Hoosiers: A Captivating, One-of-a-Kind, Behind the Scenes Report

So, I've been officially indoctrinated as a whole grain Hoosier: I spent Saturday afternoon watching the basketball movie Hoosiers. AND I watched it WHILE living in Indiana. (Fulfilling the Hoosier dream, now aren't I?) It was my first time watching it (sports flicks don't usually captivate me), but I figured that if I was going to make my time in Indiana truly complete, I'd have to watch at least this one.

It would be no fun to post about my viewing of Hoosiers if I only told you that. So I've garnered up some insider tidbits for your enjoyment.

• The movie is loosely based on a true story (but I figure you probably knew that already).
  
• What you probably didn't know was that Hickory High School's 1951 team was based on Milan (pronounced MY-lun) High School's 1954 team.
• Milan is located about 2.5 hours south of Muncie.
  
• It was filmed at the gym in Knightstown, Indiana, a small town about an hour south of Muncie, along Hwy 40. Occasionally fans will sell Hoosiers paraphernalia in the gym. Also, this gym is reportedly much smaller than portrayed in the movie (if you can imagine that).
  
• I recognized nearly every team Hickory played in the movie: Decatur, Jasper, Linton, Bloomington, etc. Only I didn't recognize Dugger. Nope, never heard of Dugger, Indiana.
• The team Milan played in the state finals in real life was not South Bend, but Muncie Central. Muncie was King of Indiana Basketball in the '50s. Go Muncie!!
• Unlike Hickory, Milan wasn't a sprung-out-of-nowhere underdog. They were good. Small, but good. And were actually slated to take state from the beginning.
• My co-worker's husband, Dave, loves loves loves the movie Hoosiers, and tried out for a part as an extra.
• In reality, Milan got a new basketball coach not because the previous coach died, but because he'd been fired for buying new team uniforms without the superintendent's permission.
• The movie was renamed to "Best Shot" in Europe because most Europeans wouldn't know what a Hoosier was.
• To join the argument on what exactly a Hoosier is, see here.
  

And that's all the behind-the-scenes digging I'm going to do for you. If you're dying to uncover more facts about the movie, feel free to dig them up yourself.