EVANSVILLE, INDIANA, IS one of America's biggest small towns, sitting on a bend in the Ohio River with a population of around 120,000. Its residents are a proud people.
They're proud of their town's resilience during the Ohio River flood of 1937 that covered 500 city blocks. They're proud of the city's role in World War II as a major manufacturing hub for aircraft and naval vessels.
They're proud of their five-time College Division national champion University of Evansville men's basketball team, and the program's perseverance after a plane crash took the lives of the entire 1977 team.