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Your Age and when

Correct-- I guess we're all so old our memories are getting a little foggy haha.
It was a regional played at Rupp. I remember watching the game and thinking the fix was in.
And I always thought I was right because they changed the rule the following year that you could not have a regional on your home court.
Hhhmm...
The game was in Dayton.
IU played their '81 Regional games in Assembly Hall.
I'm 60, first memory is '73 Final Four. The IU - UCLA game wasn't televised by the Indy network affiliate. The station broke away from whatever it was that they were televising to show key moments at the end of the game.
 
My parents started taking my to BB and FB games in early middle school until I got there as a student. I was mildly interested…slid down the NEZ on cardboard and left my seat a lot to walk around TAH. Finally got hooked as a huge Benson fan.

After bouncing around TAH on student tickets I got my own in CC row three where you can really watch the game develop. Stayed there for three seasons before beginning the expensive journey downward.

What I am looking at today makes me ill.
 
March 8, 1986. IU at Michigan for the regular season title on CBS. We lived out of state, so unless you were early on cable, you'd only get the handful of nationally televised games to see IU every year.

Michigan destroyed IU that day, and got the #2 seed in the Midwest. IU got the #3 seed in the East vs. Cleveland State.
 
I wish the rumor of him and some lady of the night would pop back up here. She said Ted was talking about being taken cared of for taking Knight out. But then again, she coulda been a crackhead lol. Something to do with the week earlier bullwhip ordeal with Calbert Cheaney.
sounds reliable as far as internet rumors go. Did she arrive in a black helicopter?
 
did you become a Hoosier fan? This might have been already done in the past but I see so many of you posting about how great things were years ago and wondered where we all rank in terms of who to feel sorry for not being able to experience what IU basketball really was and should be now. As for me, 69, and became a fan because of my dad in 1970. Sure had some great times and really miss sitting and watching the game with dad.
Was really a f'n weird day, I was 8-ish, was walking home from a friend's very nearby house and this new trashy, bully type 7th grader who'd been picking on a few of us was coming after me alone on his BMX bike, I was walking, couldn't out run him and get in our fence without an ass-kicking. I did not panic! I casually pretended I didn't know it was coming from behind and slowly approached the boulevard where I grabbed a big stick and jabbed it in his spokes when he was slowing to attack. F'd the dude up bad, but I wasn't bothered by him again, or many of my friends for that matter.

So, after that weirdness, got home safely and found out Reagan was shot, WTF? I didn't really appreciate the significance at that age, but remember my parents in tears watching the '79 championship and really wanting IU to win that one, so watched a little more closely given all that was going on that day. The JFK assassination was before my time, but I remember that day like yesterday, that same kind of never forget.
 
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45. First season I really remember was 1987. Good year to start watching. Can't believe we haven't done it again since. Knight was fired my senior year at IU. Haven't been the same program since.
I listened to the second half of that game live on my radio in the parking garage of my apartment building in Hawaii. I left the ship early to get ready for the party I was having that night for the delayed broadcast. The people in the garage probably thought I was nuts jumping up and down in uniform when IU won. My party guests didn’t know that I knew IU won but were suspicious of my cool as a cucumber demeanor towards the end. 😉
 
Was really a f'n weird day, I was 8-ish, was walking home from a friend's very nearby house and this new trashy, bully type 7th grader who'd been picking on a few of us was coming after me alone on his BMX bike, I was walking, couldn't out run him and get in our fence without an ass-kicking. I did not panic! I casually pretended I didn't know it was coming from behind and slowly approached the boulevard where I grabbed a big stick and jabbed it in his spokes when he was slowing to attack. F'd the dude up bad, but I wasn't bothered by him again, or many of my friends for that matter.

So, after that weirdness, got home safely and found out Reagan was shot, WTF? I didn't really appreciate the significance at that age, but remember my parents in tears watching the '79 championship and really wanting IU to win that one, so watched a little more closely given all that was going on that day. The JFK assassination was before my time, but I remember that day like yesterday, that same kind of never forget.
That was the ‘81 championship.
 
Had to turn the antenna north to see the games
Another of the things today's kids will never experience! If you want a good laugh, see if you can find a car with manual roll up windows and have a kid try and roll it up. They don't have that muscle or coordination or something. It was hilarious with my kids and their friends, but I'm easily amused!
 
Was really a f'n weird day, I was 8-ish, was walking home from a friend's very nearby house and this new trashy, bully type 7th grader who'd been picking on a few of us was coming after me alone on his BMX bike, I was walking, couldn't out run him and get in our fence without an ass-kicking. I did not panic! I casually pretended I didn't know it was coming from behind and slowly approached the boulevard where I grabbed a big stick and jabbed it in his spokes when he was slowing to attack. F'd the dude up bad, but I wasn't bothered by him again, or many of my friends for that matter.

So, after that weirdness, got home safely and found out Reagan was shot, WTF? I didn't really appreciate the significance at that age, but remember my parents in tears watching the '79 championship and really wanting IU to win that one, so watched a little more closely given all that was going on that day. The JFK assassination was before my time, but I remember that day like yesterday, that same kind of never forget.
Damn good move stopping Ole Butch.
 
IU had two teams in the '90s that could have, maybe should have, won the national championship. The Final Four when IU lost to Duke remains the only loss that I've ever blamed on the Refs. There is no doubt in my mind that Teddy V was paid off or incompetent. There is no other option on that one.

I would have put the NNW&CC to shame with my overly emotional screaming and yelling about the refs during that game. However, I was watching it in California on TV with a smallish group of people, so it was OK. ;)
Could not agree more. Totally got screwed that game. Rarely been that pissed off in my life!!! BTW, 71 and fan since the VanArsdales. Rarely miss a game though I did graduate from Miami of Ohio. Go Redskins😜🤨as well
 
did you become a Hoosier fan? This might have been already done in the past but I see so many of you posting about how great things were years ago and wondered where we all rank in terms of who to feel sorry for not being able to experience what IU basketball really was and should be now. As for me, 69, and became a fan because of my dad in 1970. Sure had some great times and really miss sitting and watching the game with dad.
59, I became a fan shortly after the 1972 season when my dad became a fan. He was born and raised in Illinois and moved to Indiana after college. His conversion was due to RMK. I went to a football game in '73 I think. I do remember seeing Quin Buckner playing football and knowing he was also on the basketball team.

I made a pencil holder in school and burned "IU is #1 in 75" with my wood burner kit. I modified it the next year and turned the 5 into a 6. I've watched 3 National Championships in basketball and several soccer titles.
 
59, I became a fan shortly after the 1972 season when my dad became a fan. He was born and raised in Illinois and moved to Indiana after college. His conversion was due to RMK. I went to a football game in '73 I think. I do remember seeing Quin Buckner playing football and knowing he was also on the basketball team.

I made a pencil holder in school and burned "IU is #1 in 75" with my wood burner kit. I modified it the next year and turned the 5 into a 6. I've watched 3 National Championships in basketball and several soccer titles.
I did something similar on my college art project/fake ID. Did you know you could make an old IN drivers license' 5 into a 3 with a bit of determination, white out, a sharp #2 pencil and about 3 pencil dots?
 
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Thanks for sharing. Being from South Bend I knew and played against many from the region. My favorite three high school teams.

Milan lost to South Bend Central at State - "Hoosiers" Marvin Wood who was real coach ended up coaching at Mishawaka high school.

Indianapolis Washington - McGinnis and Downing

- !971 East Chicago Washington = Junior Bridgeman. Pete Trgovich and Tim Stoddard. Two great college players and played in the NBA and a MLB pitcher. Not bad for one high school team.
That ECW team might've given Washington a game. Maybe.
 
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Looks like I'm the oldest one to respond--85--and I'm a female. My first memory of IU basketball was listening to the second national championship game on the radio. Then, I attended IU 1956-60, and I am still a diehard fan, win or lose!
I will never, ever argue with you about anything you post. Respect your elders and especially women. Cheers!
 
73-74? Russians at IU. UHF tv just came out ch. 32 out of Chicago.
No commercials, cameras rolling during timeout. Knight walks over to the ref standing by the endline and says "you better do something about these f#####s before I do."
I almost spit my joint out. After that I was a fan for life.
72 and became a fan right after RMK got there. Good old Channel 4. If I remember right the game against the Russian touring team got quite rough and a little out of hand. At one time in the game RMK went to the scorers table and took off his shoe and pounded it on the table imitating Khrushchev at the United Nations. LMAO and I think that incident endeared him to a lot of people.
 
That was the ‘81 championship.
Yes, that's when I really watched my first IU game. I'm a Hautian and was young, prior to that day it was all ISU cause they were good, I knew very little about IU until that night watching Isaiah and mixed in with updates about Reagan, weird introduction to IU bball.
 
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63. Don't have many memories before 66 or 67 maybe? Bill Deheer shooting free throws Rick Barry style is about my earliest memory.

Growing up family had FB season tickets from around 1965, but not BB. Watched those that were televised back then. Remember Vern Payne, Bootsie White and Frank Wilson. Of course Big Mac and Downing. I remember reading how that freshman team (who were ineligible back then) regularly hammered the varsity in practice.
 
Yes, that's when I really watched my first IU game. I'm a Hautian and was young, prior to that day it was all ISU cause they were good, I knew very little about IU until that night watching Isaiah and mixed in with updates about Reagan, weird introduction to IU bball.
People from Terre Haute are Haitians? I did not know that.

I was a sophomore at IU. Great tournament for IU that year. Tons of fun.
 
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72 and became a fan right after RMK got there. Good old Channel 4. If I remember right the game against the Russian touring team got quite rough and a little out of hand. At one time in the game RMK went to the scorers table and took off his shoe and pounded it on the table imitating Khrushchev at the United Nations. LMAO and I think that incident endeared him to a lot of people.
He was very disappointed the USSR boycotted the 1984 Olympics when he coached the US team. He was itching to give them a severe beating. He had the team to do it too.
 
That ECW team might've given Washington a game. Maybe.
I went to almost every ECW game in 71. They were an unbelievable team who made other really good teams look really bad. The state final game was not their one of their best, but the semifinal game was probably one of the best games ever played in the state of Indiana. (its on youtube and you will love it even if you had no skin in the game so to speak) They didnt care about defense but made sure you only got one shot, And with the front line, 6foot7 Tim Stoddard, 6foot 5 Ulysses Bridgeman and 6foot6 Pete Trgovich most teams didnt have a fair chance of getting a board. Their guards ( Rubin Baily, Darnell Adell) were at half court by the time the other team even knew what hit them. It was by far the fastest basketball I have ever seen. Scored 344 points in the final four games of the state tournament. All 5 starters went on to play D!. Washington should have never beaten Gary Tolleston in the State finals in 69. That was probably the worst officiated final in state history. I still have a couple of friends that talk about all that went on at that game and all the questionable calls. Things got really ugly in the stands during the game and came close to a riot after the game. I say In a fair and square game ECW takes Washington by 12, but we will never know.
 
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56. Grew up in the S Bend area and was a die hard Dantley fan. Used to take pics of Tripucka, Woolridge, Paxson, etc. with my Kodak Instamatic. They used to let kids down to the floor during warm ups back then. Wasn't a Knight fan until high school and transferring to IU after freshman year at a small college. Had four roommates that were managers for the BB team at IU. Used to shoot free throws, go into Knight's office and play 3 on 3 on Assembly Hall's floor while they taped Big10 games during the week. One time had Dakich come to our Varsity Villas townhouse frantically looking for a videotape when my roommates were at class. He invited himself in and browsed in their room for the tape. Can only figure that Knight was on his ass for that tape or something. Stood in the fountain after the championship. Have a 87 media guide somewhere with all the player signatures.
 
69 years old. (got out of high school a year early = small mistake athletically). Grew up in INDY and started becoming a fan in 68-69 watching Joe Cooke, Bill DeHeer and gang. Then was totally sold a couple of years later with McGinnis, Wright, Harris, Downing, Ritter & more. Then my days on campus 72-76 became lifelong memories
I spent a big part of my summer between junior/senior years of high school at IU and did not want to go back to Indy. I loved the campus but don't remember much of the downtown area at that time.
My only regret now is that I don't live closer. I wear shorts 364 days/year in Gilbert Arizona now.
 
I'm 46. If memory serves me right I'm in the same class as Guyton. My parents liked IU and I don't remember a time I wasn't an IU fan. The 92/93 times would have been around 7th/8th grade for me and that was my highlight. Never missed any games. Growing up in the region most my age where into IU or the Fab 5. Despite being in the region I don't remember many caring about PU.

I stayed at IU for grad school and was there for the Knight firing along with the championship run in 2002. Watched that Duke game in the bar that the Yogi's owners owned south of town. I lived that year in the apartments that basically shared a parking lot with Yogi's (the apartment had parking on the ground level underneath). People were lined up early at Yogi's so we tried to find an out of the way place to watch the game. I can't see ever not being an IU fan (bball and fball) but it's been tough since 2002 outside a couple good years with Crean.
 
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62. Grew up in Eastern Greene with an antenna on a router pointed at Channel 4. My Dad played HS basketball with Burke Scott ('53 starter), so we were an IU household. Earliest memories include Bootsie White / John Ritter. Do any of you older guys remember Ritter hitting a half-court shot at the buzzer that would have won the game ... except that Bootsie had signaled for a timeout and unfortunately the ref granted it.
 
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69 years old. (got out of high school a year early = small mistake athletically). Grew up in INDY and started becoming a fan in 68-69 watching Joe Cooke, Bill DeHeer and gang. Then was totally sold a couple of years later with McGinnis, Wright, Harris, Downing, Ritter & more. Then my days on campus 72-76 became lifelong memories
I spent a big part of my summer between junior/senior years of high school at IU and did not want to go back to Indy. I loved the campus but don't remember much of the downtown area at that time.
My only regret now is that I don't live closer. I wear shorts 364 days/year in Gilbert Arizona now.
That was a helluva time to be at IU during those four years!
 
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did you become a Hoosier fan? This might have been already done in the past but I see so many of you posting about how great things were years ago and wondered where we all rank in terms of who to feel sorry for not being able to experience what IU basketball really was and should be now. As for me, 69, and became a fan because of my dad in 1970. Sure had some great times and really miss sitting and watching the game with dad.
66, started in the late 60s listening to football and basketball games on WOWO in my dads Chevy wagon. Got hooked in February 1975 when I came to Bloomington to see the IU puke game. Sat in the balcony, stayed with a buddy in briscoe and went to rapps for pizza. Man my freshman year 75/76 was great!
 
I'm 56. I sort of remember the 76 team, but the 78-79 team is when I really became a fan and where the memories really start. Up until that point, I'd always rooted for Notre Dame because of my paternal grand dad. An uncle on my mom's side got me hooked on IU basketball and I went all in on IU, including becoming an IU football fan.

I was on campus 86-90. Maybe the best stretch in overall athletic success, top 2 or 3 if you just think about basketball success.
 
Correct-- I guess we're all so old our memories are getting a little foggy haha.
It was a regional played at Rupp. I remember watching the game and thinking the fix was in.
And I always thought I was right because they changed the rule the following year that you could not have a regional on your home court.
Hhhmm...
If you are talking about the 75 game, UK beat IU at Dayton Ohio. I am not sure when the NCAA changed the rule but it wasn't then because I attended and have photos of the 1981 Mideast Regional game at Assembly Hall where IU beat UAB and St Joe that weekend.
 
Ted Valentine -- my friend that is still coaching high school told me once that Ted was a guest speaker at a coaching convention he was attending. Ted was passing out his business card "Tech 'Em Ted", was on the card. I will never forget the game he ref'd vs IL at home. I was sitting behind the Illinois bench after RMK had been kicked out by Ted who stood in the center of the court. Luke Recker was injured under the basket when RMK went out on the court to look at him. After being kicked out of the game instead of walking the normal route to the IU locker room RMK chose to walk to the opposite corner and right at Ted who stood at the center circle.

Ted liked to be the main attraction in any game he ref'd. Don't get me started on that Final 4 game vs Duke.
 
72

I started watching IU on TV somewhere in time of the early 60’s. I remember seeing Walt Bellamy, Jimmy Rayl, Tom Bolyard, the Van Arsdale twins from Manuel HS, plus many others. My folks attended IU. Most of our neighborhood liked IU, with only one staunch PU and one ND Catholic household. I attended my first IU football game in 1960 at the invitation of “IU73’s” family, who lived in our NE Indy neighborhood. It was Memorial Stadium’s inaugural year.
 
51.

1981. I recall how IU vs UNC almost being cancelled, and my uncle's and Grand pops were absolutely pissed. I was like, "damn.. President is possibly dead, and these cats are pissed....that IU might not play.

I realized then how important Indiana basketball was.
The real fear was that because of logistical difficulties, the game might not be rescheduled. Can you imagine UNC/IU co-National Champs, what a tainted banner that would be amongst the others? Would it have been displayed as 7’-6” tall instead of 15’ like the others?
 
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Ted Valentine -- my friend that is still coaching high school told me once that Ted was a guest speaker at a coaching convention he was attending. Ted was passing out his business card "Tech 'Em Ted", was on the card. I will never forget the game he ref'd vs IL at home. I was sitting behind the Illinois bench after RMK had been kicked out by Ted who stood in the center of the court. Luke Recker was injured under the basket when RMK went out on the court to look at him. After being kicked out of the game instead of walking the normal route to the IU locker room RMK chose to walk to the opposite corner and right at Ted who stood at the center circle.

Ted liked to be the main attraction in any game he ref'd. Don't get me started on that Final 4 game vs Duke.
Teddy brought being a Richard Noggin to a whole new level.
 
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After being kicked out of the game instead of walking the normal route to the IU locker room RMK chose to walk to the opposite corner and right at Ted who stood at the center circle.
I was holding my breath thinking it might be a Woody Hayes moment. But it was just RMK's way of showing his utter disgust and comtempt for that man.
 
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