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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Franklin's Foundation
Central Indiana, IN
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Editor's Cut: Franklin's Foundation
By Brian Moore / HSSTM
brian.moore@hsstm.com
I love this job. There are so many reasons for that, and perhaps one day I will get to do a running list of reasons why I love writing about sports and being part of a team that puts out a magazine about high school sports.
Until then, I’ll just list this one: Every now and then, I get to lift the curtain and take you behind the scenes. Ever since I became interested in sports journalism, I would always read ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated and the local newspapers and think, “That’s a great story. I wonder what it was like to write it, to interview the people quoted and to compile all that information.”
Rarely did I ever find out. Now, I get the chance to let you find out – if you’re interested. I did this a few months ago with the Westfield cross country story in the Sept. issue and this month, I’m going to take you inside the “Franklin’s Foundation” story from the Dec. issue that just came out last week. Here’s my take – the Editor’s Cut: Franklin’s Foundation.
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It’s ironic how the story evolved. We were actually going in a totally different direction for several days. But, as will happen, we had a story kind of fizzle out, so assistant editor Dave McConnell and I held an impromptu brainstorming session. It wasn’t long before I pitched the idea of Franklin basketball, the tradition and history the program held and an angle revolving around transferring that tradition into a new building (the school just opened a beautiful facility in August).
The question(s) that I kept coming back to were: in a state like Indiana, where basketball goes back so many years, what happens when you have to leave a building that holds more ghosts than a haunted house on Halloween? Some of these old gyms have seen buzzer beaters, packed crowds and future stars for decades. Well, when the lights go out – what happens to that feeling, that tradition?
It wasn’t long before I spoke with Franklin athletic director Noel Heminger and it was a go.
Obviously, I needed to do a little research to make sure I had a basic understanding of it all. For several hours, I was fully engrossed as I read through the tales of “The Wonder Five,” Griz Wagner, Fuzzy Vandivier and the McGlocklin twins (Jon and Don). George Crowe, the state’s first Mr. Basketball in 1939, was actually a better baseball player (he played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball). The original high school where “The Wonder Five” played partially burned down in the early-to-mid 1980s, where Heminger and so many sat in the balcony and watched many teams play.
There was a fight in that gym between Zion McGlocklin and Red Holloway [of Edinburgh] and we were told to never schedule them again,” Heminger laughed, recalling an event of decades ago.
Now, my parents graduated from Franklin in 1968, and as a kid I went to elementary and middle school there, so I remember all the stories they used to tell about the basketball team and how important it was to the community. You could walk onto the floor after a game as a kid and it gave you goose bumps. You wanted to play on that same floor.
I asked Noel about that community feeling and if the new gym could bring about similar feelings eventually. “We’re not the only game in town anymore, really. Kids have a lot more to do than when I grew up. At that time, you had to work a lot more. There are more things to do today, more sports to play,” he said.
That’s true – and it is both good and bad. With more sports, more young athletes are going to dream about playing not only about basketball, but football, softball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, swimming, hockey, lacrosse, tennis, golf, rugby – the list goes on.
One of the things I found fascinating about this story was how Heminger was a direct link back to Wagner and the early days of Franklin basketball. He was taught by Vandivier in a history class, played for Ted Server and Dick Harmening, then came back to the school and became AD in 1994, taking over for Server, who had taken over for Vandivier. Franklin’s basically had only three AD’s in something like 60-plus years. Amazing.
Before Heminger came back, he was coaching baseball and basketball in Effingham, Illinois. “Harmening called and said, ‘Why don’t you come back to Franklin.’ I said I would if I could get my wife a job. Sure enough, he did and I came back initially as an eighth grade coach,” said Heminger.
The ties that bind are all over sports – and this is certainly one of them. There’s something special about the bond and the loyalty that former Franklin players, coaches and administrators share. During our conversation, Harmening told me that he still talks to as many former players as he can throughout the year. He also spoke very fondly of the years when Vandivier Gymnasium was standing room only. “They looked like a bunch of referees and were there at home or on the road,” he laughed.
Can any of us imagine walking into a gym this season and find it packed with fans, every game? It just doesn’t seem as likely – and that’s where the discussion of more options for students and parents and more sports comes back into play.
As was everyone involved with this story, Harmening was great to talk to. In fact, my favorite quote from the story came from Harmening, when he said, “If my players were in trouble in the classroom, they were in trouble with me.” His conviction in that statement, even 35 years later, made me feel like, had I been one of his players, I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble. Ever. You could tell Harmening took great pride in player conduct – perhaps the reason that he’s the only coach to ever have three Trester Award winners play for him.
He knew what he was doing on the court as well. If you like coaching stats, try this one on: in his first season, Harmening inherited a team that went 1-19 the year before his arrival. Most of the team was back, however. They went into Christmas break 3-5…and then promptly won 15 straight games, as well as a sectional championship.
Realistically, I could go on with this story forever. Maybe I already have. But it will remain one of my favorites, mainly because I love Indiana basketball so much.
I may not have answered my original question, about transferring tradition. But I think that’s the beauty of it, we just don’t know. It will be a question, not only for Franklin, but so many other schools, that will be answered over time, with buzzer beaters, future stars and packed stands.
***To read the "Franklin's Foundation" story, pick up a copy of the Dec. issue of High School Sports - The Magazine, on newstands now. Or, simply read the digital copy here. ***
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