Basketball and a fine memory of dad

Gene Hackman, center, stars in "Hoosiers."

Courtesy photo

Now that only some bowl games remain in the 2012 college football season, I turn my attention to college basketball.

I enjoy professional sports, but I find college contests, particularly in football and basketball, more engaging and entertaining. 

At some point during the basketball season, I will pause from the real action to view my copy of “Hoosiers,” director David Anspaugh’s 1986 movie about a small Indiana high school basketball team in the early1950s that competes for the state title.

I have watched the movie a number of times and still enjoy it, particularly its soundtrack, which was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

I am not a film critic and will not rate the movie or compare it with others. For me, there is more to “Hoosiers” than just the story it tells or the acting performances. The movie depicts a small town that seems a lot like Arlington Heights, Ill., my hometown. 

The film doesn’t capture the Arlington Heights that I grew up in during the 1970s, but Arlington Heights as it existed in the early 1940s, when my dad, Robert, played basketball for Arlington High School. 

Dad wasn’t one to bring up the past on his own, but he would readily talk about it and other topics if asked. My dad sparked my interest in all kinds of history when I was a young boy, so I frequently questioned him about all sorts of things related to history and some that were not. My questions annoyed him sometimes, but most of the time he indulged me.

I once watched “Hoosiers” with dad and afterward we talked about his high school basketball experiences.

I remember being surprised when dad’s first comment was about how the movie, particularly its brief scenes of the team’s bus rides to games at other high schools, revived memories he hadn’t recalled for years. 

I had expected dad’s first comments to be about his most memorable game, or maybe his favorite coach. Instead, dad talked about how the movie’s images reminded him of the bus rides he shared with teammates as they traveled to other rural towns in an area that now comprises the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.

He went on that night about a particular memory he had of riding the bus along Route 14, Northwest Highway, from Arlington Heights to Palatine High School. World War II was being fought and TV had not yet arrived, so high school games were big entertainment in most communities, dad explained. There was always excitement about each game. Town residents knew each of the players on the local team and the teams enjoyed strong support.

Dad described the farms and businesses that were located along the highway then. He described things in such vivid detail that whenever I watch “Hoosiers” I am reminded of dad’s commentary about his drive to that game at Palatine High School.

I recall my dad becoming animated as he related all of this to me. The whole exchange took probably no more than 10 minutes, but it set a lasting memory in my mind.

I have watched “Hoosiers” about two dozen times since the night I watched it with my father, but that night in 1987 was the only time I watched it with him. Dad died in 1995, just a few months before my daughter was born. 

I have many wonderful memories of dad, but the one related to our “Hoosiers” conversation stands out as one of my favorites, and that’s probably the real reason I watch the movie so frequently.

—Kevin Botterman is an award-winning journalist and media affairs consultant. Send email to kbotterman@gmail.com.