IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE SHOOTOUT

I'm not used to being in the basketball-game-organizing business -- I prefer tapping ideas and analysis out on a keyboard. But for the past three years at about this time I've joined alongside a dedicated group of volunteers in organizing the Southeast Missourian Indian Alumni Shootout, a basketball game that benefits the Cape Girardeau Civic Center.

Let me tell you: organizing such an event can be a headache. There are all sorts of little things that have to be done -- as well as big things.

In this case, they're all worth it.

The event is full of Showtime, Fun and Excitement -- with Coach Ron Shumate and some of the best of the Basketball Indian Alumni! The game boasts non-stop action! And features the area's most dynamic dunk shot and 3-point shooting contests -- as well as refs you love to boo and cheer!

It's also for a good cause: the Cape Girardeau Civic Center.

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Outside of black churches, the Civic Center is one of the strongest minority institutions in the Cape Girardeau area. It provides needed services of counseling, positive mentorship, a safe and drug-free environment, job training, self-esteem courses, friendship, love, discipline and fun for children who don't always find it where they live or play outside of the Center.

In teaching a course there a year ago, I heard first-hand about many of the obstacles these kids face. To their credit, they are struggling to reach their potential, to achieve and make their dreams come true. They want to do it on their own -- but everybody needs a little help.

After all, it isn't easy -- not for them, not for ANY young person -- in today's world.

I'd like to share with you a poem one 13-year old wrote for me:

I talk white

I can't help that

I talk black

When I talk smack

I fight mix with knives -- and stick

I am black, blacker than my skirt

At home, and at school I'm treated like dirt

But if you don't like my says and phrases

That's alright, cause I like my own ways

This young woman is going to make it. She's bright, and she knows how to depend on herself. Thanks to the Center, she has a place where she can go and be appreciated for who she is.

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The Alumni Shootout is a benefit game. All the money raised from the event goes to Civic Center building needs and programming.

Already, even after expenses, we've raised over $4,000 thanks to the many sponsors and patrons, including: Saint Francis Medical Center, C.P. McGinty Jewelers, River Eagle, Boatmen's Bank, Lowe's, Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, Service Master Food Management, 960 KZIM and FM 103, KBSI Fox 23, and Drury Lodge.

All this support is necessary. We're ahead of last year's event, but we're behind everywhere else.

This year, because another community group which used to lease space in its building moved out, the Civic Center faces some dire financial challenges. If close to $11,000 is not raised in the next couple of months -- and the Shootout is the biggest fundraising event throughout the year -- the Civic Center Board of Directors will have to look at cutting back on staffing. Since there's only two people on the payroll at the Center and one of them is part-time, that doesn't leave much room to cut.

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Of course, the other major reason the Shootout is worth all the organizing strain and stress is that it features the basketball alumni of Southeast Missouri State. These gentlemen, who have entertained us many times in the past, put on a show that is never short of thrills.

The game means much to these men -- or they wouldn't be here.

Whether it's Eddie Hart driving all night from Washington, D.C., Lew Brookins from Detroit, Michigan, or Anthony Venson from Atlanta, Georgia, these alumni are coming across state and country on their own money and their own time. Their rewards: a day with friends, a free night's rest, and the good-feeling of knowing they've given something back.

Won't you join us tonight? To cheer on these friends of Cape? The game tips off at 7:30.