i loved Todd Leary

whatever happened to him

I have A Season on the Brink on my phone....I've got stuff to do this week, but I went ahead and read a few hours worth of it anyway. Hell of a book.

I have an I.U. memory that, when I reflect on it, seems like it can't be correct. Did they used to show I.U. basketball games on Gary's PBS station (Channel 56)? I could of sworn that my dad and I used to watch I.U. basketball in the early 90's on that channel and they would have a pledge drive at halftime.

I have an I.U. memory that, when I reflect on it, seems like it can't be correct. Did they used to show I.U. basketball games on Gary's PBS station (Channel 56)? I could of sworn that my dad and I used to watch I.U. basketball in the early 90's on that channel and they would have a pledge drive at halftime.

I have an I.U. memory that, when I reflect on it, seems like it can't be correct. Did they used to show I.U. basketball games on Gary's PBS station (Channel 56)? I could of sworn that my dad and I used to watch I.U. basketball in the early 90's on that channel and they would have a pledge drive at halftime.

Yes they did. I grew up watching a ton of games that way!

Yes they did. I grew up watching a ton of games that way!

A Bobby Knight pledge drive is a good bit. Operators are angrily pacing by.

From the vantage point of 2023, that's absolutely insane. I.U. must have been, more or less, giving its TV rights away.

It would happen up until the BTN. A lot of games weren't even televised. I know sometime in the mid 2000s at home I was watching Purdue play on PBS.

Surprising. The Illini seem more of a PBS crowd--a more intellectual, perhaps well-off, fanbase. Better grammar for sure.

Guy from Washington Post wrote a book called "Where The Game Matters Most," chronicling the final year of Hoosier Hysteria. Pretty good read if you love what Indiana high school hoops used to be.

Surprising. The Illini seem more of a PBS crowd--a more intellectual, perhaps well-off, fanbase. Better grammar for sure.

Got that book yesterday. Started it today. Really enjoying it. Thanks again for the recommendation.

You are welcome. Met the author at a DeKalb game, he seemed to appreciate the passion.

I am pleasantly surprised that Merrillville was covered. They were really good in that stretch. Davis was a stud. I graduated in 94 and my junior and senior year we played them in the sectional championship. They were men amongst boys. Lots of good memories.

Was interesting to read that they didn't feel as if they were considered a part of the culture.

They must miss Lux there. He had some good teams as a coach.

Anderson, 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis, got its start in manufacturing when natural gas was discovered there in the 1890s. The city grew rapidly, adding downtown businesses, a four-story brick high school and, in 1925, the first Wigwam, which held 4,800 fans. Anderson’s center also included tightly packed subdivisions and the First Baptist Church, which had one of the state’s most vibrant youth groups and needed to use the Wigwam’s parking lot on Sundays.

Anderson’s population peaked at 70,000 in the 1970s, when General Motors operated more than 20 factories and employed one of every three Anderson adults. The city’s three high schools — Anderson, Madison Heights and Highland — each topped 2,000 in enrollment, and all three of their boys’ basketball teams regularly ranked in the state’s top 10.

After graduation, students knew they could land a factory job, work for 30 years, then retire with a pension and benefits. During the 1970s energy crisis, Anderson made headlines for its 22 percent unemployment rate. The city that had once staggered its factory shifts now staggered registration times at its unemployment office.

Those jobs never came back, and G.M. left for good in 1999. Today, one cannot travel far in Anderson without spotting an abandoned factory or a shuttered school, and their closings are related.

“We have empty houses all over,” says Roger Hensley, a volunteer at the local historical society. “The young people, those who could afford to, have left.”

Wasn't familiar with the Wigwam so I looked it up and found this story: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/spor ... diana.html

Man, this is depressing. Not "adults caring about high school sports" depressing, rather "large swaths of America are just dying and no one can stop it" depressing.


This sounds just like Janesville.