Fan Speak Jan15

The Racers' example

I FOLLOWED the Southeast Missouri State basketball teams to Murray State on Jan. 7 and was treated to two good college basketball games. I happened to notice a couple of things at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray. First, the atmosphere in general was much better than what it always is at the Show Me Center, regardless of the crowd size. The crowd was listed around 3,000, but they made much more noise than 7,000 fans at the Show Me Center. Maybe the Murray State fans are just that more passionate about their teams. The other thing that stood out was all of the young people at the games. When I come to a Redhawks game, it seems like it's Senior Citizens Night every night. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see people in general attend the games, but at Murray, the youths prevailed. At the end of the night in Murray, several kids took to the court for a free shoot-around as if it were an open gym. I'll bet they had close to 100 kids ages 10 and under on the court. And most of those kids had Murray State gear on. Maybe the Southeast sports marketing department should take notice and at least attempt to make some changes. I realize winning would help, but true fans should support the teams win or lose.

Extend B.J.'s contract

I THINK it would be absolutely hypocritical for Southeast Missouri State to not extend the contract of women's basketball coach B.J. Smith when they have taken a blind eye to the job performance over the past five years of men's basketball coach Gary Garner. How can you allow the men's program to tread water in mediocrity and then dismiss the women's coach who is winning and trying to build a stable program? Maybe some Southeast officials are tired of B.J. Smith making Garner look bad? I didn't know you could get fired for winning? You can get fired for losing, as long as your name isn't Gary Garner. Just ask Tim Billings.

Supporting J-Crue

I BELIEVE Jackson High School has gone too far with their strict rules and regulations for the student cheering section to follow. Just let the kids have a fun senior year.

Birds on the bat

I DOUBT this gets printed, but I cannot believe that Bruce Sutter, the all-time saves leader in Cardinals history, gets in the Hall of Fame and you've got him on the front page of the Sports section in a Braves' outfit. Is that the best you could do? You couldn't find a baseball card or something?

(The Associated Press service that provides photos for national sports news sent photos of Sutter in Braves and Cubs uniforms initially. The photo of him pitching for the Braves, which was published in Tuesday's edition, was the most recent action photo. Calls to the AP offices in New York and St. Louis on Tuesday resulted in the AP sending a photo of Sutter in the Cardinals' powder blue, which was published in Wednesday's edition. Reproductions of baseball cards usually don't work too well. And Sutter actually ranks fourth in team history in saves behind Lee Smith, Jason Isringhausen and Todd Worrell.)