Hoosiers remains the best sports movie of all time-but finally noticing Tom Carnegie’s booming voice made it all the better

Last night for no special reason at all, I watched the best movie of all time: Hoosiers.

Based on a true story, the movie encompasses all that is good with Indiana basketball and the parody that is possible. A small team that had little previous success overcame adversity to knock off the ‘big dog’ in the state championship game.

Now I’ve probably watched the movie over 30 times, and each time I am fascinated with something new.

This time, it was legendary broadcaster Tom Carnegie. Most people, including myself, know TC mostly because of his long stint as public address announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Carnegie died just over three months ago, on February 11, 2011.

In addition to his duties at the Speedway, Carnegie worked at channel 6-WRTV, and called many high school basketball games. I had never really paid attention to the broadcaster in the movie but right away during the championship game, I said, “that’s Tom Carnegie!”

This truly resonated with me because it is the great Month of May and all the festivities going on at the track. There is now a broadcasting booth in TC’s name, paying homage to the great work he did for numerous decades. Every driver was required to have a commemorative sticker on their car before going through tech inspection. And during qualifying, all the previous winners heard his famous phrase, “and he’s on it,” as they began their four laps.

There’s no question in my mind that Hoosiers is the best sports movie of all time. Watching it last night, for yet another time, I found something new—something that added to already my favorite movie.

Race day will be special on Sunday, but it won’t be the same without Tom Carnegie’s voice booming throughout the Speedway.