An Evening with IU Athletics at Huber Farms

By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

FLOYDS KNOBS, Ind. – Jeff and Kathy Bennett were adorned in custom-made shirts, emblazoned with the state of Indiana's outline and a facsimile of a company's font spelling out:

"Miller Time."

The Bennetts joined a thousand-strong throng flocking to the gorgeous Huber Farms complex last Wednesday for an evening with Indiana University athletics luminaries – including new men's basketball coach Archie Miller and football counterpart Tom Allen.

The event had sold out. Fast.

Les Wright of the Louisville/Southern Indiana IU Alumni Association chapter noted: "We had to take it off-line about a month ago because reservations were coming in so fast. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to get it shut off in time."

IU director of athletics Fred Glass observed that the annual Huber Farms shindig serves as "a really good barometer for the enthusiasm about what's going on with athletics in Bloomington."

If so, it is seemingly at an apex.

But the event also showcases that there are perhaps no more fervent Hoosier fans than those who live along the Indiana banks of the Ohio River. In part because of what lies south of those banks.

"Oh, yeah, you've got Louisville right across the river and Kentucky just down the way," said IU football great Anthony Thompson, who was part of the Hoosiers' Huber entourage. "And the people here are passionate about Indiana University."

New Albany resident Mark Bliss, after getting a chance to hold the Old Oaken Bucket following Wednesday's festivities, acknowledged IU fans in his region have to deal with neighbors – and media coverage – focused on the Bluegrass State.

"We don't really follow Louisville or Kentucky, of course," Bliss said matter-of-factly. "We have to contend with their fans all the time and, where we live, our newspaper and our radio and television channels are from Louisville. So we might get two seconds of mention that, 'Oh, by the way, IU won today.' "

Bliss said the advent of mass social media has helped IU fans in his area follow the Hoosiers more closely in recent years and, if local TV doesn't have an IU game showing, they'll congregate at a place that does.

Wes Erwin, the IU Alumni Association's Senior Assistant Director for Alumni Relations, understands things are a bit different down by the river.

"I work with all of our chapters in the state, and they all do game-watch events occasionally," Erwin said. "But this market down here, spanning both Louisville and southern Indiana, they do game-watches for every men's basketball game – and they're all sponsored.

They have huge attendance at all of them.

"To me, that speaks volumes. We have other chapters that get big attendance for their game-watches, but down here there are businesses willing to pay to sponsor just watching a game in a bar. The fervency down here is so exciting. I've come down for a couple of them and the buzz is just in the air."

Chris Lemonis gets it. The IU baseball coach and his whole Hoosier squad stopped by Huber Farms en route to the Lexington regional, hosted by No. 1 seed Kentucky, where Indiana opened play against North Carolina State.

"I have to explain to our fans and boosters that we're focused on N.C. State," Lemonis told the crowd packed into the massive Huber amphitheater, "because as I walked around tonight, and excuse my language, I heard about 15 or 20 times, 'Coach, kick Kentucky's (butt).'

"I realize Kentucky's not a big fan or Indiana, or Indiana of Kentucky. And I get it. I don't like Kentucky, either. I've been (coaching) at Louisville and Indiana, so you can imagine."

Archie Miller gets it, too.

After Miller's speech to the Huber crowd, he spontaneously took questions, one of which was, 'Who are you going to try to add to our schedule?"

Miller didn't hesitate: "Well, I think Kentucky is the one that everybody wants."

That drew raucous, extended applause, and Miller added: "A lot of the guys I've talked to who played at Indiana or played at Kentucky, they grew up with that game perhaps more than any other. Whether it was the RCA Dome split or Freedom Hall split, those were the type of games they grew up with. If something is good for us, we'll always be in favor of doing it."

Miller – who also indicated he'd like to start a series with Arizona, coached by his brother, Sean – also seems fully in favor of the annual trip to Huber Farms as something good for IU.

"It's good to get down here because, other than people talking to me about coaching at Assembly Hall, the only other thing they've really talked about is Huber Farms," Miller said. "So I'm glad to be here right now and the staff's excited.

"Now that we've all got to see it first-hand, we're starting to understand what a special evening this is. From me, from our staff that made the trip down, the turnout is amazing and we appreciate it a great deal. We appreciate the welcome and, from the bottom of our hearts, we're excited to be in front of you right now."

Don Fischer, the legendary Voice of the Hoosiers who emceed the proceedings, said the crowd was the biggest he'd seen at such an event "in the 44 years I've been at Indiana."

It all started at Huber decades ago with Huber cousins, fishing and hunting buddies of the then-IU coach, hosting "A Night with Bob Knight." The establishment and the event have continued to grow.

After the IU bus pulled off Ind. 60 Wednesday onto Dow Knob Road, up the huge hill and then onto Rake Road, almost 600 acres of pristine farmland and orchard came into view, as did the luxuriously appointed buildings – and hundreds of crimson-clad people lined up standing in the sunlight to gain entry. Even though they had reserved seats.

They were all standing again when Allen finished his speech, a rouser that featured as one of its themes "believe, or leave."

"It's the first time, at this event, that the head football coach has got a standing ovation," IU assistant athletic director Mark Deal said. "People have been polite, but have never given a standing ovation."

Allen quickly established a connection with those in the room. "I'm a big relationship guy," he said. "I believe in the power of capturing the hearts of our players."

And also, apparently, those of fans.

"The opportunity for me to be the head coach at Indiana is a powerful thing," Allen said. "It means a lot. You will get everything I have.

"I love our university. I love our state. My family is all from here. My closest friends are here. I appreciate your support."

Allen didn't downplay the challenging nature of IU's 2017 football schedule, starting with the 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, opener with the Hoosiers hosting Ohio State for an ESPN telecast. Indiana's first six Big Ten games are: the Buckeyes, at Penn State, Michigan, at Michigan State, at Maryland, Wisconsin.

And Allen didn't ignore historical context either. He told about getting his new staff together and writing the numbers 50, 26 and 10 on the board: 50 years for IU football since it won the Big Ten, 26 years since a bowl win, 10 years since a winning season.

"We're going to do all three of those," Allen told his coaches, and by extension the Huber crowd. "If you don't believe, you can leave. Nothing personal. I'll help you get another job. I want a coaching staff that believes.

"We have a big challenge ahead of us. We have the biggest home-opener in Indiana football history on Aug. 31. A great challenge and opportunity all wrapped up into one."

Miller knows the sort of challenge he faces, too, with Indiana not having won a NCAA hoops title since 1987.

"I take great pride in being the head coach at Indiana," Miller told the Huber audience. "Every day I wake up, I understand what I'm representing, and it only gets better day by day – as I get to meet more people and get more acclimated on campus and get to talk in different pockets of the state and get to see not only the high school coaches and great fans but, just in general, what everyone knows as 'Hoosier Nation.'

"It becomes all the more awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, that it's bigger than just basketball. But we all know what we're here to do. And we take a great deal of pride in not only that, but assembling a group of people who can represent this room the right way."
Rick Weber, a 1983 IU grad in the audience, liked what he heard.

"I enjoyed both their speeches," Weber said of Miller and Allen. "No nonsense. To the point. Seems like they're based on a lot of integrity … it seemed more sincere. Not just saying the right things. I think they felt the right things."

Brian Brinkworth of Floyd Knobs, a graduate of IU-Southeast, concurred. "This is the best one yet," said the veteran of many Huber Farms IU events. "Great crowd and a lot of enthusiasm about the program.

"I get up to Bloomington for some of the football games and I like Coach Allen. Intense. I'm pumped. And Archie's a great hire."

Miller, unsure of past protocol, opened himself up for questions after concluding his prepared remarks. One of the questions shouted out to him (perhaps from the Bennetts) was this:

"Is it Miller Time?!"

Miller seemed a bit abashed, but grinned and replied:

"I don't know if it's Miller time. I think … it's our time. We have to do this together."

And he'll have plenty of willing adherents, to do so, from southern Indiana.

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