Name: ____________________________________________
Hoosiers Study Guide Packet
Was the town's relationship with basketball healthy?
2. Why did Myra Fleener warn Coach Dale to keep away from Jimmy Chitwood?
3. Why did Myra Fleener's mother invite the Coach Dale to come to dinner?
4. What did Coach Dale do (or not do) to win the trust of Myra Fleener?
5. What is the message of this film about winning in high school sports and what is the serious structural flaw in the film?
6. What is the proper role of the desire to win in high school and college sports?
7. What is the importance of "impulse control" and how did a lack of impulse control affect one of the characters in this film?
8. The real life situation which inspired this film involved a state championship match-up between an all-white team from a very small rural high school (the Milan Indians, student body of 161) and an all-black team from a large inner city high school (more than 2000 students). The filmmakers chose to ignore this fact and make the opposing team integrated in order to avoid setting the conflict up as white vs. black. The racial make-up of the opposing teams was also changed in the film Remember the Titans. According to the film, each of the teams faced by the 1971 Titans were all white and didn't have to deal with race. In reality, many were integrated. Do you think that making these changes detracted from the truthfulness of either film?
9. Myra Fleener said, "Gods come pretty cheap these days." What did she mean? Do you agree or disagree?
10. Why did Coach Dale give Shooter a chance to be an assistant coach? Did he really need him?
11. Why, at the beginning of the season, does Coach Dale require the team to pass four times before shooting? Why was this only necessary at the beginning of the season?
12. Why does Coach Dale insist that the players obey him without question in matters relating to basketball?
13. Shooter appears to blame his lack of self-respect on the fact that he missed a crucial basket at the end of his high school basketball career. As he explains, the shot went "in and out." Is this reasonable? What is the real reason for Shooter's lack of self-respect?
14. What different leadership styles does Coach Norman Dale exhibit throughout the movie? How does he use these different styles to lead individual characters?
15. Were Dale's interactions with Jimmy Chitwood before the town hall meeting leadership? Explain why or why not.
16. Do you feel that Norman Dale was overall an effective leader? Explain your decision citing specific actions or behaviors from the movie.
17. How does Coach Dale develop as a leader throughout the movie?
18. Were there any other characters in the movie that were leaders? Jimmy? Shooter? George? Myra? Others? If so, what characteristics of a leader do these characters possess?