FanSpeak 12/15/02

Lift the Pete ban

BASEBALL SHOULD lift the ban against Pete Rose. He has been punished long enough, and he just got caught doing something that a lot of other people do. Let him be in the Hall of Fame.

Wondering about Mario

I'M WONDERING if anyone knows anything about Mario Whitney and his football playing at Mizzou this year? I've heard rumors recently that Mario is no longer playing for Mizzou. I'm not sure if it's because of grades or he wasn't showing up at practices or what the story was. But I'm just curious if he is still on the football team at Mizzou or if he's still a student there.

We were told that Mario remains a member of the team and a student at MU despite rumors to the contrary.

Have a seat, Mom

I WOULD like to comment on the actions of a parent I saw at a basketball game in the Chaffee tournament. This parent stood up and yelled at people in her team's cheering section, evidently because she didn't think they had given enough praise to her child for scoring a point. Remember that basketball is a team sport. I'm sure this child didn't learn anything from her mother's actions and was probably quite embarrassed by them.

Monroe deserved award

MONROE HICKS was the top high school football player in this part of the state. He deserved the Carr Trophy as the top player from Southeast Missouri. The recipient, Matt Burnett, had a good year and career at Dexter, but he did not have the year Hicks had. The Poplar Bluff Letter Club should have seen that. I guess they're bitter from the shellacking they took at the hands of the Tigers in November.

Rose made his choice

PETE ROSE chose to break the laws of baseball. He chose to sell out his own players and the whole establishment so he could have personal financial gain. If they do let him back in and they put him in the Hall of Fame, he needs the biggest asterisk of all next to his name because people need to never forget the shame he brought to the game.

No wrestling respect

YOUR DEPARTMENT pays little or no attention to high school wrestling, so when you do print something, try to print correct information unlike the story on the Central meet at Fox. Several Central boys took second and your paper put third place. This might not seem like much, but they don't get much credit compared to basketball.

We incorrectly listed the finishes ofCentral wrestlers. Trevor Duncan won his weight class; Matt Welker, Jonathon Poston, Brandon Hinkle and Cory Huskey finished second; and Brandon Seabaugh andJason Poole finished fourth. We regret the error.

Problem with our team

MONROE HICKS is the best defensive back in the area, so how could he not be on your All-Star team?

Our policy is to list players only once on our All-Star team. Since we chose Monroe for our offensive list, he could not appear on the defensive list despite his outstanding season as a defensive back.

Give Pete a break

COME ON, baseball commissioner and anybody else who's got any say in this: Give Pete Rose a break.

Where were the fans?

IT IS a shame that more Southeast fans didn't come to the game Saturday against SIU. It seemed as though the chants of "SIU" overcame the Show Me Center. The arena used to be full to the top with fair-weather fans. Also, to whoever is in charge of the cheerleaders at Southeast: Buy them dinner. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but those girls are too skinny and underdressed.