Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Roots: Proud Moments, Cherished Memories
2/25/2021 9:00:00 AM | History
Karen Sinn began attending Indiana University basketball games in the late 1940s, an era of greatness under legendary Hoosier Coach Branch McCracken.
At the time, McCracken's Hurryin' Hoosiers were playing in the old IU Fieldhouse, located in the heart of campus across the street from the IU Memorial Union. Prior to each Hoosier home game, Karen would settle into her seat on the stadium's wooden bleachers, nestled up alongside her mother to watch legendary figures such as Bill Garrett (after whom that same building is now named), Don Schlundt and Bobby Leonard during their Hoosier heydays.
While Sinn's childhood was filled with opportunities to see Hoosier greats, there's little doubt who Sinn was there to watch.
Her eyes were focuses first and foremost on her father.
Karen's father was Bert Laws, the legendary public address announcer for both IU Men's Basketball and Football, along with the Little 500 bicycle race. Laws first assumed the role in 1936, and held it until his retirement in 1977.
Laws didn't set out to be the voice of the Hoosiers for 40-plus years. He came to IU from Washington, Ind., in 1928 to study education, with plans to become a teacher following graduation. While working toward that undergraduate degree, he was also a part of the Physical Plant's staff, working evenings as a part-time campus electrician. After earning his degree in Education in 1933, he decided to abandon his teaching plans and instead accepted a full-time position as an IU electrician.
Three years later, in 1936, those job responsibilities landed him in the IU Fieldhouse, where he was entrusted with installing a new public address system. Then-IU Athletic Director Zora Clevenger struck up a conversation with Laws, who was a familiar face because Laws had lettered in track and field and earned freshman numerals in basketball as an IU undergrad. Clevenger said he thought Laws would be a good choice to sit behind the courtside microphone thanks to his deep, baritone voice as well as his in-depth knowledge of the system he'd just installed.
Laws seized the (unpaid) opportunity, and was a part of the IU gameday experience for four decades. He became the voice that Indiana Football and Basketball fans came to know and trust on gamedays, someone who called the action for IU Football's two greatest seasons (the 1945 unbeaten team and the 1967 Rose Bowl squad) as well as three national championship basketball seasons in 1940, 1953 and 1976.
While those teams' successes are great memories for Karen, it was the chance to see her father behind the microphone that always had her beaming.
"It was very neat to see him, and I was always very proud of him," Sinn said.
While Laws was becoming a household name to Hoosier fans thanks to his role with IU Athletics, his days were occupied by his role at the Physical Plant. He eventually went on to become the Superintendent of Maintenance and Operations for the Indiana University Bloomington campus, firmly planting his family's roots in Bloomington and ensuring his family's collective passion for IU sports.
That's especially true for Karen, who now lives in The Villages, Fla., with her husband, Lionel, a fellow Bloomingtonian. The pair first met at University H.S. in Bloomington and were married in 1963, a wedding that included Coach Branch McCracken among the attendees. The pair now proudly displays their IU flag from their Florida home and watch as many IU games as possible through the Big Ten Network and other national broadcasts. They have traveled to both Maui and Puerto Rico to cheer on the basketball team, and also attended a basketball contest in Bloomington in recent years when they returned to the Hoosier state for the holidays to visit with their three children and four grandchildren, who live in Evansville and Indianapolis.
"We've been Hoosier fans all of our lives," Karen said. "I have over 70 years love of Hoosier sports."
But Karen's love for IU sports isn't strictly about her dad's role, or even her Bloomington roots. She also has a close connection to the IU Basketball program and the sport of basketball in general because of her high school sweetheart turned husband of 57 years, Dr. Lionel Sinn.
Not only was Lionel a highly-successful high school and college basketball coach before his retirement in 1997, but he also served as a graduate assistant coach on Bob Knight's staff during the Hoosiers' 1972-73 Final Four season.
Before joining Knight's staff, Lionel had enjoyed strong runs as a high school head coach at Royerton, Delta, Cannelton and Attica high schools. He joined the IU staff in Knight's second year, a season that saw the Hoosiers win the Big Ten title and advance to the Final Four behind the play and leadership of Steve Downing.
Lionel, who earned his undergraduate, Master's and doctorate degrees from Indiana University, was particularly influenced by Knight's philosophies on the motion offense and man-to-man defense, and would go on to employ those same ideas when he left the IU staff following the season.
After wrapping up his coaching stint in Bloomington, Lionel went on to be a head coach for 21 years, coaching at four different institutions and at three different levels. He started at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tenn., where he spent six years before going to Division II Northwest Missouri State. There, he amassed a 164-91 record in nine seasons from 1979-88. Next up was a move to the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, where he went 64-50 from 1988-92. Among the highlights of his tenure there was a 78-66 upset win over Wisconsin in 1990, which was only the second win for USI over a D-I program.
His final coaching stop came at the D-III level, as Sinn spent two seasons at Central College in Pella, Iowa, before retiring from coaching in 1997.
At every stop, Karen was at Lionel's side helping in any way possible. She attended every high school game he coached - both home and away - and kept the team's shot chart. She was also in attendance for her husband's college home games and many of the road contests, and even attended a playoff game one day after giving birth to their son.
"I wanted to see the game in person," Karen said. "I've been a big part of basketball with him."
And IU sports has been a big part of their lives, whether they have been in Bloomington or anywhere else that their basketball journey has taken them. Karen has witnessed great moments at three different home basketball venues and in two different football stadiums, all while focusing a good amount of her attention on two men on the sidelines who have carved out their place in history for a university and in a sport that she continues to love deeply.
"We've been big IU fans all along," Karen said. "And that's never going to change."
At the time, McCracken's Hurryin' Hoosiers were playing in the old IU Fieldhouse, located in the heart of campus across the street from the IU Memorial Union. Prior to each Hoosier home game, Karen would settle into her seat on the stadium's wooden bleachers, nestled up alongside her mother to watch legendary figures such as Bill Garrett (after whom that same building is now named), Don Schlundt and Bobby Leonard during their Hoosier heydays.
While Sinn's childhood was filled with opportunities to see Hoosier greats, there's little doubt who Sinn was there to watch.
Her eyes were focuses first and foremost on her father.
Karen's father was Bert Laws, the legendary public address announcer for both IU Men's Basketball and Football, along with the Little 500 bicycle race. Laws first assumed the role in 1936, and held it until his retirement in 1977.
Laws didn't set out to be the voice of the Hoosiers for 40-plus years. He came to IU from Washington, Ind., in 1928 to study education, with plans to become a teacher following graduation. While working toward that undergraduate degree, he was also a part of the Physical Plant's staff, working evenings as a part-time campus electrician. After earning his degree in Education in 1933, he decided to abandon his teaching plans and instead accepted a full-time position as an IU electrician.
Three years later, in 1936, those job responsibilities landed him in the IU Fieldhouse, where he was entrusted with installing a new public address system. Then-IU Athletic Director Zora Clevenger struck up a conversation with Laws, who was a familiar face because Laws had lettered in track and field and earned freshman numerals in basketball as an IU undergrad. Clevenger said he thought Laws would be a good choice to sit behind the courtside microphone thanks to his deep, baritone voice as well as his in-depth knowledge of the system he'd just installed.
Laws seized the (unpaid) opportunity, and was a part of the IU gameday experience for four decades. He became the voice that Indiana Football and Basketball fans came to know and trust on gamedays, someone who called the action for IU Football's two greatest seasons (the 1945 unbeaten team and the 1967 Rose Bowl squad) as well as three national championship basketball seasons in 1940, 1953 and 1976.
While those teams' successes are great memories for Karen, it was the chance to see her father behind the microphone that always had her beaming.
"It was very neat to see him, and I was always very proud of him," Sinn said.
While Laws was becoming a household name to Hoosier fans thanks to his role with IU Athletics, his days were occupied by his role at the Physical Plant. He eventually went on to become the Superintendent of Maintenance and Operations for the Indiana University Bloomington campus, firmly planting his family's roots in Bloomington and ensuring his family's collective passion for IU sports.
That's especially true for Karen, who now lives in The Villages, Fla., with her husband, Lionel, a fellow Bloomingtonian. The pair first met at University H.S. in Bloomington and were married in 1963, a wedding that included Coach Branch McCracken among the attendees. The pair now proudly displays their IU flag from their Florida home and watch as many IU games as possible through the Big Ten Network and other national broadcasts. They have traveled to both Maui and Puerto Rico to cheer on the basketball team, and also attended a basketball contest in Bloomington in recent years when they returned to the Hoosier state for the holidays to visit with their three children and four grandchildren, who live in Evansville and Indianapolis.
"We've been Hoosier fans all of our lives," Karen said. "I have over 70 years love of Hoosier sports."
But Karen's love for IU sports isn't strictly about her dad's role, or even her Bloomington roots. She also has a close connection to the IU Basketball program and the sport of basketball in general because of her high school sweetheart turned husband of 57 years, Dr. Lionel Sinn.
Not only was Lionel a highly-successful high school and college basketball coach before his retirement in 1997, but he also served as a graduate assistant coach on Bob Knight's staff during the Hoosiers' 1972-73 Final Four season.
Before joining Knight's staff, Lionel had enjoyed strong runs as a high school head coach at Royerton, Delta, Cannelton and Attica high schools. He joined the IU staff in Knight's second year, a season that saw the Hoosiers win the Big Ten title and advance to the Final Four behind the play and leadership of Steve Downing.
Lionel, who earned his undergraduate, Master's and doctorate degrees from Indiana University, was particularly influenced by Knight's philosophies on the motion offense and man-to-man defense, and would go on to employ those same ideas when he left the IU staff following the season.
After wrapping up his coaching stint in Bloomington, Lionel went on to be a head coach for 21 years, coaching at four different institutions and at three different levels. He started at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tenn., where he spent six years before going to Division II Northwest Missouri State. There, he amassed a 164-91 record in nine seasons from 1979-88. Next up was a move to the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, where he went 64-50 from 1988-92. Among the highlights of his tenure there was a 78-66 upset win over Wisconsin in 1990, which was only the second win for USI over a D-I program.
His final coaching stop came at the D-III level, as Sinn spent two seasons at Central College in Pella, Iowa, before retiring from coaching in 1997.
At every stop, Karen was at Lionel's side helping in any way possible. She attended every high school game he coached - both home and away - and kept the team's shot chart. She was also in attendance for her husband's college home games and many of the road contests, and even attended a playoff game one day after giving birth to their son.
"I wanted to see the game in person," Karen said. "I've been a big part of basketball with him."
And IU sports has been a big part of their lives, whether they have been in Bloomington or anywhere else that their basketball journey has taken them. Karen has witnessed great moments at three different home basketball venues and in two different football stadiums, all while focusing a good amount of her attention on two men on the sidelines who have carved out their place in history for a university and in a sport that she continues to love deeply.
"We've been big IU fans all along," Karen said. "And that's never going to change."
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