'Beast from East' wins student contest

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to issue a friendly challenge to the New Albany and Union County schools to see who has the most school spirit. After two weeks and great competition, I’m pleased to announce the winning school in the inaugural Gazette Student Section Challenge.
Congratulations to East Union’s “Beast from East.”
Now I will say that this was a very tough decision, and after the first night of the competition, I was a little fearful that I would not be able to come up with one winner, but what EU did on its night of judging was nothing short of awesome.
I’ll start with the Ingomar/NA game. Both schools had a tremendous turnout, as Ingomar packed two sections with students, made several signs and successfully executed its “blue out” theme. The students were loud, respectful and looked like they had a great time.
The FRA also successfully executed its “classy” theme, and I want to note the turnout from this section, as they had a huge crowd, for an away game. That speaks volumes for the FRA, but unfortunately, I had to disqualify this group for one inappropriate chant before the start of the boys’ game. I respect the FRA, and you guys are truly a pleasure to watch, but I did have rules in place, and I hate that your night had to end in disqualification.
 I actually had a bet going with some people as to how long it would take the FRA to get disqualified, and I was being generous, giving them one quarter. If you chose the under, congratulations.
And I say this, knowing that in the eyes of the FRA, disqualification is a win.
So with the competition coming down to Ingomar, East Union, West Union and Myrtle, the Beast from East was the runaway winner, going above and beyond what I expected.
This was more than just hanging signs and the students cheering during both the boys’ and girls’ games, the Beast from East put on a show. All night.
First off, there were signs everywhere. I was told 24 total were made and hung throughout the gym. Going along with its name, parts of the gym and the hallway to the concession stands were decorated to create the effect of walking through a jungle, and the “beast” and several hunters were active throughout both games, getting not only the students, but all fans involved.
I was so engulfed by what the students were doing, that I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened in either game. They were that good.
Congratulations to the Beast from East on a job well done. You guys hold bragging rights until next year, and I think it’s safe to say, you have set the standard for the other schools.
Because of the great turnout for this competition, I will put pictures of every school in the Dec. 28 issue, but as the winner, East Union will have its own picture page, a feature and a video that will be posted on the Gazette website.
I had way too much fun with the competition, and again I thank everyone who participated for their hard work!

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