Madison-Grant Argylls

I found a couple of pictures of my old high school gym on Flickr. Now, keep in mind that I graduated with about 70 others in my class. The first picture is probably a varsity game. Note the radio broadcast going on just above the scorer's table. Varsity games are also televised, believe it or not. The second picture is most likely a junior varsity game because that photo is of the home bleachers and the student section (far right) is mostly empty.



My fondest Argyll memories are still of the 1987-88 season when Pete Selby, Mark Rosenthal, and Rick Martin led the way as MG beat the mighty Marion Giants in the sectional round of the state tournament, a school more than ten times our size and the winningest team (and coach, Bill Green) in Indiana basketball history. I was 10 years old and I was sitting in the bleachers with my dad, my friend Matt, and his dad Jerry at the gigantic Bill Green athletic arena. I remember that I had cotton candy that night and I literally cried when our team won that game. The school made t-shirts with this puffy basketball in the center and that was my favorite shirt until I grew out of it.

It was a big deal for a small school like ours to beat Marion in the Sectional. Madison-Grant has won the sectional title three times ('73, '88, and '96 - my senior year) while Marion has won 61 times. Now you might be able to see why the movie Hoosiers, based on a true story, is so amazing. The sectional is the first round of the state tournament. Madison-Grant has never won the second round, the Regional.

High school sports is just not the same here in Philly. It should tell you something that I can still remember the names of high school basketball players from 1988. They were the closest things to heros that we had.

FYI, our school was named after the two counties where the student body comes from, Madison and Grant. Madison Grant the famous eugenicist had nothing to do with us, although he would probably find a sympathetic ear or two among the crowd at an MG game...

More FYI, there is a movie being made about Marion Giants basketball called Home of the Giants starring Haley Joel Osment.