It's tournament time for H.S. basketball teams, which always makes me think of "Hoosiers". It doesn't matter whether you like sports. "Hoosiers" is a great film that happens to be, in part, about the high school basketball open tournament in Indiana. That means that small schools competed against big schools...no Class A vs. Class A, Class AA vs. Class AA, etc. This was Class A vs. Class AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. OK, I exaggerate but you get my point. In "Hoosiers", the small team from Hickory play in the state finals against South Bend. South Bend is bigger, badder, has better uniforms, equipment and players. You know that great phrase, "It's not about the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog"? That's the epitome of Hickory High School in "Hoosiers".
Which brings me to Graham H.S. in St. Paris, Ohio. The boys basketball team is playing Cincinnati Taft tonight. Taft is big, mighty and blowing teams out by ridiculous scores. Graham is kind of like Hickory in "Hoosiers": small but talented with a never quit attitude. They play old school basketball. How? They play defense. They pass the ball. They're unselfish. They don't run and gun. They play a team first type of game and that's appealing no matter what size the school.
I like underdogs. I root for underdogs. And tonight, I'm pulling for Graham. Just like I pulled for Hickory in "Hoosiers", I like the size of the fight in Graham. Go get'em, boys.
