I am not a sports fan, not by a long shot. On February 7th I kept my streak alive: for the 44th year in a row I did not watch the Super Bowl. Last month I didn't watch any March Madness; I don't even watch Notre Dame football anymore (why would I, you ask). The Olympics come and go with hardly a passing nod from me. I like baseball, but rarely go to games.
Last night I watched Hoosiers, the great basketball movie starring Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper. A.O. Scott, film critic for the New York Times, calls it "formulaic and full of cliches," but he also says it is a film of "extraordinary power" while admitting that he "can't say what it is that makes this movie great." I second every word of that -- and would add one other complaint: it has the worst, most generic, soundtrack of any movie I've ever seen.
But I loved watching it. LOVED watching it. I knew where it was going every step of the way and yet I tensed up at each moment director David Anspaugh wanted me to and cheered when things went well.
Like Scott, I wondered why. Maybe it's partly due to my high school winning the Far East Invitational Basketball Tournament in 1962 and my clear memories of that season and those games. The intensity in a basketball arena packed with screaming fans is certainly something to remember. Maybe it's my memory of the 1966 football season at Notre Dame when we won the national title.
There are other sports memories that I carry with me -- Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass against Miami, the sixth game of the 86 World Series, the first time Ara Parsegian walked into the dining hall in which I ate as a freshman -- but, as I said, I'm not a sports fan; note that all those memories are years old.
I think Hoosiers works on me because it reminds me that there is something noble in doing the very best you can, even in a game. It reminds me of a time when sports were more fun and less calculated. Of a time when athletes were admired and respected but not considered gods. It reminds me that David can fell Goliath -- from all accounts Butler almost pulled off a Hoosier miracle last month.
Maybe I need to temper my cynical opinion of the average American sports fan: loud, fat, and obnoxious. Maybe.
No, the sports FAN is still as fat, loud and obnoxious as ever. So no need to lighten up there.
ReplyDeleteHoosiers is one of my favorites as well. The acting is, for the most part understated, the script is pretty much based on a real High School which did in fact win the Indiana State Championship, the settings are banal and the situations are simply those that face adolescents everywhere. Not as important as they seem to the participants at the moment but intense, driven and focused.
The real man Jimmy was based on went to Butler and made All-American status there. One of the players on the Indianapolis team they beat in the semi-final was Oscar Robertson. The film was almost as good as the real thing.
The main theme of the movie is redemption. I think there are times when being reminded it is possible to achieve redemption is valuable.
It was also a chance to see Sheb Wooley (Cletus, the High School Principal), who also wrote and performed "One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater".
I think I will have to see it again soon.
Thanks!
Hopefully, rather than "maybe" you will find the ability/willingness to temper your description of a "sports FAN" . Come on. You can do it.
ReplyDeleteJan
If it weren't for people like you and Tim, I would have said "ALL sports fan."
ReplyDeleteAnd I, on the other hand, have seen all of the Super Bowls (even in those semi-hazy college years, I think), yet have never seen Hoosiers.
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