B Movies and Bad History: Sports on the Silver Screen

As one might expect, football in Texas is king on the big screen as it is in real life.

B Movies and Bad History takes participants on a tour of some of the best (and worst) Texas-centric movies and television shows with historians, authors, and media experts as they expose the historical facts and fiction on-screen. In conjunction with the exhibition Gridiron Glory, film and sports experts will "come to play" as they examine some of the most entertaining portrayals of the gridiron on film. With characters like disciplinarian head coaches and rebellious jocks, movies like Necessary Roughness, Varsity Blues, Johnny Be Good and North Dallas Forty will have you smiling all the way to the end-zone.

About the Panelists

Tom Copeland

With 33 years on the job, Tom Copeland is one of Texas’ best-known film industry advocates. During his ten years as the director of the Texas Film Commission, a division of the Office of the Governor, he was the state’s primary liaison between Hollywood and Texas. During his leadership, almost 600 movies and television programs were made in Texas, with total budgets exceeding $3 billion. Following his retirement from the State in 2005, he joined the Theatre Department faculty at Texas State, returning to the University where his career really began.

Matthew Bowers

Dr. Bowers graduated with a B.S. and an M.S. in Sport Management from the University of Florida, where he also worked with the Gators football and women's basketball programs. Foregoing a career coaching collegiate basketball, he earned his doctoral degree in Sport Management at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to serving as a faculty member with the Sport Management program, Dr. Bowers also works extensively in the field with a range of sport organizations in both research and consulting capacities.

Tolga Ozyurtcu

Tolga Ozyurtcu holds a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College, a M.Sc. in Sport Management from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Sport Studies, also from UT-Austin. He teaches in the areas of Sport Management and Physical Culture and Sport Studies, including classes in the management of sport organizations, media and public relations in sport, and the sociological, philosophical, and ethical aspects of sport and physical activity. Ozyurtcu’s research interests include sport development, sporting subcultures, sport and cultural geography, and physical culture history. An experienced coach and industry consultant, Ozyurtcu seeks to engage his students by combining practical and theoretical approaches to the study of sport.

Support for the Bullock Museum's exhibitions and education programs provided by the Texas State History Museum Foundation.