By Hickory
Stories
Object:
Contents
"By Hickory" by Frank Ramirez
By Hickory
by Frank Ramirez
Micah 5:2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)
In recent years professional sports teams have learned there’s big money to be made in selling different styles of jerseys, and it’s not just home and road jerseys with the numbers and names of favorite players that make big money. Teams dredge up the jerseys from the past, put them on the backs of baseball, football, and basketball players for a game or two, then offering the old styles for sale as something new!
It must work, because they all do it. But in 2015 the Indiana Pacers, who play in the National Basketball Association, announced they would be sporting a whole new kind of jersey -- players would wear Hickory jerseys to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the movie Hoosiers. The iconic film, often shown by coaches to inspire their players, is about the story of a mythical tiny high school that defeated the large big city schools for the state championship of Indiana.
The movie is set in the era when all high schools in Indiana, large and small, regardless of their records, regardless of their regular season record, played in one state-wide tournament, without classifications or categories. The movie is inspiring, but it’s only a movie.
Some questions why the Pacers licensed fictional Hickory jerseys, when the movie was based on real life. The tiny school of Milan was the real Hickory. With an enrollment of 161, it was only one of an immense 751 high schools the length and breadth of the Hoosier State, but in 1954 they won the fabled state basketball championship of a basketball-crazy Indiana, defeating mighty Muncie Central on a shot by kid named Bobby Plump with only three seconds left.
In those days of a single tournament, before community schools were consolidated (only 390 schools in four divisions entered the 2015 tournament), the first week of the sectionals involved the whole community. Businesses shut down and everyone went to watch the week-long tournament. In that first round it was not unheard of for the small schools to pull off an upset and win what amounted to a local championship.
But reality set in during following three weekends. The regional, semi-state, and state championship Saturdays required teams to play a game in the morning and a second one in the evening. Somewhere along the line the big schools triumphed and the small schools departed.
Except in 1954.
That season the (later) legendary coach Marvin Wood, then only 26 years old, had taught his team to play a more deliberate and careful game in an era when Hoosier teams ran the ball up and down the court. He thought in this way he could even the odds when his tiny school played the big boys.
The Milan team featured players from two neighborhoods who had played together since they were young boys. They were not the tallest -- none was six foot -- but through the sectional, regional, and semi-state they stuck to the script and defeated small and large schools.
Nine hundred of the town’s eleven hundred residents drove to Indianapolis for the championship game. Their opponent, Muncie Central, played in a gym that could hold seven times Milan’s population. Muncie had already the state championship four times. And when the the big school erased Milan’s early lead and took a two point lead early in the fourth quarter, it seemed ready to pull away, taking advantage of its tremendous height advantage and deep bench.
Coach Woods told Bobby Plump to put the ball under his arm, stand still, and wait for someone to challenge him. For four minutes and thirteen seconds no one did. Hoosiers across the state, and it is estimated that ninety percent of the radios in Indiana were tuned to the game, thought Woods and Plump were crazy.
With two minutes left Woods finally turned Plump loose. He took a shot and missed, but Milan forced a turnover and scored to tie the game. Two free throws put Muncie ahead. Seconds later the score was tied. After forcing another turnover Milan got the ball back with eighteen seconds left. During a timeout Woods told Plump to make it a one on one game, instructing the other four players to take the other side of the court.
There was a little fake and a jump shot, and the game was over. Like Bethlehem, called the smallest of the clans in today’s scripture text from Micah, the smallest of the high schools had become champions of the state.
Frank Ramirez is a native of Southern California and is the senior pastor of the Union Center Church of the Brethren near Nappanee, Indiana. Frank has served congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennie share three adult children, all married, and three grandchildren. He enjoys writing, reading, exercise, and theater.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 20, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"By Hickory" by Frank Ramirez
By Hickory
by Frank Ramirez
Micah 5:2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)
In recent years professional sports teams have learned there’s big money to be made in selling different styles of jerseys, and it’s not just home and road jerseys with the numbers and names of favorite players that make big money. Teams dredge up the jerseys from the past, put them on the backs of baseball, football, and basketball players for a game or two, then offering the old styles for sale as something new!
It must work, because they all do it. But in 2015 the Indiana Pacers, who play in the National Basketball Association, announced they would be sporting a whole new kind of jersey -- players would wear Hickory jerseys to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the movie Hoosiers. The iconic film, often shown by coaches to inspire their players, is about the story of a mythical tiny high school that defeated the large big city schools for the state championship of Indiana.
The movie is set in the era when all high schools in Indiana, large and small, regardless of their records, regardless of their regular season record, played in one state-wide tournament, without classifications or categories. The movie is inspiring, but it’s only a movie.
Some questions why the Pacers licensed fictional Hickory jerseys, when the movie was based on real life. The tiny school of Milan was the real Hickory. With an enrollment of 161, it was only one of an immense 751 high schools the length and breadth of the Hoosier State, but in 1954 they won the fabled state basketball championship of a basketball-crazy Indiana, defeating mighty Muncie Central on a shot by kid named Bobby Plump with only three seconds left.
In those days of a single tournament, before community schools were consolidated (only 390 schools in four divisions entered the 2015 tournament), the first week of the sectionals involved the whole community. Businesses shut down and everyone went to watch the week-long tournament. In that first round it was not unheard of for the small schools to pull off an upset and win what amounted to a local championship.
But reality set in during following three weekends. The regional, semi-state, and state championship Saturdays required teams to play a game in the morning and a second one in the evening. Somewhere along the line the big schools triumphed and the small schools departed.
Except in 1954.
That season the (later) legendary coach Marvin Wood, then only 26 years old, had taught his team to play a more deliberate and careful game in an era when Hoosier teams ran the ball up and down the court. He thought in this way he could even the odds when his tiny school played the big boys.
The Milan team featured players from two neighborhoods who had played together since they were young boys. They were not the tallest -- none was six foot -- but through the sectional, regional, and semi-state they stuck to the script and defeated small and large schools.
Nine hundred of the town’s eleven hundred residents drove to Indianapolis for the championship game. Their opponent, Muncie Central, played in a gym that could hold seven times Milan’s population. Muncie had already the state championship four times. And when the the big school erased Milan’s early lead and took a two point lead early in the fourth quarter, it seemed ready to pull away, taking advantage of its tremendous height advantage and deep bench.
Coach Woods told Bobby Plump to put the ball under his arm, stand still, and wait for someone to challenge him. For four minutes and thirteen seconds no one did. Hoosiers across the state, and it is estimated that ninety percent of the radios in Indiana were tuned to the game, thought Woods and Plump were crazy.
With two minutes left Woods finally turned Plump loose. He took a shot and missed, but Milan forced a turnover and scored to tie the game. Two free throws put Muncie ahead. Seconds later the score was tied. After forcing another turnover Milan got the ball back with eighteen seconds left. During a timeout Woods told Plump to make it a one on one game, instructing the other four players to take the other side of the court.
There was a little fake and a jump shot, and the game was over. Like Bethlehem, called the smallest of the clans in today’s scripture text from Micah, the smallest of the high schools had become champions of the state.
Frank Ramirez is a native of Southern California and is the senior pastor of the Union Center Church of the Brethren near Nappanee, Indiana. Frank has served congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennie share three adult children, all married, and three grandchildren. He enjoys writing, reading, exercise, and theater.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 20, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
