“So, what is a Hoosier?” one might ask. Some might tell you that a “Hoosier” is just simply someone from Indiana. Pretty simple, right? Don’t be fooled. It takes much more than owning an Indiana state driver’s license to be a true Hoosier. There are certain…requirements, you might say, that separates those simply living in the “Crossroads of America” with those who are true Hoosiers.
Here’s a quick rundown:
You must be a fan of the Colts, Notre Dame college football, Indiana University college basketball, and the Pacers (unless, of course, Michael Jordan is playing for the Bulls). You need to go to the Track, watch a Butler basketball game in Hinkle Fieldhouse, and sing the Indiana state song while crossing the Indiana/Ohio border. You need to walk on the Monon Trail, eat a burger at Bub’s, and own at least one Jackson 5 album. You must develop a strong disdain for Purdue University, the University of Kentucky, and the New England Patriots. You must thank “the General” for three national championships and the recruiting of the 2002 Final Four team, all the time remembering that no one is perfect. :) Finally, you must attend at least one Indiana State Tournament basketball game, and most importantly…your DVD collection must include the movie Hoosiers!
Being the true Hoosier I am, I knew I owed it to my family, friends, and fellow Hoosiers to attend the movie night.
My roommate and I (he thinks Indiana is on the east coast), brought two of our native friends to the movie last Thursday night. Though I have seen Hoosiers no less than twenty times in my life, Thursday night’s movie was the most unique yet. I expected the movie to be shown in English with Chinese subtitles, but I knew I was in for much more than I expected when a Chinese voice came out of Norman Dale’s voice when he walked into Cletus’s office! The movie was showed in Chinese without any subtitles, but luckily I had seen the movie so many times that I didn’t have too much trouble understanding the translation.
Some of the highlights.
• The translation of the conversation with Norman Dale and George, the interim coach, in the Hickory school gym. They directly translated the part when George says, “there’s two kinds of dumb, uh, guy that gets naked and runs out in the snow and barks at the moon, and, uh, guy who does the same thing in my living room.” No one in the crowd got it, but me. :)
• The part where Myra Fleener’s mother tells Coach Dale to say “hello” to Chester and then “goodbye” to Chester. The crowd roared. It wasn’t that funny.
• The Chinese translation of Strap’s name, which sounded like “Straaaaaaappp” with a bad British/Chinese accent. I could just hear Dad say, “Make it a good one Straaaaaappp!” :)
• Ollie missing the front-end of a one-and-one and then dribbling the ball off his leg in the fourth quarter of the regional championship game. Once again, the crowd roared. I was so confused. Didn’t they know that the winner of this game went on to play for the state championship?! Didn’t they know that no school that small had ever made it to the state championship?! Didn’t they know that the history of Indiana high school basketball was hanging in the balance?! No, no, and no. They all laughed when Ollie’s second free throw bounced around the rim and fell in. I was trying to hold back the tears.
• Jimmy’s last-second shot. “I’ll make it.” He always does. :)
I walked out of the movie theatre smiling (crying), and I am sure that my Indiana pride
was written on my face. Out of the many things (8) I had to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season, the privilege of being a Hoosier certainly made the list. “I love you guys.”
I love YOU, Big Ben!
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