Book Review: Thurgood Marshall and Civil Rights

Thurgood Marshall and Civil Rights by Jerome Foster, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2005.

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American on the Supreme Court.  This appointment was the result of years as an appellate judge, and then as the Solicitor General of the United States.  However, his greatest triumphs came before he served on a federal level.  He worked with the NAACP on several landmark Supreme Court cases.  This included Marshall vs Bd of Education.  This is the landmark decision which ended segregation.  He also argued a key voter rights act case, Smith v Allwright.  Marshall himself could not decide which decision was the most significant. However together they changed the lay of the land, and as a country we were able to move against oppressive voting discrimination as well as segregation in schools. 

Thurgood Marshall, with good reason, was been called Mr. Civil Rights. 

Documentary Review: I Hate Christian Laettner

I Hate Christian Laettner, directed by Rory Karpf, ESPN 30 for 30, 2015
This is a fascinating look at the rise of Duke basketball, and the man who was the NCAA basketball player of the year his senior year, 1992.  I remember watching some of the games presented, and how Laettner seemed to always come through.  even when he played against the likes of Shaquille O'Neal.  Duke went to the final four in the tournament each year Laettner was at Duke, and Laettner holds the record for most points in the NCAA tournament.  Of course Laettner wasn't the only player, but he was the player who consistently came through at the end of games and carried the team.  Other players included Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and Thomas Hill.  However for some reason, people loved to hate Laettner.
There was one game when he stepped on another player out of frustration, and wasn't ejected, and then made the last second shot.  But the venom expressed towards Laettner was not deserved.  This movie postulates on what.  Perhaps it was Laettner's good looks, and that women seemed to adore him.  Perhaps his hard-nosed play.  At one point people threw homosexual slurs at him.  He thrived in this environment, and talked with his play.
The part I like best about this show, is the end, when it shows his family.  Laettner is a family man, and this seems to be his most important role; and I like that.