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(10/03/06 2:31am)
Years after its original release, New York film producer Steven Montgomery re-released a 25th anniversary edition of "Hobie's Heroes."\nThe film documents legendary IU diving coach Hobie Billingsley and his training of young divers. The new version has been updated and includes several new bonus features.\n"The images of the film are breathtaking," Billingsley said in a statement contained in the DVD extras. "'Hobie's Heroes' shows everything I was trying to do and hoped for in my career as a coach. I have never found the film to age, for its message is as pure as it was when it was first made."\nBillingsley served as IU's head diving coach for 30 years, from 1959 to 1989, and trained six Olympic medalists during his prestigious career.\n"A lot of coaching is about perseverance and having faith in yourself," Billingsley said. "You try to continue to make people better as you try to make yourself better."\nMontgomery, a former Junior Olympic diver himself, first came into contact with Billingsley while attending his summer diving camp in Indiana. After graduating from New York University and beginning a career as a filmmaker, Montgomery decided that Billingsley's story was worth documenting.\n"People around Indiana often spoke of Hobie as a legend," Montgomery said. "Sports are often used as a metaphor for life, and Hobie was able to help people overcome their fears. I felt that his story is very inspirational for everyone."\nThe original edition of "Hobie's Heroes," released in 1980, was broadcast on TV stations such as PBS, Nickelodeon and USA. The documentary, filmed in Bloomington, helped introduce the sport of diving to many viewers. \nAlthough "Hobie's Heroes" won film festival awards in the 1980s, it was originally filmed on 16mm film, a deteriorating medium, Montgomery said. \n"In a way, the updating was a preservation effort," he said. "I wanted a new generation of people to see this movie."\nTwenty-five years later, Montgomery reunited Billingsley and the original cast of divers and filmed an update to the original version, including several new bonus features.\nThe DVD provides viewers with an update on the divers, including a review of what the divers have accomplished since their training along with how their time training with Billingsley shaped the rest of their life. In another bonus feature, Billingsley is shown reciting the "Judge's Oath" during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. \nBillingsley recently celebrated his 80th birthday in Bloomington. Many of his former divers and fellow coaches, along with Montgomery, were able to share the occasion with the former coach. \nBillingsley still possesses the characteristics that made him such a successful coach and motivator, Montgomery said. \n"He looks different, but he still has that same vigor and an incredible sense of humor," Montgomery said.\nMontgomery said he believes his film has the power to inspire its viewers because he himself has found inspiration from working with Billingsley. \n"Over the past 25 years, Hobie has come to mind often," Montgomery said. "He taught me that it is part of the meaning of a person's life to struggle"
(09/20/06 4:26am)
It's almost impossible to walk through student neighborhoods without seeing students flinging colored beanbags through the air, trying to land them in or around a small hole carved in a wooden board.\nThe name of the game is cornhole, and it has become a staple of college life at IU and at campuses across the nation. \nKeeping in line with this trend, Recreational Sports will be offering cornhole as one of the fall intramural sports. \n"We're really enthused to see cornhole come into the mix, especially with its growing popularity," Intramural Sports Council President Matt Stoltz said. "With football season and tailgates in full swing, this is the perfect time for it to be introduced as an IM (intramural) sport."\nSign-ups for cornhole will be held Wednesday Sept. 20. Teams of two players will be able to compete in one of four leagues: men's, women's, co-ed and fraternity. \nCornhole is a recreational sport that is often played at outdoor events such as cookouts and tailgates. One of the reasons for its popularity is its appeal to players of all different athletic abilities. Unlike other, more athletic sports, anyone can be good at cornhole. \nLast year, Spirit of Sport held a cornhole tournament that was open to everyone. With 16 registered teams, the tournament was a great success, said Spirit of Sport advisor Joanne Orrange.\n"Spirit of Sport is a great way to test out potential intramural sports," Orange said. "We saw that cornhole was very well received and students were having a lot of fun."\nAfter the success of cornhole at the Spirit of Sport, an independent group came to the Intramural Sports Council presenting the idea of making cornhole an intramural sport. The presentation met relatively little opposition.\n"We saw that it drew way more people than expected at the Spirit of Sport," Stoltz said. "There seems to be so much interest, and we felt we should open it up to a whole new crowd."\nSince this will be the cornhole's first year as an intramural sport, it is hard to predict how big of a hit it will be, said director of intramural sports, Shauna Robbins. \n"Our goal is to draw about 50 teams," Robbins said. "The first year is usually a guess, so we could end up with any number of teams."\nStoltz also understands that cornhole might start out slowly, but ultimately he believes it will be a success.\n"The first year is about getting the name out there; it can be rocky sometimes," Stoltz said. "This is a good year to get it started, and I think numbers will increase in the years to come"
(09/13/06 4:00am)
During a normal weekday, Tim Fick teaches social studies at Aurora Alternative High School in Bloomington. But every weekday afternoon, he's at Woodlawn Field with a sliotar and a hurley.\nFick is trying to market the ancient Celtic sport of hurling to IU students and eventually start a club.\nMost of all, however, Fick is looking to get students involved with the sport he loves. \nFor the past year, Fick has been a member of a hurling team in Indianapolis. The team, only a year old, has been participating in competitions around the area and has an upcoming match against Purdue. Purdue's squad, which started with four members, has grown in popularity and now consists of 25 players. \nFick hopes to see the same interest in the club at IU.\n"I'd like to meet new men and women who want to learn to play hurling," Fick said. "I want to see members improve their basic hurling skills, but my main goal is for this to be fun." \nWhile the club at IU might not be able to participate in intersquad competitions immediately, Fick is willing to adjust. He plans to have small scrimmages and send members to Indianapolis to play with his Indianapolis team on Sundays. \nFick was first introduced to hurling on a trip to Ireland 15 years ago.\n"I was blown away by the energy and passion," he said. "I went out and bought a stick and ball right away."\nThe sport dates back almost 2,500 years. Hurling has a rich history and was even used as a substitute for warfare, Fick said.\nWidely regarded as the fastest game on grass, Fick said, hurling seems to encompass elements of many other popular sports. The goal posts resemble football uprights with a soccer goal underneath. The stick, or hurley, looks like a field hockey stick, and the ball, called a sliothar (or sliotar), is a softer version of a baseball.\nWhile these comparisons seem obvious, the gameplay is harder to describe. \nThe object of the game is to get the ball through the uprights for one point or past the goalie and into the netted goal for three points. The field skills include scooping the ball, executing hand passes and batting the ball downfield -- all which incorporate elements of lacrosse, rugby and baseball.\nHowever, the comparisons vary from player to player.\n"I'd say hurling is a lot like hockey on grass," Fick said. "It's as quick and physical as hockey."\nAfter playing for the first time Thursday, two IU students offer different opinions.\n"It has a very simple style," senior Tom Noguchi said. "I would call it a mixture between tennis and baseball."\nEven though hurling is similar to other more common sports, the game requires practice to learn.\n"Once you get it down, it's not too bad," senior Mitch Olsen said. "To me, it's like a cross between field hockey, ultimate frisbee and football."\nBased on the growth of his team in Indianapolis, Fick is confident that the hurling club at IU will be a success. \n"I think it's just a matter of time before it catches on," Fick said. "It's such a great sport"
(09/06/06 3:20am)
As the summer slowly begins to cool down, the IU Cycling Club season is heating up.\nThe club will send a team of 14 members to the Collegiate Track Nationals Sept. 20 to 24 in Indianapolis at the Major Taylor Velodrome.\nLast year the team placed sixth overall and is looking to build on that this year. \n"We would like to place as best we can in the overall point standings," senior rider Sasha Land said. "Our best shot of winning nationals is by winning as a team. One on one, we might not be able to match up with some of the other riders, but overall, as a team, we have the potential to finish very strongly."\nThe Track Nationals consist of individual events as well as a series of team competitions, all adding points to the Team Omnium, the overall team competition. The Team Omnium is made up of several events, including sprints and pursuits. The pursuits are popular among riders because they force participants to complement their physical riding skills with elements of strategy, preparation and mental toughness.\nJunior member Pam Loebig will ride in the Italian Pursuit, which involves teams of six riders, usually four male and two female. Team members line up in a pace line and ride around the track, with the slowest team member dropping out at the end of each lap. The race continues in this fashion until only one rider is left to finish the race. \n"You have to have a deep team (for the Italian Pursuit)," Loebig said. "It still involves a lot of strategy, but once you get on the track, it's all about who's the strongest rider."\nSenior member Chris Chartier said he is eager to participate in another kind of pursuit. The Team Pursuit is a race against the clock for teams of four riders.\n"I love this event because it is a combination of strength, team understanding and bike handling skill," Chartier said. "When it is done well, it is a beautiful event to watch." \nRiders have been training hard individually throughout the summer, but going into a competition that will require a strong performance out of the entire team, the group is expanding its focus.\n"We've been getting to the (Major Taylor) Velodrome about twice a week lately," Chartier said. "The important thing for us now is to work on getting the team events to run smoothly." \nThe team is poised to translate its many hours of training into success on the track. As the event draws closer, the team has its eye on the prize.\n"The team goal is to come back to town wearing the stars and bars, the jersey that the national champions get." Chartier said.
