SUBMITTED BY JIM ZBICK
On display at the Faith, Family and Country Heritage Museum in Branson West, Missouri, is a signed copy of the book “Bobby Plump: Last of the Small Town Heroes.”
Now 88 and living in Pierceville, Indiana, Plump was selected Indiana’s Mr. Basketball” in 1954, the year his team, Milan High School, won the state basketball championship thanks to his last-second shot that became known as the “Milan Miracle.” That moment also inspired “Hoosiers,” the 1986 movie which The American Film Institute rates one of the most inspiring of all time, as well as the fourth greatest sports movie ever made.
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead February 27 at his New Mexico home, gave a memorable performance in Hoosiers as Coach Norman Dale. Much of the film was filmed in Indiana, just 60 miles from Hackman’s hometown of Danville, Illinois. The Oscar-winning actor was so impressed with the David versus Goliath script to celebrate Indiana’s rich basketball heritage that he agreed to a $400,000 fee, well below the $3 million payday he commanded as a top tier actor.
The movie is a time capsule for baby boomers who grew up in the 1950s, from the 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe used as Hackman’s car, to the 1939 Chevrolet “Hickory Husker” bus, to the 1921 Hoosier Gym - with its wooden bleachers - where approximately one-third of the movie was filmed.
Filming for the state championship game took place at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis. With its storied past and ongoing legacy, Hinkle is today often referred to as “Indiana’s Basketball Cathedral.”
Many baby boomers, today known for their strong work ethic and competitive drive, were raised with the idea of the American dream, and pushing themselves to reach their goals. Thus, Hoosiers resonated with society in a way Hackman never imagined when he was filming the sports classic. Hackman’s experience as a U.S. Marine helped him create a stirring portrait of a great leader in many of his films, foremost of which is the inspirational Coach Norman Dale.
Before becoming one the greatest American actors of the 20th century, Hackman was voted “least likely to succeed” by his theater school classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse. That brings to mind one of the most emotional and unforgettable moments in Hoosiers. During the final time-out huddle in the championship game, Coach Dale draws up a play for the last shot that does not include Jimmy Chitwood, the team’s key scorer, who was a takeoff on the real-life Bobby Plump.
Coach Dale’s final strategy is met with silence from his players, prompting the coach to ask: “What’s the matter with you guys?
After a brief pause, Chitwood, the soft-spoken star speaking for his teammates, replies with confidence: “I’ll make it.”