Fan Speak 1/14/07

Salute for the salute

WAY TO go, Capaha Bank. Thanks for the great sign at your branch on the corner of Broadway and Kingshighway acknowledging the accomplishments of the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team. Plus, you also noted the fact that the men had won on their recent road trip to Murray State, where the men and the women both accomplished a great feat in winning. Thanks for your community support and showing your support of Redhawks' athletics.

Lack of atmosphere

ANOTHER BASKETBALL season is upon us, and the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team -- even though it has a great young team and a new coach -- can't begin to fill the Show Me Center. Students rarely show up, and the boosters are dwindling. The band, when it's there, still is small and playing the same music. Doesn't the university realize that regardless of what it teaches and how pretty the scenery is, the one thing that will attract new students is its athletics program? This is a proven fact. Where's the college atmosphere?

Strange headline

THE HEADLINE for the for the Florida victory over Ohio State in Tuesday's edition shouted "Crikey!" Pretty strange. Was that supposed to be clever? Funny? Some sort of morbid tribute? Bad.

(There was no intention for morbid humor at the expense of the late Steve Irwin. Crikey is an exclamation of surprise, which the result of the game was. However, it is an Australian term and often associated with Irwin, who was known as the "Crocodile Hunter." Crocodiles are native to Australia, but they are not the same as alligators, which are native to the southeastern United States and eastern China. Both are crocodilian species, but we agree that probably not many Gators fans said "Crikey!" after Monday's 41-14 victory.)