FanSpeak 10/6/02

Coach showed class

PEOPLE IN the community need to know what kind of a class act we have as our head football coach at Central. Last weekend, our team traveled to North County to play a 7:30 p.m. game. While the team was getting ready, we discovered that North County moved the starting time to 7 without notifying anybody. Coach Lawrence Brookins could have pitched a fit and fussed and fumed in front of the boys, but he handled it maturely and showed the boys how to handle adversity. I hope coach Brookins and athletic director Terry Kitchen will take action on this, but if not, that's their choice and we stand behind them. North County, just wait until next year.

A nice comeback

I'M GLAD to see the Cardinals didn't let a season full of problems get them down and they're able to bounce back like this. This is the year for the Cardinals, and they're proof that good people can overcome bad things.

The problems are ...

I'LL TELL you what's wrong with the Rams. They have no offense. They have no defense. They have mediocre coaching. It's no big secret.

Time to get fired up

I WORK in Jackson and live in Cape Girardeau. My kids go to Cape and it just amazes me every year when the Jackson-Central football game time rolls around how the merchants and people in Jackson decorate and do things to stir up support for the Jackson football team. Would the Cape merchants and Cape people please rally and show our support for the team? These boys need that. They need to drive down the street and see signs up on marquees that say "Go Central Tigers, defeat Jackson." They work hard every day and they get home from school at 6:30 and 7 and still have four and five hours of homework and they do it because they want to play the game and they have pride in their school. Please show your pride in them.

Love for Leopold

GO LEOPOLD! I'm happy to see the voters put Leopold at No. 2 in this week's SEMO volleyball poll. No. 2 isn't so bad when Notre Dame's No. 1, because everybody knows they have a tremendous program.

One win proves nothing

I'M NOT convinced that Southeast's football program has turned the corner just because they beat a team like Middle Tennessee, which hadn't won a game all season. I don't care if MTSU was picked to win their conference, because they're obviously not the team people thought they'd be. So until Southeast is able to string together more wins like that, and not just one, they haven't proven anything.

Touch that dial

TO THE caller who doesn't like hearing Notre Dame college football games on the radio: Have you thought about turning off your radio?

Shame, shame, shame

THE MORNING disc jockey in Phoenix who called Darryl Kile's wife should be fired. Last I heard, he has not even been punished. Is that what we're allowing now, for people to call up the widows of a famous athlete and ridicule them on the radio and get away with it? That's pitiful.

Tigers with hearts

I WANT to commend the Tiger football team and coaches for a valiant attempt against North County. You played with a lot of heart. Tiger fans, on the other hand, disappointed me. These boys were out on that field through double overtime giving it all they had and you couldn't come to your feet to cheer and support your team. North County put us to shame.

DJ was out of control

ANY RADIO station that allows its DJ to make phone calls to a widow and ask her about her dating life is a sad commentary on the state of radio today. Irealize that different things are popular in bigger metropolitan areas like Phoenix, but when did good taste and class become outlawed there?