The Long Game Ending Explained

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Long Game.

The Long Game tells the story of the San Felipe High School golf team who overcame all obstacles, including discrimination, to win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship in a happy, emotional ending. The Long Game is based on the true story of the San Felipe Mustangs, who still hold important high school golf records over 65 years later. The movie is an adaptation of Humberto G. Garcia’s 2010 novel Mustang Miracle, featuring an inspiring story with deeper meanings that make the story even more powerful and important to tell.

The Long Game has received positive reviews for its performances from the film’s diverse cast, intriguing and uplifting story, and portrayal of the racism Mexican and Mexican-American people faced in the 1950s and, unfortunately, still deal with today. There are many great sports movies based on real-life events, and The Long Game takes an interesting approach to the beloved subgenre by focusing on the discrimination of the time. The Mustangs were a group of Mexican-American caddies, led by a Mexican-American coach, all of whom were never treated equally, even when they were the best.

What The Flag In The Long Game’s Ending Symbolizes

The Long Game Ended With Joe Talking About The Flag

The Long Game features many references and metaphors to the military, as the team’s coaches, JB and Frank, served together in the United States Marine Corps. They often compare golf bunkers to the bunkers of war, and JB even tries to use military discipline with the boys. Simultaneously, they hope the boys will be able to find a way to succeed without ever having to join the military, especially due to the lack of respect for Mexican-American veterans.

Like in most popular sports movies, Coach Peña gives multiple inspiring speeches to rally the team together, building chemistry, trust, and a winning mentality. Early in The Long Game, JB gives one when trying to convince Joe to join the golf team. He tells Joe he needs to find out what he wants from life because no matter how unfair life gets, it’s a lot like a game of golf. As JB said,

“
Some days it’s smooth sailing on the fairway, other days you’re lost in the wood
.
But as long as you can keep your eye on that flag, you can always hack your way back onto smooth ground. But if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, then, I don’t know.
”

In golf, flags mark where the hole is, representing where one wants to be. Joe was led to believe fighting for the American flag was the only opportunity waiting for him, but golf and JB gave him other options. On the drive back into town after the championship, Joe sees a red golf flag flowing in the wind. Earlier in The Long Game, a competitor purposefully took the flag away from a hole to mess up Joe’s chances, but they ultimately couldn’t stop him and the Mustangs. Joe was a champion, and he was finally finding his flag.

Later, as they drive through their surprise celebration parade, JB looks at the American flag and is finally recognized for his service by Pollo and other veterans. At the end of The Long Game, there’s a shot of the American flag in JB’s backyard. Then, Joe calls the coach and says he won’t be available for practice anymore because he “finally got [his] eye on the flag.” He was referring to his girlfriend, Daniela, whose own aspirations helped show Joe he didn’t have to do what his dad and others wanted and expected of him.

JB’s Rules For The Mustangs In The Long Game Explained

JB Wanted The Team To Fit In With White Players & Judges

From the beginning of The Long Game, the Mustangs were established as having a bad reputation, particularly Joe’s character. Much of Joe’s anger, and the rest of their bad behavior, was in response to how others treated them, as they were often called slurs and discriminated against by the white people around them. Most people wouldn’t have given Joe and the others a chance, but JB saw an opportunity to help them and himself.

JB was inspired to start the team because he thought it would help him finally get accepted at the all-white Del Rio Country Club. Despite being well-respected by Frank, a white club member, JB’s ethnicity and skin color kept him from being allowed membership in The Long Game. JB was rightfully worried that the Mustangs would never be accepted anywhere either, especially at the important tournaments they needed to win to get to the state championship.

Related

15 Amazing TV Shows That Feature A Latinx Lead

Latinx Heritage Month is the perfect time to tune in to one of these shows featuring a Latinx actor and find your new favorite series.

JB pushed the team to fit in with the all-white teams and judges through rules that included a dress code and no Spanish on the golf course. While JB thought he was doing the right thing in The Long Game, he eventually realized his rules were holding his team back. He was conforming to the expectations of others instead of trying to make others conform to the reality that they belonged. The rules were important and necessary in some respects and harmful in others, creating complex questions and areas for reflection in The Long Game.

Why Joe’s Dad Burned His Golf Gear In The Long Game

Joe’s Dad Thought Joe Was Embarrassing Himself By Playing Golf

One of The Long Game’s best supporting characters is the Del Rio Country Club groundskeeper, Pollo, who plays a major role in the movie despite limited screen time. Like JB and the Mustangs, Pollo is Mexican-American and identifies with the discrimination they face at the country club. So, he lets them trespass on the course at night to practice and gives them access to nice golf gear, secretly supporting them. When Joe’s dad finds this gear, he tries to burn it.

Much of Joe’s attitude in The Long Game seems to be inherited from his father, who is tough on him. His father shares some similarities with JB, but they convey their messages very differently. JB and Joe’s dad just want him to fit in, but not in the same community. JB wants Joe to fit in with the predominantly white golf community, while Joe’s dad thinks it’s a waste of time, as he believes they’ll never accept him. Joe’s dad thinks he’s embarrassing himself as a Mexican-American man by trying to get approval from the white judges.

Related

20 Best Dad Movies Of All Time

From action greats featuring Sly and Arnie to Harrison Ford-led 1990s thrillers, classic Westerns, and war films, here are the best Dad Movies ever.

Joe’s dad burns the golf gear to punish Joe for daring to go against his wishes and step outside the boundaries he set for him. Joe’s dad, who lost a limb presumably through military service, has faced so much discrimination that he can’t see a brighter future for his son. Joe’s dad wants to protect him, but like JB, who becomes a father figure to Joe, he doesn’t always go about it the right way. At the end of The Long Game, Joe’s dad attends their state championship victory parade, hopefully suggesting a change of heart.​​​​​​​

The Long Game’s Title Explained

The Long Game’s Title Has Multiple Meanings

The Long Game doesn’t have a title name-drop moment, but this doesn’t mean the movie’s title doesn’t hold a deeper meaning. The most obvious explanation for the title is that it’s a sports movie. While golf games are typically called rounds of golf, the word “game” is associated with sports. Sports movies are rarely just about sports, which is what makes them so memorable and emotional. The personal life stories outside the game make viewers want to root for the athletes and coaches.

When JB follows Frank’s advice and throws the golf game against Judge Milton Cox, the club’s manager Don Glenn, and their wives, he talks with his wife Lucy afterward. She tells him she takes the long way home to avoid the mothers with their children at the park. JB and Lucy had fertility issues and didn’t have any children, and she felt judged and left out by other mothers because she wasn’t a mother herself. She confesses to JB that it’s partially why she wanted to beat the other judgmental wives at the golf course so badly.

At the end of The Long Game, it’s revealed Lucy’s pregnant, and she and JB just had to take the longer path to becoming parents. Before the championship, JB gives another one of his inspiring speeches about how golf is a mental game, which calls back to JB comparing life and golf. Because of their circumstances, they aren’t afforded an easy, short way to success, unlike others. However, the longer game is worth it in the end, and it’s Joe keeping his composure and playing the mental game over the emotional one that wins them the championship.

Related

10 Movie Titles Whose Meanings Change After Watching, According To Reddit

Sometimes, the best movie titles are those that can be understood completely differently after the truth of the story has been revealed.

The Real Meaning Of The Long Game’s Ending

The Long Game’s Ending Was About The Importance Of Being True To Yourself

As aforementioned, The Long Game’s ending might have revolved around the 1957 Texas High School Golf State Championship, but the final moments were about much more than winning. The win was made even more special by the journey they had to take to get there, particularly the sacrifices JB and the team made. To ensure they’d all be able to compete and their team wouldn’t be dissolved, JB took the fall for Joe, getting arrested for Joe’s crime of breaking the window at a racist diner. Fortunately, Principal Guerra’s connections to the officers got him released.

Then it was Pollo who helped make sure that JB could watch the team compete and win. He gave him the cage he wore as groundskeeper so Joe could disguise himself and sneak onto the course. This decision was crucial, as JB’s presence calmed Joe down at the end of The Long Game and kept him from getting into a physical fight with his racist opponent. Joe walking away showed his character growth in The Long Game, as he decided not to let other people get in the way of his success, and took control of his fate.

Related

10 Most Inspirational Sports Movies, Ranked

Great sports movies can transcend the confines of their sport and deliver inspirational messages which can be applied to all aspects of life.

When they weren’t given the awards ceremony they’d earned, the boys didn’t make a scene, even though JB and Frank wanted to. Instead, the Mustangs held their heads up high and showed everyone at the club they had more class and integrity than they ever would. Their own community then threw them a parade, proving they didn’t need others’ approval, as they’d already won, and nobody could take that away from them. The Long Game was about being true to yourself and embracing your community, even if others couldn’t embrace you.

By the end of The Long Game, the team, its coaches, and the coaches’ wives were like a family, with their support of each other becoming most important to them. When they started to lean on their community instead of chasing the approval of others, they realized it had always been there for them. Others will follow suit if you accept yourself as you are. Every character taught someone else an important lesson in The Long Game, and those lessons were passed on to the viewers.