User:Jburstein09/Remember the titans

Jake B
Ronnie "sunshine" Bass

Personal Information
Ronald is the son of Williamson G. "Bill" Bass and Betty Jean Bass. Williamson G. Bass was an officer in the United States Air Force. Due to "Bills" job the family moved a lot while Ronald was growing up. The family moved to Smackover AR, Stillwater OK, Huntington Beach CA, and finally Alexandria VA. Most of Ronald's education took place in Huntington Beach, where he attended Gill Elementary, Stacey Jr. High, and Marina High School. Upon moving to Alexandria, Ronald finished his last two years of High School at T.C. Williams. Ronald married Susan Carol Walsh, daughter of James J. and Joyce Walsh, in 1985 in Columbia, SC. They have two daughters and one son, Alexandria, Lindsay and Ronnie.

High School At T.C. Williams
Ronald loved all sports, but it was during his early years at Huntington that Ronald started to become more fond of football. Growing up Ronald would play after school everyday after football practice. At Marine High, Ronald started his sophomore year as a defensive back while also playing backup quarterback. Moving to Virginia was a big transition for Ronald. At T.C. Williams, Ronald became the starting quarterback while also adopting the nickname "Sunshine". The nickname came from Ronald's teammates on the football team at T.C. Williams for the reasons of which, Ronald Bass claims in an interview on CockyTalk with Dooms, were having Blonde hair and was sun burnt. Ronald started both his junior and senior year and led T.C. Williams to the Virginia AAA state High School championship his junior year, in 1971.

In 1971, three high schools - T.C. Williams, George Washington and Hammond - merged, with T.C. Williams accepting only 11th and 12th graders, and G.W. and Hammond accepting ninth and 10th graders. Life at T.C. Williams had just became very tense. The 1971 football team helped change the school and break that tension. The Titans finished that season 13-0, and from their success it also helped bring the entire community together. Coach Herman Boone and Coach Bill Yoast were major influences in all of the players lives. Ronald's Senior year at T.C. Williams was not as successful. The team went 9-2 and barely missed getting into the playoffs.

College At The University Of South Carolina
Ronald went on to play at the University of South Carolina on a football scholarship. Ronald started at quarterback his junior and senior year and lettered all four years. During one of his games his sophomore year Ronald ran for 211 yards against the University of North Carolina and was named Sports Illustrated's player of the week. Going into the game The Gamecocks were 14 point underdogs. It was Ron’s first start as a college quarterback, and it was a night he would always remeber and the game continues to be one of his fondest memories from his college days at USC. USC ended up winning the game 32-14.

Life After College
After graduating from the University of South Carolina, Ronald became a sports analyst and announcer for ABC and NBC. Ronald also worked on the creation of the movie Remember The Titans. Ronald currently lives in Greenville, South Carolina and has been a resident there for over 22 years.

In The Movie Remember The Titans
Many scenes in the movie Remember The Titans either never occurred or were fabricated. The image of Ronald Bass in the movie is very inaccurate. In the movie, Ronald is depicted as a long haired hippie. Ronald is quoted saying "I was never quite like that," Bass told the Greenville (SC) News. "But that's Hollywood. I'll say for the record my hair was never that long."

Ron "Sunshine" Bass, played by Kip Pardue, arrives after camp begins and is introduced to the coaches by his father, Col. Bass Andrew Masset. In real life, Sunshine had been in Alexandria before camp started, and had practiced with Rev, his rival quarterback, in the unofficial workouts during the summer. "Ronnie went down (to the Burg) every day, and he related to the kids there in the ghetto," Boone says in his DVD commentary. "This is one of the reasons they called him 'Sunshine.' " .

Bass comments on the scene where in the movie he kisses Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) on the lips in the locker room. Bass says that never happened.

Regarding the racial tension at T.C. Williams High School, Bass told the Greenville (SC) News that the racial tensions were much exaggerated. "They (the movie) had a community divided down black and white, and it really wasn't like that in 1971 Alexandria," he said, although he admitted that the Titans' championship run did help bring the community together. "My friend Bill Yoast ... told me Disney had taken liberties with the facts, suggesting an overheated atmosphere of racial animosities and fears at the school and in the community that just hadn't existed," added Patrick Welsh, who taught at TC Williams in 1971, in a Washington Post article. 

"(Denzel Washington) did come across as a disciplinarian, which coach Boone was; he was a perfectionist, which coach Boone tried to be; and he had a temper and was in your face a lot," Bass said. Boone admits, in his DVD commentary, that he was a disciplinarian, but adds that he has a warm side that doesn't come across in the film. Bass commented. "I wanted to make the team," he said. "I think that's where most of the kids' minds were. We were just trying to play football."