Hoosier Hollywood: Is Indiana the sports-film capital of the country?

• Author: Kaelble, Steve

"Indiana might just be the sports-film capital of the country," muses Lt. Gov. Frank O'Bannon.

No kidding. The basketball flick "Blue Chips," in the cinemas now, is just the latest in a long line of sports-related films that have used the Hoosier state as a backdrop. Last year there was "Rudy," a football picture filmed--among other places--at the University of Notre Dame. Before that there was "A League of Their Own," filmed in Southwest Indiana and focusing on women's baseball. Another baseball flick, "Eight Men Out," preceded that in the late 1980s, while the basketball classic "Hoosiers" was a hit a couple of years earlier.

We watched cycling in "Breaking Away," auto racing in "Winning," football in "Brian's Song" and water sports in "Diving In," all films with Indiana locations. John Mellencamp's "Falling From Grace" practically elevated drinking and small-town buffoonery to a sport as well. Just get us a hockey picture and we'll have a complete lineup.

It's really just a coincidence that there's been such a sporting hook involving films shot in Indiana. There have been a few non-sports pictures filmed here, including the Christmas family flick "Prancer," shot in LaPorte, and "Four Friends," filmed in East Chicago. The folks in charge of promoting Indiana among Hollywood types aren't pushing sports pictures exclusively, but they are pleased that the state has been associated so strongly with winning.

Indeed, Jane Rulon, director of the Indiana Film Commission, is feeling like a winner these days. There's been at least one major movie shot in Indiana in each of the last few years. The state is close to landing another deal, she adds, and still another set of producers has Indiana on its list of possible locations...