[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1604-S1605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             March Madness

  Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I rise today to speak about a subject 
that is a point of pride and a source of passion for my constituents.
  Visit Indiana, and you are bound to see them: a backboard hammered to 
an old barn, rows of asphalt courts in city parks, a lone hoop in front 
of a cornfield or in a clearing, steel poles standing in driveways.
  Though basketball wasn't technically invented in Indiana, Indiana is 
indeed its epicenter. Even the game's inventor, James Naismith, once 
said: ``Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the 
center of the sport.''
  So it is appropriate that this year's NCAA tournament will be played 
in its entirety in our State.
  Now this, of course, is in part because planning and hosting 68 teams 
in the middle of a global pandemic presents unprecedented challenges, 
challenges that Hoosiers in and around Indianapolis are going to be 
able to navigate. And they will be able to work their world-class 
college campuses in order to host teams from around the country. It is 
a great source of pride for us.
  But it is also fitting because this sport is so important to our 
State. You see, it is March Madness meets Hoosier Hysteria. The gyms 
where we play basketball are historic sites. The men and women who have 
competed and coached back home are Indiana folk heroes. We know their 
names. They are part of our common language: The Big O, Catch, the 
General, Bird, Wooden.
  Memorabilia, artifacts, and sites associated with them are preserved 
in museums and townhalls. They are in school gyms. They are marked by 
bronze plaques and other ways to memorialize those who have preceded 
us. Streets and roads are named in their honor. We can even identify 
legendary teams and major moments in our basketball history with just a 
few almost mythic words that are familiar to the ears of Hoosiers: 
``Franklin Wonder Five,'' ``Plump's last shot,'' ``8 points in 9 
seconds,'' and, yes, the infamous ``chair throw.''
  Even the color of the ball--orange, of course--can be traced back to 
a Hoosier, Tony Hinkle, who thought it was a good idea.
  For Indiana, basketball is much more than just a pastime. It is a 
source of joy. It is a source of joy for our communities, and it brings 
the people in and across them together. After all, it takes little more 
than a basket and a ball to play.
  That is why wherever you go in Indiana and no matter the neighborhood 
you might be visiting or passing by, be it affluent or hit by hard 
times, in the country or in the city, you are going to see basketball 
played. It almost doesn't matter what the time of year it is or what 
the weather is like, you are likely to see basketball if you hit the 
road for a few hours in Indiana at any given time of year. You are 
going to hear it discussed. The basketball court and the gymnasium 
bleachers are great levelers.
  I am sharing this with you because there is a larger point at play. 
Today, it increasingly seems that Americans have less and less in 
common with one another; that we are defining ourselves not as a 
diverse nation united by a common set of values with a shared past and 
a shared future, but we are instead sorting ourselves into tribes based 
on geography or class or even political affiliation. This has been 
accompanied by the hollowing out of many of our communities and a loss 
of faith in the public spaces and access to these public spaces and 
institutions that shape our national identity and bind this vast, 
pluralistic, and beautiful country together.
  Now, these are dangerous trends, this separation, this tribalism; 
ones that we are going to have to work hard to turn back. There is only 
so much this body can do--I am under no illusions--there is only so 
much government can do to make America whole again.
  That is why we should cherish and celebrate the institutions that do 
have the power to unite us. And, as any Hoosier will tell you, 
basketball is one of them
  Even beyond this, as its history in Indiana shows, this shared ritual 
that brings us joy and brings us together also pushes us to be better 
individually and collectively.
  I think of the persistence of a teenager by the name of Steve Alford, 
endlessly practicing free throws in his driveway in New Castle, even in 
the snow and rain; and the courage of Indiana University's Bill 
Garrett, who fought segregation and broke the Big Ten color barrier; 
and then the faith of Little Milan High, enrollment hardly 100, beating 
mighty Muncie Central, enrollment over 1,000, for the 1954 State high 
school championship; the grace of successive generations of graduates 
at Crispus Attucks. Now, this is a high school built to segregate Black 
students in Indianapolis, but it then grew into an academic and 
athletic powerhouse whose basketball program was a beacon in the civil 
rights movement and, to this day, remains a great source of pride not 
just for Black Hoosiers but for all Hoosiers. It was also the first 
African-American team to win a State championship in the Nation; the 
spirit of the tiny town of Medora, an underdog community featured in a 
recent documentary, who stood by their team while its players laced up 
work boots because they couldn't afford basketball shoes. Then they set 
out with grit and determination and resolve to end a season losing 
streak.
  So these scenes from Indiana's history, up to the present day, like 
the game itself, unite people from different backgrounds, and they 
foster pride in our places, especially our struggling places. They 
teach us to draw a line between competition and contempt, to keep 
perspective and to have the humility to remember that defeat is never 
permanent and neither is victory. They help us see and treasure what we 
have in common. They show us the power of opportunity and empowerment.
  Institutions like basketball can't be taken for granted. They bring 
meaning and purpose into the lives of people and places that we call 
home. They encourage our citizens to dream beyond limit, and I would 
say that they are what we need in this Nation right now.
  So as the NCAA tournament tips off and the games begin across our 
stadiums, field houses, and arenas, Indiana's hardwood civic temples, 
as we like to think of them, I know will be a reflection for our love 
for basketball and an exhibition of our collaborative ability to host 
such a large event during such a difficult time.
  But what will also be on display is the other reason it is right and 
proper that this event takes place in Indiana. We are devoted to this 
sport because it brings us hope, and it brings us together. It instills 
the virtues necessary to preserve many of the other features that make 
our country so special. It really can help make America whole again.

[[Page S1605]]

  Now and then, we all need to be gently reminded, I think, of the 
importance of these very things, and I can think of no better time or 
place for that than March in Indiana.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, let me thank my colleague from Indiana. 
You can't do better than ``Hoosiers.'' It is one of my favorite movies. 
It is the story of a small Indiana town beating the big city players, 
and, if I am not mistaken, my former colleague in the House, Lee 
Hamilton, might have been one of those players on the big city team. I 
think he told me at one point. It is a great story and all eyes are on 
Indianapolis and Indiana now with the NCAA tournament and your 
neighbors to the west, Illinois, headed across the border. It is going 
to make a good showing, I hope, for the Fighting Illini.
  Thank you very much for reminding us of that great American 
tradition.