The Blue Jeans Center - Sectional Basketball

Looking back at my memories of attending school in Monroe City, I decided that one of my favorite memories was the basketball sectional each February. As a new kid in town, and a sixth grader, I was completely enamored with the sectional. I couldn’t believe that sixth graders could almost be considered part of the high school when it came to attending pep sessions and sitting in the cheer block at games. The games started mid-week and culminated with the championship game on Saturday night. I remember being shocked that schools were dismissed so the games could be played. Whether the Monroe City Blue Jeans played or not, we went to the games and cheered. On Friday we went to Adams Coliseum instead of school. What a treat! When I entered the gym with my family, we stopped to buy streamers to wave during the game. My dad bought blue and white ones for my brother and me. I asked for red and white instead. Then he told me if I waved a stick with red and white paper streamers on it, everyone would think I was from Decker Chapel. So I decided to stick with the blue and white one. The gym was divided into sections for Monroe City, Fritchton, Wheatland, Bruceville, Oaktown, Freelandville, Decker, Decker Chapel, Central Catholic, Sandborn, Edwardsport, and Vincennes. I quickly found the MCHS block and squeezed in beside my friends. It didn’t matter who was playing, we always cheered for any school playing Vincennes. It wasn’t just because they usually won, or because they were the biggest school and made the most noise, but because they were always allowed into the gym first, and got all the chair seats. And we all thought the referees seemed to like them best. As the cheers went on, Vincennes fans always tried to make us feel small by poking fun at our country ways. What they didn’t realize was that our smallness and our farming community were what we were the most proud of. That was where our strength lay. We were so proud of our team and our little school; we wouldn’t have traded them places for anything. The air rang with excitement as the teams played. The gym vibrated with cheers, ahhh’s for spectacular shots, and occasional boo’s, although we were coached in good sportsmanship by our teachers and our parents. Probably the biggest thrill to me was being able to go uptown with friends after the Saturday afternoon game. Such freedom and independence was new to me. We walked up and down Main Street, seeing kids from other county schools in groups. Sometimes we went to a matinee at the New Moon theater. For supper we usually ended up at the Greek Brothers restaurant where we ate their famous conies and French fries. Then we made our way back to the gym for the championship game. We checked in with our parents (who were probably glad to have been rid of us for the afternoon) and then assembled back in our cheer block to cheer for the Blue Jeans or whoever was playing Vincennes. What excitement! Old timers still say that it almost always snowed during sectional week.