John Feinstein didn't help matters either. He pounded the racist Rupp angle for years.Originally Posted by cumberlandreds
UK did have the first black football player in the SEC. So they can't be all bad.
The way I feel about Rupp is that he was a man of times. He may have said things then that were acceptable but not so today. He was typical of most white people of the United States of that time. I don't think he did anything to bar blacks from playing at UK. He did in fact recruit blacks in the early 60's without any success. Wes Unseld and Butch Beard were the most prominiment. Beard actually signed toplay at UK. But he signed at a couple of other places and I believe chose Louisville. Black kids and parents had to be terribly afraid of sending kids to the deep south to play a basketball game. Any intergration efforts in the south at that time were met with harsh resistance and usually violence. I couldn't blame any black kid from not going to UK at that time. Also UK was told by the SEC in the 50's not to recruit blacks or they would be barred from the SEC. UK chose not dispute that and kept the same policies. They probably should have chosen the other path and left the SEC but that's history now.
I really believe Rupp gets a bad rap from the media. He did nothing that prevented blacks from playing and said nothing of the like in public. The movie about the 1966 game against Texas Western in total sham and borderline fradulent. At the time nothing was said about the implications of that game and really not much until Curry Kirkpatrick of SI decided to go on his agenda about Rupps racism and effects of that game.
Bascially, was Rupp perfect? No not at all. He had his flaws and there are things he could have done differently but he was not some card carrying KKK member like many have portrayed him to be.
Sorry to be one of the 10% of IU fans that are cool.
