FanSpeak 2/6/05

Full house

I HAVE heard a lot of people talking about the fans at the Poplar Bluff boys basketball game at Jackson on Jan. 7. When I walked in that gym, I was surprised at how big it was. Why have they been claiming the gym only holds 1,000 to 1,100 people? I counted 32 rows of bleachers and 55 to 60 people per row. There also is room for a lot of people on the stage. There were close to 2,000 people at that game.

(Jackson officials said last week approximately 1,200 people were in the gym with about 1,150 seated and another 50 standing. Another 100 fans were able to watch the game on closed-circuit television in the auditorium.)

Not in agreement

THIS IS for the person who said that the Show Me Center can only get truck/tractor pulls and pro wrestling and called us all hicks. Well, let me tell you. These wrestlers are top-notch athletes. Have you ever seen a four-post massacre or steel-cage death match? The kids love it, and I've been going to these matches for a number of years. Maybe you're the hillbilly.

We want results

I WAS just wondering what kind of newspaper you all have when you have a story about the track, but you don't have anything about the winners of the race.

(If this is in reference to Southeast track, results were not made available by the school from last weekend's meet until Monday.)

Attendance accounting

THERE'S SOMETHING similar between Southeast sports information director Ron Hines's definition of "attendance" and Bill Clinton's definition of "is."

A warm Fuzzy

THANKS TO sports writer Marty Mishow for a fine story. "Fuzzy style: Belcher gives Redhawks a spark from off bench." As the "Dogfather" of Mexico Bulldogs high school basketball, Fuzzy is one of my all-time favorite kids to wear the red and gray. Looks like he is still up to his old tricks of theft and recovery. His irresistible personality and the hustle on the hardwood combine for a great young man. Keep after it, Fuzzy.

Credit for Caruthersville

I READ your article on Jackson defeating Charleston, but I can't find anything on Caruthersville beating Jackson on Jan. 28 or Caruthersville beating Cape Central earlier in the season. It seems you don't want to give Caruthersville any recognition when they really deserve it. I have looked in the archives to prove myself wrong but haven't been able to find anything.

(The Jackson-Caruthersville result was published in the high school roundup on Jan. 29.)

Appreciation for coaches

A COACH does not always get to hear about the good things that they do or how they have helped a child through some rather rough and difficult times. Nor does a child have a clue as to why a coach seems to be picking on them. This is my opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation for the Oran High School basketball coaches and their assistants. It is a rare and gifted coach who can constructively criticize their players and at the same time make the player feel needed and unique. It is also rare that a coach will let down his guard and talk to the players on their level, even it is means acting goofy or saying silly things and at the same time keeping his composure so that he can discuss the call with the referee and still turn around and have a smile on his face. Players keep this in mind when you feel like coach is picking extra hard on you for some reason: They see something in you. Coaching is not an easy job and one that I wouldn't want. It is a job where you can't please everyone all of the time.

Bring back the Indian

ROOT ALL you want for Rowdy the Redhawk -- who came up with that name, by the way? -- but the fact still remains that even by your own newspaper poll, more than 60 percent who voted hated it. Could it be that the process by which it was created was slanted? Railroaded would be another good term to use. As an alumni of Southeast, I will never accept the name change -- not because it might have been needed but because of the way the campaign for it was carried off with deceitful polls, etc. It had nothing to do with "political correctness," and I will never understand what motivated the group behind it to change it.

Good article

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the article on coach Rod McQuerter from Kelly High School. I know many girls, past and present, who have played for him and have great respect for his coaching ethic. It was good to see the positive side of coaching, as we are bombarded with all the negative -- fights, technicals, scandals. He rates right up there with coach Randy White of Scott City and Delta, who also is a superb coach but more importantly a person who genuinely cares for his teams as Coach Rod does. Great to see the "good guys" get some press.