News Article: C.M. Newton on leaving Alabama

[TexasBama]

Found this on HoopsHype today.

middle of page 3 in this article

"I hardly ever talk about it," Newton said, "but frankly that's one of the reasons I left Alabama after 12 years: the racism."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/08/raw_material/?page=3

 

[Ldlane]

Found this on HoopsHype today.

middle of page 3 in this article



http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/08/raw_material/?page=3

Here is the context:

Newton said he resigned as Alabama's coach in 1980 partly because of the hatred reflected in the letter to Knight. He said segregationists vandalized his property and expressed a desire for African-Americans to harm his daughters, among other disturbing acts.

Could be true. I mean Alabama in the late 70's was different than it is today. If you have to deal with the problems that your players are having and you have to rub elbows with "boosters" that wonder why you don't recruit more "white players" then it would probably get old!

 

[Tidetwin]

I don't know how big a role it might have played with Newt's decision but since the statement comes from one of the classiest, principled, and successful Alabama coaches ever, I don't doubt its veracity for a second. I sat through more than one "big" game in Coleman when the no-necks, who normally didn't attend the games, would let loose with the racial epithets if the team happened to lose. And we didn't lose many during CM Newton's tenure.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

C.M. Newton is a true hero. I once talked with him and Wendell Hudson about the SEC back in the early 70s, and what black players went thru. And, like Tidetwin, I sat in Coleman and watched the best teams we've ever assembled play when too much of the home crowd fell back on the N-word whenever things didn't go right. Those folks were the minority. But they were there. Think of all of those who stayed home to spare themselves the horror of watching Alabama become the first basketball team in the Deep South to start five black players.

The final straw, Newton told me, was the 1980 Georgia game. We had just beaten highly ranked Kentucky and LSU teams on the road, and then came to Coleman and the place was half filled. I was there, and I was embarrassed.

Newton said race was always an issue. After the Georgia game, he figured, he would never get his program beyond it.

 

[Ldlane]

Coach Newton is one of my biggest influences. I use some of his stuff that I picked up over the years that he did in practice.

 

[Ldlane]

I liked this video of him talking about Coach Bryant:

Integration is also covered in the video as well as Coach Bryant's mentoring.

[ame="http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1378323314&channel=294434708"]Video Coach Newton on Coach Bryant[/ame]

 

[USCBAMA]

Found this on HoopsHype today.

middle of page 3 in this article



http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/08/raw_material/?page=3

So he left Bama due to racism and after a stop at Vandy he ends up at....Kentucky??

Kind of like leaving Colorado for Wisconsin because you don't like the cold.

 

[Ldlane]

So he left Bama due to racism and after a stop at Vandy he ends up at....Kentucky??

Kind of like leaving Colorado for Wisconsin because you don't like the cold.

It's kind of hard since we weren't in his shoes at the time. However, I did live in Alabama at the time he left and I can at least see one side of his argument being that I lived in Selma.

 

[rtr1973]

As evidence of how much things have changed, he moved back to T-town after retiring.

 

[RollTide12]

As evidence of how much things have changed, he moved back to T-town after retiring.

I see him at basketball games in T-town. He's a true gentleman.

RollTide12