Fan Speak Oct23

Conspiracy vs. soccer

THIS IS to the people that call into Fan Speak that all they're concerned about is football. Someone called in about the fact high school football and soccer are played at the same time of the year so that the talent pool "severely depleted." If you move soccer to the spring, it's going to affect track and baseball. Why does everybody protect football so much, but they don't worry about protecting baseball or track? Those are also important sports, and soccer affects them as well. Maybe the point is, why don't we just get rid of soccer? That'd be an answer, wouldn't it.

Part II

I WAS wondering why we cannot get any coverage in this area on soccer. It seems we have two outstanding programs, currently ranked in the state at Central and Notre Dame. A lot of kids in this area have made the ODP squad in the past, and they continue to perform well. Soccer continues to grow as a national sport. Either it has or soon will eclipse youth league baseball, yet the Missourian gives volleyball and all these other sports more press coverage than we can get with soccer. I just wondered if the Missourian might print this and explain why there is no coverage. There are a lot of parents, whose kids who play soccer, that own businesses that do a lot of advertising in the Missourian, and yet we go unnoticed. I just wondered why that is.

Where are the fish?

WHAT HAPPENED to the local fishing report that appeared every Sunday in the sports section? I never took the information in it as absolute gospel, but I did enjoy reading it. I know that I'm not the only one.

(The fishing report became an occasional fixture during a time when space in the paper was at a premium and fall sports at the high school and college level began. The Missouri Department of Conservation's last fishing report was released on Sept. 29. We will re-examine our ability to publish the report when it resumes in the spring.)

Congratulations

WE HAVE to congratulate Paul Fliege for running such a fine race in the Chicago Marathon. His performance and finishing time was amazing. Thanks for representing Southeast Missouri. All that training really paid off.

(Fliege, 29, from Jackson, finished in 3 hours, 42 minutes, 2 seconds and placed 5,968th overall.)

Time for change

IT IS time for a coaching change at Southeast. At the start of this season, football coach Tim Billings said he had the most athletic team since he has been at Southeast. If this is true, why is he not winning? It must be the coaching, or coach Billings has an unintelligent or undisciplined team. It's obvious this team has no discipline with all the turnovers, penalties and blocked punts. I am finished attending games and supporting Southeast athletics until a change is made.