If the coach had been dismissed, would he have lost his job as Social Studies teacher, also? And who would have been the new coach 10 games into the season? Since Barbara Hersey was acting principal, she would have had the responsibility for that hire.
shareHe probably would have kept his teaching job. The townspeople mainly seemed concerned with his abilities as a coach, not as a teacher.
As to who would have taken over as coach, that's a good question. No one in Hickory really seems qualified.
One mistake the movie makes is in having Cletus, the principal, hire Norman. In that era, teachers were hired by the township trustee.
Another interesting point is that many people incorrectly refer to Myra Fleener as "assistant principal," because she takes over for Cletus when he falls ill. But in the movie (as stated in the original post above) she is actually "acting principal." Small schools in the '50s (and maybe even still today) didn't need an assistant principal. Small-school principals didn't have enough duties to keep them busy full time, so they also taught classes. Also, at the smallest schools, all the teachers taught more than one subject.
He probably would have been fired as a teacher too -- no teachers unions in 1952. They would have told him to pack up his bags and get out.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
the real question: would he have to give back his cool leather jacket?
Season's Greetings
One thing that did not make a lot of sense to me was that the students sure seemed to have a lot of freedom of where (and if) they wanted to go to school.
Jimmy seems to be a free agent of sorts, able to come and go at will.
Whit and Buddy mention going to another high school to play-- and presumably, to attend school as well.
It's also mentioned that Jimmy might decide to go play for another school.
I did not think it was that easy in that era to just pick and choose what school you were going to go to-- at the high school level.
AE36
Terhune was the school mentioned they were afraid of losing Jimmy to and the school Buddy mentioned. I doubt Whit could have made that team as he had absolutely no basketball skill and was never shown in a basketball scene where he did anything positive. My guess is if Terhune offered some course of study that Hickory didn't, the student could attend there for that reason. Terhune was the team in the Sectional Finals where the brawl broke out.
shareSome kids lived on or near the boundary line between two townships. If they did, they, or more likely their parents, could choose which school to attend.
shareIf the coach had been dismissed, would he have lost his job as Social Studies teacher, also?