basketball

Basketball – A Love Story

January 1, 2021January 1, 2021 mwerner97@gmail.com

People around the globe play the game of basketball. In Indiana, basketball is part of the culture that bonds generations of Hoosiers. In “Basketball – A Love Story,” I explore that bond from shooting baskets in a barn as a kid to playing on the varsity team to watching a new generation of kids play for the love of the game. Many people will appreciate this story, as basketball really is a game played against oneself.

Originally written in 2016, this lent itself well to an audio story. Pat Wisniewski, documentary film producer of “Everglades of the North,” “Shifting Sands,” and “The Lively One” did the recording and production. The basketball sounds were recorded in the 80 year old barn on the Werner family farm. Click the PLAY arrow above and enjoy.

Mystery Gym Had Studebaker Roots

December 14, 2019February 4, 2020 mwerner97@gmail.com

I found a glass negative among a box of old Michigan City, Indiana, photos. It had no description or identifying information. It was a basketball game.

As I peered through the glass, I thought, what a strange gym, and wondered, where was it? The hunt began.

The Patch Players – Basketball was a respite from life’s daily injustice

February 1, 2018February 4, 2021 mwerner97@gmail.com

Dave Greer and I sat in his basement drinking coffee. Behind him was a wall covered with trophies: bowling trophies won by his wife, Vivian, his son and daughter’s awards from Rogers High School, a color silhouette of Greer in a basketball uniform. The largest one recognized Greer as an outstanding scholar-athlete at Elston High School.

Greer remembered the night he became the first area player to shoot a jump shot in a varsity basketball game. It was 1953 and many people considered a one-handed jump shot showboating. It was an away game at an all-white school.

“They called me all kind of negative names,” Greer said. “They called me everything but God. We were the only black thing in there,” referring to himself and teammates Bill Wright and Braelon Donaldson. “The word — never heard it so many times in one day.” Read More

Stillwell’s Mightiest Viking

November 16, 2017November 29, 2017 mwerner97@gmail.com

Look around and you will find amazing stories everywhere, tucked away, hoping to be discovered. Sometimes the stories require searching to flesh them out. Such was the case of a glass photo negative discovered in a box. The player wearing number eleven was Leon Antrim. Leon grew up in Stillwell, Indiana. He and his teammate, Clarence Spier, were photographed in the LaPorte Civic Auditorium on March 5, 1937. But, why? Read More