by Ray Sanchez © 01.24.16
Have you bought your tickets to the Feb. 6 game between UTEP and Western Kentucky? As
you no doubt know, the surviving members of the 1966 Texas Western College team will be guests at the game as part of the Miners’ 50th anniversary celebration of their winning the NCAA basketball championship.
Other parts of the nation will be celebrating the event, too. Because of the books I’ve written on the subject I’ve had requests from some students in other parts of the country asking me to help them with essays they’re writing about the event.
ONE STUDENT, Ji-Ho Lee, a high school junior in Columbia, Missouri, wanted to know, among other things, how the city of El Paso reacted to the Miners’ victory.
I jumped at the chance to re-live that wonderful night. I was assistant sports at the El Paso Herald-Post so I didn’t personally cover the Miners’ 72-65 victory over Kentucky. Sports editor Bob Ingram did. But I watched it on television and witnessed and reported the unabashed joy it brought to our city.
Following is what I wrote, in part, in response to the young Mr. Lee’s query:
“IT SEEMS like the entire city of El Paso went crazy. It was late at night but citizens ran out of their homes and into their cars and drove around tooting horns and shouting ‘We won, we won’ and ‘we’re No. 1, we’re No. 1.’ El Paso was much smaller then and downtown was still the center of attraction. It was sheer bedlam there.
“The San Jacinto Plaza area was crammed with people and cars, some folks sitting on top of the automobiles or halfway out the windows. People who didn’t even know each other were hugging and, in some cases, weeping with joy. Firecrackers were popped and rockets sent into the air. It was VE Day and July 4 combined.
“It was bedlam at the school, too. Students, friends and relatives started bonfires. Some of the bonfires were so big the fire department came out and tried to put them out. One student drove his car over a hose to stop the water. Hydrants were turned on and water began to flood the streets. Police were called but they kept their distance although they did help with the hoses.
“WHEN THE MINERS returned to El Paso the next morning they were greeted at the airport by thousands of El Pasoans, including Mayor Judson Williams and other city and county dignitaries. Police estimated the crowd at 10,000. As the players stepped out of the plane they were met with music from a band and mariachis and thunderous applause.
“A motorcade was formed to take the champions to the campus. They were cheered by thousands more as the motorcade wound its way through the streets.
“The celebration continued throughout the day and night. There were bands and dancing at the school. Some of the students started to get rowdy but Police Lieutenant Bo Trast drove through the crowd blaring over a loudspeaker, ‘You’re number one. Don’t spoil the record.’
“That settled down the crowd.”
YOU CAN READ more about the celebration in my book, “Basketball’s Biggest Upset.”
Personally, I’d never seen anything like that night. There’s no doubt that the Miners’ victory was a major event. It not only changed El Paso but the whole country.
Suddenly, we in El Paso were somebody. We were national champions. We could be proud. Our city, and our college, began to grow by leaps and bounds.
As for the country, the game proved that, indeed, an all-black team could beat an all-white team. Other colleges in the South, even Kentucky, began to recruit black athletes.
I got a bit of flak for the title of my book. Some claim it wasn’t much of an upset since the Miners were rated No. 2 and Kentucky No. 1. But I point out that it was the biggest upset because of how it changed society.