Hoosiers: 15 Things You Don't Need to Know
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- Everyone loves an underdog, and with this year's March Madness coming to an end, I'm channeling Jimmy Chitwood and taking a shot with one of my favorite underdog movies... Hoosiers.
Развлечения
1986 Kansas City, Mo. Sixth grade. Basketball was everything. So I signed up for the team at my humble little Catholic School. We were all poor inner city kids. Also known as the absolute worst in all our three sports for decades. A complete embarrassment of the city.
As the season started, after two practices the coach just didnt even show up. We were that bad. Now hear me out.... It gets good.
My single father asked me "How was practice?" So I told him that there wasn't even a coach and we all just basically played around and got into fist-to-cuffs. From that moment on he just took over. Didn't ask the school's permission. He just became our coach. Try that today and you get arrested.
He was a very busy man struggling to raise two kids who lost their mom to a random killer and also run a fledgling business. He was beyond stressed. But he knew basketball. And he cared.
There was only one other teammate who had a father in his life. So my Dad became everyone's Dad... for one magical season.
He would break into the college across the street and train the forwards and the center at their position. He actually broke in to the building. He put and end to all squabbles and barked at us for not passing correctly, not paying attention and not caring about the team. My mates hated it at first but they yearned for a father's influence and quickly got on board. He taught us plays, game plan and most importantly, ethics.
We won our first game. WOW. We had a taste of victory and we wanted more. No one missed practice after that. Basketball became our world.
The season progressed and we kept winning. The worst school and the most messed up kids had suddenly gotten a reputation amongst the other schools. We were for the first time in our lives FEARED.
I remember a time that dad took us all out for pizza, soda and video games. It cost him just over a hundred dollars. That was big money back then. Especially in the neighborhood we all came from. We were a real team. Basketball warriors.
Towards the end of the season he took us all to go see this new movie called Hoosiers. The impact it made on us little impressionable boys was nothing less than life altering. We came out of that theatre with pure determination. Greatness was possible.
We became a family and went on to win second place in the city tournament. Not too shabby for our band of Misfits. At least three hundred people showed up for our last game. The atmosphere was electric.
The whole school gave us a special ceremony at lunch. Every boy received a trophy. None of us had ever had much to be proud of. That trophy gleamed on each of our dressers every night for years to come.
So, thank you Dad. Thank you Hoosiers team, and thank you Saint Francis Xavier grade school for giving us all an opportunity to become young men. We did it. A boy can't ask for much more than that.
Jim Naismith deserves endless credit.
I hate basketball. Was a football, wrestler and track guy. Became a coach and I love Hoosiers for all the great messages. Dude you almost had me a bit tearful there. That a man would step up and sacrifice to show you boys what it takes to be good men through sports! That's freaking awesome.
@@TheDissident77 Cheers buddy. I love my dad. He's super old now. About to go.
You're still a Man if you tear up once in a while. 👊
Their home gym was in my hometown, Knightstown, Indiana, and was the gym we used for P.E. class in elementary school. Most things in the gym are just like we had it for school. The major things they changed were the paint scheme on the floor and the old style scoreboard. We got out of school for a few days to be extras in the crowd. You can now visit the gym as a tourist destination. This movie will always be a favorite for me!
That's cool it was used for gym class. Glad you got to be in the movie.
My wife and I went there several years ago. I even bought a small piece of the Hoosier Gym floor that they were selling. I still have it.
Been there!
I'm from Indianapolis but had never been to the gym. A few years ago on my drive to my new home in South Carolina I stopped by the gym about 7:00 at night just to look at the outside. As it happens, there was a game going on in the gym. The game was part of a league run by New Castle High School and Indiana University legend Kent Benson. He actually took about 10 minutes to talk to me. There are few things, if any, in life, better than IHSAA basketball - before the class system was put in place. That ruined a lot of it. There can be no "Hoosiers" today.
Best Basket-ball Movie Ever Saw
Did not know they originally intended for Shooter to be at the Championship game. So glad Hopper convinced them that it would be better to have him listening on the radio at the hospital. It's one of the best scenes in the movie, and he does it with such convincing emotion.
I was a crowd extra in this film when I was eleven. It was a great experience, and I'm still glad that I did it. Awesome film.
You were part of history
@Howard Fox, you and the guy named Israel, right?
BLEEP OFF, CROOK!
Hoosiers earned two Academy Award nominations - Dennis Hopper for Best Supporting Actor and Jerry Goldsmith for Best Original Score. Goldsmith, well-known as one of the most talented, prolific and creative composers of the 20th century, was one of the masters at integrating classical orchestral music with synthesizer and unusual instruments. Hoosiers was no exception. The idea of using synthesizers in a film that took place in the 1950's would have been unheard of in the hands of a mediocre composer, but, as usual, he pulled out an effective and highly emotionally charged score.
Your description of the final shot was absolutely correct. I covered the filming at the Hinkle Field House for a feature on "Entertainment Tonight." My camera crew and I were on the opposite side of the court, facing the benches. The fans were induced to come to the filming with a couple of other high school games played beforehand. The "fans" received 50s clothing from wardrobe racks as they entered the Field House. (You might see some designer jeans in the court storming following the final winning shot. :) ) As for Maris Valainis's butterflies, you got that right, too. He couldn't "draw iron" in rehearsal. Everything was a brick. By then, the "fans" were getting antsy, having sat through two basketball games, plus the filming. It was nearing midnight when the director told everyone: "If he misses it, he makes it!" A closeup of the ball going through the basket would be edited in. But you could tell the director and crew were very apprehensive as faking a made shot wouldn't have the emotion of actually hitting one. As the cameras rolled - and it was one take from the time out to the winning shot - Maris pulled up, fired his jumper - and caught nothing but net! Place went crazy! Fans flooded the court as much in relief as in ecstasy. For an instant, I thought about joining the celebration. Only one problem - A videotape camera would have screwed up the whole sequence! Luckily, my cameraman was more composed than I and we stayed put. It was an incredible moment to remember. - Mike Leiderman
The greatest sports movie ever. Gene Hackman is one of my favorite actors.
Another cool fact about Hoosiers: I was in the ARMY with Brad Boyle. When I first met him in 1995 other soldiers would walk up to him and say "I ain't no gizzard". Not knowing that he played in the movie, I felt uncomfortable and had to ask him "what was that all about?". At first he said "nothing", but eventually he confessed to the fact that he was in Hoosiers and even let me know how he was selected. He said that at the time of auditions, he had just finished Basic and AIT (as a National Guardsman) and when he returned home he still had his military style haircut, which the director loved. Brad was a good player and that helped a little also. And the rest is history! He says that he gets a little royalty check every now and then, "but not much".
ever since i saw the movie when it first came out, i've been calling people "gizzards". most of them have no idea what i'm talking about.
Personal opinion, the greatest sports movie of all time.
I agree 100%. "I love you guys", was the shortest pre game speech ever and it gets me everytime.
I have never been able....to pick between this,RUDY, or the program
It’s ok Daniel, pick Hoosiers. I will back you up.
I love this movie !
@@beautifulfeetpreachingsc that's just it I can't
As I sit here watching this video in my Jimmy Chitwood #15 jersey I reflect on my watching of the movie on VHS. I burned through 3 VHS tapes (over a 1000 viewings) during a 3 year time span. Many times watching with my four sons and wife. I am sure glad I know have the two-set DVD (my sons keep trying to take it home with them). For my 60th birthday my sons took me to Knightstown. They were having a BB awards banquet, but were just finishing up. The man overseeing the facility took me on an individual tour in the facility and locker room. He allowed me to have a basketball after the banquet ended and I had the opportunity to shoot hoops with two of my sons and three of my grandsons. What an experience to share with my family over the years. My birthday comes every four years (Feb 29th). Maybe I will head back to the Gym again to shoot some hoops. Hickory!!!
I am real Hoosier. This storied basketball team was before my time but basketball was king when I was in school. When I saw this movie, I cried like a baby. So many memories came flooding back. I actually seen high school basketball played in a couple of the gyms in the movie. The excitement, sights and sounds came flooding back. I know of other Hoosiers my age and older who had the same reaction. Imagine grown men sobbing during a movie. It happened. The movie was well done. It captured the spirit of Indiana basketball during that time. Well done. BTW, Gene Hackman was a much better choice than Jack Nickelson. He captured the essence of Indiana men during that time. Dennis Hopper was great. He captured the excitement we all felt during those games.
I always thought the shot Jimmy missed when coach finished talking to him was part of the script.
Absolutely, Coach Dale gave Jimmy some things to think about and that broke his concentration !!
It felt symbolic.
It felt very authentic. If he had hit all of his shots it would have felt scripted. Classic movie! Loved this documentary on it, lots of stuff I didn't know. Thanks!
Me too.
I feel the same. It's extremely cinematic.
My son and I went to visit as many filming locations from Hoosiers in June of 2019. My son just graduated high school and he and I love the movie. The main gym is a tourist attraction in Knightstown, IN. One of the playoff games’ gym is at Saint Phillip Neri School, in Indianapolis. This gym has not been preserved well. Butler field house, where the state championship was filmed, is exceptional, and the Cafe was in New Richmond, Indiana. Another playoff gym is in Lebanon, Indiana. That gym is part of a senior living facility. The old Hugh school has been converted, and other living corridors have been constructed. If it had not for the head maintenance man, we would not had been able to play on it. This gentleman, and everyone we met in Indiana, were unbelievably kind and welcoming to their Texas visitors. It was so cool to visit those sites.
There is one clip at the beginning of the movie where they show Coach Dale driving down the street of Terhune, which is only about 3 miles from where I grew up. Since then the grain elevator that is shown has been torn down. Also Ray Craft was my high school principal. He was the basketball coach before that and won the local sectional title.
Butler's Hinkle Field House is one of the Holy Grail top 5 classic places to see a game.. Allen Field House in Kansas, the Palestra in Philly, Fordham University's Rose Hill Gym(oldest in continual use), and Duke's Cameron Indoor
Frank, I'm from Lamesa, Texas and I toured the gym in Knightstown on 8/30/19. I went to school with a guy named Randy Nolen, who was the on-court "steadycam" cameraman who filmed game action in "Hoosiers".
@@davidwadsworth8982 I would add Pauley Pavillion and UD Arena
Great video. I was there for the four days they filmed the final game. In fact, you can see me walking behind the huddle during the first time out. I also ran out on the court to celebrate the winning shot. I can verify they told us all to rush the court no matter what, but he did nail the shot the first try. That was a lot of fun that night
It was a shame they couldn't get enough folks to pack the place. How many times did you have to move?
Several times. I can see myself a few times in the film because I know where to look. yeah, all four nights only had less than half the stands full. They started around 5:00 and went until at least midnight. A lot of people left before it was over because of work the next day I assume. I was young and could stay up late and get up early I can't do that anymore... LOL
Bet there are a lot of people who regret not showing up.
The first time I saw Hoosiers was at a new supervisor training seminar for the Martin-Brower Company in 1991. Our mentor used the movie to show the different phases of management. An example is when Gene gets himself ejected to allow Dennis to be the coach. Showing confidence in your subordinate and letting them step ip and lead is a powerful tool of leadership. I remember the lessons and use them today.
I somehow talked my dad into a weekend road trip where we would visit St. Louis and Chicago from my hometown in northern Indiana. When we stopped for the night, it wasn't at the hotel I had wanted, a Holiday Inn with a pool and everything (which we found the next day was at the next exit) but this hotel did have a movie theater nearby, and it was showing Hoosiers. I had already seen it once, and I told my dad we had to go see it together. And we did.
My dad grew up in a small northern Indiana town called Argos, and the team had an unbelievable regular season run where they won 76 games in a row. He had season tickets during that run, and so did I, even though we lived 10 miles up the road in Plymouth at the time. They made it to state, still under the one class system, in 1979, losing to Anderson in the semifinals. So I knew he would like the movie. It's just one of those childhood memories I'll never forget.
20 yrs ago when I was coaching my son's 9 and 10 yr old little league team, as we huddled before the championship game (which we came from behind and won), I got to end my little pep talk with a line from this movie... "I love you guys."
The opening scenes with Hackman driving were shot along Indiana State Road 52 between Indianapolis and Lafayette. My grandparents were married in the old church he passes.
Fascinating. Absolutely, fascinating.
I've lived in Danville, Indiana most of my life. During the brief period when I didn't, I'd put this movie on whenever I felt homesick because it captured the feeling of home so well. It looked like it could have been shot in my backyard. It wasn't until later after I came back, I learned that several locations used in the movie are just minutes from my house and that I knew or had some sort of connection to the people who owned some of those spots. Definitely makes this film all the more special to me.
I can't imagine there are too many people that could claim watching a movie made them feel so close to home.
Although im not from Indiana i also felt at home watching this because i grew up in a small town where high school sports was king. Also the 1950s time frame reminded me of my father
When Hackman came to my hometown of Dayton, Ohio to plug his Civil War book at The Greene bookstore a few years ago, the lines for his autograph were a mile long. I didn't care about his book or getting his signature. Some friends and I were filming our own reimagined version of Hoosiers, starring John Staley as "Gizzard" and Joe Staley as "Jimmy Chitwood". I couldn't cut the autograph line as it would take hours. I saw an elevator on the floor the CW lecture was to be held. That's it! He's going to come up quietly the back way. I stalked the elevator for 15 minutes and suddenly, out pops Hackman accompanied by two highway patrol troopers. I got his attention with my little flip video camera and yelled out, "You take the last shot, Jimmy!" He looks over at at me, smirks a bit like "Who is this fool?" winks and keeps right on moving. We got the footage we needed...
Great video dude. Anyone with kids playing sports needs to watch this movie with them, so many great messages were delivered: accountability, respect, teamwork, and never giving up.
I’ve seen this movie a dozen times and never knew any of this. What a great video to stumble upon. Ain’t RUclips great. Thanks.
Tom Carnegie, who played the P.A. announcer in the championship game, called the State Championship games on WFBM-TV channel 6 here in Indianapolis for years. His color commentator was Tony Hinkle, who was the coach of the Butler Bulldogs, and whose name was bestowed on the then Butler Fieldhouse in 1966, thus becoming Hinkle Fieldhouse. Carnegie became the sports director for then WFBM in 1953 which was the same year WFBM started televising the tournament. I'm pretty sure that he also called the 1954 Milan-Muncie Central game which would have included Bobby Plump's (Jimmy Chitwood's) game winning shot. I cannot personally verify that as my family didn't have a television set til 1956 when I was just 5 years old. Tom Carnegie was also the P.A. announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1949 til his retirement in 2006. His most famous pronouncements being "he-e-e-e's on it!" and "It's a ne-e-e-w tra-a-a-ack record!".
That’s definitely Hilliard Gates at the WFBM mic in the movie, a legendary and beloved sportscaster from Fort Wayne that was the announcer at the actual Milan state championship game upon which Hickory’s state championship is based. All of us here were so excited and proud to see and hear him in that movie. He was at WKJG, the Fort Wayne NBC affiliate, until his retirement in 1990, but I’m pretty sure he was at WOWO radio in FW before WKJG. Purdue Fort Wayne’s sports complex is named for him.
My dad played basketball at a tiny Indiana high school in the 1960s, and he was always impressed by Hilliard’s professional but friendly manner. Hilliard always went around to each team and made sure he called each player by their preferred names and pronounced them correctly. I met Hilliard once with my dad, and I was in awe, feeling as though I had just met a celebrity (because in our world, he was).
David Anspaugh, the director of ‘Hoosiers,’ is from Decatur, just south of FW, and he definitely grew up with Hilliard, so putting him in the movie was a no-brainer.
I grew up directly west of Indiana, in west central Illinois, in a small town just like in the movie. The high school was exactly the same type of building, the gym, was small like that, but the stage was on one side and the crowd all sat on one side. When I was young, I played in many gyms just like you see in the movie.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It really captured what living in a small midwestern farming town, where local boys become legends, and everyone backs the team. Those gyms were full back then. Great movie. Great times. Great memories!
The gym at my old elementary school in Davidson, NC, is still like that.
These schools were WPA Depression projects. They cranked out a ton of them. You can see WPA above the door archway on a lot of them. My school and gym were the same too. Arkansas Ozarks.
I sure wish they didn't cut an hour out of this movie when it was edited.
This movie is so good that an hour longer would be welcome.
I was a latecomer to the party...I had never watched it until a couple of years ago. Now, I watch it whenever I`m in need of an attitude adjustment, lol, a VERY uplifting and inspiring movie!!! Thanks for the vidieo!
You are wrong, I did need to know some of those things! Thanks for sharing. My all time favorite movie!
I am a Hoosier born in 1950, only four years old when Milan won the State Championship, and I have known of the Milan championship for as long as I can remember. If you want to know what small town life was like in rural Indiana in the 1950s watch this movie.
It was no fluke that Milan won the championship in '54, they had advanced to the final 4 of the tournament the year before when they lost in the afternoon game.
Three of the five starters for Milan were from the town of Pierceville located about 3 miles west of MIlan. Pierceville would probably have had a population of about 100 people at the time (my guess).
The town of Milan had a population of 1150 in 1954 but when they won the championship more than 40,000 showed up for the victory celebrtion. People lined the roads for many miles when the team returned to Milan after the game.
At least 3 of the Milan players went on to play college ball at the division 1 level. Two played under Tony Hinkle at Butler University, where the state championship game was played, both in 1954 and in the movie.
There is a museum in Milan dedicated to the 1954 team. A must see if you are a basketball fan and in the area. ( Milan is one hour due west of Cincinnati.)
On their way to the state championship Milan defeated Indianapolis's Crispus Attucks in a semi final game. Attucks had a sophomore on that team named Oscar Robertson. Attucks won the state title the following two years, 1955 and 1956. Oscar and Bobby Plump, the player that made the winning basket for MIlan, had/have a charity that they work on together. There is a signed basketball in the museum from Oscar to Bobby.
And Ray Craft, who was on the team and in the movie, was an IHSAA administrator for many years.
Solid information! Thank you for sharing.
Actually if you are a fan of this great film, these are 15 facts that you need to know.
James Dean graduated in 1949 from Faimount. He might have played against Milan but it wasn't 1951.
A little related trivia- The even smaller town of Wingate Indiana won 2 state championships, including eliminating Milan.
Wingate High school had no gym, so much of their practices were outside or in a basement.
Coincidentally, Wingate played their home games at a nearby school in New Richmond which was the filming location for Hickory.
The NCAA actually fined amateur players for acting in a movie as basketball players? What a goddam set of balls they have!
Hell, they even fined players for watching the movie, the bastards.
And it's only because they were paid as actors and not basketball players that they ended up just being fined. Had they been considered paid as players, that would have ended their college basketball career, right there.
Just another reason why the NCAA needs to go away.
Drain the swamp!
If they had let the NCAA know,and script was approved, no problem. When I was an assistant at an N.A.I.A. school in the late 70's, we had a similar event,on of our payers was an extra on some Kojac episode's. We let them know boom it was ok.
In case it hasn't already been mentioned, the game winning shot was designed to mirror the same game winner from Milan's 1954 championship game. I know they didn't want this to be a retelling of the true story so it was nice to see a couple of easter eggs thrown in as a tribute.
The movie saved the Knightstown, IN gym used as Hickory's home court. The attention from the movie pumped a lot of money into renovating the building and it is now used several times through the season, usually hosting 3 or 4 games on a given day to give high school teams an opportunity to play a real game there.
In the double DVD version there is video of the entire 1954 championship game (obviously transferred from b&w film to digital).
Only difference in the game winning shot is that Bobby Plump's shot was played out on the north end of the Butler Fieldhouse court while the Jimmy Chitwood shot had him shooting at the south basket end. If you watch the old highlight film, you see the benches on the west side of the court and they are still on the west side of the court in Hoosiers.
@@tedthompson6066 wow I'll have to try to find that Ted. This is a FINE movie. Hackman & Hopper, those kids, great story.
Best basketball movie.... I always go back to this movie every year when I begin coaching my basketball squad especially in the playoffs... I started coaching a basketball team that never made the playoffs and had to "build them back up" like the movie....which led to an undefeated season all the way to the championship game....This movie is inspiring... I had my kids on the team watch the movie and everyone wanted to be like "Jimmy" and play hard like Hickory.
That 1954 championship game ripped a hole in the heart of every Muncie Central fan, including me as I watched it at my uncle's house. It took me years to summon the courage to watch Hoosiers. It is a great movie and accurately captures Indiana high school basketball in the 1950s. Congratulations to Milan's coach for his stall tactics that nullified the speed and size of the Bearcats. Congratulations also to the players of that team who executed that strategy brilliantly. As a side note, Muncie went on to win a total of eight state championships.
Before the 4 corners tactics of Coach Smith
Still the most state championships in the state
Thank you for doing this! I am a Hoosiers fan. I love the opening scene, especially the music, and the scene where Hackman is abou to walk out onto the courts and says "Welcome to Indiana basketball. I knew some of what you brought up, but not all of it. The scene where Joey Chitwood (Maris) was always one I could relate to, having played hours on a dirt court where the ball barely bounced because it was 40 degrees and raining. It was incerdible, watching him nail shot after shot, only to miss as Hackman walks away. These were very special moments that only a farm kid from Indiana could understand. In my opinion, this was the best sports movie of all time that was based in reality.
It's Jimmy Chitwood,
Jack Is a great actor but he would not have been as good as Gene In this movie. Plus , Hopper should have won the Academy Award.JMHO
My brother's father in law was for many years the manager of "Hoosier Gym" in Knightstown. This is Hickory's home gym seen in the movie. The town had a 10th Anniversary of the film and invited all the cast and crew back to Knightstown. A few of the bit players showed up, but most of the stars, Hershey, Hackman, etc., their publicist or someone on their staff replied that they couldn't make it. Dennis Hopper actually called and explained why he couldn't be there, and expressed his gratitude for being invited. What a class guy, and incredibly talented.
I agree...somehow Jack wouldn't have convinced me as a basketball coach
@@rocknroll7065 - The role was tailor made for Gene
@Mini Spinakins - Hackman's Top-10 best actors in the world! Nicholson's not even Top-100....
I agree. Hopper should have gotten Best Supporting Actor. I heard it was a political thing he didn't..
Best sports movie I've ever seen
Whenever Hoosiers is televised I watch it. Hoosiers, along with Rudy are my must watch movies. Both endings always elicit a few tears from my old eyes.
My dad, who was a teacher and basketball coach at Worthington High School in Worthington Ohio, remembered the game and the coach back when it all happened.
I appreciate your video Jeff and yes it answered a lot of questions I had about it.
JOYOUSONEX ...that’s because it only celebrates white men!
And both "Hoosiers" and "Rudy" were scored by Jerry Goldsmith (who got an Oscar nomination for the first film).
@@marksheppard6498 Seriously?
My dad coached Newark high school in Ohio. Many great games with the Cardinals!
I'm glad you explained that about Buddy. It drove me crazy because in the final cut, the team starts off with 7 players, two leave, then 1 comes back, then Jimmy comes on, leaving 7. But there were 8 players on the team in the end! I figured it was just a cut scene that showed Buddy coming back on but it's nice you provided that confirmation. That said, they should have found a way to mention Buddy was back on the team.
Here is another number question. Did it also drive you crazy, where in the scene of Coach running the 5 team members through his new drills, that at one point, there were 6 players in 2 rows of 3, passing back and forth to each other while moving laterally? It is only for a split second, but it is in there. (my wife is really tired of me when I point it out. Can't say as I blame her) That said, I do not care about a few inconsistencies. Hoosiers is perfect and one of the all time great movies.
Terhune 5 in the scene with Dennis Hopper when he comes on court drunk is Jim Rayl Jr. His dad Jimmy Rayl was an All American at IU and also played for the Indiana Pacers. Jim Rayl Jr was also one of the players suspended by the NCAA. He played for IPFW.
That was a great video. Lots of facts in there I didn't know. Really enjoyed it, well done!
I went to high school with one of the basketball players, he played whit. He now is a physician’s assistant at my doctor’s office.
Brad and I were PAs in the ARMY. He is a really good guy. If I ever get back to Indiana, I will need to look him up in Decatur.
well you tell him Canadians are cheering still love this movie
Neat! Rollin Cutter, a player for Milan, attends my church and even vactioned where we donin Minnesota
I am a Butler grad few tidbits about venue for final game.
Butler held back a year from renevetting Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler moves from a paler shade of blue to Navy Blue right after the game.
Also the according to a friend that was at filming the crowd was moved regularly to give appearance of a packed stadium. Most of the shots were taken from eastern side of Hinkle, to minimize the need to move the crowd.
Compared to the things we "didn't know" videos, this one actually had all new information that I found very interesting. Well done!
Indiana has always been America's basketball state. Four decades ago a small community in the northern part of the state added to the lore.
When visiting Argos, IN once I took this picture of the famed 1979 Argos High Dragons. In Indiana's 1 class state tournament (where for decades schools of all sizes were in the same class) this little school with 250 students in a town of 1500 went all the way to the State semi finals in 1979. They were 28-0 with State Tourney wins over schools like Plymouth with a young Scott Skiles, Elkhart Central, which had a towering front line of 6'11", 6'8" and 6'5", Fort Wayne Harding (with Mr Basketball Jim Master, a Univ of Kentucky recruit) and the fearsome Marion Giants along the way, before losing to Anderson in Indy.
Argos had a wonderful coach in Phil Weybright.
He took over a losing program in 1973-74 and produced 10 straight winning seasons.
From 1978 to 1981 Argos would win 76 straight regular-season games, still a state record.
One reason they were better was the basketball coach in the 60's, Ralph Powell, started soccer at Argos in 1963 partly as off season conditioning for the basketball players. The 1979 basketball team had started fall soccer practices with 10 mile runs in the morning. They often wore down teams with their conditioning.
The 1979 Argos team and their run from 1978 to 81 remains one of the greatest Indiana high school sports stories of all time.
Charlie Adams
I miss the good ol days of us small schools against the big schools.
Ryan Jackson screw Marion
Don't forget Loogootee in 1975. Runner-up.
Really enjoyed the video. One piece of trivia you left out: Although not appearing in the movie, a member of the 1954 Miland team became a professional actor: William Jordan, who starred in the TV series Project: UFO, and portrayed a character based on Norman Schwartkoft in the TV movie Friendly Fire, and John F. Kennedy opposite Paul Witfield in the mini-series King..
I ran across this movie after not seeing it for some time and my kids came into the room... "what is this?" "this looks boring" (typical response when seeing movies I grew up on). After 30 seconds of complaining about no CGI or shooting scenes they were hooked... I love it. great movie and neat video.
I was raised in Niles, Michigan (about 10 miles north of Notre Dame) but for high school basketball I listened to and much preferred Indiana basketball specifically because the schools were not divided into classes (as they were in Michigan). I used to climb on the roof and adjust the antenna to get decent radio reception of the games. I remember very well the nail-biting games of 1954 and 1955 (which is when I joined the Air Force as a 17-year-old.) Here's a bit of trivia to prove how wrapped up I was with Indiana basketball. Oscar Robertson set a scoring record for the "Sweet Sixteen". Who broke that record? It was none other than Ron Bonham, who played for the Boston Celtics for a couple years. Absolutely love basketball!!
I remember when the filming of Hoosiers (fall 1985) was taking place. The local TV stations were pleading for people to fill the stands (dressed in 50's attire), for about a week or more of filming. They were disappointed at the turnout, because Indiana was such a basketball state, and Bobby Knight was still coaching at IU. It was reported that the producers had to pay attention to the positioning of the crowd and specific angles of filming so that the stands always looked full.
Read a critic's article shortly after, that either Gene Hackman was disappointed or the critics were disappointed because he was the only talented actor in the movie. Either way, the focus of the movie was about basketball, and not a side romance or external drama that seems creep in most movies. The movie worked 100% for me.
Thanks for posting this excellent story about Hoosiers. It is one of my very favorite films and I have two copies of the DVD. You've inspired me to get the special edition. It was nice to learn that the person who called the original game and who played the announcer in the film are the same person. He performed it just like it was 1952.
This movie was required viewing for my high school basketball team. Our coach was also the PE teacher so I probably saw it multiple times every year from the time I was in fifth grade until I graduated high school. Fortunately, it’s a great movie and still stands as one of my favorites.
It's amazing how many 50 year old (in 1986) Indiana guys I have met who SAY they played against Milan high school in basketball in 1952. There are thousands of them.
My dad, who played at Hanover, would cut out the bracket from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette every year, it covered one side of the refrigerator. Great time for Hoosier Hysteria and I don't believe my dad ever recovered from the switch to a class system. Great movie and great memories for me.
When the directors cut DVD set came out, I bought two. One I kept, The other I gave as a gift to a friend who grew up in a small town in Rural Indiana. He played 4 years for his school's varsity team....
Being a Hoosier myself, I always thought this was based on "a true story", even my aunt that went to Muncie central, said it was. Oh well, I guess being "inspired by" actual events is close enough for me. My sister actually got to be in the crowd AND meet Gene Hackman, said he was very nice. I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Lewis at the time otherwise I too would've been in the movie!!
Great video too!!
HOOSIERS makes me cry like a baby every time I watch it! And I'm 69. Gene Hackman's performance is among the greatest of his career. When the ref comes over to him to tell him "you've only got 4 players" his reply and facial expressions were incredible as he said sincerely with a point of his trusty rolled up notebook: "my team's on the floor" Wow! !
The Theme song by Jerry Goldsmith sets the tone right up front. 4 minutes of heaven at the start.
One of my favorite films! Thanks for the background info Jeff. It made my appreciation for this classic film that much greater.
Hoosiers is one of the few movies that, if it is playing when I walk into a room. I will stop what I am doing and watch it. Be it from the beginning or somewhere after, it is mesmerizing. I don't even really like basketball, but I like this film!
Simply outstanding.....not a dirty moment in it.
When I was a senior in high school my basketball coach took us to the actual gym in knightstown where the guys played. Everything was exactly like in the movie. Even the locker room. We played a game while there and it was a really cool experience. Have always loved the movie.
It’s in knightstown Indiana. I’m sure if you google it you’ll find the exact address.
0:52 My highschool (Delta HighSchool) was in the last state championship before they began separating the schools into classes. Left a little mark on a very important part of Indiana history. That’s what made Indiana basketball so unique. Every team had a shot to win it all. It’s created legendary moments like no other.
Arghs y'all beat my LaPorte Slicers in the State Semifinals 😡
I remember that year. Kentucky and Delaware are the only two states left that crown one champion. Kentucky has 16 regional tourneys with the winners meeting in Rupp Arena in the state tournament- "The Sweet Sixteen". You're right- it creates legendary moments.
Jay Zee 😏
I went to Carmel and was a junior that final year. I remember thinking where the HECK is Delta?!?!
FYI: northwest of Muncie lol
One of the score board shots shows the team "Decatur", which is the small Indiana town director David Anspaugh was born and raised in.
5:49 Air was pretty cheap. Why the almost flat ball…lol. And an excellent video! Thanks!
I can never get enough of Hoosiers! Thank you for this.
GREAT INSIGHTS INTO HOOSIERS. When I was in HS in Chicago, our UHF TV sets started pulling in Indiana HS basketball. And their State HS Championship. We got to watch Jimmy Rahl who was Mr. Basketball in Indiana, then went on to become an All-American at Indiana University. I heard his son had a bit part in Hoosiers on one of the opposing teams.
The announcer is Tom Carnagie, who was indeed the announcer at the Milan -Muncie Central game. He was crippled with polio and was much beloved in Indiana. He was the sports guy for one of the Indy TV stations. I knew Tom, a friend of my dad. And I was at the game behind the basket at the opposite end where Bobby Plump made THE SHOT. I was 10 and dressed in an Indian headdress. My dad and later I attended Tech High School, Muncie Central's archrival. Muncie defeated Tech for the 1952 state championship. Any opponent of Muncie Central was a team I loved for a moment.
My late grandfather taught physical education & coached baseball @ Franklin University in Franklin, Indiana from the mid 1950s until 1963. He told me that he had 2 of the players from the 1954 Milan team in his classes, Gene White & Roger Schroder.
Being a native Hoosier I can add that the gym the movie was filmed in is still around and in use. Located in Knightstown Indiana. A little east of Indianapolis and open for tours and rental to play basketball. The school which was in a different town burned down years ago.The final game was filmed in Butler Fieldhouse which is were it was played back in the 50s. Hilliard Gates Is and Indiana Sports legend. Being from Fort Wayne Always enjoyed listening to him on the nightly news sports
Doesn't a couple of high school teams play in that gym every year? It is some kind of Classic I thought.
This review makes me want to watch the movie. Thanks.
Good job on the video. Hoosiers is my favorite sports film.
I purchased the collector's edition and the actual final game between Milan and Muncie Central is on one of the DVDs.
the coach was Marvin Wood&he was a young 26 years old from nearby Morristown Ind.
Hey Jeff, really great stuff here. I'm a fan of the movie, have seen it several times, and knew quite a lot about it, incl. Hackman's critique while shooting. But you brought some really great info here and presented terrifically. I look forward to more of your vids. :-)
My dad is from a small town in Indiana, Brownsburg if I remember right. We watched the movie together when it first hit video. He paused the movie just before the start of the final game and said that he had played on that very same court I think in 1955.
brownsburg isn't that small anymore! it is almost a suburb of Indianapolis. that gym for the final is the Hinkle fieldhouse. this is where butler plays now.
@@Fater4511 I'd say it IS a suburb. That entire side of Indy is basically 1 town (really 3) now.
@@Fater4511 my hopes were dashed when Butler played for the NCAA championship and Gordon Hayward missed at the buzzer. Oh so close - and so much like the last shot that Bobby / Jimmy made...only it missed. Dang it!
I watched the movie Hoosiers at least 50 times in my life. 1 of the best Basketball movies ever if not the best. I was just out of high school when this was made. I still watch it every time it is on. Thank you Angelo Pizzo
I must of seen that movie ten times. My favorite sports are baseball, boxing and football, but I loved that movie.
My biggest surprise was the age of the movie. I saw it for the first time many many years later. I just assumed it came out around when I was in elementary school. As A kid in a poor home with a mom and sister, no way I would have seen the movie then. But now I realize it came out during my first year as a young US Marine. Those were not casual easy times, Cold War and all. I guess I gotta give a bit of blame also to another Marine. Gene Hackman just has that look that makes him look old at any age.
Semper Fi
The guy who played Ollie has a sister who was one of the Hickory cheerleaders.
I also heard that despite being cast as the weakest ball player on the team, Ollie in fact was the best player they had.
i heard OLLIE was very popular with the girls and had a very large...
So many comments that I don't know if I had said it already, but Gene White, who played on the Milan team, was a referee in the film. He gave the drunken Shooter a Technical Foul after Coach Dale said, it's OK, he's an assistant coach." That instantly made it not ok! 🤣
Hey man, great vid. Really learned a lot from it. Hard to believe the players did not have prior acting experience. Kudos to the director; he did a great job.
As a man raised in Indiana, this is the best sports movie of all time. Hands down!
From and Indy town with two state basketball championships I present for consideration the movie Rudy.
one of my all time favorite movies!! Thanks for the insight!
My father-in-law played against the Milan team. He grew up in Sheridan. He loved this movie.
Ray Crowe, a well known coach in Indiana played the part of the Muncie Central coach in the movie.
To add, Ray Crowe was Oscar Robertson's high school coach. Also, the team in the movie was actually South Bend Central. My guess was they wanted to use schools that didn't exist at the time of the filming. However, you are correct that Muncie Central was the team that Milan beat.
"Hoosiers" is also noteworthy in which its score by Jerry Goldsmith used actual basketball sounds incorporated in the score, which blended synthesizers with orchestra (and Goldsmith got some heat because the score was recorded in then "Communist Hungary" which was spotlighted in rather tasteless ads in its Oscar campaign. Goldsmith was nominated anyway).
I've watched 'Hoosiers' several times, & the music is one of the high points in the movie for me- I think that if you've enjoyed the movie, you could hear the score just playing at random somewhere & you'd INSTANTLY know what movie it's from. Listen to Goldsmith's musical scores from 'Chinatown', 'Patton', 'The Wind & The Lion', or dozens of his other scores; the man was an absolute MASTER of his craft, IMHO!
vividwatch47 He should have been.
Ronnie Truitt, one of the key starting players on Milan team (standing at the front windshield in the car picture)ended up being an almost forty year old coach at Cy-Fair high school in NW Houston and directed their team to the State championship the year they moved to the top classification. He was a calming, competitive and cerebral coach that knew how to navigate some very good talent through district and playoff teams to unseat the perennial power team at the time in the final. At the time, we did not know he had had his own dramatic experience of winning that historic final in Indiana as a school boy. He was an honorable man that cared for people and those who played for him highly respected him, including me. He ended up being chosen to be the first Principal of the second high school of that growing district where he cared for and positively influenced a larger circle of kids until his untimely death several years later. Those young men on that Milan team, like Ronnie, later matured to became solid contributors to their communities which schoolboy and girl sports learning (a U.S. tradition)with its associated discipline helps mold.
Great review of not only of the movie history but also the background history.
My dad was born in Round Grove Indiana in 1936 and played HS basketball. He was a senior during this season, and would talk about it. He died when I was 20, just a few years after this movie was released. I'll always think of him when watching it, and am glad it's such a great film.
My dad's family was from the Wolcott area, just north of there. There are now a lot of wind turbines there.
The best movie about basketball ever made. And, second only to 'Rocky', the best sports movie ever made. Both incredibly beautiful films about the triumph of the underdog.
I grew up in Indiana and my grandfather was close friends with Hillard Gates. Love this movie since I was also teammates with Steve Hollar (raid).
Sheb Wooley who plays the principal and assistant coach in the movie wrote and performed the song "The Purple People Eater" I grew up on Indiana high school basketball but now live in Illinois. One thing is certain, you can't take the "Hoosier" out of the boy!!! I love this movie!!!
Great video! Thanks for uploading it.
This movie is my all time favorite and i still listen to the music in my car ! Also enjoyed reading all the extra bonus facts in the comments.
Also pretty sure jimmy got that role because he was a hunk! God Bless you all!
Just tell them...time passes ...things people and situations change ...and there's never enough time to show all details. Sometimes you just have to assume what happened an move on. Thanks for this video 👍😁💗
Indiana high school basketball has really taken a hit since the switch to class ball. Back in the 70's when I was in high school, the gyms would be PACKED and LOUD during sectional games, requiring about a half dozen county deputies present to keep the peace. The regional games at Seymour were even louder in that big gym. Quite an atmosphere I have found no where else. Curse you class ball...
I think this film offers a glimpse into what Indiana Basketball once was. With the exception of the Damon Bailey years, basketball had been in a state of decline. As time has marched on there are so many other options vying for people's entertainment. There are other avenues for high school kids as well. There are a myriad of reasons for this. Class basketball in my opinion hastened the down turn. Over 41,000 people showed up to watch the 1990 Indiana State Basketball Champion ship Damon Bailey's senior year. That is the largest attendance for any high school basketball game.
I love that gym in Seymour!
I drive by the old Seymour gym on the way to visit my sister. So many memories of old sectional and regional games there. Sad to see it sitting in disrepair when there were so many incredible moments that took place there.
The IHSAA tries to recreate this with the north and south regionals and semi states. It doesn't help though.
Imagine New Castle hosting a regional and semi state now ...
not only the best sports movie made, quite possibly one of my favorite ever movies
I really enjoyed Hoosiers It is nice to hear about the team that inspired the movie.
Thanks, that answers a lot of questions especially about Buddy that's been kicking in my head for about ten years.
ha!
I love Hoosiers. Thank you for such an informative video about the production of the movie. It was very interesting.
I would love to see the fully restored director's cut.
Kent Poole, who played Merle of "Picket Fence" fame (he hit the shot), tragically committed suicide in 2003. I saw Hoosiers for the first time when I was 14, and now, as an adult who coaches, my teams watch it every year. Tradition.
My parents were in the making of the movie, specifically the final game. Those involved in the movie put out in the paper calling for extras. My dad had hurt his foot a few days earlier and had to wear the shoes they wore in the 50s which weren't comfortable. While my dad stood in line to get refreshments, Gene Hackman walked by and accidentally stepped on his foot. My dad yelled out a few choice words and Gene looked back at him as if to say "What the hell is your problem, buddy?" So if I ever get a chance to meet Gene Hackman, I've got a funny anecdote to share with him.
I was hitchhiking from Ohio to California and ended up spending a few days at a christian homeless center in Terre Haute Indiana. I saw the premier of Hoosiers at a movie theater on Larry Bird Blvd.
I played Indiana HS Basketball for a school similar to Hickory, 53 and 54 years ago. Hilliard Gates radio broadcast one game I played in. Hilliard's favorite all-time player, Willie Long, of Fort Wayne South Side HS, was used, in name, as the Muncie Central hotshot in the movie. When Hilliard's scenes were set to be filmed, an oversight was revealed: Hilliard's eyeglasses were not time appropriate. Hilliard needed to read his lines from a script but could not see the paper, and there was obviously no time to get retro-eyewear with his prescription, so Hilliard just said it was no problem. You must understand Hilliard had instant recall. In the Fort Wayne War memorial Coliseum he came into our dressing room for like 3 minutes, memorized our names and uniform numbers and never forgot any of us. So he just asked for one minute to read and memorize his lines. He was not reading the papers he was looking at in the film. He nailed it from instant-recall.
wow, what a story James. Thanks for sharing. Some people are just genius and have that high IQ and memory. Sounds like Hillard Gates was one of those. Boy, he sure sounds like he's got the voice for it.
As long as you don't talk about the real story behind Milan Indiana I'm fine. The real truth behind that coach should of been another witch trial for doing what he did to win that game. It's a dang shame that coach had to cheat to win the game. That bastard will meet his maker one day and answer to what he did. That day will come for cheating to win that game.
@@briandm33 What cheating took place? Are you a troll trying to illicit responses in a comment room?