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Title: Slam Dunked: The NCAA's Shameful Reaction to Athletic Integration in the Deep South
ISBN: 1604811242
Author:
Ron Gomez
Publicate Date: 2008-05-19
Publish: 2008-05-19
List Price: $19.95
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $17.77
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $19.47
Amazon Merchant Price: $17.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Beryl Shipley deserves an apology
I grew up in Lafayette but was only 6 years old at the time of the NCAA death penalty. I highly recommend this book if you are a sports fan, especially if you are a Ragin Cajun basketball fan.
I remember vividly the post-Beryl Shipley era at Blackham Coliseum with great players like Andrew Toney, Graylin Warner, Dan Gay, Alonza Allen, Kevin Figaro, Dion Brown, Dion Rainey, etc. and of course the great coach Bobby Paschal. I'd always thought the Paschal era was the finest but this book proves the Shipley era was king and the way he was run out of town was shameful. The NCAA needs to be exposed. They owe Beryl Shipley and Cajun fans a formal apology and the University owes Shipley reverence and honor. Cajundome Blvd should be renamed Beryl Shipley Blvd. A statue of Dwight "Bo" Lamar should stand outside of the Cajundome. Reading this excellent book gives me a great understanding of the excitement in Lafayette at the time and how segregationist and racists manipulated the spineless and equally racist University administrators. Ray Authement, former President of ULL, I hope you are hounded about this until you admit what really happened and clear Shipley's name.
This book has the makings for a great movie or documentary. I hope Ron Gomez and Mr. Shipley have considered this.
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2: A slamming read
This is an eye opening account of what the NCAA and universities within Louisiana did to try and stop segregation of college athletics (specifically basketball) in the 1960's and 1970's. Explains what the coaches and players from the University od Southwestern LA (USL), now University of Louisiana-Lafaytte, were put through during the time of the investigations
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3: A Legend on Hardwood
Buy this book and own a timeless portrait of a legend.
There was Lombardi in icy Lambeua Field, Auerbach in the Garden in Boston, Stengel pacing the dugout in pinstripes, the man with the houndstooth hat on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa and other legendary coaches.
None were greater men, greater coaches or better leaders of men than Coach Beryl Shipley at The University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette.
Had Shipley coached in a media center like Boston or New York, or headed a marquee program like Alabama football, he would have come alive in major daily sports pages the way he dominates the pages of this book - - his legend would have been established long ago.
One has the sense the if Beryl Shipley had been in the military, he would have refused any commission that would have taken him from his men on the battlefield.
His greatness looms large in this text, larger than the legends referenced above for his actions in intergrating a college basketball program in the deep south evidenced uncommon courage.
The exhaustively documented text details the pervasive racism that surrounded Shipley both in his own university and in the state athletic commission. Worse yet, were the incompetent, overzealous actions of the NCAA that brought about the death of Shipley's program, his dream, and the dreams of deserving young men, members of his team.
But there were those times . . . all those times when Shipley led his integrated charges onto the hardwood . . . at home in a cow palace packed to the rafters . . . on the road before angry jeering crowds . . . and into the highest echelons of the sport in NCAA playoff games played in far away venues.
Ron Gomez, the author, not only has known Shipley well since the coach's first day on the job, but he was also a close witness to the things he reports in this book. Though he was close, he manages to present an objective view of the debacle and a restrained view of this great man who is his friend.
It is all interesting reading, but the portrait of Coach Beryl Shipley is riveting for he is a man who was right and was punished for being right, yet maintained his personal dignity throughout.
You get the feeling that the Coach might have cussed some in private, but in public he remained composed, kept his head when those all around him were losing theirs.
Every great man deserves to have the record set straight, deserves a monument to himself, and in these pages both of those things are accomplished for Coach Shipley.
At times in reading this, you wish you had been a few inches taller, possessed more athletic skills, and had been fortunate enough to have your life touched by this great man.
Ray Mouton
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4: He made history
I was a student at USL during the time the events in this book took place. Beryl Shipley was bigger than life then, and he's even bigger now. He made significant and positive history with respect to integrating sports in Louisiana. This book exposes the sham of back-room Louisiana politics and the pathetic actions of the NCAA and the University at that time in its history. Shipley deserves more recognition than he's received. Maybe this book will begin to show how much the man accomplished and how little the University deserved such a man. The NAACP should take a look at the events of this book and seriously consider honoring Beryl Shipley. We all knew he was a great coach, but few knew the battles he was fighting off the court with the University administration and Louisiana politicians. College sports fans need to read this book.
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