Cat Tales: Plump’s possible air double dribble
(This is excerpt #6 from the book currently being written by Greg Eckerle called “Cat Tales: Jasper Sports Stories.” Eckerle can be reached at gregeckerle@twc.com.)
The 1954 basketball state championship game that Jasper’s Cyril Birge officiated was viewed beforehand as a boring mismatch – tiny Milan versus big city Muncie Central. But the completely unexpected outcome, with Milan’s Bobby Plump holding the ball for an excruciating long time, then hitting a last-second shot to win, vaulted the game into all-time classic status. The stunner inspired the 1986 hit movie “Hoosiers,” which likely secured the game’s fame forever. Many publications have named “Hoosiers” the best-ever sports movie.
During the game, little did Cyril Birge know that his being a referee there would be mentioned in his 2008 obituary carried in newspapers across the country. He was more concerned about possibly calling an “air double-dribble” during Plump’s famous holding of the ball.
It was a little-known rule at the time that few fans, if any, knew about. An air dribble – tossing the ball from one hand to the other – was legal. But doing it again was a double-dribble, a violation. And if Plump had already dribbled on the floor before holding the ball, and then tossed the ball from one hand to the other, that first toss would be a double-dribble.
Jerry Birge told me in a 2019 interview that his dad swore he would have called an air double-dribble on Plump on that game-ending sequence if warranted. Jerry had his doubts. “Fifteen thousand people there, nobody knows that rule except dad and the other referee,” said Jerry. “The whole Butler Fieldhouse would have come down on him.” But Plump stayed within the rules, Cyril wasn’t tested, and future cinematic history was made possible.
Cyril said the game wasn’t easy to work, mainly because of the way Milan held the ball for long stretches. “You could get too relaxed,” he said. “Has he dribbled yet or not? Do you remember? Then he starts dribbling, now what?” An official also had to remember if a pivot foot had been established.
Cyril wrote in his autobiography, “I was under the basket as his (Plump’s) last-second “miracle” shot sailed through the net. The next time I saw Bobby Plump was in the fall of that same year, on the same Butler Fieldhouse floor. I was there to work a game for Butler University, and Bobby, a freshman, was there mopping the playing floor with a very large mop. We waved to each other. I worked several games for Butler those next four years, watching Bobby star for the Bulldogs. Since that time we have gotten to know each other very well at golf outings and Hall of Fame meetings. The last time I saw him I said, ‘Bobby, you ARE getting a little plump.’”
After the 1954 finals, Cyril received a letter from IHSAA Commissioner Phillips that read, “. . . I wish to express our sincere thanks for the very fine job you performed in officiating the Final Tourney. We agree with what appears to be the unanimous opinion of the public that our 1954 final basketball tourney was the greatest ever. Several records were broken, not the least of which is the fact that we have not heard or read a single complaint about the officiating . . . “
Cyril and Plump were headline attendees when a special 50th anniversary rematch between Milan and Muncie Central was held in 2004. Because of the nation-wide fame of Milan’s 32-30 upset victory in 1954, ESPN Classic nationally televised the 2004 anniversary game live. Cyril, 88 at the time, tossed the opening tipoff, and was interviewed on ESPN.
Cyril was also a hit at a pregame banquet commemorating the teams. His remarks merited the opening of the Indianapolis Star lead sports story about the event: “Fifty years have dimmed neither the luster nor 88-year-old Cyril Birge’s wit. . . . Birge said he didn’t want to be political, but he couldn’t resist a quick stab. He knew he was preaching to the choir. ‘If Goliath had killed David,’ Birge said, ‘there would have been nothing in the Bible about that story. And if there had been Indiana class basketball back in 1954, we wouldn’t be here today.’”
Indeed, Birge and Plump had appeared together across the state campaigning against Indiana’s move to class sports in 1998.
Cyril’s classic line about David and Goliath had been written for him by his son Jerry. “The crowd went wild over it,” said Jerry. And Cyril’s endearing demeanor won over the many attending media as well. Continued Jerry, “When dad finished, Plump told him, ‘My gosh, Cyril, I can’t follow an act like that.’ That was a real compliment, because Plump has given a million talks. Afterwards, there were three interview rooms for the media — for dad, Plump, and an ESPN announcer. The media crowded into dad’s room. Dad stole the show. Then at halftime of the game, here’s dad getting interviewed on ESPN. By then, he has enough ham in him, that he’s hamming it up a little bit.”
Jerry was understandably quite proud of his dad’s officiating of the Milan Miracle, and the long friendship between Cyril and Plump. Jerry often met people who brought up the Milan-Muncie game. He would mention that his dad refereed that game, and be met with immediate disbelief.
Plump said that “as far as officials go, Cyril Birge was as good as it gets.” Their bond grew so strong that Plump sent an email to Cyril when Cyril turned 90 in 2005 that kidded, “. . . my teammates and I have collected enough money for your final payment in helping us win in ’54!?!? Seriously – you are a true gentleman, a man of great integrity and honesty. I am a better person having known you as a friend.”
(The next “Cat Tales” excerpt will look at Cyril Birge’s connection to basketball icons John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Knight.)
