Hoosiers

[jimmykc]

I thought I'd stick this in here just in case anyone wonders how retired folks spend their time. Although I have watched parts of this movie hundreds of times, I decided I would sit down and watch the whole thing, opening to credits without interruption this morning. And to my amazement, I discovered that a 70+ year old guy could still shed a couple of tears sitting on his couch by himself on a Saturday morning at this flick.

     i think it resonates with me personally because my own life finds so many parallels with its story lines. My own father was a high school coach who had been banned from coaching for a year and fired from his previous job for accosting a referee physically. He was given a second chance and hired by a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere in south central Kansas. The year we moved there was 1951, the year the movie began. i can personally attest that the ambiance of the movie is spot on. We even had a grey chevy which resembled Norman's car and the interior of the school and small town gyms unlocked many of my childhood memories of the many games I watched in similar crackerboxes. I even had to keep score on a big chalkboard in our gym because the balcony obstructed view of the scoreboard for a few spectators. While I don't remember any long caravans following our bus, I do remember the fire chief closing the doors on many occasions when the gym became too crowded to be safe.

     My pa , like Coach Dale, was a no nonsense strict disciplinarian who insisted his team all shoot free throws underhanded like the little guy in the movie and forced his team to all wear knee sox because he thought it improved their peripheral vision. And it was no hype when Coach Dale said the final game would be witnessed by 15,000 fans because Hinkle fieldhouse was the largest arena in the US in the late forties. And it still looks the same because I saw my daughter graduate there although I didn't measure the distance from floor to goal myself.

    Finally, since I had focussed mainly on the basketball parts for years, the characters and side stories were more vivid on this viewing and made me realize that this movie was more about love than basketball in the deepest sense. The love between coaches and teammates, fathers and sons, and even the romance which gradually developed between Norman and the Barbara Hershey character was portrayed honestly.

     In other words, the elements which made this movie a classic were its nostalgic score, its failure to pander to false sentimentality, and the care of the director to remain true to a place and time. I am glad I could once again spend some of my own time with Shooter and Chitwood and Coach Dale.

[Bugeaters1]

I thought I'd stick this in here just in case anyone wonders how retired folks spend their time. Although I have watched parts of this movie hundreds of times, I decided I would sit down and watch the whole thing, opening to credits without interruption this morning. And to my amazement, I discovered that a 70+ year old guy could still shed a couple of tears sitting on his couch by himself on a Saturday morning at this flick.

     i think it resonates with me personally because my own life finds so many parallels with its story lines. My own father was a high school coach who had been banned from coaching for a year and fired from his previous job for accosting a referee physically. He was given a second chance and hired by a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere in south central Kansas. The year we moved there was 1951, the year the movie began. i can personally attest that the ambiance of the movie is spot on. We even had a grey chevy which resembled Norman's car and the interior of the school and small town gyms unlocked many of my childhood memories of the many games I watched in similar crackerboxes. I even had to keep score on a big chalkboard in our gym because the balcony obstructed view of the scoreboard for a few spectators. While I don't remember any long caravans following our bus, I do remember the fire chief closing the doors on many occasions when the gym became too crowded to be safe.

     My pa , like Coach Dale, was a no nonsense strict disciplinarian who insisted his team all shoot free throws underhanded like the little guy in the movie and forced his team to all wear knee sox because he thought it improved their peripheral vision. And it was no hype when Coach Dale said the final game would be witnessed by 15,000 fans because Hinkle fieldhouse was the largest arena in the US in the late forties. And it still looks the same because I saw my daughter graduate there although I didn't measure the distance from floor to goal myself.

    Finally, since I had focussed mainly on the basketball parts for years, the characters and side stories were more vivid on this viewing and made me realize that this movie was more about love than basketball in the deepest sense. The love between coaches and teammates, fathers and sons, and even the romance which gradually developed between Norman and the Barbara Hershey character was portrayed honestly.

     In other words, the elements which made this movie a classic were its nostalgic score, its failure to pander to false sentimentality, and the care of the director to remain true to a place and time. I am glad I could once again spend some of my own time with Shooter and Chitwood and Coach Dale.

Walter Winchell?

[HB]

I thought I'd stick this in here just in case anyone wonders how retired folks spend their time. Although I have watched parts of this movie hundreds of times, I decided I would sit down and watch the whole thing, opening to credits without interruption this morning. And to my amazement, I discovered that a 70+ year old guy could still shed a couple of tears sitting on his couch by himself on a Saturday morning at this flick.

     i think it resonates with me personally because my own life finds so many parallels with its story lines. My own father was a high school coach who had been banned from coaching for a year and fired from his previous job for accosting a referee physically. He was given a second chance and hired by a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere in south central Kansas. The year we moved there was 1951, the year the movie began. i can personally attest that the ambiance of the movie is spot on. We even had a grey chevy which resembled Norman's car and the interior of the school and small town gyms unlocked many of my childhood memories of the many games I watched in similar crackerboxes. I even had to keep score on a big chalkboard in our gym because the balcony obstructed view of the scoreboard for a few spectators. While I don't remember any long caravans following our bus, I do remember the fire chief closing the doors on many occasions when the gym became too crowded to be safe.

     My pa , like Coach Dale, was a no nonsense strict disciplinarian who insisted his team all shoot free throws underhanded like the little guy in the movie and forced his team to all wear knee sox because he thought it improved their peripheral vision. And it was no hype when Coach Dale said the final game would be witnessed by 15,000 fans because Hinkle fieldhouse was the largest arena in the US in the late forties. And it still looks the same because I saw my daughter graduate there although I didn't measure the distance from floor to goal myself.

    Finally, since I had focussed mainly on the basketball parts for years, the characters and side stories were more vivid on this viewing and made me realize that this movie was more about love than basketball in the deepest sense. The love between coaches and teammates, fathers and sons, and even the romance which gradually developed between Norman and the Barbara Hershey character was portrayed honestly.

     In other words, the elements which made this movie a classic were its nostalgic score, its failure to pander to false sentimentality, and the care of the director to remain true to a place and time. I am glad I could once again spend some of my own time with Shooter and Chitwood and Coach Dale.

 

Great story, Jimmy.  Thanks for sharing. 

 

That movie touches a lot of us.  My own dad played in the State Tournament in the 40s, when Class D played on the stage in the coliseum, for a tiny Nebraska school which hasn't existed since 1962.  When the movie came out, he said the caravan of cars to the road games perfectly replicated the experience of his little town.  And I still remember the running one handers he shot, consistent with some of the footage in the movie. 

[jimmykc]

Well played, Bugeaters.

[AuroranHusker]

Love that movie. Just gave my teenage nephews a bluray of this flick... Roughly ten years ago, I made the both of them (huge Nebrasketball fans, now) watch this movie with me & their father when they were 7 or 8! Gotta train 'dem boys right on the vagarities of life, love & basketball.