Black 14

Just finished a book about one of the least positive occurrences in Univ. of Wyoming history. The worst was the Matthew Shepherd killing, but this one also made UW look bad. This is the 40th anniversary of that happening.
In the fall of 1969 the 14 black players on the UW football team went to the head UW football coach and asked to wear black armbands at the next football game which was against Brigham Young Univ. BYU is a Mormon supported university and at that time they wouldn't allow blacks to become priests in the church. This is a big deal for Mormons. Rather than listen to the players the coach took them to the field house and told them they were off the team. The national media and civil rights groups had a field day with that one and it was years before the FB team recovered. Since then the head of the Mormon church had a revelation (as they often do under pressure) and blacks can now hold the position of priests.
The book just confirms what we all knew and that is the coach was a jerk and the situation could have been handled so much better. Another problem is that most of the people who had inside knowledge are now dead or wouldn't comment. Those who commented didn't know much more than I already knew. The black players who were interviewed still claim the problem was the coach and not the university but that didn't matter for years.
Don't buy the book. The best thing is someone loaned me his copy which was given to him.
From the calendar: "You might be a redneck if......Your wife's fur coat has bullet holes in it."