would
like to find out
how, where and when
those key things
really happened?
There’s only one
place you can find
that in detail – as
well as the way
other things really
happened that season
-- and that’s in the
book “Basketball’s
Biggest Upset.” … As
the book’s promo
says: “Here you will
find the true story
of the Miners’ march
to the 1966 NCAA
championship.” …
January, 2006
Headline: Glory Road
movie makes the 1966
Miners come to life
The 1966 Texas Western
College Miners have
brought us fame, thrills
and joy beyond our
wildest dreams and will
continue to do so for
generations … The books
written about them are
fine, but there’s
nothing like a movie.
You can see, feel and
almost touch the people
in a movie. Disney
out-did itself in making
it all come to life with
Glory Road …
AND DID you like the
movie? Many, many people
do. And who better to
ask for opinions than
those close to me ... My
daughter Anita, who saw
it in Las Vegas where
she lives now: “I loved
it. People applauded. I
went to school there
when it happened. What a
thrill. I cried.”… My
son Victor, who saw the
movie in Austin where he
lives now: “It was
great. I hadn’t seen
people applaud after a
movie in a long time.” …
Another son,
David, who lives in
Irving: “I didn’t hear
any applause but
everybody in the theater
was crying.” … A
neighbor, Mario Erivez:
“I got chills from start
to finish.” … Golfing
buddy Martin Smith: “One
of the best movies I
ever saw.” …
COACH Don Haskins got
applause and laughs when
he appeared in the movie
in El Paso theaters and
even got some out of
town … Anita reports she
heard a couple of
chuckles when his scene
showed up in Las Vegas
... Figures. He played
many games there …
BUT THE two things that
count the most in rating
the movie: Glory Road
was the country’s top
money making movie for
the 4-day opening
weekend, hitting $16.93
million … And Roger
Ebert, the most
respected critic of all,
gives it thumbs up and
three stars …
BUT I would be remiss as
a newsman if I said
there was no
disagreement. Several
folks I know believe the
race angle was overdone.
One who doesn’t mind
speaking his mind in
public is Kevin Lovell,
general manager of KVIA-TV
Channel 7 in El Paso.
Here’s what he wrote:
“Had the movie
depicted racism just as
it was for the Texas
Western team in 1966
that would have been
story enough. However to
greatly exaggerate the
racism detracts from the
real story. I found the
fictitious scene where
Haskins tells the team
he will only play the
black players to be
nothing short of
appalling. It soured for
me on what otherwise was
a very enjoyable
film. Haskins would
never make such an overt
racial statement. He was
playing his best players
and because they
happened to be black and
that shows he was
entirely color blind -
something Disney
obviously felt was not
compelling enough to
sell tickets.” …
EVERYONE is entitled to
his opinion. I can only
speak for myself. I
loved the movie … It was
exciting, inspiring and
historic … I think it
will go down as a
classic as time goes by
… Would I even dare say
that it’s better than
Hoosiers?
Ray Sanchez is a veteran
sports journalist and
author. Suggestions for
his
column welcome. Call him
at 584-0626 or email him
at rayf358@yahoo.com
December, 2005
Headline: Bear, players
and their share of 'Glory
Road' money
Some people think Don Haskins
is a rich man today because of
the movie Glory Road, which is
about Texas Western College’s
march to the NCAA national
basketball championship in 1966.
“I have been asked if I’m a
millionaire now,” the former
UTEP basketball coach says with
a frown.
Not so, although he would
have been a lot better off
financially if it weren’t for an
extraordinary act of generosity
on his part.
Disney Studios paid him
$300,000 for the rights to his
part in the movie. Each of the
seven black players who played
in the championship game against
University of Kentucky was paid
$7,500. The five white players
on the team were not included in
any up-front money.
When Haskins learned how much
his players received he wasn’t
satisfied. He told Disney
officials to split his share
with the players and his
assistant coach and trainer. Not
only that, he told Disney he
wanted some money to go to
members of the athletic
department who were at Texas
Western College at the time.
And he insisted that Disney
do the bookkeeping.
“I must have driven the
accounting department crazy,”
Haskins says. “They kept telling
me how difficult it was doing
all that figuring and writing
all those different checks but I
kept insisting on it. After all,
this was a team victory, not
just my victory.”
There was some other earlier
front money and Bobby Joe Hill
and David Lattin had signed a
contract with ESPN which had
been planning another movie. So
when all was done and figured,
each of the principal members
involved wound up with, roughly,
$32,000 – as did Haskins.
Haskins can’t remember
exactly how much each of the
then-members of the athletic
department (which included the
athletic director, sports
information office, secretaries
and others) got but, Haskins
says, “it was $4000 here, $4500
there and so on.”
There may be more money to
come, depending on how the movie
does financially.
All that was before it was
announced that a Disney
subsidiary, Hyperion Press,
wanted Haskins to collaborate
with author Dan Wetzel on a book
which would carry the same name
as the movie. Haskins could make
more out of that than he did
with the movie.
Hyperion Press paid him a fee
up front (Haskins can only say
it was a “good sum”) and he will
get a share of every book sold
since he is listed as the
co-author with Wetzel.
The book has the full backing of
Disney and its promotion
department and is expected to do
very well financially. The book,
in paperback, retails for $14.95
and is already in book stores
and on internet web sites around
the country. Haskins has been
asked to attend book signings.
The seven black players on
the team were Hill, Lattin,
Harry Flournoy, Orsten Artis,
Nevil Shed, Willie Worsley and
Willie Cager. The white players
were Jerry Armstrong, David
Palacio, Dick Myers, Louie
Baudoin and Togo Railey.
Shed, an outspoken member of
the team, said from his home in
San Antonio that he can’t
remember the exact amount he
received and added that money
was not a big thing with him.
“It’s a great story and I’m glad
it’s being told,” he said.
The players were in town this
week for a Sunday book signing
of the book Glory Road and were
to attend a special showing of
the movie on Monday at Cinemark
Theater on the West Side.
The Miners finished their
memorable 1966 season with a
record of 28-1 and a 72-65
victory over Kentucky in the
finals of the NCAA tournament.
It was the first time five black
players had started in the
finals of the meet.
Weekly Columns 
by Ray Sanchez
