Preserving a legend: Historic game video in jeopardy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)– The film “Hoosiers” will always be an important part in Indiana history. But what about the game behind the film?

In 1954, the Milan boys basketball team played a historic game in Hinkle Fieldhouse. They were a small high school playing the state championship game against Muncie Central, a team that was predicted to win its fifth state title.

The story is familiar, in the last seconds of the game, Bobby Plump hit a two-pointer game winner and the game became an Indiana legend.

Although the story will live on in Indiana history and in “Hoosiers,” the actual recording of the game might not last much longer.

Eric Grayson is trying to change that.

Grayson is hosting a kickstarter campaign to restore the original video. He wants to put the video on 16mm film so it will last 200-400 more years. The Indiana University Moving Images archive has agreed to store the video when completed.

He’s applying for a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to help with costs.

For more information, visit his kickstarter page.