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w22dheartlivie 
"Kitty Lover"
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 Posted - 03/13/2010 : 20:22:32
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I grew up in rural central Indiana and watching this film brings back wonderful memories. Of course, this was back before the Indiana High School Athletic Association nobbed out and changed over to class style basketball. My school was one of those little schools that each year faced the big bad Richmond Red Devils when sectional time came around. We were the Hickory team each time we played. And occasionally we WON. I remember little po-dunk gymnasiums with a stage and curtain at one end, cement bleacher seats and that special smell that basketball courts and fresh popcorn had. I was in the pep section that year that my school and a nearby rival set the still standing state record for a combined score for a basketball game - 224 - the final tally was 124-100. Usually a blow out score, but the truth of the matter was that despite that 24 point spread, it was a glorious night. I've always been convinced that the other team helped ensure that we would break 100 points that night. Despite the spread, it was a town-shaking event. I was in the crowd when we beat Richmond one year in the sectional finals and was in the crowd when we won the regional final. We'll not talk about what happened at the semi-state (damn that Muncie Central team), but this was back when a tiny little school, with a total enrollment of 350 in the high school, could really beat a school with an enrollment of nearly 2000. It was still a time when David could beat Goliath. Of course a couple years later, Woody Austin played for Richmond and no one could beat them and he was named Mr. Basketball. Austin went on to play for Gene Keady at Purdue University before he finally flubbed.
Watching this film today made me wistfully nostalgic for those good old days. I kept hearing the cheer go through my head: "We are the Tigers, the mighty, mighty Tigers" and reminded me what March Madness was all about - Hope, faith and conviction. I stopped going to high school basketball games when the state changed over to class basketball. There is no longer A state basketball champion, the Cinderella team is no longer a possibility. Now we have a grand total of 4 champions, each based on the size of the enrollment. What a cheat it feels like now, what a cheat it felt like then. Hoosiers can no longer happen. That's a sad commentary on the faith those in charge have in the little school. But we had our basketball stars then, we had our inspirational coach, hell, we even had our town drunk who showed up to cheer for the team. It's sad to think that my variously scattered nephews will never know that feeling. Gene Hackman, where are you now?
But Hoosiers means something special to those of us who remember. And memories are what there are left when we look back on a lifetime. Go Tigers. |
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Hoosiers
