In the 1970s, Immaculata College was the juggernaut of women's basketball as three-peat national champions in 1972, '73, and '74. Now they are making a movie about the coach, Cathy Rush, who helped the team find success on a shoestring budget and lacking critical infrastructure like a gym. ESPN.com reports that Rush is excited about the movie and describes "Our Lady of Victory" as "part Hoosiers, part Sister Act, and part A League of Their Own."
Most folks have probably not heard of Immaculata. The "Mighty Macs" don't register as a b-ball powerhouse of the likes of Huskies and the Lady Vols. Immaculata's success was confined to the pre-Title IX era. The AIAW, the governing body of women's sports, initially banned member schools from awarding scholarships to female athletes, as a prophylactic against the commercialization of women's sports. But once Title IX required schools to offer proportionate scholarship dollars to male and female athletes, the scholarship ban was held illegal by the courts. Small schools like Immaculata couldn't afford to recruit the top players and no longer dominated the game.
But back to the movie: as an "Angel" fan, I was pleased to read that David Boreanaz has a role in the movie, as coach Rush's husband Ed. My only casting question is who, if anyone, plays young Rene Portland?
1 comment:
and lets not forget that Delta State, coached by the equally legendary Margaret Wade (http://womenshoops.blogspot.com/2007/03/its-been-about-75-years-since-most.html)and featuring the fantabulous lucy harris (http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/athletes/article.html?record=239) dethroned the Macs and ruled for three consecutive years...
More people know about the Macs than the Lady Statesmen.
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