Editorials > Hoosiers (A Look Back)

Despite my overall success in football betting and fantasy dominance this year, the disappointing performance of both my favorite collegiate and professional teams (which I will not name due to shame) has lead my interest to wane greatly. Thank Naismith for the timely beginning of the basketball season though. Free agency made this passed offseason the most exciting in history and turned the forthcoming year into one of the most anticipated in memory.

To celebrate my love of basketball, I decided to watch one of the greatest sports films (and easily the greatest basketball film) ever made: Hoosiers. It had been a few years since I last saw the film last but it left me every bit as impressed as the handful of viewings prior.

Gene Hackman turns in one of his best performances as inspirational Coach Norman Dale. Dennis Hopper earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as Shooter – an alcoholic parent and basketball expert. Director David Anspaugh, who also gave us Rudy, paints a beautiful portrait of rural Midwest in the 1950’s. Everything about this movie is so wonderful and does so much to reaffirm the power of a single person’s ability to inspire, and the spirit of competition. It made me wish I’d been good enough to make even the Junior Varsity squad of my high school basketball team.

In the end, Hoosiers left me even more excited for basketball this year, which I didn’t think was possible. It’ll be interesting to see how this season shakes out (Lakers over Celtics in six). If you haven’t seen this classic sports flick, do yourself a favor and check it out.