We've all seen "Hoosiers", right? I had seen it, but not recently. So I recently bought the DVD. Great movie. The Hackman/Hershie "relationship" doesn't work, even after you watch the deleted scenes, but that's the only flaw in the film, as far as I'm concerned. (Actually, there's one other very large flaw in the story, but I won't ruin it for people who will watch the DVD extras.)

But the reason I'm posting this is that the DVD contains the actual game footage from the Muncie/Milan state final game from 1954. Has anybody seen this footage? It's amazing. Jump balls (which Milan won all but 1 or 2), one FT for every foul (including charges), 2 refs in long sleeves and white shoes (both watching the ball at all times), no handchecking (none; I don't mean they didn't have any handcheck fouls -- I mean the players did not place hands on each other except in the attempt to block a shot), Muncie played a horrible first half by taking 30 foot jumpers (a half dozen times) as soon as they got over midcourt, Milan held the ball for about 4 minutes of the 4th quarter while they were down by 2.

If you haven't seen it, it would be worth it to rent the DVD just to watch the actual game. Just thought I'd share.

Yes, indeed. Thanks for sharing!

I'm going to have to watch that. I love that movie--I just referenced it in another thread!

That's what inspired me to dust it off and finally watch it.

I remember watching HS games as a kid in the 60s with 1 shot fouls and the 5th foul in each quarter triggering the bonus. I do not remember 1 shot for a charging foul.

I will have to get that DVD just for the bonus material. The Barbara Hershey character reminded me of the type of person who would like to see all players have equal PT in all games at all levels.

I do. I worked those rules. That was before the "player control foul" concept came in. You had 2-shots fouls on a player shooting and one shot fouls on everything else, including "T"s.

I remember one shot Ts on players and 2 shots on coaches from my stint in the 70s.

Geez....I didn't know there was anyone out there as "old" as me! :D

I like to regale youngsters (since I "look" pretty young myself) of the days when we had to cross over as the trail official during a live ball so we could get back in "the Cadillac." Also like to mention basketball without the 3 pointer, the lack of action rule, and actually having jump balls in the free throw circles (I played in those games, didn't officiate).

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I like to regale youngsters (since I "look" pretty young myself) of the days when we had to cross over as the trail official during a live ball so we could get back in "the Cadillac." [/B][/QUOTE]

Rich...what do you mean "to cross over as trail to get back in the cadillac"? Does that mean you would rotate as the trail in 2-man to the ball-side and leave off-ball unattended? I'm assuming the lead stayed ball-side as well...what were the primary areas for each position in this court positioning?

And another question for the "more experienced" guys...were there any unique mechanics used to call the old 3-on-3 girls basketball? I remember that odd game from when I was in high school in the late 60's-early 70's.

Wasn't that the old 'court is on your right' philosephy?

This wasn't even really all that long ago. I started working HS ball in '93 and that was still the mechanic. I think it changed in '95.

It means that the Lead was "supposed" to always be to the right of the backboard, as you faced it. But you still had to box in the players at the beginning of every play. So if the ball went OOB somewhere that required the Lead to be on the "wrong" side of the lane, you would box in the play to start and then during the play each official would move back to his/her "normal" position. This would occasionally force the Trail to move completely across the playing court during play.

I went to two FIBA camps, in 99 and 00, and that's how they did it there. That was only 6 years ago.

On another note, at this camp I saw an evaluator take notes and his one comment for an official: NFC. Very classless, IMO.

Ok, I'll bite. "No dextering. . .???" What's NFC?

Sounds confusing. Why was it changed, and does anyone know who or what was the driving force behind that change? i.e., was it the NCAA or NFHS or FIBA or the NBA or officials themselves or even coaches? I find this fascinating for some reason.

BTW, I love 3-man mechanics and can't imagine running a boys varsity HS game with just a single partner. I've been fortunate in that both states I've called HS ball in use 3-man for varsity. One of our officials is moving this summer and he thinks they do 2-man where he's going...he sounds pretty nervous about it.

It's a great DVD. The best part is finally finding out how Buddy got back on the team after walking out of the first practice. On another movie note, I went to Glory Road Friday night and thought it was horrible. It was really a waste of a good story the way it was done.

I'm guessing something along the lines of No F*cking Clue

That's the other "flaw" in the story that I referred to, that I didn't want to give away. (But yes, it was cool to figure out how that happened.)

Yeah, that's probably very close. After I posted, I thought maybe the C was for "chance" -- as in, to get hired. But I like your idea better.

Chuck,
Have you ever read Bill Simmons' (ESPN Pg. 2's Sports Guy) article on Hoosiers? I tried to get the link, but you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole thing. It's hilarious and even has a mock boxscore from the final game. Great read if you can find it.

ROFLMDAO!! After a couple responses to this thread, I went to look for that Simmmons article and ran into the same roadblock you did. That's hysterical.

I went looking, tho, not for the funny stuff; I was looking for his comments about the big school's coaching. There was a line in there about how dumb the movie made the opposing coach seem, from a strategy standpoint and the racial aspect of that. I can't remember exactly the point he was driving at. But after watching the actual game footage, it really did unfold pretty much the same way. Muncie never took a time-out in the fourth quarter while Milan was trying to come back and never tried to pressure Milan while Milan was holding the ball for 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. So I was curious to find out what Simmons' comments on that were, b/c I can't remember them now.

I saw virtually the whole game in December on ESPN Classic. They had one member from each team on camera to talk about the game. It was really interesting to watch what the players and officials did. The game is TOTALLY different than what we officiate.

BTW, the game wasn't as dramatic as the movie version. IIRC, Milan High School had been in the semis the year before and the other teams knew they were good. The led the game more than just at the end. The other team took several questionable shots despite having a significant height advantage.

If you get a chance to watch, take it.

In the article, Simmons rips Hackman for wanting to use Jimmy as a decoy on the last shot. "You have a player that has missed 3 shots IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE and you're not giving the ball!?" Classic stuff.

Chuck,
Have you ever read Bill Simmons' (ESPN Pg. 2's Sports Guy) article on Hoosiers? I tried to get the link, but you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole thing.

Actually, only one of us has to be an insider who knows how to cut and paste. ;)

So...where's the link? I used to have the article in my mailbox online, but it isn't there anymore.

Maybe he missed some that ended up on the cutting room floor. :D