RIP - Ken Howard from the White Shadow (coach, president, manager)
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For me The White Shadow was the most realistic show about public high school in Los Angeles in the late 70s. Except Goldstein and Salami being in the school much less on a basketball team in a de facto segregated city. More so then Room 222 where the white flight which happened a decade before wasn't shown to kick in. I continued to follow Coach's career.
That worst to first, well third we lost to the city champs in the semifinals, turn in one season happened to my high school's football team so even that Hollywood turn seemed realistic
2. Coolidge gets scammed by some ‘agents’ thinking he can go pro!
3. Carver is clowning around in games, and Coach has the Globetrotters come to Carver and wax their ass! (LOL!)
4. ‘Duane’ from What’s Happening is put down on the team (his game is nice!), but has an unchecked aneurysm that causes his death! The bone-chilling reaction from the late, great Madge Sinclair, playing his mom, to Coach Reeves, “You killed him!”
5. Jackson’s murder!
6. Reese transfers to private school. A young Jay Bilas is down with that private school squad!
7. Reeves tries a comeback, but gets his ass kicked on the court, and his ‘other knee’ is bad! (LOL!). Was that Jim McMillan Reeves went up against?
8. The girl jumping off the school building, high on LSD.
Wow. My father was an inch taller than Howard and, like Howard, played on his high school and college teams. My father absolutely loved The White Shadow when it was originally on the air...one of his favorite shows ever.
I can't say its my favorite but memorable in the first season was the kid who punches Coach while he was teaching PT that Coach had to put down and later when he saves Vice Principal Buchanan from being raped by him.
The second season when the team manager has Angel Dust slipped to him. PCP being the scary drug of my generation being after heroin had burned out and before the crack wars began.
From the third season Salami getting arrested for an on court fight reminded me of Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich. Ripped from the headlines?
I can't say its my favorite but memorable in the first season was the kid who punches Coach while he was teaching PT that Coach had to put down and later when he saves Vice Principal Buchanan from being raped by him.
The second season when the team manager has Angel Dust slipped to him. PCP being the scary drug of my generation being after heroin had burned out and before the crack wars began.
From the third season Salami getting arrested for an on court fight reminded me of Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich. Ripped from the headlines?
I forgot about the Salami fight. The cross examination from Salami's lawyer to the victim was classic.....
"What were you gonna do when you approached Mr. Salami (breaking the brawl up)?"
(long pause)
"I was gonna hit him!"
Salami not guilty!
And the attempted rape of Principal Buchanan was a concept that was waaaaay ahead of its time. People still had respect for authority, and didn't even think of going there; definitely, not like that! Now, folk be shootin' in schools!
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