A lot of people consider “Hoosiers” the best sports film of all time.
The 1986 classic follows the exploits of a fictional small town Indiana high school basketball team in 1952 as it attempts to achieve the impossible dream of a state championship. The story is inspired by the true life achievement of the 1954 Milan team, who with an enrollment of only 161 students shocked big city power Muncie Central on a last second shot to win the state title. It’s the kind of sports story that represents something that is hard to grasp unless you live in a small town.
I bring up “Hoosiers” because Cooperstown is a small town where you can appreciate that feeling. An important part of the film is the passion that the townspeople show for their school. Indiana high school basketball is legendary for the devotion people have for the sport.
The success of the 1954 Milan team overcoming all odds to win a state championship kept fans over the years of thinking it could happen to their small school.
When I moved to Cooperstown 23 years ago, I naturally equated the village with baseball. But all I heard was the tradition of great basketball teams led by legendary coach Dick White.
I learned about the super teams from 1977 and 1985, and how Cooperstown always ran deep into sectionals every year.
The first glimpse I got of the hysteria was a packed house at the Christmas tournament final in 1991 where future Division I college player Seth Schaffer was a rising sophomore star. There was no question something special existed here.
Dick White soon retired and some of the mystical nature of the program seemed to dim with it. The teams were decent but talk of sectional titles or beyond didn’t seem as realistic. Then, in 2003, with first-year coach Dave Bertram leading the way, the “magic” returned. Having what seemed like a once-in-a-generation class of superb senior talent (plus one junior), Cooperstown started winning and didn’t stop. I hadn’t been to a game in a few years, but had to check out this latest phenomenon. Once I did, I became totally hooked.
The crowds and excitement of small town high school basketball were something to behold. The intensity was incredible. The Redskins finished the regular season 20-0 and just kept winning in sectional play.
After winning the sectional title over Little Falls, Cooperstown overcame a very athletic Onondaga team in Rome to qualify for the state quarterfinals.
One of the most memorable moments from that experience was the drive home through Fly Creek where hundreds of cars followed each other as far as the eye could see. It was like the final scene from “Field of Dreams.”
Of all the high school basketball games I’ve seen in my life there can be no doubt of the greatest of all. A few days after the Onondaga victory, Cooperstown played powerhouse Seton Catholic in its backyard at Binghamton University.
In a sweatbox gym what seemed like the entire population of Cooperstown showed up to pack one side of the facility. In a dramatic finish Will Dennis hit the tying shot with five seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
From there Cooperstown grabbed the lead and held on for a 61-58 victory. The win was so emotionally exhilarating that cars were honking as they passed the Cooperstown rooter bus all the way up Interstate 88.
Nine years later we are experiencing that “Cinderella” season once again. Not because what the team is doing is surprising, but because, once again, it’s unusual to have so many tall, quick, and athletic players in one class.
There’s an old axiom that you can coach basketball but you can’t coach height or quickness. Cooperstown has it all this year. Once again we are seeing the entire town drive long distances to see if the magic can continue.
Support is growing and fans flock to the games just as they did in “Hoosiers.” As happened nine years ago, Cooperstown is back in Glens Falls playing for that elusive state title. If it can achieve the ultimate ending that didn’t quite happen in 2003 we will totally relate to the passion underlying the movie. Only this time it’s our village and our reality and it will be a feeling we’ll never forget.
Book Notes
March 15, 2012
Book Notes: Living the magic of ‘Hoosier’
- Book Notes
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- Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career' Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
- 'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
- Book takes readers on path for equal rights One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
- Piazza wasn't considered much of a prospect for the majors It's probably going to be a quiet few days in Cooperstown when Hall of Fame weekend rolls around this summer. The baseball writers did not elect anybody this year despite some heavyweight candidates. The problem was that at least three of the poster boys for the steroids era, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot for the first time. The writers were clearly making a statement when nobody got elected.
- Who would have thought e-books would be so popular? When I was in library school 25 years ago, a future concept was presented that seemed absurd at the time. It was the notion you could read books on a small computerized device about the size of a pocketbook.
- 2012 was a year of great films, future favorites The year 2012 was a blockbuster year for great films. Several of the movies up for Best Picture would have been runaway favorites almost any other time. They will make for easy pickings for the library when they become available on DVD.
- Blockbusters are not the only movies worth watching Hollywood makes enough movies that there are always a few that you don't hear about until they are on DVD. Sometimes they are simply horrible films that end their theater run quickly, but often they are "diamonds in the rough" that made their mark at film festivals.
- Mickey Mantle biography shows the good and the ugly It has become obvious in recent days that bestowing "hero" status on athletes is a misplaced priority.
- Book looks at 50 years of James Bond movies When I was in elementary school, James Bond was all the rage. For some reason I didn't see any of the early films with Sean Connery playing the infamous 007 British spy, but my siblings and several friends certainly did.
- Two thumbs up for the film 'Arbitrage" Arbitrage is a word that 99.99 percent of us probably never heard of until the movie with that title appeared. I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered why nobody had heard of it. It refers to Wall Street financiers and has a meaning so convoluted that I couldn't figure it out.
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