NCAA tournament again provides high drama

The NCAA tournament is providing college basketball fans all kinds of down-to-the-wire finishes, upset specials and darkhorse teams threatening to make the Final Four.

So what else is new?

The event has captured the country's imagination and interest for years now, and there doesn't appear to be any letup in sight.

What makes the NCAA tournament so great from a fan's perspective is that the best team doesn't always win -- in fact, some years the best team doesn't even always win that much --thanks to the one-and-done nature of the event.

But how fun would it be if college basketball teams played a series to decide the national champion, like the NBA? Over the course of seven games, the best team certainly almost always does win.

For one 40-minute stretch, however, anything can happen --and often does. Which is why every year you've got mid-major programs who probably shouldn't even be on the same court with some of the nation's traditional powers pulling off stunning upsets that maybe shouldn't even be called upsets.

I know I'm biased because I love college basketball, but for my money, the NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event going. My only regret is that it's going to be all over in a little more than a week.

Even though the home squad lost, that was some kind of an atmosphere when Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team hosted the University of Missouri on Wednesday night.

A school-record crowd of more than 3,000 fans jammed Capaha Park, making the scene resemble more of a street festival than a college baseball game.

To be sure, the huge gathering can largely be attributed to the free food and beverages provided by Bluff City Beer -- along with the nice weather -- but no matter why all the people came out, it was still quite a night.

Track fans should start making plans for the 23rd annual Gatorade Classic, which is always the highlight of the area track and field season.

The college meet, hosted by Southeast, this year could feature about 15 teams. It will be primarily Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Abe Stuber Complex, but officially kicks off 5 p.m. Friday with the hammer throw.

Congratulations to all the people who were inducted into the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Sikeston.

And special kudos to a pair of individuals who I know or knew particularly well, Cape Girardeau's Ron Michel and Benton's Joe Bill Davis.

Michel, who was inducted posthumously, was the former Cape Girardeau American Legion baseball manager.

Davis is best known in the area as a longtime high school baseball umpire and basketball referee.

If you're a sports fan like me who often started his day listening to the Tony Kornheiser radio show, you're a bit bummed out that Thursday marked the show's final day.

The hilarious Kornheiser has given up his radio gig because he said he was simply too busy, what with hosting the equally entertaining "Pardon The Interruption" television show on ESPN and his work as a Washington Post sports columnist.

The great thing about Kornheiser is that you really didn't even have to be a sports fan to love listening to him.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.

In fact, many days his radio show didn't even have very much to do with sports -- yet he was highly entertaining just the same.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.