By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com
August 12, 2026
Years ago, when the classic movie “Hoosiers” came out, it had a fabulous promotional poster.
Underneath the film’s title was a picture of a basketball on a gym floor and, below that, the words, “Basketball … it makes them crazy.”
That was true then.
And it’s true now.
If we Hoosiers have a civic religion, it is basketball—and, yes, it can make us crazy.
Unfortunately, it also makes some of our elected officials stupid.
Or even more stupid than they already are.
The latest example is Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith.
After the Indiana Fever won a hard-fought game over the Chicago Sky, Beckwith—who, like his fellow MAGA mental giant Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, believes that not knowing what he’s talking about never should impede his ability to flap his yap—posted on social media that the Fever’s coach, Stephanie White, should be fired.
The reason?
In a postgame press conference, White initially said she didn’t think a hard foul committed on Fever player Sophie Cunningham by a Chicago player was a dirty play.
White later revised her opinion after she had viewed replays of the incident, for which the Chicago player was fined $1,000 by the league after the game. Cunningham and Fever star Caitlin Clark publicly supported their coach—and asserted that, contrary to Beckwith’s half-fast post, White supports her players.
There are two ways we could look at this.
The first would be to question why Beckwith felt compelled to comment on a matter that has absolutely nothing to do with being lieutenant governor.
But the answer to that question is obvious. Like his fellow Donald Trump wannabe Rokita, Beckwith believes he was elected to be an all-purpose busybody, not a public official with specific and limited duties.
For that reason, they both spend more time running around starting pointless fights than they do meeting the responsibilities of their jobs.
Sadly, though, Beckwith’s outburst isn’t the first time basketball has encouraged an Indiana elected official to go more than a little nutty.
A couple of decades ago, there were members of the Indiana General Assembly who wanted to launch a full-scale legislative investigation into the refereeing of an Indiana University men’s basketball game.
The lawmakers were incensed that IU’s opponents took many more foul shots than the Hoosiers did.
Their outrage, like Beckwith’s, demonstrated how little they understood the game.
The legislators back then couldn’t process that the Hoosiers’ opponents got to the line more often than Indiana did because they spent the entire game driving and attacking the rim while IU settled for jump shots from outside.
Referees tend to favor the team that forces the action.
Similarly, the lieutenant governor doesn’t seem to grasp that basketball players are taught, if they’re going to foul someone on a breakaway layup, to make the foul count by hitting the shooter hard. The goal is to prevent the layup and force the offensive player to make two free throws 15 feet from the basket rather than one shot less than a foot from the rim. The last thing the defender wants to do is let the shooter score the bucket and get the free throw, too.
That’s why fouls on fast breaks often look like something one would see at a pro wrestling match.
Was the Chicago defender’s foul over the line?
Yeah, probably.
But I’ve seen a lot dirtier plays in my time—and, in the long distant days when I played basketball, I both gave and received a lot harder fouls in similar situations.
That was just part of the game.
It was understood that, if you didn’t want to take an elbow every now and then or hit the hardwood upon occasion, you should stay off the court.
Beckwith has trouble accepting such realities.
Cunningham has developed a well-earned reputation as the Fever’s enforcer—the player who dishes out hard fouls in defense of the team’s stars and in retaliation for cheap shots inflicted on them.
She didn’t whine about basketball being a rough game.
But our lieutenant governor did.
That’s because Micah Beckwith loves administering hard shots but can’t stand taking them.
Stephanie White and the Fever players know how to deal with opposing teams who want to play rough. They don’t need Beckwith’s help with that.
Because basketball apparently doesn’t just make him crazy.
It also makes him stupid.
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College. Also, the views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
