The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/839845
The Press-Dispatch Sports Wednesday, June 21, 2017 B- 3 would love to talk to you about this. We went down to Louisville, to his business headquarters, and Junior says, 'Hey, I can talk about East Chicago all day long.'" "So it was kind of a break, and you could tell the impor- tance of not just basketball, but East Chicago, growing up, of what it means to not only people from East Chica- go, but people everywhere." Another key individu- al was Mirko Blesich, a star player for East Chica- go Washington who, after graduating in 1965, went on to play collegiately at USC. Blesich helped Helfen get connected with San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who grew up in East Chicago. "We interviewed Mirko, and as we're leaving his of- fice, he says, 'Hey, Tim, have you talked to Pop? '" Helfen recalled. "I said, 'Well, I don't have his number.' And he goes, 'I'll call him to- night. I assure you he will do this.' I didn't think any- thing was going to come of it. I mean, they were in the middle of a basketball sea- son. But a couple days later, the Spurs PR director calls me and she says, 'Hey, can you get to Chicago or Mil- waukee? We're going to be up there in a couple of months.' I was like, 'Wow! '" "It was just incredible," Helfen continued. "Pop didn't play at East Chicago. His family ended up mov- ing, I think, when he was 11 or 12 years old, but he grew up there, and he knew all the stories, the history. Here's a guy who's an NBA champion, like, five times as a coach, and he says his lifelong goal was to play for East Chicago Washington and Coach Johnnie Baratto." Trgovich, Helfen noted, expressed very similar sen- timents during his inter- view. "He won two national championships at UCL A, but he said winning the high school state champi- onship as a player is his top moment, top memory, in sports, and in basketball," Helfen said. Helfen and Osborne spent 10 days last summer, work- ing 10 to 12 hours a day, put- ting together the first ver- sion of the documentary. "And this was after I had written the script last sum- mer," Helfen said. "You take the transcriptions of every interview and highlight dif- ferent parts, you piece it all together in an outline, and after you have all that, you have the photos you want to use, the videos you want to use and where. The editing process is just a very labor intensive process." Last fall, a private show- ing of the finished product was held at the AMC Show- place 16 in Schererville, Ind., for the people who had been interviewed, as well as their families. "The funny thing is, we sent out 12 invitations, I think, and ended up with 120 people in there," Helfen said. "I thought, well, maybe each person's going to bring four or five, and we had guys calling and asking for 12 tickets, 15 tickets. I wasn't going to tell them no. Their help and their interest in the project really told the story." "There is some writing and editing involved, but, ul- timately, it's these guys tell- ing the stories in their own words," Helfen added. "That is what makes it special, and you capture that feeling of what it was like to grow up in East Chicago. It's a tre- mendous melting pot com- munity with a lot of national- ities and a lot of different cul- tural influences that I think – and most people agree – has played into success in not just sports but later on in life of how to get along with people and understand people with different back- grounds." Last December, Helfen and Osborne went back into the editing room and made a few minor changes to the documentary, and the fin- ished product had four show- ings at the AMC Showplace 16 in Schererville, which averaged 145 viewers each night. "We pre-sold tickets and were close to capacity every night," Helfen said. "One of the nights, we had to turn people away at the door! " Helfen, who serves as an assistant coach for the Vin- cennes Lincoln girls' varsi- ty basketball team, noted that the documentary not only highlights East Chi- cago's state championship teams, but also some others that suffered heart-breaking losses as well. "East Chicago certainly had some heartbreak along the way," Helfen said. "Some teams got beat in the state championship or at the fi- nal four or were upset ear- lier on in the state tourna- ment. Those are some of the things that we try to capture in the movie. There's some great stories, but there's al- so some sadness along the way. It just makes for a com- pelling story." However, Helfen admits, whenever he watches the fi- nal version of the documen- tary, he can be his own worst critic. "Going back and watch- ing it, I can see two or three things that I would do differ- ently," Helfen said. "With a project like this, it's never going to be complete, it's never going to be perfect, but you just try to do the best that you can to, again, tell a lot of stories that peo- ple don't have access to hear, to make it entertaining, to make it heartfelt." "It wasn't easy," Helfen added. "The documentary's a hundred minutes and I feel like we could have made it two-plus hours and still kept it interesting. So to make a hundred-minute documen- tary took a lot of cuts and a lot of edits. I can always go back and say, 'Hey, there's two or three things I would change up that I liked at the time that maybe we'd do a lit- tle bit different.' But, again, it's never going to be perfect or complete, but I think that everybody's that's watched it and everybody we've talk- ed to have been absolutely thrilled about it. So that's kind of really it's own reward and the best reward itself." Helfen said that the DVD will be released on Aug. 1 – approximately one week af- ter the conclusion of the In- dy Film Fest. "That will be a big event, and, I think, really help spread the word a little bit," Helfen said. "The Indy Film Festival's pretty unique be- cause they do have a lot of independent productions. Plus, with the proximity to Indianapolis, I think it will be a fun event." Helfen said that he cur- rently did not have any doc- umentary projects in the works. "I think certainly there will be other projects and other opportunities down the road," Helfen said. "This started out as a passion proj- ect that I always thought would have some potential to just be more than, hey, this is my passion project, to, hey, there's going to be an audience for this. But I've en- joyed the process so much. It's just been a fun and won- derful experience. So, cer- tainly, I think that, down the road, I would like to do other documentaries and see what else is out there." For more information about "We are E.C.: The Un- told Story of East Chicago Basketball," as well as how to order the DVD, visit wea- reec.com. SPORTS BRIEFS VU men's basketball team offering offensive skills camp The Vincennes Univer- sity mens' basketball team will be offering an offen- sive skills camp for boys and girls in 3rd through 10th grades July 6 -8. The cost is $110, which includes meals provided at the Tecumseh Dining Cen- ter on Wednesday, July 6, and Thursday, July 7, along with a camp t-shirt. Camp- ers are asked to register between 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6, at the front of the Vincennes University P.E. Complex. For more registration information and registration flyers, visit govutrailblazers.com and click "Men's Basketball" under the camps tab. ll" under the camps tab. Dubois County Bombers announce youth skills camp dates The Dubois County Bombers have announced the dates of their upcom- ing youth skills camps. The Bombers' coach- ing staff and players will provide valuable baseball instruction to area youth from 6 to 15 years of age at camps in Huntingburg and Jasper. The first camp will take place June 26 -28 at League Stadium in Hunt- ingburg. The second camp will take place Ju- ly 10 -12 at the JYSC Little League Fields in Jasper. Each camp will be di- vided into two sessions by age, with ages 6 -9 years reporting from 9 a.m.-10 :30 a.m. daily and ages 10 -15 years report- ing from 10 :30 a.m. to noon daily. All camps cover throw- ing progression/pitching, hitting drills/bunting/ base running, and fielding position by position, plus a game to end the camp with a whole lot of fun. The cost of each three- day camp is $ 60 per par- ticipant, which includes – in addition to the great baseball instruction – a camp t-shirt and a ticket to a Bombers baseball game. Registration forms are available on the Bombers website at www.dcbomb- ers.com, by e-mailing dc- bombers@psci.net or by calling the Bombers of- fice at 812-683-3700. Reg- istration forms were due by June 10 to guarantee a t-shirt. However, enroll- ment will be taken after that date as well as at the door. Please arrive early for registration. HELFEN Continued from page 1 Senior men's golf league results On Thursday, June 15, 24 golfers arrived at Prides Creek Golf Course for nine holes of Senior Men's Golf League competition. Four- man teams were drawn from a deck of cards and the six teams began play at 10 a.m. with a shotgun start. Two teams tied at 6 un- der par after nine holes of play, and the winning team was decided by a putt-off on the practice green, with the closest-to-the-hole putt determining the winners. Russ Query, Terry Glad- ish, Stan Helsley and Chris Wilson won the putt-off over the team of Max El- liott, Andy Query, Bob Def- fendoll and Tom Hunt. Golfers of all ages are welcome to play at 10 a.m. on each Thursday at the Prides Creek Golf Course. Tim Helfen (left) interviews San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich for a documentary film Helfen produced called "We are E.C.: The Untold Story of East Chicago Basketball." The 100-minute documentary will be one of more than 80 independent films to be screened during the 14th Annual In- dy Film Fest July 13-23 at the Indiana Museum of Art in Indianapolis. Submitted Photo Pike Central High School Boys Track Award Winners The Pike Central High School boys' track and field team held its annual awards banquet on Thursday, June 15. Pictured above are the award winners. They are, from left to right: Jared McCord (Most Valu- able Field Event Award – Jumps, Most Valuable Sprinter Award, Most Valuable Overall Award, Mental At- titude Award); Joel Henson (Underclassman Academic Award); Blake Henson (Underclassman Academ- ic Award); Nate Woolery (Most Valuable Distance Runner Award); Caden Armstrong (Upperclassman Ac- ademic Award); Andrew Krieg (Most Valuable Field Event Award Thrower); and Tyler Kirby (Most Valu- able Underclassman Award). Submitted Photo Baron Earley, 17, is pictured above holding a catfish he caught while fishing from the bank on the White River near Petersburg on Thurs- day, June 15. He caught it on a fishing pole, us- ing a live bluegill for bait. Earley, who was fish- ing with his best friend, Cale Beck, subsequent- ly released the catfish, and no weight or length was recorded. Submitted Photo Autumn Nicholson is pictured above with a large mouth bass she caught while fishing with her husband, Mike, and their sons, Ozzy and Chris, on Saturday, June 10, in Pike County. It weighed five pounds and measured 19-1/2 inches in length. Submitted Photo WATERMELON RUN FOR EVERYONE The 26th Annual Watermelon Run in Owensville is for everyone, starting with a four-mile run and a two-mile walk followed by a chil- dren's quarter-mile fun run. The Saturday, July 29 event begins at 8 a.m. for the runners/walkers and 9 a.m. for the children. The race begins and ends in downtown Owensville as part of the Owensville Watermelon Fes- tival. The four-mile course winds through the scenic countryside, featuring terrain that is easy enough for the novice, yet chal- lenging enough for the competi- tive runner, according to Jeremy Aydt. The entry fee for the run/walk is $15 if received on or before July 25, 2017. Late entries will be $20. Owensville Watermelon Run shirts are guaranteed to the first 100 reg- istrations. The children's fun run is $5 and does not include a shirt. A fter the race, there are spe- cial drawings. Overall male and fe- male Watermelon Run Champions will receive $50 each. Awards go to the top two in each age group, along with top two male and fe- male walkers. For more informa- tion, contact Jeremy Aydt at 812- 431-5754. Late sign up is until 7:45 a.m. the day of the race. Packet pickup is at the northeast corner of the town square. Forms are avail- able at SWIF T Athletics and Ulti- mate fit.