Despite the fact that all beltway basketball is in hibernation, we continue to exhaust all things college hoops until "One Shining Moment" is played.
Quite a bit has been made of Butler being in the Final Four-- as the Bulldogs are within shouting distance of Lucas Oil Field Stadium Arena Court. And the fact that they do represent a small conference (quick, name somebody else from the Horizon League) gives the Final Four a little bit of a Hoosiers charm to it.
The real Hoosiers was a tiny town called Milan (as everyone will hear about this week) and Bobby Plump (as everyone will see this week) was the real-life Jimmy Chitwood. Marvin Wood looked nothing like Gene Hackman (Wood was 26 during the title run) and Barbara Hershey was nowhere to be found-- plus Dennis Hopper's doppleganger didn't exist.
What makes the story of Hoosiers even more powerful is what happened to the kids who played for Milan and attended the high school. Plump's backcourt mate Ray Craft (actually the leading scorer in the title game) went on to become Assistant Commissioner in the IHSAA--roughly the equivalent of Ralph Macchio becoming Assistant Commish of the All-Valley thing--and I had the chance to chat with him over a decade ago at the State Finals (then at the RCA Dome) and asked him what the biggest impact of that game was. I was expecting him to talk about the Indians' two-guard offense or the small-school charm, but Craft replied that Milan's championship run resulted in an education for him at Butler (along with Plump he went on to the then College Division school)-- and unlike previous classes, more of his classmates went on to college as well. Milan's miracle led the rest of the student body to believe in miracles of their own-- and instead of staying on the farm or going off to factory jobs, they pushed their dreams on a different court.
That's why I love sports.
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