“Hoosiers” is a sports movie that I’ve heard a lot about for
a number of years, but for whatever reason I’d never watched it. It isn’t
re-run on television very often, and I couldn’t honestly say that I’d even
watched a little bit of it. I knew that it was supposed to be one of the
greatest sports movies ever, which is why I put it on my “bucket list” a few
years ago. I finally watched it from start to finish on Friday.
“Hoosiers” was released in theatres in November 1986 and
starred Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hooper. The movie is set in
the early 1950s and takes place in Hickory, a small Indiana town that’s
basketball crazy. Hackman plays first year coach Norman Dale, who takes over a
team not long before the season starts. He’s an outsider, and local fans are
overbearing and have big expectations.
Despite a rough start, the new coach gets the team on track
and eventually leads them to the state tournament. Hickory High School is a
small high school and in the finals they have to face one of the largest high
schools in the state. They also have to deal with playing their opponents in
what was one of the largest basketball arenas in the country in the 1950s,
Butler Fieldhouse.
This movie is a classic David vs. Goliath-type movie, and
it’s also about second chances. Hackman plays a former college coach, who was
blacklisted from coaching after he punched one of his own players. Hackman’s
character also allows an outstanding former high school player, who’s now the
town drunk, to serve as an assistant coach as long as he stays sober.
As you might have imagined, “Hoosiers” appears on a number
of best-of lists. Sports Illustrated ranked it No. 6 on its list of “Greatest
Sports Movies.” It was also ranked on Shortlist.com’s list of “20 Greatest Sports
Movies Ever Made” and The Art of Manliness’ list of “100 Must See Movies: The
Essential Men’s Movie Library.”
I was interested to learn that this movie is somewhat based
on a true story, the story of the 1954 Indiana state high school basketball
champs, Milan High School. In real life, Milan was a small high school in rural
Indiana, and won a state title at Butler Fieldhouse. They also won their state
title games by two points, just like Hickory in “Hoosiers.”
Watching this movie also made me want to add a visit to the
Butler Fieldhouse to my “bucket list.” Now called the Hinkle Fieldhouse, it was
the largest basketball arena in the country until 1950. Nicknamed “Indiana’s
Basketball Cathedral,” it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. It
was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1983.
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