Goofs

Coach takes Rade out of the first game for not following his 4 passes rule. In the next shot, Rade is playing.

During the regional game against Linton, Hickory is down 33-37 at a timeout. Moments later, the score is 42-48 for Linton, then 31-36 for Linton.

In the final game, with the score 16-8, Jimmy scores a basket, making the score 16-10, and the scoreboard displays 6:39 left in the 2nd half. When Jimmy scores again shortly after, the scoreboard reads 0:35 left in the first half with a score of 16-4.

When Shooter's son visits him in the hospital the clock on the wall reads 9:50. After the conversation that lasts a few minutes, the clock still reads 9:50 at the end of the scene.

When Shooter takes over as coach for the second time, Jimmy (#15) intercepts a pass in the corner late in the game. In the next shot, Buddy (#14) is in the same spot, holding the ball and saying, "Time out, Ref."

The game sequences show the scoreboard in every gym including the names of the two participating schools. In fact, most scoreboards in high school gyms during that era would have their school's name (or nickname) identified on the right side, whereas the team on the left would be identified simply as "visitor".

From the very first scene when Coach Dale and Cletus tour the Hickory gym while Jimmy practices shooting, and continued through the entire movie during all the home games, correct protocol for the US flag hanging on the Hickory gym wall is that the blue field be placed to upper left; it was placed with the blue field to the right.

The highway that Coach Dale is driving on at the beginning of the movie, as well as a few country roads, have white lines painted on the sides of the road. White lines were not added to roads until the beginning of 1963.

When the team bus arrives at Butler Fieldhouse, it is shown decorated with long crepe-paper streamers. But when the bus was driven at highway speeds heading toward the Fieldhouse, these streamers would have been ripped to shreds within minutes.

High school basketball season runs from November through March, including playoffs. Several outside scenes include trees sprouting fresh green leaves.

After the tournament starts, Coach Dale and Myra go for a walk in the woods. It's March, but fall harvest corn appears in the background. That's correct for the time period; the corn has been picked, but the corn stalks aren't mashed to ground the way modern harvesters leave them.

The flag used in the final game may appear to be hanging backward, as the blue field is seen to be on the right. This, however, is due only to the camera angle, as all the fans sitting in the seats behind the basket see the blue canton (or "union") on their left. When a flag is hanging such that it can be viewed from both sides (e.g., over a street or above a sporting venue), the union should be toward the north or east.

When Shooter's son stays after class to talk with the coach about his father, the map on the board, marked 'United States', shows Hawaii. Hawaii was annexed on July 7, 1898 and became a state in 1959.

Early in the film, when Coach Dale dismisses two players, it is said that Hickory high school has 64 boys. Later, during the state final radio broadcast, the announcer says that total enrollment for Hickory is 64. In Indiana high school boys basketball, enrollment is based on the number of students eligible to play, so 64 boys and 64 students would be correct.

During the final, championship game the camera cuts to the opposing team's coaches a couple of times. They are both sitting, one looking amused and the other slouching while looking completely bored. Odd, considering the fact that their team is playing for the state championship.

The scoreboard at the final game is more electronic than the mechanical clocks and numerical flip-cards used in the 1950s.

In the basketball scenes at the State Finals, the backboards have padded edges. Backboard padding wasn't added until years after the movie setting.

At the pep rally, the sousaphone player uses a Conn brand mouthpiece, first designed in the 1970s.

Butler Fieldhouse did not have multicolored seats in 1952.

In the Hickory Gym, the line where the modern free throw lane was removed is clearly visible.

During the regional game of the tournament, Ollie loses the ball while dribbling. A few seconds later, as the players run downcourt, a camera on a scissor lift, a light, and crew members can be seen briefly on the left edge of the frame.

During his first meeting at the school, Coach Dale is standing in front of a European map showing Germany as a single country. In the 1950s, all maps of Europe clearly indicated East and West Germany as separate countries. This was in fact still the case in 1986 when the film was produced; however some maps by this time had East and West Germany shown together using the same country color.

Leading into the final game, there is much discussion about the tremendous size advantage of Hickory's opponent. Then they play the game and the Hickory players are as big as or bigger than the opponent's players.

In the locker room prior to the start of the state championship game, the coach is seen writing on the chalk board. At the top of the board he has clearly misspelled the word "penetration" as "penetraetion".

(at around 1h 35 mins) When the four boys finish singing the national anthem, a woman to their right on the lower level begins waving while everyone else is still.

During the vote to keep or get rid of the coach, they take a revote. They ask those who want to keep the coach, then who's opposed. An old man mouths something, which is assumed "NAY". But he appears happy when the coach stays.