It goes without saying that the game of basketball holds a profound significance in Indiana. The sport has gotten ingrained in the collective identity and cultural fabric of residents of the Hoosier State. Moreover, the basketball discussions in Indiana stretch far beyond Larry Bird’s greatest NBA championship performance or reminiscing about the 1987 NCAA tournament final that saw Keith Smart’s jump shot win Indiana the national crown. B-ball has deep roots in the land famous for corn and as the birthplace of Mark Spitz. The game got introduced to this part of the US at the tail-end of the 19th century, and thanks to its establishments in high schools and college, it has left an indelible mark on Indiana’s sporting landscape.
While it is true that it is unlikely that the Pacers will win a championship any time soon, basketball remains more than just a game in this section of the United States. It unites communities and instills essential values such as dedication and teamwork in those who play it here. Venues like Hinkle Fieldhouse and Assembly Hall are famous throughout the country for the unmatched enthusiasm contained within their walls during contests. And Indiana’s love for basketball gets perfectly depicted in the 1986 David Anspaugh sports drama – Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman as a mysterious coach who lifts up a team from Hickory to reach the championship game at Butler Fieldhouse, securing victory with a clutch shot as the buzzer goes off.
Without question, Hoosiers has stood the test of time and still gets ranked as a top ten US sports movie based on the 1954 Milan High School state championship run, nicknamed - The Milan Miracle, Hoosiers may be a film that gets criticized for its lack of sophistication and surprises. Though, it makes up for this with buckets of charm and heart.
Milan High School’s 1954 Title Win
Hoosiers opens with the famous line – based on a true story. Nonetheless – inspired by a true story may have been more fitting, as the events depicted in the movie do not mimic tit-for-tat those of the Milan High School’s basketball team’s 1954 run. In the film, the squad at the center of the plot is from the fictional Hickory High School. Like in real-life, in Milan, Hickory also had an undersized roster and was from a rural area.
Furthermore, both teams won the state championship game by only two points difference, with the final few seconds on screen closely following the events of Milan’s 1954 championship match. In fact, the last shot in Hoosiers got made from almost an identical spot on the court as the one in the real-world game that inspired it. And the final competition in the flick got filmed at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse, the same gymnasium that hosted the state finals in 1954. But unlike in the on-screen storyline, the Milan team went into the season as a heavy favorite and expectedly came out on top. Pundits widely considered them as a juggernaut of a group. That was so despite their traditional minuscule enrollment numbers.
It should also get mentioned that Milan’s coach was a twenty-six-year-old named Marvin Wood, who had never led a team before, even at the high school level. To compare, the character played by Gene Hackman, Norman Dale, is a former college coach in his forties, while Gene Hackman was fifty-five when filming commenced. Also, Hickory is not a real place.
Where Did They Shoot Hoosiers?
The answer to this question is in multiple places around Indiana. The home gym was a sports hall in Knightstown, and the town scenes got filmed in New Richmond.
The Memorial Gymnasium in Lebanon and one in Brownsburg served as the sites for the Hickory’s team, The Huskers’ regional and sectional games. The St. Philip Neri Catholic School arena was the place where their away game against the Cedar Knob Knights got shot. As discussed, the Hinkle Fieldhouse was the location of the state championship match.
What Are Some Other Factual Discrepancies
There are many. In the movie, Dale gets brought on to replace a coach who dies and who the two love. Also, the team’s best player, Jimmy, gives up on the Huskers because he is too upset to play anymore, given the recent turn of events. In real life, Marvin Wood got hired as a replacement for Herman Grinstead, who Milan High School let go of because he bought new uniforms against the wishes of the school’s superintended. According to many, Grinstead was beloved by the townsfolk, with many citing him as the most-popular coach in the team’s history.
Milan’s star player, Bobby Plum, played the entire season in 1954 and never talked about quitting the team. There was no romance between Marvin Wood and a teacher in real life, like in the movie, and there was no assistant coach, a renowned town drunk. In the film, this character, Shooter, gets played terrifically by Dennis Hooper in a performance that landed Hooper an Academy Award nomination.
Wood was also a much more soft-spoken and less intense coach than his on-screen representation Dale. And, as touched upon above, Milan did not squeak by its opponents in the tournament. Per the records, they won most of their duels by double digits.
A bit of trivia some readers may enjoy is that Hillard Gates, the championship game announcer in Hoosiers, is the real-life 1954 title game commentator.
What Is the Impact of Hoosiers?
Released on November 14th, 1986, this $6 million-budgeted drama when on to gross over $28 million at the US box office. Produced by Hemdale Pictures, in cooperation with De Haven Productions, Hoosiers mainly garnered favorable reviews, with many praising its utilization of the underdog formula to great effect. Various publications have called it one of the best sports films ever, and AFI ranked it in 2008 as the fourth best entry in the sports genre, while AFI’s 100 Years List of most inspirational films had it at thirteen.
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