Baron Hill: poise on the hardwood, but not so much in politics

A rough but interesting letter to the editor-- with basketball history and political commentary on Baron Hill-- in the C-J...

In 1968 I witnessed what many Southern Hoosiers regard as the most exciting high school basketball game ever. The rivalry between the schools was keen. The setting was Old Shields Memorial Gym in Seymour, Ind. In those days, the scoreboard read Visitor (Scottsburg) 00 (100), Home (Seymour) 98, and there was no time left on the clock. But the game wasn't over yet. A foul was called as the time expired and a Seymour player would have a chance to shoot one and the bonus to force overtime.

As a Scottsburg fan, I was pretty confident at that point. The shooter, while being an excellent player, was just a sophomore. Surely he would choke under such pressure. Not so. He went to the line and calmly sank both free throws. The scoreboard read 00 to 00 with 0:00 time remaining. To my relief, Scottsburg went on to win 110 to 104 in the overtime the young player had demonstrated such poise and mental toughness to force. His name was Baron Hill, now congressman for the 9th District of Indiana.

At age 15 Baron Hill was a tough and courageous competitor who could lead his team. Today as a U.S. representative he has been reluctant to hold town hall meetings for fear some senior citizen might aggressively challenge his position on the health care bill. “Political terrorists,” he called them. At a Sept. 2 town hall meeting (C-J , Sept. 27), he rudely dispatched an IU student with a camera attempting to help her fellow journalism student on a project. Congressman Hill seems to be awfully thin-skinned and timid. It makes one wonder which he fears most, his constituency or Nancy Pelosi?

EVAN BRIDGEWATER
Scottsburg, Ind. 47170