Texas Western team to visit White House -- 40 years late.

 

What a difference a movie makes. "Glory Road," the film tribute to the 1966 Texas Western basketball team from El Paso that won the NCAA championship with a groundbreaking all-black starting five, is No. 1 at the box office this week. And apparently it has made an impression on the White House.

coach Don Haskins, his wife Mary, players from the championship team and their spouses have been invited to meet President Bush and see a screening of "Glory Road" at the White House on Feb. 22, the El Paso Times reported today on its Web site.

They've probably seen the movie already, and the invitation comes a little late, but as 1966 starter Henry Flournoy told the Times "better late than never."

And Texas Western isn't even Texas Western any more -- it's the University of Texas at El Paso. But, thanks in large part to Hollywood, the memory of beating the basketball powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats (with its all-white starting five) lingers on.

7:35am UPDATE: Oops, we've just learned via the Drudge Report that "Brokeback Mountain" has replaced "Glory Road" as tops at the box office. Just a wild guess, but we suspect there won't be any White House screenings of this Golden Globe-winning movie about two sheepherders' longtime gay relationship.

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