A cousin of mine played in the game that the movie depicted.
Before Milan HS was Hoosiers, Franklin HS in Indiana had the Wonder 5 with Fuzzy Vandiver in the 1920’s. John Wooden said Vandiver was the greatest basketball player he ever saw.
My uncle was a coach at Muncie Central in the 20's. He told me about those Franklin Teams.
My grandfather played on the Wonder 5 teams at Franklin College. Told me of playing Purdue in an armory, with a dirt floor. He kind of undersold what they did against the big colleges like Notre Dame. When I met Vandiver, I did not realize what greatness I was beholding. They were in their late 60’s by then and any sign of sports ego was gone but those mid-westerners from that era were always solid as rocks.
Second greatest Sports movie based in Indiana.
Maybe third best, then!
During Covid, with kids home from college, I got 'em to watch Breaking Away. They now talk about it as legendary, but in a tone like they discovered the winning entry in an ugly Christmas sweater contest.
Ha! Yeah I had a similar experience with mine. But I get that a lot with a lot of classic 70s and 80s movies I try to get them to watch. These Gen Y kids have some taste issues.
The Hoosiers stink.
No doubt about that!
