"Express" yourself ... just keep it real
"There are some lines people don't want to see crossed," says Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder, played by Dennis Quaid, in the new movie "The Express."
And sometimes, lines are crossed that shouldn't be. Like, bending the truth.
Following up on today's column (linked here) about the fact-twisting involved in the Ernie Davis biopick:
==A piece on CBS Sportsline.com by Randy Williams (linked here), ranking the best tear-jerker sports flicks that involve the mortality of the subject. First, those "based on a true story" flicks -- "Brian's Song," etc. -- and then those that are pure fiction -- "Field Of Dreams," etc. Williams is the author of "100 Movies -- The Best of Hollywood's Heroes, Losers, Myths and Misfits." On Williams' Top 5 list for each, "The Express" didn't make either.
==A piece on ESPN.com by Jeff Merron (linked here) that also points out that the player in the movie named Jack Buckley (played by Omar Benson Miller), a huge lineman called "JB," is a fictional composite of good friends John Brown, an offensive tackle, and John Mackey, the eventual Hall of Fame tight end. Neither Brown nor Mackey are referenced in the film.
==A piece in the Houston Chronicle (linked here) that mentions, among many things, how the Heisman Trophy ceremony was completely fabricated. It wasn't until 1977 that the winner was announced at a huge banquet; before that, it was a news release, and he was invited to the banquet.
==A piece in the St. Petersburg Times (linked here) that quotes former teammates Patrick Whelan and Dick Easterly as saying Davis was friendly and funny, which is hardly depicted in the film.
==A piece in The Charleston Daily Mail (linked here) about the outrage by West Virginia people over being depicted as bigots and throwing garbage at the Syracuse team, one here (linked here) about the governor's outrage, and a letter to the Daily Mail editor (linked here) over the situation.
==The official movie site (linked here)
==Other piece of info about Davis, the "forgotten American hero" who "changed the game forever " (according to the commercials) that weren't revealed in the movie, but you'd think they would be (and maybe someone like Bob Costas, a Syracuse grad who's been helping promote the movie, would like to insert for fact):
*He was the first African-American to join the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, which was a predominantly Jewish fraternal organization.
*He was the first African-American taken No. 1 in the NFL draft, by Cleveland (after a trade with Washington).
*And that Dec. 5, 1959 game, nationally televised as Syracuse beat UCLA 36-8 to secure its No. 1 spot before the Cotton Bowl -- that contest was played at the Coliseum (the movie doesn't seem to make that distinction).
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