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The Real Hoosiers. Jack McCallum.


The Real Hoosiers.    Jack McCallum. 

Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops. 

 

The state of Indiana is known for its prep and college basketball.    The mention of this topic might elicit scenes from the famous 1986 movie, Hoosiers, starring the late Gene Hackman or revered players and coaches such as John Wooden, Bobby Knight or George Gervin.  While this book features another all-time great native, the book title alludes to a possible double meaning and possibly a question.  Who are the Real Hoosiers?   The answer may reveal a darker side than observers around the nation anticipate.  

As fate and coincidence would have it, I traveled to the Hoosier state while in the middle of reading this basketball classic, The Real Hoosiers, by Jack McCallum, to help celebrate the milestone birthday of a distinguished relative.   My journey through this epic novel would enlighten me on a variety of intriguing topics and lessons connecting to the history and civic nature of this basketball crazy state.         

The story felt a bit disjointed in the early going due to switching and shifting the timeline and scenarios. The book struggled at first to take off and find its flow.    When it did finally occur in the middle chapters this became quite an opus to navigate.  The title of book is apt.    Readers of this book will, in fact, learn more about the people that made this state, and what it is, even before the 20th century.  McCallum notes that Indiana can be looked at in two different ways.    That is, it could be the southernmost northern state OR the northern most southern state.      The author further notes that while many of the black citizens came to Hoosier state through the great migration of the south.  Some were hoping to reach Chicago or further northern cities but settled in Indianapolis or nearby instead.    What is perhaps even more intriguing is that McCallum pointed out that many of the white citizens settling in Indy were also from the south.   This combination seemed to set an ugly, hidden tone for a better part of the 20th century.       

McCallum, the author of The Dream Team and co-author of Bleeding Orange, added a dry sense of humor or at least some levity to the situation.    Readers will note his frequent derisive editorials were always against the poor behavior and decision making of the white civic leaders.  

Young readers, and less informed older fans, will be swept away by the almost larger than life figure of Oscar Robertson, a big-time player in an era when the news simply did not hype players like they might today, especially those not white, on the hardwood but also get a sense of why the author paints a wistful and perhaps troubled relationship the player had with his home town and state.     

Robertson played for the fabled Crispus Attucks high School in inner city Indianapolis, surprisingly named after an unremarkable New England figure during the revolutionary war, in the 1950’s under a remarkable but understated successful head coach.    It should be noted that the school was built in the 1920’s for the purpose of keeping black pupils away from the already established white schools.   MacCallum skillfully explains how it came about, the struggles the school and leaders faced in early years and the attitude about the experiment in general from many Hoosier residents.  

The fact that the state had at least three prominent public schools set up for this reason supports the pervasive racism alleged by the author throughout the book.    The notion from the author was that segregation and excluding of blacks in the state of Indiana was shockingly blazon and disgusting for decades.  MacCallum reports, perhaps to the readers surprise, that the state of Indiana has a sordid and perhaps embarrassing history regarding its treatment of black athletes and its citizens in general. 

Perhaps the most intriguing finding of this book occurs in chapter 13.    MacCallum explains how the game changed between two outstanding Attucks teams from 1951 to Robertson lead team in the 1955 season, (which culminated in a state championship, the first ever black team to do so).   The Tigers apparently, at least according to the authors estimation, changed the way the offense of the game looked.   The author reported faster movement of the ball around the perimeter and paint—even making fast decisions while air born, something not noted in earlier traditionally played basketball.    Even the dribbling in that short time was more proficient as Attucks players “moved smoothly in either direction” using either hand to effectively protect and advance the ball during the games.  Although the author does not officially suggest this, these advanced skills likely influenced the game not only in the Hoosier state but throughout the basketball playing nation, too. 

A three-hundred-page manuscript keeps the reader engaged in learning about a sport, a city, a state and its history, along with one of its all-time great players.   The title, as mentioned early, suggests a complex relationship between black and white athletes and citizens as well.    In any case this is a story worth the research and the read.    As with many cases, the story is about much more than a popular sport but a checkered history among the natives of a low key midwestern state.    

 

·       You might like to read this book if you want to learn more about Oscar Robertson.

·       You might like to read this book if you like to read about Indiana High School sports.

·       You might like to read this book if you are a fan of high school basketball.

·       You might like to read this book if you seek to read more about racism in sports.

·       You might like to read this book if you are interested in 20th century Indiana sports and cultural history.

Read more about the author online:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/20659.Jack_McCallum


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