Hoosier Weekend

A few weeks back, Amanda had me on assignment.  This is her husband Matt who is going to take a stab at a guest post (with a good chance of a guest post series to come later).

The weekend of 12/6 was a man’s weekend. Good ol’ father/son trip to the great Hoosier state of Indiana.  I swapped out my normal travel companion Amanda (Southwest Companion Pass) and punched a ticket for my dad and I to go to Indiana. 

My dad grew up LOVING basketball.  The movie itself – Hoosier’s – is based on a true story of a town called Milan (in the movie the town is Hickory) who defeated Muncie (actual town name) who was a basketball powerhouse.  The difference from this 1954 championship from others today was that there was no separation of divisions…only 1.  The small school with about 150 students won against the most powerful big school basketball team in all of Indiana (Muncie has won championships in each decade of existence). 

Back to a young Marty (my dad), he remembers watching a team from the same year - 1954 in my hometown of Stratford.  We were also a small town and played in a one division type setting as well. That same year they were one game away from state. They played Stevens Point who is one of the largest Wisconsin teams.  The 1954 Stratford team ended up losing by 4, and Stevens Point won state.  Since basketball has been a love of my dad, this connection has always sparked great interest and joy in the movie and overall story.  My dad coached for a total of 30+ years which I experienced firsthand from 3rd through 8th grade.  Every once in a while (especially when we look back), we pick up on some of my dad’s coaching nuances or quotes he used that were from the coach in Hoosiers (Gene Hackman). 

Yup, my dad and I were ready to soak up a real Hoosier weekend.

We got in late Friday night, but Saturday morning we were ready to hit the road.  1^st stop was a quality breakfast at Lincoln Square.  Great place on the east side of town and good feel to it. 

After breakfast, we made our way to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, IN.  

We learned a couple of things here to wet our appetite. 

1) John Wooden – the coaching legend actually started in Indiana.  He grew up in Indiana and went to Purdue. My dad knew this, but news to me.

2) There were a few special exhibits on schools in Indiana that had a storied past.  One of course was Milan for their Hoosier story. The other was Muncie. It showed just how big and powerful this goliath was in the special David vs Goliath story. 

3) The founder of basketball, Joe Naismith, named Indiana the birth of basketball.  Although it wasn’t the first place he hung up the peach basket to play ball, it was where basketball really began to grow.

4) High school basketball in Indiana during the 50’s and even into the end of the 1900’s was similar to H.S. football in Texas.  Still today, the top 14 of 15 largest high school gyms are found in Indiana.

5) The actual gym that Hoosier’s was filmed at was only a 30 minute drive and on our way to Milan.  So…..

We strolled over to Knightstown, IN where the Hoosier Gym was located.  It was amazing to see the gym just like it was in Hoosiers, and the floor is still in great shape. My dad practiced a few lines from out of the movie on the sideline, and we checked out a few other areas of the gym.

Dad running through some lines - Gene Hackman calling timeout

"How many passes?  4!"

After the seeing the gym, we were ready to get to Milan and the museum.  There we met Roselyn McKittrick. She had moved to Milan shortly after ’54 and had been documenting the story ever since.  Her museum has attracted all the big Indiana basketball greats to stop by and see (Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, etc).  She also keeps in contact with all the ’54 teammates and has written a few books. Here we caught some of the finer details of the history including stories of the return trip into town where 40,000 people gathered to greet the team home who rode in Cadillacs.  Easy to say everyone who witnessed this event was rooting for the underdog!

Dad and Roselyn

Dad and I at the museum - converted from an old bank

We stopped for dinner at The Reservation which seemed fitting for the hometown team called the Indians.  Hopefully the PC police don’t crack down on this place, because we really enjoyed it! We had a great fireside dinner and were charged up for another adventure that evening.

Game time. We came in and saw a scoreboard in honor of the ’54 team above the ticketing. They also had the ’54 trophy ready for viewing.  We found the banners hanging up near the current scoreboard, and my dad managed a few conversations with the announcer and the athletic director.  The AD told us a story of a retired guy in California he once met on a Monday morning. The guy was looking in one of the classrooms, and the AD asked if he could help. The Cal guy went on to explain that he watched the movie the day before.  He was amazed by the story, so he booked a ticket to come see where it all happened.  The AD asked him if he was going to go see the court where it was filmed, the Indiana Hoosier HOF, or some of the other Hoosier highlights.  The guy said no, he only had time to stop at the school since his flight left out of Cincinnati again at 2pm! 

1954 scoreboard when you walk into Milan Gym

1954 banner and team

I thought my dad was making a break for the mic.
He ended up chatting with the announcer and athletic director. 

The trophy and the old gym floor

Sunday - We had a few more stops to make before our Hoosier weekend ended.  We went to the NCAA HOF in Indianapolis. They had exhibits of NCAA sports and teams all over the 1^st floor and some hands on stuff on the 2nd floor.  One room had a hoop with some stickers on the floor where big shots were made.  The coaching blood in my dad drew him to check on the air pressure in the basketballs.  Thanks to him and his reporting, there will be 2 less underinflated basketballs.

 

Sometimes he impersonates refs too

Best ever to play the game that went to college

Proper inflation check technique

Reporting 2 underinflated basketballs

NCAA schools across the country

Marty - Northland  Matt - Northwestern

Last stop was a late lunch on the northern side of Indianapolis at Plump’s Last Shot. Another catch up moment – Bobby Plump is the real person played by Jimmy Chitwood in the movie. He was the best player who hit the game winning shot from 17 feet out to take down Muncie and go down in basketball history.  This bar/restaurant is operated by Bobby’s son, Jonathan. At the end of the meal (and a few empty attempts with the waitress on locating Bobby that day), we were about ready to head out after a last picture. However, a tall guy with a ladder who was working outside came in to thank us for stopping in.  Came to realize this was Jonathan Plump, direct lineage to Bobby Plump! My dad soaked it up, and Jonathan even thanked my dad for all the countless hours he spent coaching. This, as my dad later reiterated, was the highlight of the trip! 

 

Plumps Last Shot

Dad, minutes before meeting Bobby Plump's son Jonathan

Well, glad it was a highlight as the next few hours we spent in limbo if we were going to get home or not that night.  Delayed for a plane coming in from Baltimore (who was getting dumped on with snow), I was trying to figure out if we had alternate options and where we might possibly stay that night (while my dad caught up on some snoozing).  Southwest doesn’t fly direct IND to MSP, so we had an upcoming plane to hop in Kansas City. When we left IND we were scheduled to arrive in MCI at 8:15 but our MCI-MSP plane was scheduled to leave at 7:50. Those of you good at math realize this isn’t going to work out.  Well, God gave us a little more grace in weather delays and MCI-MSP ended up getting delayed to 8:30 departure, and we barely made it!

The trip was a lot of fun, and it was great to travel with my dad again. When I was younger we would take summer trips out to Oregon where my mom is originally from.  My sisters and mom would fly out, and my dad and I would drive.  It would take us 5 days to drive out, taking in the scenery, stopping at our favorite spots, and even hitting some parks along the way.  

What a weekend!