Remember of the Titan is a movie
about a football team; the setting of the story was during the horrible times
of racial segregation in the United States. Schools were finally being
desegregated and so therefore blacks and whites had to be in the same school,
classes, sports team etc. That idea did not sit right with a lot of the whites;
they did not believe it to was acceptable to share the same classroom with
African Americans. Regardless of people feelings, the desegregation happened
and because of that, the football teams had to also be combined.
Combining both football teams
became a huge problem for the community because parents had their kids in those
schools and did not feel safe with blacks going to school with their white
kids. The school hired a black football coach who turned the fate of that
football team around. The black coach was aware of the racial tension but he
did not care, he was determined to get his football players to the
championship. In the readings it states that it is important that individuals
in that organization are given specific roles that will be held accountable
for. That way work gets done efficiently. That is exactly what the coach did,
the football team left for camp for about a month. During camp, he separated
the whole team based on what position you played, and that is how they
functioned. The running backs only ate with the running back, only practiced
with running backs, they did everything together as a unit so everyone team
mate came get to know each other. Also he gave them a task of getting to know
every single individual on the team and at least 3 facts about them, and they
had to run a lot of miles a day until the whole team got to meet every team
member. This focused the player to put their differences aside and work
together; they could no longer bare the punishment. About 2 weeks into camp,
the whites and the blacks worked perfectly together, friendships were beginning
to be formed. As a result the team became very strong and very prepared for the
season
That season, the team won its first
championship and it was all because of the good structure he new coach brought
to the team. He put aside any racial problems going on, his main focus was to
lead the team to success. He treated everyone fairly, assigned specific roles,
he structured and restructured and in so doing, led the team to a great
championship win.
I liked that movie a lot. I will note that it didn't work fully. Some of the white players never did become friends with the black players. But the team captain took responsibility for that and had his former friend kicked off the team.
ReplyDeleteOne also has the impression that the team was quite talented. The captain was an All American. His roommate at the camp, Julius Campbell, was an awesome player. So was the quarterback. So they did have teamwork, yes, but they also had talent.
As to how much of one factor and how much of the other factor mattered, who can say. What does seem clear is that because they had to overcome adversity that the teams they played against did not, they may have come together closer as a group. The disadvantage turns into a plus. It doesn't always happen that way, even with teamwork and good leadership. But that possibility is there.