GAME DAY!: SOUTHEAST FANS IN AREA PREPARED FOR 'DANCE'

Southeast Missouri State University admissions counselor Chris Seyer plans to be glued to the television today watching his beloved Indians play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Seyer plans to watch at least part of the game on a big-screen TV at the Show Me Center. The Indians play LSU in the first-round of the West Regional at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Seyer would prefer to watch the game in the privacy of his own home. "My ultimate option would be to be at home by myself where I can scream and yell and throw things at the TV," he said.

But Seyer, like other Southeast staff, will be at work today because the university isn't closing its offices for the occasion.

"We are asking that offices be staffed," said Diane Sides, interim director of university relations.

But some university employees are expected to congregate at the Show Me Center to view the game. Whether employees get to go to the Show Me Center is being left to the discretion of supervisory personnel in the various offices.

University employees aren't the only ones who can watch the game on the Show Me Center screen: Southeast is opening the doors to all fans.

The game will be shown on a big-screen TV in the Show Me Center meeting rooms area. Partitions between the three meeting rooms will be removed to make one large room from which to view the game, Sides said.

Doors open at 1:30 p.m. The game, which is being televised on KFVS Channel 12, is expected to start around 2:10 p.m.

The celebration is free as are the popcorn and pretzels. The Southeast Bookstore will sell T-shirts celebrating the school's NCAA Tournament appearance.

Sides said she doesn't know how many people will attend the celebration. If it gets too crowded, the party is expected to spill out into the Show Me Center corridors where the game could be viewed on TV monitors.

The university plans to have big congratulations cards at the celebration for fans to write messages to the team and coach Gary Garner. The card will be presented to Garner upon the team's return.

Sides said the university decided to host the celebration because few Southeast fans could afford the time and money to travel to Salt Lake City for the first-round game.

The Show Me Center celebration, she said, will allow the school's fans "to come together and share in the enthusiasm and excitement of March Madness."

Televisions and radios in many university offices and area businesses are expected to be tuned to the university's first-ever venture into March Madness.

Employees at the university, City Hall, Cape Girardeau's two hospitals and many businesses are being encouraged to dress in red and black, Southeast's team colors.

Two Catholic schools in Cape Girardeau are suspending their dress codes for the day so students can wear Southeast colors. St. Vincent de Paul Grade School did so at the request of the eighth- grade boys. "Students are going to be allowed out of uniform so they can wear red and back or anything with SEMO on it, said principal Nancy Heberlie.

The boys not only made the request, they typed up a note that the school sent home to parents. The note included a Southeast logo that the boys got off the Internet, Heberlie said.

Heberlie said the television in her office will be tuned to the game. Some of the teachers plan to allow their students to watch the game.

Heberlie isn't surprised with the enthusiasm for Southeast's team. "Most of our teachers here are graduates of SEMO. We have parents who are employees of SEMO," she said.

Notre Dame High School will allow its students to wear Southeast colors. Students even can wear jeans today as long as they are dressed in red and black or Southeast shirts.

Southeast's Seyer has his own dress code when it comes to the NCAA's Big Dance. Seyer, who religiously attends Southeast's home basketball games and some of the away games, plans to wear his lucky shirt.

The shirt, embroidered with the Southeast logo, was a Christmas present from his wife.

"I wore it to Murray State and we won. It instantly became my lucky shirt," he said Wednesday.

Seyer wore it to Nashville, Tenn., where he saw Southeast win the Ohio Valley Conference post-season tournament.

"My problem is I am not in Utah, so we may not win," said Seyer, who will leave his red and black face paint at home.

Seyer wore red and black face paint to Southeast's home game against Murray State. Southeast lost that game, prompting Seyer to abandon the face paint routine.

As an admissions counselor, Seyer regularly visits high schools in Southern Illinois. He said he has heard nothing but praise over the team's success during college-night events and visits to the schools.

"It has been a blast," said Seyer, who has worked as an admissions counselor for 10 years.

"I have been through the good, the bad and the ugly," he said of Southeast's basketball program. "The good is a whole lot better."

Jay Goff, admissions director at Southeast, plans to watch the game on the Show Me Center screen. "Everyone is just so excited for the team," he said.

There are few students on campus this week because of spring break. Still, Goff said he expects some students in the area will congregate at the Show Me Center to watch the game.

Students on spring break have called the admissions office to ask when the game will air. "We know there are groups getting together in St. Louis and different parts of the state," he said.

Some Southeast students on spring break in Florida and Texas also plan to watch the game, Goff said.