Michael B. Layden grew up in Durham N.C. in the 1960s and 70s where he frequently attended Duke basketball games. His family helped participate in civil rights activities throughout that era. He is a devoted follower of his beloved Blue Devil basketball team dating from before the 1966 final four, having the privilege of attending in person both of Duke’s first two national championships, and often posting in years past on Duke basketball report on various topics. He has continued following his Blue Devil basketball team to this very day, including watching Mike Kryzyzewski’s last two Carolina games. He lives with his family in New York, where he works as a business consultant, and where the ratio of Duke to Carolina fans is somewhat more even than it is in North Carolina.
The Bob Verga Shift: How One Man’s Illness Changed History and Saved Duke Basketball
In 1966, an all-black basketball team from the University of Texas El Paso (then Texas Western University) defeated an all-white team from the University of Kentucky to win the NCAA championship in a game that has become famous as a civil rights milestone. A closer inspection of the events leading to that momentous game reveals the unlikely circumstances that made a way for those two teams to walk onto that court.
Travel back in time to 1960s North Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas to unravel the remarkable truth behind the teams involved in the famous 1966 final four, and see how one man's absence changed history and paved the way for desegregation and civil rights progress.
This new look at basketball's impact on American history shows how supposedly minor events can have significant historical consequences.
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