Fan Speak July23

Best wishes to coaches

SOME PEOPLE should review their own coaching records before they make comments about others. Central boys basketball coach Derek McCord did a very good job based on what he had to work with. Both McCord and assistant coach Will Johnson not only were teachers on the court but also in life skills beyond that. When Central played Notre Dame two seasons ago at the Show Me Center, it was a coaching clinic with strategies used by both coaches. Derek McCord will be successful in coaching and in life wherever he is, and I also feel the same about Will Johnson.

Misdirected praise

I HAD to laugh at Marty Mishow's column on July 16, in which he accuses a caller of hating Mitch Craft. The anger is not with Craft, but with people like you who have put athletes on pedestals they never deserved and praise them while ignoring or excusing their mistakes -- big mistakes that affect teammates, coaches and schools. It's people like you who heap praise on athletes and make excuses for their illegal acts who have led this kid to believe he is above the law.

Hall of Famer

I WANT to say congratulations to Larry Kitchen for being inducted into the Sikeston Baseball Hall of Fame. Larry has served as an umpire for high schools. This is a great honor for Larry, and I just want him to have the recognition.

(Kitchen, of Cape Girardeau, was one of eight people inducted into the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year. The Central High grad had a short stint as a coach for the Capahas before a long umpiring career that included being the state umpire of the year in 1998.

Other locals inducted: Clay Hunter of Cape Girardeau and Robert Nitsch of Jackson. Nitsch played for the Jackson American Legion and several teams in the Perry County League, including the Jackson Giants team that dominated the league in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Hunter played baseball for the Illmo Big Bucks -- playing in Illmo's first night game in 1945 -- and was a playing manager for the Chaffee Red Wings from 1956 through 1965.)