PHOTOS: 23 Animal Photobombs
Welfare Drug Testing Bill Withdrawn After Amended To Include Testing…
Fifty years ago, Little Rock Central High School changed the way millions of Americans thought about segregation. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 soldiers to Little Rock to escort nine black students into the school, and the students' bravery in the face of violence and racism was a powerful statement for the moral authority of the civil rights movement. With Little Rock and much of America preparing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine, Gary Smith writes a fascinating article in this week's Sports Illustrated that examines a long-forgotten aspect of Little Rock Central in 1957: It had the best high school football team in the state, and quite possibly the best high school football team in the country.
At least, it did until segregationists did the unthinkable, shutting down the school completely to prevent integration. As a result, that great (and all white) football team fell apart. Smith interviewed several members of the team, men now in their late 60s, and even half a century later, many of them still feel pain from having their high school football season taken away from them.
There is, unfortunately, one major flaw with Smith's story, one epitomized by his last 10 words, when he writes that the white football players whose team disbanded were treated so unfairly that they "got an inkling of how it feels to be black." That is preposterous. One group of kids lost a football season. Another group of kids feared for their lives every day. Both groups have good stories, and Smith is a good storyteller. Because of that, the article is worth reading, but it's a shame that Smith feels the need to find parallels between some ordinary teenage football players and the heroic Little Rock Nine.
Romney Compares Gingrich To 'Goldilocks' For Debate Crowd Gripes
Obama Administration And Banks Near Deal On Mortgage Fraud Legal Liability
Gingrich: Rival Will 'Mislead, Distort And Deceive'
Brewer's Message To Obama Revealed
Defense Secretary: Pakistani Doctor Provided Key Information To U.S. In Advance Of Bin Laden Raid
The Bad Things That Can Happen When You Lose Your Job
Former Boston Mayor Dies At 82
Apple CEO Responds To Report Of Horrific Worker Conditions At Foxconn
Jon Stewart: Gingrich Wants To Be 'Lunar Trump'
Cruise Line Offers $14,460 Per Person For Concordia Cruise
Creative Destruction: At Davos, Google's Eric Schmidt Dismisses Jobs Crisis
Twitter's New Censorship Policy Ignites Global Outrage
Job Search CEO Weighing N.Y. Senate Bid Was Sued By Own Workers
Occupy DC To Weigh Options After No-Camping Warning
The 2012 Debate Hate: A Tribute
Florida Primary 2012: Live Updates
LISTEN: Newt Gingrich's Lesbian Half-Sister Sounds Off On 'Open Marriage,' Politics
The 2012 Speculatron Weekly Roundup For Jan. 27, 2012
Kidnapped U.S. Citizen Freed
Conservative Media Attack Newt Gingrich
WSJ: Facebook May File For IPO Within Days
Jan Brewer Sets Date For Special Election To Fill Gabrielle Giffords' Seat
Reports: 'Terrifying Massacre' In Syria's Homs
