"The Express": The Ernie Davis story

That's not the way I've heard the story at all. Modell was great to Davis throughout the entire ordeal, Brown was an asshole that wouldn't let him suit up for even one play because he had a rule that if you didn't practice you didn't play. Modell has said he should have forced Brown to suit him up for one game and let him return one kickoff so Davis could experience the ovation from the crowd. Modell has said it's one of the biggest regrets of his life.

 

Heard it the same way.

Remember, George Preston Marshall and the Redskins actually drafted Davis, after a famous Shirley Povich column suggested that RFK not be funded by public money if Marshall intended for it to be segregated. Davis refused to play for Marshall and the Redskins traded him to the Browns, where Modell had no such qualms about a black star player.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068757/1/index.htm

 

There are other instances from "Eight Men Out" - Jackson responding to a heckler did not happen in 1919; the stale champagne, if I recall, was really from the 1917 pennant, not to mention what others here have said (and there's more, I just can't recall everything off the top of my head). My point remains the same - even these "historical" movies are "based on a true story."

 

Well, I think the heckler can be considered dramatic license. More likely, a heckler in 1919 would have gotten on Jackson for working in the shipyards during the war, which caused him considerable grief (Comiskey made a big show of "graciously" allowing Jackson and Williams, two of the more notorious "dockworkers," back on the team in the winter of 1918-19, even though very few players ever saw combat.)

But a lot more of the stuff the movie gets wrong -- the stale champagne*, the completely debunked Cicotte "bonus," likely even McMullin** overhearing the plot in a bathroom/locker room and asking to join in -- was wrong in Asinof's book.



* The reality of the champagne story is that the team DID throw a huge banquet in September 1917, after they returned home from clinching the pennant in Boston. All the players were there, expenses paid, and I can assure you, the alcohol was quite potent, according to all contemporary sources.

It was just another example of Asinof devising a sympathetic "motive" for the players to throw the Series because of bad treatment by Comiskey. He probably got the story from Felsch, and parts of it may be true. (Maybe the champagne became flat in the wee hours of the morning, or maybe the alcohol ran out early and the players weren't happy about it.)


** It's very possible that McMullin was one of the instigators, not an innocent bystander. Even Eddie Cicotte testified to that. Asinof never even made an attempt to find anything out about McMullin, who was dead anyway. He said McMullin had "vanished from sight." Not true at all.


For the most part, the movie stayed true to the book and stayed true to the period. For that, Sayles deserves a lot of praise.

 

The heckler incident happened - I've read about it elsewhere - but I can't remember when. It might have been when he played for Cleveland or years before 1919 with the Sox.

Of that "bonus" champagne, Ring Lardner said it "tasted like stale piss." (Source: Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball, which is where I think I read the above incident, but couldn't find it on a quick glance)

(FYI: Chick Gandil is quoted as having saying Comiskey bought the team champagne after winning the series in 1917.)

 

Oh, I'll absolutely concede the champagne thing might have happened. Probably did taste like piss, too.

But I won't buy that it played any part in why the Sox players wanted to "get back" at the penny-pinching Comiskey. Truth is, he didn't treat his players any worse than any other owner and his payroll was among the highest in the league (yes, Eddie Collins skewed it. But the rest of the players got paid pretty close to what the Red Sox and Giants were making, too.)

THAT tall tale -- created by Asinof not Sayles -- is a lot more damaging to the story than whether or not the champagne was flat.

 

Only relating what Brown said in his book... regardless, Modell is still the antichrist.

 

So has anyone seen this yet? I watched it last week and still can't believe the game was in West Virginia...

 

For an entertaining read pick up "Based on a True story: Facts and Fantasy in 100 favorite movies" by Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen.

The writing's very witty, and it dissects its prey. They're nicer to some people - Oliver Stone with JFK - than others (they really, really don't like Mel Gibson's Braveheart or We Were Soldiers). They didn't nitpick much with Eight Men Out.

 

Jesus Christ... I just watched this piece of crap

In the 1960 Cotton Bowl it has Syracuse up 15-0 when Davis gets injured.

Then, it has Texas getting to within 15-6. I didn't tilt my head in disbelief and wonder until the movie had Texas score another TD to get within 15-12.... and then the Longhorns went for two. Nonsensical.

Then, at 15-14, the movie has Davis come back and haul in a long TD to make it 21-14. Then, while not nonsensical but still improbable, Syracuse goes for two to make it a 9-point game. Actually, I would go for two every time there, but a college coach wouldn't.

So, I had to check. Here is the actual scoring summary:

Scoring Summary
Plays-Yards Score
SU E. Davis 87, pass from Schwedes (Yates kick) 2-76 7-0
SU E. Davis 1, run (E. Davis pass from Sarette) 11-80 15-0
UT Collins 69, pass from Lackey (Ramirez run failed) 3-67 15-6
SU Schwedes 3, run (E. Davis pass from Sarette) 5-24 23-6
UT Lackey 1, run (Schulte pass from Lackey) 6-54 23-14

The Davis long TD reception OPENED the scoring. And Texas NEVER had a TD to make it 15-12, or the ever-insulting-to-anyone's-intelligence two-pointer.

Also, they had Davis' nose bleeding in 1959.

I'm guessing that wasn't true either.

Buck, what were the liberties taken in Invincible? I know the punt muff return was much shorter than portrayed in the movie, but I was stunned how accurate they were with smallish details such as the Bicentennial patch worn in 1976. And, yes, I know the Harold Carmichael actor was about 8 inches shorter than No. 17....

 

It didn't count for a touchdown, either. You couldn't (and still can't) advance a muffed punt.

Vince Papale also played in the World Football League before he played for the Eagles. It's not like he went straight from the sandlot to the NFL.

I'm sure there are other discrepancies, but that's just off the top of my head.

 

good points