"This bus leaves for New Orleans in five minutes." "Five minutes, folks." "is this seat taken?" "Hey, anybody got a sock?" "Thanks, man." "Shake and bake, man." "Shake and bake." "Shake and bake, man." "Shake and bake." "Never been beat, man." "Never been beat." "Work your show, Snow." "Coach, check it out." "Kentucky won a game with this very play last week." "Coach Rupp got different kind of boys than we got here, doesn't he?" "You can take the basketballs out, Heatwave." "Yeah, Coach." "Nice to see you." "Hi, Jim." "How you doing?" "Here they come, the 1965 edition... of the best basketball team in ew Orleans." "All right, do it." "Come on, guys." "The St. Augustine Purple Knights!" "Snow Lurcher, Touché Washington..." "Antoine Toussaint, Boo Charbonnet... and the Purple Knights'leading scorer..." "Travis Porter!" "Damn!" "And in local sports, Mike Malone led undefeated, top-ranked Jesuit High over...." "Jesuit?" "St. Aug is undefeated, too, radio man." "The secret to St. Aug staying on top year after year... boys around here would wheel their beds under the rim at night if they could." "In Mobile, Alabama, today, local police using dogs and fire hoses... broke up a demonstration of nearly 500 civil-rights protestors." "Some niggers don't know when to quit." "Talking about the news reporter or those boys?" "You from up North?" "Yeah." "Suppose l am." "Let me see what you got there." "Yeah." "Good morning." "Travis!" "Gotta pry that boy out of bed." "Travis!" "Coming!" "That's the star of the game I hear?" "Morning, Mommit." "Somebody moved my slippers." "No, Mommit, they're right here." "Okay, test time." "Graduated Indiana U." "Field goal percent: 49." "31 .6 points a game." "Walt Bellamy, '61-'62 season, Baltimore Bullets." "They're the Bullets now." "Chicago Packers." "Trés bien." "Okay." "All right, all aboard." "Go on, boy." "Train leaving the station." "Come on, Mommit. I'm in a rush." "There." "His head's getting as big as that ball he dribbles day and night." "He's stopped doing his chores, and his grades are slipping, Howard." "The boy's a good student now." "Was, honey." "All I see him read these days is that sports page." "I'll talk to him." "Morning, Momma." "Your dad wants to speak to you." "What the papers say about my Celtics?" "They beat the Pistons." "I know that. I heard the game on the radio." "l just want to know what the paper says." "Papers say they beat the Pistons." "How many Antoine put in for y'all last night?" "Six." "You won't find it in there, though." "I'm late." "We got a warning notice for you in history." "I got it under control." "We pay good money for you to go to St. Augustine." "I don't see that grade rise up in history... your father gonna pull you right off that court." "Ain't that right, Howard?" "What did I do?" "l'm not done with you yet." "Leave the boy alone, Thelma Ann." "Even the slaves had a day off, didn't they?" "Christmas." "Very funny, Momma." "Hi, Travis." "Hey, Travis, look here." "Heard you boys did good last night." "Hey, Little Rich." "Miss my game again, man?" "His ducats weren't right." "He had to get happy." "Why you grinning?" "Hey, Clank." "Thought you was through with the smack, man." "Methadone, baby. I'm on the method." "Coming clean." "You know." "Hey, look, don't let me hold you, my brother." "You just keep taking care of business on that hardwood, see?" "Always." "Later." "Later, Clank." "You little nun-school, nappy-head mother" "Lighten up, Clank." "That's my boy." "You're late, Mr...." "Porter." "Travis Porter." "That's a bad habit to get into, Mr. Porter." "This being another bad habit." "The Josephite Brothers of St. Augustine remain dedicated to the goal... of incorporating the Negro people into the Church and American society." "Now, don't you look like a reptile..." "75% of you..." "...about the head?" "...will go on to college." "95% of that group will graduate." "We seek to be the very best..." "Look like an armadillo about the face." "...in everything we do." "Over the weekend..." "Shut up, Touché." "...our basketball team... advanced to the city semifinal round with victory number 28." "You dead, pretty boy." "We were also handed a defeat." "Our petition to integrate... the Louisiana High School Athletic Congress... was denied by a vote of 185 to 1 1 ." "Damn!" "We will hold our heads high and petition again next year." "And now, I'd like to introduce to you a new addition to our faculty." "He'll be taking over Father Redmond's history classes." "He's an old friend... and one of my most favorite students at seminary." "Please welcome Father Joseph Verrett." "See?" "I told you." "And now, gentlemen..." "Now why would a brother... wanna be a father?" "..." "let us raise our voices in song." "You know what I mean." "Don't know why you keep on with those plays." "Mr. Charbonnet." "Tell me about 1492." "Columbus sailed the ocean blue?" "Columbus sailed the ocean blue." "Why?" "To discover America." "We had all this in grammar school." "He find anybody when he got there?" "Indians." "Then how could he discover it?" "A drawing." "Mr...." "Hundley." "No, sir." "No, sir, that there is..." "Columbus' path to the New World." "l see." "Gets a nice pick from the off guard here." "Gentlemen, you'll find that being members of the basketball squad... impresses me far less than it did my predecessor." "Mr. Porter... 1492." "ina, Pinta, Santa Maria... tried to find a route to China." "Traveled west." "Why not east, the way they'd been going for decades?" "Could it be because of all the niggers sitting in the way?" "Who here can tell me about the Moors?" "This Father V sure got him some attitude." "Hey, he don't like B-ball players much." "Then he should love you, Boo." "l used to get my beauty sleep in history." "And you need a truckload of that." "You could drain this tar baby's bath water and make ugly soup." "A brother who get no coochie get to be mean." "Speaking of which, Denise Givens and her club... giving a set at the park tonight." "Well, y'all can ride with me." "Just leave room for one of them project girls." "Hey, Father Grant, I was" "Don't even try, William." "Right." "See you." "Give me a minute, will you?" "You know, it's gonna be good having you here, Joseph." "It's gonna give these boys a better, you know...." "Role model." "Having a Negro priest in Baltimore is one thing, but in Louisiana...." "l remember, back in the seminary... you weren't even sure I should become a priest." "Of the many vows you took when you entered the priesthood... there's one, apparently, you still forget." "Obedience." "Bob, the people in that Baltimore neighborhood... had been planning the community center for two years." "All of a sudden the Church decides it wants a rectory?" "The Monsignor got rid of me because they were wrong, Bob... and they knew it." "Leading a strike against your own Archdiocese. ls that right?" "Now, you try those strong-arm tactics down here-- l'm a history teacher, Bob." "A history teacher, period." "The Monsignor wanted you out of the order." "I asked him to give you another chance." "The Lord likes to set obstacles in our way, Joseph, to test us." "Maybe coming back here is your test." "And maybe I'm yours." ""Cassius Clay can't punch."" "The heavyweight champion of the whole wide world can't punch?" "Man, you crazy." "Joe Louis can punch." "Rocky Marciano can punch." "Cassius Clay can't punch a time-clock." "You be the time-clock and let him punch you." "Boy, how you get so ugly in one lifetime?" "Same way you did." "Hey, young blood!" "Boy, you looking slick out there last night." "Thanks, Alphonse." "Hey, Jukebox." "Mr. Breaux." "Hey, son." "We're running low on water over there." "Run out and get a fresh jug in the back." "Sure thing, Pop." "Boy as good as they say?" "Man, he the best in the city." "Not according to the Globe." "Mike Malone made 30 points for Jesuit last night." "I don't know what you reading that paper for." "Travis is in the colored news." "When this be a colored world, I'll start reading the colored news." "Every time you open up with that fat mouth" "Don't come here and start no mess with me." "How you doing this afternoon?" "Fine, young man." "How are you?" "I'm Rod from SNCC." "Oh, yeah?" "I'm from snack." "Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee." "I'd like to give you some information about the bus boycott, the Freedom Riders." "You can't give us nothing, not in here." "lt's just information, sir." "And I can't have it in my shop." "You better leave." "Anybody?" "How about you, sir?" "Well, you have a good day." "Any of y'all ever take a trip down on a Greyhound?" "'Cause if that's freedom, you can have it." "Hey, man, where did Antoine go?" "Where you think Antoine went?" "My man done sniffed something out." "Now, he gone and get it." "Y'all are awful." "Thanks." "We ought to go inside." "We're paying the same amount of money for the same ice cream." "Y'all need to excuse Travis." "Travis all full of ideas 'cause his parents never told him he was a nigger." "Hush up, man." "Man, look." "Look." "Malone from Jesuit in there talking to Ralph Landry, the Tulane coach." "That gym is like a palace, man." "The closest you'll ever get to that gym is bent over a bucket and a mop." "Y'all just jealous." "He can have Tulane." "I'm going up North to play ball." "Sounds good, Mike." "Catch you in the spring, all right?" "Yeah." "You were amazing." "lt's the real deal, my friend." "Big, old, rusty-headed, duck-footed, cabbage-eating, two-hand-dribbling... ham-and-egg orangutan." "If I had an ax, I'd chop the ugly thing down." "Get the dude in the open court" "You got a problem, buddy?" "Nothing a round ball in your ass couldn't fix." "Easy, Boo." "You bring that circus-clown crap down the lane against me... I'll knock you and the ball all the way back to the projects." "How about that?" "That's tough talk coming from a team scared to play us." "We'd whup your ass." "Don't waste your breath, Mike." "Let's blow." "That chump be out there with his big old nasty butt to the hoop..." "catch the ball, turn around, and toss it?" "Later, Boo." "That guy's a joke." "Come on." "They did get 30 against lmmaculate Conception." "Two shot." "It's all right, son." "Take your time." "Boo Charbonnet steals!" "Boo!" "Boo!" "Yeah!" "Yes!" "Travis got 16!" "Get back!" "Get back!" "Back!" "Not much of a contest, is it?" "They're only up by 10." "Should be 20." "You still got family down here?" "No." "Doesn't he call any plays?" "I didn't think you'd care for basketball." "Purple Knights, 39." "Cohen Green Hornets, 29." "Coach Elroy, how are you doing?" "We got a little situation." "Who are those two with Coach Elroy?" "l have no idea." "So you the new colored father?" "Yeah." "I guess they should make me an attraction on the bus tour." "Father Verrett." "Howard Porter." "My boy said you give out the most homework." "That's good." "What's your boy's name?" "Travis." "He's lighting them up out there tonight." "Oh, okay." "So the college recruiters sniffing around?" "Grambling, Southern, Morgan State, all the colored schools." "But he wanna go up North." "Integrated school." "Well, he shouldn't have to go up North for something like that." "Where you from, Father?" "Baltimore, most recently." "See, down here, "should" and "is" is a long ways apart." "Something wrong?" "Yeah, Lefty Simmons, coach over in Lafayette Junior College... had a stroke yesterday." "Elroy's taking the job." "Starts tomorrow." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Go on, son." "That's what I'm talking about, son." "If I didn't think that you fellas... could breeze through to that state title on your own... I'd never make this move." "Coaching you young men has been one of the great privileges of my life." "I don't think that I'm exaggerating to say that you're... the best darn colored team that this state has ever seen." "Excuse me, Boo." "Good luck to you, fellas." "Lafayette Junior, man?" "Them chumps can't play no round ball." "Bunch of patty-caking, pass-and-pick..." "Clyde-Lovellette, set-shooting, lame-ass" "Damn, Boo, they white, though." "Of course they white." "Man ain't gonna make it in this world coaching no colored ball in Louisiana." "Screw him !" "We don't need him !" ""So pick up the white man's burden." ""The silent, sullen peoples will thank your God and you."" "Rudyard Kipling." "After the Spanish-American War, the accepted knowledge... was that the white Christian nations had to civilize their darker brethren." "Mr. Porter... your light's on, but I don't believe anybody's home." "Sorry, Father." "Perhaps a question from the sporting world will engage you." "Who said..." ""They're all right for the sprints..." ""but they can't handle the long distances"?" "Chick Viola?" "And who, may I ask, is that?" "Man who writes about sports for the Globe." "About white people's sports." "There's a separate section for the Negroes?" "Don't have no section at all." "l see." "Mr. Hundley, last week, I asked you to check your textbook... for information about the Moors." "What did you come up with?" "It said they was on the other side of the Crusades." "That's all?" "That's all." "My aunt saw a newsreel... where this Pope was doing a blessing on the Italian guys... going off to kill the Ethiopians." "That's right." "That was back in the '40s." "Pope Pius Xll." "Blessing somebody is different from sending them." "Father?" "How could he do that?" "Faith is...." "Religion... is supposed to be above politics... but as you learn more... you'll find that it's awfully hard to separate them." "Lord knows sometimes I wish I could." "I tried everybody in the Fathers' Club, they all got jobs." "Anybody outside the parish?" "You got any idea how little we were paying Coach Elroy?" "Somebody's got to fill in, at least temporarily." "Look lively, gang." "We're dragging out here." "Sister Gonzaga runs a tight ship... but she never really had a grasp of the zone defense." "Give your man the ball." "Come on." "Come on." "Turning out a bad play." "Yeah, that's what you get." "Always fooling around." "Hello, Sister." "Father, it's my legs." "All day long in the classroom... and up and down, and then this hard floor-- l understand, Sister." "We've got a volunteer." "For your sins." "l teach history." "l believe that sports are overemphasized." "They build pride." "All right, boys, gather up!" "There are better things to be proud of." "You tell them that." "Boys, your new coach, Father Verrett." "Let's offer it up, now." "Come on." "You ever play this game, Father?" "Yeah?" "Okay." "First team, I want you out on the court, playing man to man." "Second team, I want you in a two-one-three zone." "Okay, come on." "Father?" "Yeah." "We only play five at a time." "l meant a two-three zone." "Okay, come on." "Let's see some hustle!" "All right." "Mr." "Hundley..." "Don't get excited." "Zone." "Zone." "Zone." "...stay close." "Come on." "Come on." "Give me the ball." "I'm open. I'm open." "Give me the ball." "Let's go. I'm open." "So what was that, Mr. Porter?" "Two points." "And what were they playing?" "Two-one-three zone." "Well, pass the ball." "You had Mr. Charbonnet wide open underneath." "Boo always open." "He ain't got no shot." "Pass... the ball." "Let's get back." "Let's get back." "Let's go." "Come on, brother." "Step." "Let's go." "See the pick." "See the pick." "Come on. I'm open." "Defense." "Go up." "Go up. I'm open." "All right." "All right." "Come on, T. Come on." "Let's go." "Come on, come on. I'm open, I'm open." "Pass the ball." "Stop moving." "You like that, Coach?" "Blow this." "Give me the ball." "All of the first team, off of the court." "Except for Mr. Porter." "Come on." "Move it." "Move it." "Play ball." "Ball in." "Go ahead." "Get after him." "Go." "Get after him." "You gonna let him walk it up the court or what?" "Press him." "Press him." "Press him." "Get on him, Isaac." "Get him !" "Get him !" "All right." "All right." "All right, Mr. Coach." "Kind of tough to do on your own, isn't it?" "You made your point." "So you score 20, 30, 40 points, whatever." "Doesn't mean anything if we lose." "We don't lose." "So you think you can throw this jog-and-pop stuff... up against a team like Jesuit and win?" "We ain't playing Jesuit." "Yes, we are." "Since when?" "You let me worry about the details." "Okay, first team on the floor." "Who gave you the authority?" "I mean, how could you promise that?" "You want me to coach a team?" "Fine." "I'll take it as an opportunity instead of a punishment." "But if I'm gonna do that" "You know how many years I have been petitioning that?" "I didn't say I was gonna integrate the whole conference." "Just one game." "A true city championship." "The white high-school champions versus the black high-school champions." "How hard can that be?" "How hard?" "These things take time." "We have just about run out of time... and, if we don't show some backbone, we're gonna lose our young people." "What's gonna happen to them when you disappoint them?" "The only way to disappoint them is by not trying to put right what's wrong." "You taught me that!" "What if we petitioned the Archbishop for just one game instead of...." "You're gonna have to stay calm, you know." "We just cannot make this thing public until we make a case." "Understood." "Okay. I gotta get back." "You know what you're doing in there?" "Vaguely." "Anything I can do to help?" "Prayer would be nice." "The man's crazy." "I got new blisters. lt's too late in the season to be getting new blisters." "I know, but think about Jesuit." "That would be something." "Man, the man done signed a check his ass can't cash." "Has the Archbishop been told about this idea?" "Well, I wanted to consult with all of you first." "If he's not onboard, I don't think we could help you even if we wanted to." "Our job, as I see it, is education." "Religious instruction." "Now you start bringing politics into it" "Politics?" "Now don't get on your high horse." "We'll run it by our parents' group and" "Oh, perfect." "And when they say no?" "Prejudice is a terrible thing, Father Verrett." "We mustn't condemn people before they've had their chance." "There's no use talking about this anymore, is there?" "He's in such a hurry." "Your manners could use some work, Father Verrett." "I don't know how you can sit there and listen to that copout." "It's called diplomacy." "If you're gonna get anywhere with them-- l know. I know." "A smile and a shoeshine." "Attacking your friends won't get you anywhere." "I'm sorry." "Think we made a dent?" "Well, Charlie McMillan had that guilty look." "The Jesuits are suckers for a good moral argument." "One step at a time, Joseph." "Yeah." "Come on." "You're going too fast for the ball." "Go ahead, fight for it." "All right, yeah." "Show that Northern boy how to play this game." "So, Chick, you seen this Maravich kid play?" "Yeah, I wrote a piece on him." "He's just a hot dog." "He ought to take it down to the projects where they play that jungle-bunny ball." "No, the real class in this town is Mike's kid." "Well, thank you, Chick." "lt's true." "As much of a bum as his old man is." "A lousy bum." "Now, why would he say that?" "You know, I talked to Ralph Landry over at Tulane." "Their tongues are hanging out." "Mike could go to Tulane." "It's close to home." "Excuse me. I'm looking for Chick Viala...." "Chick Viola." "I'm Chick Viola." "What can I do for you, Captain?" "I'm Father Joseph Verrett from St. Augustine High." "l was wondering" "You're a Catholic priest?" "That's right. I was wondering how a major high school with an undefeated-- l'm sorry. lt's just that I ain't never seen no colored priest before." "How do we not rate a single line in your entire sports section?" "Well, how much space do the white teams get in the Louisiana Weekly?" "You take care of yours." "We take care of ours." "It's the same game, isn't it?" "Same rules, same court." "Not around here, it isn't." "Now, I know you got some real high steppers over there at St. Aug... but you put them on the floor with a disciplined white squad" "Why don't we do that?" "Why don't we put them on the floor with a disciplined white squad?" "Just between you and me, Father... there'll be ice skating in hell before that happens." "Trust me." "Ice skating in hell, huh?" "Hey, Chick, you know, for a wop you ain't half bad." "They're getting flat out of hand, aren't they?" "Wilt Chamberlain." "Bill Russell." "Hey, Travis, why you always doing that with those cards?" "Oscar Robertson." "Oh, the Big O. Let me see." "World got no use for a one-handed point guard." "Don't be touching Travis' holy relics, Snow." "The man is serious." "Now, the point man drives and dishes to the wing." "Now, the wing hits the post when he tops off that pickup to the line." "Boston." "Cincinnati." "Cincinnati." "Cincinnati." "Father, this is the city final." "Now, if you don't know the plays, how are the guys gonna know the plays?" "Heatwave, I need a play." "Let's kill the clock... on North Carolina." "North Carolina." "Four corners." "North Carolina." "No shots." "No shots!" "Pass the ball!" "Travis, pass the...." "Okay, get back!" "Get back, Travis." "Get back!" "Stop forcing the shot!" "This is too close. lt shouldn't be this close." "Tell me about it." "Don't throw it." "No shots." "Defense!" "Defense!" "Defense!" "Foul on 23." "Shoot one and one." "Attaboy, William." "So what's that whistle?" "Boo Charbonnet shoots one and one." "That boy gonna pee his pants in this pressure." "Rebound!" "No." "No, rebound!" "Stop the ball!" "Stop the ball!" "Time out!" "Time out!" "l had a shot." "We don't need a shot." "We need the ball." "You've been gunning for yourself all night." "Father, you know history." "I know basketball." "You sit." "Isaac, you're in." "Isaac's a guard." "Sit." "Sit." "Okay." "Okay, Antoine, bring the ball in." "Get it to Snow." "Bring the ball right up." "Get into the offense." "Five seconds." "Last shot." "Everybody hits the boards." "Come on." "Let's do it." "Come on." "Come on." "Let's get it." "Knights!" "What's Travis sitting for?" "Shouldn't have took that last shot." "Yeah, well, who's gonna take this last shot?" "Go, Knights, go!" "Go, Knights, go!" "All right, come on!" "Come on, ice!" "Get back!" "Get back!" "Get back!" "I have a foul on number 15." "Shoots one and one." "What happened?" "Isaac Gainsworth got fouled." "That boy got some stones." "We did it!" "You did it!" "Touché..." "Oh, yeah." "...you think you sweet?" "Oh, yeah." "Then tell me why..." "Oh, yeah." "...you play so weak." "Oh, yeah." "Hey, Snow..." "Oh, yeah." "...you work your show?" "Oh, yeah." "You make any pass?" "Oh, no." "Y'all can kiss my ass." "Hey, Travis..." "Oh, yeah." "...you got that touch?" "Oh, yeah." "So tell me why..." "Oh, yeah." "...you miss so much." "Father, I think Buster's gonna be closed before we get there." "Yeah?" "Okay, I'll pull over to this place right over here." "Father?" "Yeah?" "l don't think that's a good idea." "Why not?" "What's going on?" "Okay, pit stop, champions." "All orders under $5." "We can't eat in here, Father." "Lights are on." "They serve food, don't they?" "Not to us." "You ever try?" "No." "Then how you know they can't?" "'Cause you just a spook with a funny collar to them, Father." "Son, if you sit in the back of the bus too long... you think you belong there." "Brother in a hurry to get to heaven." "Oh, Lord." "Excuse me." "Good evening. I'd like... 15 burgers, 15 fries, and Cokes to go, please." "I'm afraid I can't." "You can't, or you won't?" "What do you want, sir?" "l'd like to make a "to go" order, please." "We ain't taking "to go" orders." "Sir." "Then I guess I'm just gonna have to eat right here." "We don't have a table, either." "This table here is fine by me." "This one right here is fine by me." "Any specials I should know about?" "Hey, this don't look too good." "Somebody needs to go in there and get him." "Boo, you got the motor mouth." "Go talk to him." "Yeah, go talk to the teach." "Hell, no!" "I'm thinking to teach myself to drive this damn bus." "Now, you can either clear out now... or you're gonna be in a world of trouble." "And that outfit you're wearing... it only goes so far with me." "No." "Time for you boys to leave." "We're a team, Father." "Can't have one man off grandstanding on his own, can we?" "Now, what you gotta go make things hard for... stirring things up?" "Leave the boys alone." "This is between me and you." "Mr. Malone, the police will be here in a minute." "What you call them for?" "l thought you wanted me to." "God must be looking after you, boy." "Hey, John, I'm supposed to have me a visitor." "Hey, Father, it's been about a year since my last confession." "It's okay." "Let's go home." "Travis." "Name?" "Verrett, Joseph Verrett." "They ought to leave you in here." "I'll drive." "What you got to say for yourself?" "We were within the law." "The law?" "They burned 30 churches to the ground last year." "Did the law stop that?" "This was a public place." "They're killing people in public places." "You know that." "You put our boys in mortal danger." "No more danger than they're in every day of their lives." "I'll admit I should've checked the situation out first." "Just tell it to the Archbishop." "He wants us in his office 8:00 sharp." "It wasn't just him. lt was all of us." "He's the adult in charge, son." "The one responsible." "Tell me one thing we did wrong." "One thing." "I'm not talking about wrong, I'm talking about stupid." "You know how that white man gonna feel, you come walking into his place." "And them police, they don't care nothing about how many points you score." "You just another nigger to them." "Howard!" "That's what you want me to be?" "Just another nigger?" "You playing with me, boy?" "l'm trying to talk to you." "You wanna put up with them damn racist sons of bitches, then" "Travis, watch your mouth, boy!" "You ain't gonna catch me bowing and scraping just to get over." "You don't know a damn thing about it." "Now, that priest got you so turned around" "At least he got the courage to stand up." "That's it, Travis." "Up to your room now before I knock you down." "I mean don't let another word out of your mouth." "That boy has no idea what's going on." "We never wanted him to." "Never wanted him to." "Don't be punishing my wall, boy." "You hear all that?" "l'm blind, baby, not deaf." "You don't want to be hollering at your daddy like that." "He wants me to kiss up to them old fags." "He doesn't want nothing but for you to grow up straight and not get killed." "Your daddy had enough of trouble in his life." "l heard all the stories, Mommit." "Here's one you ain't." "Your daddy was with me in that field... the day them men... done this to me for sport." "He was just a boy... so what could he do but run and get the boss man to come quick and help?" "And all the boss man helped me see... was I better not make no trouble if I know what's good for me." "No doctors, no hospital, no nothing." "Your daddy, he was just a boy, Travis... but he never forgot... how helpless he felt working with me every day in that white man's fields... watching me slowly go blind." "We didn't do anything wrong." "I believe you, baby... but you got to learn." "You gotta learn to pick your shots." "You gotta make them count." "Your Excellency." "Please have a seat." "Please." ""St. Augustine Priest Endangers Students."" ""Negro Priest Sets off Diner Brawl."" "The papers blew it all out of proportion." "You think I'm an idiot, Bob?" "Of course not, Your Excellency." "Cut the Excellency crap!" "Oh, you Josephites are something." "First, you pressure my predecessor into trying to integrate the parishes." "Remember, Bob, the reaction that pastoral letter created?" "It was a firestorm, sir." "Well, congratulations, Father Verrett." "You have successfully unified our congregations at last." "My phone is ringing off the hook... from Negro and white parents demanding your head." "The Bible says, "Man cannot serve two masters."" "So you'd better make up your mind which tune you're marching to... and if I read one more thing in the paper about your outfit... it had better be a bingo tournament." "Hey, can you give us a break on all that noise, huh?" "What the hell?" "I'll get a broom." "Why do we have missions?" "Why do we have schools?" "Hospitals?" "If the church condones hypocrisy, if it condones racism" "We do not condone it." "We accept it, Bob." "We promote it." "No, we acknowledge it exists, but we do everything we can to fight it." "What?" "What, say our prayers and hope the rednecks see the light?" "Look at the school." "Look at the graduation rate, college acceptances." "Graduating to what, Bob?" "Graduating to what?" "We tell these boys, "Get educated." "Get religion." "Be a credit to the race."" "That won't cut it anymore." "All right, join the protestors... but don't use the Church as a shield, and don't use my boys to back you up." "Your boys?" "Your boys?" "l built that school." "I put my whole life into it." "I will not see it destroyed." "What are you afraid of?" "is it the Archbishop?" "Or are you afraid that if we really change things around here... you won't be able to play the great white father anymore?" "That's totally uncalled for." "Bob...." "Bob." "Bob." "When you young men graduate from this high school... you should be prepared to make certain decisions... whether that's stepping into a stolen car or joining a civil rights march." "Not because somebody dares you to... but because you thought about the consequences... and you know what's right." "Last night... I brought you young men into a personal situation... without thinking about the consequences." "That was wrong." "lt wasn't wrong." "To each of you... I apologize." "I'd like to add a few words." "Believe me when I tell you that years from now... what each of you will remember most vividly... is winning the city championship." "We haven't won the city championship." "This school is immensely proud of you." "And your parents, too." "According to this morning's Globe..." "Jesuit and De LaSalle are playing for the city championship." "When do we play the winner, Coach?" "We're not." "What?" "After what's happened, I'm afraid I have to tell you... that we can no longer expect to play that game." "Mr. Porter, I know you're mad, but we're not finished here." "Travis." "Travis!" "Hey, you ever see my boy work that pill?" "I schooled him good." "Hear he's better than you was." "Oh, man, you crazy." "Hey, who's up?" "Let me show you." "You ain't saying nothing, man." "That's what I'm talking about." "That's what I'm talking about." "Just gonna get my health together, I'm gonna call up the Sixers." "Old Chet Walker be polishing the pine." "Hey, let me see that rock." "Come here." "Look here, Travis." "Come on." "Guard me, now." "Come on, Ricky." "Come on, boy." "You ain't that good." "Put some pep in your step." "Shoot." "See?" "See, now you got some big piece of work leaning on you now, boy." "Lay it on me." "That's right." "That's right." "See, now what you do... you use those chicken wings." "You hook by the man." "The young boy can't play." "Show that rookie what's happening." "Hey, I ain't through with you yet." "Now, come on." "Check this out." "See what you can do?" "You fake him up, see?" "Then see your boy open beneath the net and deal." "Slick, right?" "Right." "Let me hold a piece of that, Clank." "Don't none of it mean a damn thing." "You still supposed to be in training, ain't you, T?" "For what?" "So I can run around the court a while longer?" "And brag on it while I'm cutting heads... or shining white folks on the Pullman cars?" "You got it knocked, Ricky." "I ain't playing nobody's game." "What kind of jive you talking, man?" "What's wrong with you?" "Hey, man, you wasted my taste." "You on the move, baby." "We ain't got no room for another sorry-ass brother on these bricks." "They got the whole thing stacked." "So quit your whining to us, and take it hard to the mothers." "Ain't nobody gonna do that for you." "Go and get your lanky ass out of here." "Go on!" "You're high, man." "Travis." "Travis, where we going, man?" "Well, we going the wrong way." "That's for sure." "This is Jesuit." "No way." "No way, Travis." "Last time we listened to you, we almost caught it at Malone's." "Then wait here." "You know what that says, don't you?" ""All ye niggers who enter here die."" "Shut the hell up, Boo." "Come on." "This place is a palace." "Five!" "Four!" "Three!" "Two!" "One!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "Yeah!" "You remember me?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "That trophy don't mean jack till y'all play us." "Get out of here." "Take your hands off me." "Unless y'all afraid." "Anytime, anywhere, buddy." "Saturday, 2:00, the Rosenwald courts." "We'll be there." "If you're not, we'll know why." "You crazy?" "That's on their turf." "You know, every time I turn around... somebody's whispering about these colored boys." "How good their team is." "We have to show them once and for all." "Show who?" "Travis." "You okay?" "l did it, Coach. I did it." "You did what?" "The game's on." "I went over there and just...." "I challenged them." "You went over to Jesuit just now?" "You know what's weird?" "I wasn't even scared." "Really, I wasn't." "But I'm scared as hell of going home." "Come on in." "It isn't a rumble. lt's a game." "Now, suppose those white boys do show up... how they gonna get out of this neighborhood alive?" "Y'all know how it is in this town now." "There's some angry people living around here." "That our fault?" "Your father's not blaming you for what you did, Travis." "Don't take his side." "Them white boys sure don't have to worry about any trouble from him." "Some of this is probably my fault." "l won't argue that." "I think what Travis did today was incredibly brave." "Both of these teams want exactly the same thing." "If we could rally public opinion" "That Viola won't even put my boy's scores in his paper." "Now, he's your public opinion." "Shame to see a man treat his own like dirt." "Who treats his own like dirt, Momma?" "That Chick Viola." "Man is passing." "Chick Viola is passing?" "Everybody know that." "My friend, Claire Borders, over in New Iberia... is his...." "Let me see, now." "His great aunt." "Their side got the good hair." "Awful to see a man ashamed of his own self." "Father Verrett, to what do I owe this pleasure?" "I think this basketball game is an awfully good idea." "Please." "When colored and white get that close, it generally leads to a fight." "And which side do you take?" "I side with my people, Father." "That's human nature." "Oh, I see." "So I can count on your support, brother?" "Brother?" "What are you talking about?" "You're a good writer." "I hear next year they're thinking about moving you up to the college beat." "That's mighty white of them." "Oh, you mean they didn't know." "Oh, a word couldn't make a difference." "Words are just words, right?" "lt's time for you to leave." "lt doesn't matter what color the writer is." "Like basketball is just... basketball." "Get the hell out of here, you son of a bitch." "I worked hard for everything I got." "And our boys didn't?" "You got born light enough to pass." "Change that one thing, and where are you?" "You breathe one word of this and I'll" "And what?" "I breathe one word, and you'll what?" "You hear about that Chick Viola, used to write sports for the Globe?" "Ain't that something?" "I always thought he had a touch of the tar brush." "I was brought up white... and when I found out, and I saw how that side of my family had to live...." "l ain't never treated no colored bad." "You'd destroy me over some stupid game?" "Hey, look at this, now." "Look at this." "Look it there." "Get that out of my face." "Howard, look at this." ""lt's high time the city joined the 20th century." ""Could it be that the best ranked Jesuits are ducking their stiffest competition?"" "What this boy have for breakfast?" "One second!" "One basketball game is all we're talking about." "Hang on." "Hang on for one second." "It's one basketball game." "That's all we're talking about." "That brick might as well have Travis' name on it." "Mr. Blanchard, I take responsibility for that." "For" "You come down from Baltimore with your ideas" "Let the man talk." "You got no idea what you dealing with down here." "I know damn well what I'm dealing with down here." "l grew up right across the river in Algiers." "Algiers?" "Ain't no Verretts in Algiers." "Not anymore." "I went North to live with my aunt in 1943." "I was 14 years old." "I got in a fight on the playground." "I tried to kill a white boy." "Then some cracker with a badge come looking for me... so my grandpa and grandma, they put me on the first bus out of town." "I never expected to be back here." "So you mad at the world, and you want revenge." "I don't suppose anything like that has ever happened to any of you men." "I don't suppose any of you have ever had to swallow your pride... turn tail, and run." "I bet you every one of you fought back whatever way you knew how." "You pushed against it and pushed against it till you hit a wall." "A wall that just wouldn't budge." "You are all good fathers." "That's why you're here." "You wanna protect your children." "But don't you be the wall that keeps them back." "You think your sons aren't good enough... to step foot on a basketball court with a white team?" "It's not that simple, Father." "We are all equal in the eyes of God." "It is absolutely that simple." "You know what'll be nice?" "They got showers at Jesuit... and glass backboards like at college." "When I left St. Aug, I just thought the pill would take me all the way." "I turned down what colored schools would take me." "I waited for that call from up North." "Waited." "My rep didn't travel." "See, I ain't never tuned in to schooling the way you do." "Then I got behind that horse." "Here I be." "I was the best this city ever seen... but you stepping out there for me, Trav... for all the brothers ain't never got a shot." "You gonna do us proud." "You're up awfully early." "You never saw Little Ricky play, did you?" "The word grace comes to mind." "You know, all these years, I've been counting my successes." "I got this one out. i got that one out." "Escapees, like helping someone tunnel out of prison." "There are worse ways to spend your life." "We shouldn't be digging tunnels." "We should be pushing the walls down." "Our proposal is that a non-league game... be played this weekend behind closed doors." "Just the teams and their families... coaches, referees, nobody else." "I will not compromise on the safety of my family." "We're just trying to avoid a confrontation in the streets, sir." "You do not have the right... to walk in here and force people to change their way of life." "I understand your fear completely." "Now, your boys here at Jesuit... have a wonderful team, third best in the whole nation." "They deserve bragging rights... as the best basketball team in Louisiana history... and if somehow they manage to lose to a bunch of colored boys..." "fresh off the playground" "Now, hold on here." "Father, can I say something?" "Go ahead, Coach Skinner." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Now, I...." "l just want to put it on record... that I have never been afraid to play the colored." "I ain't afraid now, and I will never be afraid to play the colored." "And that goes for the rest of my team as well." "Let's go." "Daddy." "Hop to it, mister." "Come on, Mike." "At least you gotta vote." "It's just one thing to play them." "It'll be a whole other thing if we beat them." "Amen." "Burn my whole place down." "Mr. Blanchard, in all fairness, the people who do that sort of thing... need no provocation." "Pardon me, Father." "We have to live with them while you hightail it back North." "Father Verrett." "What about us?" "What about my teammates, my classmates... and all the stuff you older people teaching us in school about..." "God and government and how to be?" "We'd like to believe in it... but it's gotta be real." "Y'all gotta live it, not just talk it." "All parents in favor of a controlled exhibition with Jesuit High School... may I see a show of hands, please?" "Mom, put your hand down." "Girl, if I ain't a parent, nobody is." "That's almost unanimous." "Whether the parents at Jesuit High open their hearts or not, I'm...." "Father?" "I believe we have ourselves a basketball game." "Yeah!" "I'm gonna run and get a bite to eat, Doc." "Stay away from them grains." "Be right back." "Hey, Travis." "Hey, Mr. Blanchard." "Big game today." "Want you to beat their butts, now." "We gonna try." "You on your way already?" "I was so nervous sitting around, I had to get up out of there." "Sit down." "Can't have you looking all raggedy for the big leagues." "Game wasn't much in my day." "Just pulled the bottom out of the peach basket." "Baseball was my thing." "Morgan City Pirates." "You know all my stories." "Not all of them." "You ever play white teams?" "No." "Didn't want to shine it up." "You know, clowning and all." "Them days, they wanted you smiling, or they wanted you gone." "Listen, son, today, win or lose, I'm real proud of what you done... standing up and all." "Yeah, you gonna look real clean tonight." "Daddy, I'm the captain of this team." "For me to miss a game...." "You aren't missing a game." "Even Tulane gonna be playing teams with colored next year." "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." "I don't understand what difference" "You eat your damn dinner, or you go to your room !" "All right, we're gonna keep a tight lid on this thing." "Now, you tell your boys I don't want any displays." "That means no lip after the call, no tempers, no hot-dogging." "We ready?" "Good game." "Could we have another five minutes?" "One of my players is a little late here." "Let's go." "Let's play ball." "You got a man open." "Pass the ball." "Pass that thing." "Yeah!" "They're killing us." "Time out!" "So what's wrong with you people out there?" "Ain't nothing falling for us." "lt doesn't fall in." "You gotta put it in." "You afraid of these guys?" "No." "Then how come you're playing them like they're made out of porcelain?" "You scared to bump up against some white skin?" "Let me tell you something. lt don't rub off." "Okay, now it's real." "Yeah!" "Yes!" "is that legal?" "Glad you could make it." "Come on, baby." "Come on." "Wrap around." "So am I." "Come on, come on, come on." "Okay, hold on to the ball." "Yeah." "Nice shot." "Oh, God!" "The whole team done gone stiff." "Stop the ball!" "I'm not gonna talk to you about strategy... 'cause all of the plays are inside of you." "When I was a little boy..." "Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in New York City." "Black folks right here in New Orleans danced in the streets all night long." "Imagine, a black man... become heavyweight champion of the world." "And Joe Louis had the glory that night, but he didn't keep it to himself." "He passed it on... to Jackie Robinson, who passed it on to Bill Russell... who passed it on to Cassius Clay." "Today, that same glory is waiting out there to be passed on to you." "How long you gonna let these guys push you around?" "Can we have a moment to ourselves, guys?" "Where are the boys?" "They'll be here." "Oscar Robertson." "The Big O." "Hal Greer." "Blinding speed to the hole." "Satch Sanders." "Best defense on the planet." "Bill Russell." "True Sultan of Swat." "Wilt." "The Stilt." "Tower of Power." "Big Dipper." "Demon of the Dunk." "Lion of Judah!" "Let's get it." "Damn!" "Score!" "Come on." "Okay, let's get it back!" "Yeah!" "Now that's what I'm talking about." "Yes." "Cincinnati." "Yes, Cincinnati!" "That's my boy, Touché!" "Dunk that thing!" "Go baby!" "Go Snow!" "Here we go." "Basket good." "Come on." "Come on." "Make the shot." "Make the shot." "Come on, son." "Take your time, now." "Yeah!" "All right, get back." "Get back, now." "Come on, defense." "Defense." "Want to press?" "No, no, no." "Yeah, Mike!" "All right." "Come on." "Get back down." "Attaboy, Travis." "Good defense, Toine." "Do it, Mike." "Yeah!" "Come on, Mikey." "Toss it in the hoop, baby." "You get off that floor, son." "I told you you were not playing with these monkeys." "What?" "Monkeys?" "Are you coming, or do I have to drag you off?" "You get your ass off of that court 'cause right now I'm gonna kick...." "You hear me?" "You get your ass off" "Mike, calm down." "Get off the court, Malone." "Let the boy play." "Sit down!" "Let's play ball." "Yeah." "You go ahead and take your boy off the court if you want these coloreds to win." "Get off me." "You ready, son?" "Yeah!" "Yes." "Get back." "Get back." "Call time." "Time." "Call time!" "Come on." "Okay." "Great hustle." "Great hustle, guys." "Great hustle." "All right." "All right, guys." "Listen up." "Listen up." "You got 1 :12 left." "You're up by one." "All right?" "Now, only good shots, right?" "Only good shots." "You protect the ball." "We need the ball." "No fouls unless I signal it." "No fouls." "All right, Mike, only one shot." "If you got it, take it." "You okay, Mike?" "l'm fine. I'm okay." "Come on." "Let's do it." "All right, come on." "Let's hit it." "One, two, three, Knights!" "Eagles!" "Go get them, baby." "Go get them." "Give me the ball." "Give me the damn ball!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Get back!" "Get back!" "Get back!" "Kill the clock!" "Pass the ball!" "No shots, now." "No shots!" "I got him. I got him." "Boo, foul!" "Foul him, Boo!" "Foul him !" "Yes, sir!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "Call time out!" "Call time" "We don't have any time outs." "No time outs!" "No time outs!" "Five!" "Four!" "Three!" "Don't foul him !" "Two!" "One!" "The brothers by one." "We won!" "Nice pass, baby!" "We did it!" "Where did you learn to pass like that?" "I had a good teacher." "Hey." "Thanks, Coach." "You did it, son." "Go and see your momma." "Here's Travis, Momma." "Oh, Travis." "Give me some of that, boy." "Baby, we're so proud of you." "l'll take a moment. I'll be right back." "Good game." "You, too." "Well, Tulane's getting one hell of a player." "Well, they're missing out on one, too." "Look at them." "That's gonna be a great boost for this school." "Next year we integrate the league." "You never quit, do you?" "Should I?" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "Look at our young men." "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "We're number one!" "English (subripped by PicNiK)"