Regular readers of the Weekly View are familiar with Alan Hunter’s work. The hard-working columnist of “Bumps in the Night” (and the author of more than a few local history tomes) tackles historic subjects from Abraham Lincoln and Nixon, to Puckwudgies, pop culture icons, rock stars, and sports figures. Last year, he wrote a two part series “Whatever Happened to John Brisker?” about the infamous ABA player who mysteriously vanished. (To read the articles online, visit weeklyview.net/2016/01/28/whatever-happened-to-john-brisker-part-1/ and Part 2 the following week.) Earlier this year, he was contacted by a documentary producer for the series “Beyond the Paint” on NBA-TV, a premium cable and satellite channel devoted to American basketball. The series delves into many basketball subjects, including its history.
“I was pretty surprised. He had done a Google search on Brisker, and my article in the Weekly View came up,” Al said. “There aren’t a lot of people writing about him, so my story came to the top.”
Producer John O’Connor arranged to meet Al, who reached out to the Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds, which was home to the upstart ABA Pacers, for the filming. They were generous enough to open the building up for them for hours, despite the fact professional basketball hasn’t been played in the space for many years. Still, the ambiance contributed to the story as well as they chatted for a couple of hours. “I think they wanted the fan’s perspective on Brisker,” Al stated. “I also brought along Bob Netolicky, who is much better interview than I am.” Netolicky is a retired ABA Pacers player who had a stunning career of his own.
The resulting interviews and filming will be featured in an episode of “Beyond the Paint” on NBA TV (Channel 418 on Spectrum) April 14 at 10 p.m. There will almost certainly be reruns of the documentary, in case you miss the debut.
Al said that his interest in Brisker goes back many years, when he was a child and fan of the ABA Pacers. “My parents would drop me off for games at the Coliseum, and I would hang out at the player’s entrance. I met them all. Brisker was very nice to the kids, and to me . . . very different from the reputation he had on the court.” When Al worked on the ABA reunion, they tried to track down John Brisker. “We investigated, and couldn’t find him. His family didn’t know where he was, no one knew. I guess his family contacted the FBI and CIA, but they couldn’t find him either.” Rumors have swirled around Brisker’s disappearance, with some saying he died in Uganda, with others convinced he’s still alive and hiding in plain sight. “No one has ever found a body, no one knows.”
Al also marveled at how far his Weekly View stories travel beyond the Greater Indianapolis area, noting that he gets responses to articles from all over the U.S. (and even beyond). Al said that he wore his “Weekly View” jacket on camera. “I made sure they could see the logo, for sure,” he laughed.
