Beyond Hoosier Pride

If you are an Indiana basketball fan then you are familiar with the “This is Indiana” video created by Hoosier alumni Brice Fox and Daniel Weber:





It went from being a viral YouTube sensation to now being a part of the Hoosier home game routine as the video is played on the big screen in Assembly Hall as halftime comes to a close.  In a 2011 interview with Bloomington’s Herald Times, not even Fox and Weber could have predicted the success the video would have in such a short period of time.  Now fast forward two years.  Would you believe me if I told you that the video has become bigger than any basketball team or University?  I think Kathryn Sullivan’s third grade class at Cold Spring Environmental Magnet School in Indianapolis would.  As you will find out, this generation’s Hoosier anthem has become next generation’s inspiration.

Part of the third grade curriculum within the Indianapolis Public School system is college preparation and readiness.  As an alumnus of Indiana University, Ms. Sullivan decided to use her alma mater as a learning tool for her students.  According to Ms. Sullivan, it was encouraged to teach the students as much about her chosen school as possible.  Outside of the advantages of attending college, the students learned the school song, cheers, what campus life was like, the types of degrees that could be earned at IU among other things.  When discussing Indiana athletics, Ms. Sullivan decided to introduce her class to “This is Indiana.”  It was an instant hit.  I will let the following video show you just how big of a hit it was:

[Disclaimer:  Still awaiting proper approvals to show video as it is footage from within the school.  The video shows the students heads down studying listening to the song and as soon as the phrase "This is I-U-U-U" comes on, every student makes the motion with their hands.]

The song is played multiple times a day while her students are studying or taking tests.  Ms. Sullivan has said that this song has helped her drive home the importance of attending college.  In the four months she has been teaching college preparation and readiness, she has seen improvement in many of their grades, as well as, their eagerness to learn increase.  “All of my students want to go to college now.  They all come into my classroom each day with the drive and dream of one day taking that step.”

It is that improvement that gave Ms. Sullivan the idea of taking things one step further.  As part of a third grade project entitled “College Bound,” she decided to recreate the “This is Indiana” video with the hopes that it could lead to a campus visit for the students. 

To help her with this vision, Ms. Sullivan needed someone with experience in creating videos.  Mika Brown, a freelance camera operator that has helped broadcast live sports for networks such as ESPN and Fox Sports, was approached and accepted the task.   Brown's initial reaction to the idea, "Wow, what a great opportunity to not only support IU Basketball, but more importantly help make a difference in these kids lives."  For one week, with their parents permission, the students stayed after school for a total of four hours to create a spoof of a video they have grown to love.  On her part with the project, Brown notes, "I really enjoyed playing a small role in this project.  [Ms. Sullivan] had a vision and really made it come to life.  I'm excited for other's to see it."

I am extremely honored to be a part of the debut of this video to Hoosier Nation and the rest of the blogosphere.  Ms. Sullivan not only has these students one step closer to a campus visit that otherwise wouldn’t have happened, she has them enthused about the prospects of attending college.  “'This is Indiana' helped create the excitement for college that turned a one month requirement into a yearlong project.  They now understand why they come to school every day and have a goal that they can continually work towards.”

Ladies and gentleman, non-Hoosiers and Hoosiers alike, I present to you:

"This is Indiana" - Cold Spring Environmental Magnet 3rd Graders from mika brown on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Thank you to Mika Brown for taking the time to answer some questions, as well as, for her part in this story. To view other videos that Mika Brown has created, you can access her Vimeo page here.  You can also follow her on Instagram @MikaMakenzie.

 

Additionally, I'd like to extend a special thanks to Kathryn Sullivan for allowing me to share this wonderful story.  She found a unique way to inspire her students and in turn created an environment that fosters setting and achieving goals, as evidenced by this video.  Fantastic job sis, very proud of you!!

UPDATE (02/01/2013 4:24 PM):  For those wishing to donate money to help make the campus visit possible for Ms. Sullivan's 3rd grade class, you can mail checks to the following address:

Cold Spring Environmental Magnet School
Attn: Kathryn Sullivan
3650 Cold Spring Road
Indianapolis, IN 46222

Please make checks payable to "Cold Spring School."

B1G Thoughts

There is not much, as far as analysis is concerned, that can be said with regards to yesterday's tilt with Northwestern.  A more talented Indiana team dominated an inferior opponent in the first half.  This was promptly followed up by a hard to watch second half whereby Bill Carmody made adjustments and the Hoosiers just stayed the same.  I've already made my opinion known regarding Tom Crean's in-game coaching ability, here.  But, at the end of the day, one can not argue that the Hoosiers are currently 4-1 with three road wins in the toughest conference in the country.

Those three road wins are tops in the Big Ten.  Schools with two road wins include Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Northwestern.  On the other side of the spectrum, the only teams that do not have a Big Ten road victory on its resume are Illinois and Penn State.  Of course I know the Hoosier hater's response to the above statistic, "Well, look who they have played!" 

As only a Hoosier fan could, allow me to find the silver lining in each of Indiana's Big Ten road victories:

at Iowa - Iowa just beat Wisconsin.  That is the same Wisconsin team that was coming off of an unbelievable victory on the road against the number two team in the country (at this point the fact that team was Indiana is irrelevant to me).  Wisconsin simultaneously made Indiana look amazing and awful in the same game.  It proves that Iowa City is indeed a tougher place to play than most people realize.  Of course, that is in my completely unbiased opinion.

at Penn State -  It is quite simple.  Penn State beat Bucknell at home.  Purdue lost to Bucknell at home.  Purdue sucks.

at Northwestern -  Northwestern was coming off of its signature win of the season at then-ranked Illinois in Champaign.  That is the same Illinois team that beat Ohio State.  Illinois's other signature win?  Follow me through this semi-tangent:

Illinois also beat a top ten team that lost to Butler, has a stud seven footer, an inconsistent veteran forward that has a history of showing up for big games, a do it all guard and a young inexperienced point guard that shows flashes of brilliance.  No, Illinois hasn't already played Indiana, I'm referring to Gonzaga.  The more I thought about the similarities between the Zags and Hoosiers it began to scare me.  For this reason, I'm already concerned about the February 7th game at the fake Assembly Hall.  Someone please tell Crean that if they watch any tape in preparation for that game that it be the early season match-up between the Illini and Bulldogs.

My overriding point is any three road wins in this conference at this point in the season is impressive.  Indiana has done a lot of things right.  To this point, I do feel that this young team has handled the lofty preseason expectations well.  In order to end up where Hoosier Nation would like them to be at the end of the season, they still have a of work to do.  With that being said, I have identified three areas that I feel will dictate just how successful this team can be:

1.  Yogi needs to find his confidence.  Everyone knows what kind of point guard he is.  His ball-handling skills and court awareness are second to none on this team.  But when you look down Indiana's starting line-up, who are opposing teams least likely to game plan for?  This certainly isn't a knock against the freshman.  The fact is, you're beginning to see how teams are going to start playing Indiana.  They're playing off Yogi to prevent him from getting to the basket and to make it hard for entry passes into the post.  People from Indiana know he can score.  I have heard analysts say that his lack of confidence in his shot stems from the fact that he has gained so much muscle mass since arriving in Bloomington.  As such, his shot has yet to conform to his new body.  As soon as he trusts his shot, the number one offense in the country just got a lot better.

2.  A healthy #BenchMob.  One of the biggest advantages heading into the season was the fact that Indiana was going to be legitimately 13 players deep.  Of course, the Hoosiers have already lost Austin Etherington for the season at a time when he was beginning to provide quality minutes.  Add in injuries to both Maurice Creek and Derek Elston and you have a team that has had to deal with more injuries than most teams.  Creek provides another scoring threat that can come off of the bench for short bursts in order to provide others with rest.  Elston is a battle-tested veteran that brings an element of toughness to the Hoosiers second unit.  Given the up and down style that Crean uses, it cannot be stressed how important a deep bench is for this team; which also leads me into my final point:

3.  A rested Victor Oladipo is a stellar Victor Oladipo.  This isn't to say that the other players don't play hard and deserve rest, but realistically speaking, no one else for the Hoosiers has the motor that Oladipo has.  Because of that, I am already worried about how much his effectiveness could potentially diminish late in the season if we can't find him more minutes of rest.  Of course, the above point regarding a healthy bench (specifically Maurice Creek) can help this situation.  I honestly do think that Oladipo's newly formed habit of fouling jump shooters could have something to do with fatigue. At any rate, he thrives in this system, as evidenced by many calling "snub" on the fact he didn't make The Wooden Award mid-season 25 list.  In order to maintain his production, however, the Hoosiers need to find ways to sustain for longer periods of time without him on the court than they have shown so far this season.

Like this Hoosier team, the Big Ten season is still young.  This is certainly going to be one of the most entertaining and unpredictable seasons in recent memory.  Although a lot has to go right in a season like this, Indiana is more than capable of being the last team standing.  Three conference road wins are three steps in the right direction, but the three areas above are going to go a long way in determining how far this team can dance.

CBB Picks: 1/17/2013

Well it's a few games into the conference season and I think it's time to actually start making some picks.  I've gotten to watch most of the Big Ten teams several times and hopefully have calibrated my pick-making skill... yeah, let's call it skill.  Unlike when I first started the blog, I'm going to keep the reasoning short in sweet.  Who cares much about the reasoning behind picks if you're getting them right, right? Right.

So here we go, my first college basketball picks of the 2012-13 season:

Game:  Michigan @ Minnesota, 7:00PM
Pick:  Michigan ML (+125)

Ah, I've missed this.  First pick right out of the gate is a road dog in a clash of top 10 teams in the Big Ten where road wins are a luxury.  Let's revisit Michigan's first loss against rival Ohio State.  Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. shot a combined 9 for 28 from the field and Nick Stauskas didn't register a single point (averages 12.7ppg).  It's quite simple, I don't expect that the Wolverines top two offensive threats and one of the best three point shooters in the country to have off nights in the same game tonight.  They lost by three, on the road, against their heated rival with those performances.  The Barn is an extremely tough place to play, but I'm predicting Michigan to win out right by four to seven points.  If you want to play it safe, I obviously am not opposed to Michigan +2.5 either.

Game:  Florida @ Texas A&M, 7:00PM
Pick:  Texas A&M +10.5

Let me preface this pick with the fact that I don't follow the SEC all that much.  Color me crazy, but giving a home team 10.5 points during conference play, a team that is coming off a big road win at Kentucky (I know Kentucky isn't as good as people thought, but any win at Rupp Arena is legit), doesn't sit right with me.  I'm purely taking Texas A&M out of principle.  Also, the total on this game is 122.  Friendly advice from a friend of mine suggested coupling your home dog with the over.  All you need is Texas A&M to get to 56 points (they're averaging 67 points) and you're at least going to push on the game.

Game:  Northwestern @ Illinois, 8:15 PM
Pick:  Illinois -10.0

If Northwestern had Drew Crawford, well not only would I not pick Illinois here they would probably only be six or seven point favorites.  The Wildcats just don't have the athletes to effectively and consistently defend the Illini.  They are known for their Princeton style offense which can give teams fits at times, but they won't be able to score enough points.  I expect this to be a night where Brandon Paul gets 25+ points and has a legit shot to add another 40 point game to his resume.  Illinois is the team that lives and dies by the three.  This may be one of the few games in conference they won't have to be reliant on the deep ball, but if they're hitting, it could get ugly quick.