Why I selected Hoosiers Let me first begin by saying I am a huge sports fan. I played almost every sport growing up and have always loved watching sports, in particular college basketball and any type of football. I saw Hoosiers a few times growing up and enjoyed it every time. In my opinion it is one of the greatest sports movies of all time. The acting of Gene Hackman is definitely an Oscar winning performance. Even though this is not based on a true story it is very believable to me that this event could have occurred, and for that reason it enhances the emotion I feel when they fight through diversity and win the state championship. All of the above are the reasons I chose this film, I knew I would enjoy it and enjoy writing about it.
General Synopsis of Film
Hoosiers is based out of a small town in Indiana, 1951. A washed up old college basketball coach (Norman Dale) is asked by a good friend to come coach his schools basketball team, the Hickory Huskers. The team had just lost their coach the previous year and along with it their star basketball player, Jimmy Chipwood. Jimmy decided not to play after the coach died, and without him the team would struggle to have a successful season. Neither the team nor the community took very warmly to Coach Dale's entrance into their tight nit community and the approach he took on the game of basketball. The players and community men had a hard time at first believing in his fundamental philosophy and his leadership style over the team.
As the film moves on we see a turning pint for Coach Dale. After an unsuccessful first part of the season, there is a community wide petition being passed around with a referendum to remove him as coach. At this meeting it was almost certain that the coach would be fired until Jimmy showed up. Jimmy gave the community an ultimatum "I play coach stays, coach goes I go," and ultimately the coach was voted to stay. From there the team started to