Redhawks return home to close out regular season

It's hard to believe that the regular season is just about over for Southeast Missouri State's basketball teams -- but that is indeed the case as there are only two games left, both of them at home.

The Redhawks men and women both take on Murray State Thursday and Tennessee-Martin Saturday.

Of course, those contests won't be the last time Southeast fans get to see hoops at the Show Me Center, as the women are assured a first-round home game for the OVC tournament March 1, and the men are still very much in the running.

Despite streak-ending losses at Eastern Kentucky Thursday -- the women had a 10-game victory string snapped while the men had won seven straight -- this still could very much turn out to be a big season for both squads.

It would be great to see strong crowds turn out Thursday and Saturday to show appreciation for two impressive seasons as the women have been dominant most of the year, and the men have rebounded nicely from a shaky start.

Both teams have also been a lot of fun to watch -- even when the men were suffering tough losses, they were involved in some great games -- and throw in the fact that both squads are loaded with genuinely good people, there's no reason not to pack the Show Me Center this week.

* The crowds at the Show Me Center have really picked up for recent Southeast basketball games -- no doubt fueled by those winning streaks -- and hopefully that will continue this week.

And I've just got to say something about the Jungle, Cape Central High School's fabled student cheering group that made an appearance at the Show Me Center for Southeast's contests vs. Tennessee State on Feb. 12.

Talk about getting into the spirit! Those young men and women were unbelievable with their constant energy, enthusiasm and clever chants that lasted from the start of the women's game to the end of the men's contest.

Southeast students who attend their school's games should definitely take a page from the Jungle on how to make an impact and contribute to a true college basketball atmosphere.

I'm not quite going to say that the majority of Southeast students sit on their hands during games -- although I probably wouldn't be too far off base -- but it sure wouldn't hurt to seem a bit more excited.

What makes for great environments at some of the nation's storied college hoops venues -- say Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium for example -- is student involvement.

I'm not stupid enough to believe the Show Me Center can turn into Cameron Indoor, but the atmosphere could certainly be a lot better.

Here's hoping the Jungle comes back for Southeast's remaining home games.

* Want to know one of my real pet peeves?

It's all the people -- particularly various media outlets -- who constantly tried to make a correlation between Southeast's nickname change and the basketball teams' hot streaks.

I know most of those people were just simply having fun with it and don't seriously believe that becoming Redhawks really contributed to better play -- at least I hope they don't -- but I still refuse to even go there.

* Here's one more example of how invaluable Southeast sports information director Ron Hines -- who disseminates information on the university's athletic teams and never misses a basketball game, home or away -- is to the media.

My portable computer, which I use on the road to send stories back to the newspaper via telephone lines, hit a glitch late Thursday night following the game at Eastern Kentucky.

But, with the clock approaching midnight eastern time, Ron patiently allowed me to type on his portable computer and then e-mail the story back to the paper.

Without Ron's help, there's probably no way I would have met my deadline -- which is a serious no-no in the newspaper business and, if it happens too many times, will lead to short-term employment.

* Sure, Southeast's baseball team lost all three games during last weekend's season-opening series at Tulane, but how the Redhawks battled the nation's top-ranked squad surely must have fans excited.

The Redhawks showed plenty of promise in making the series relatively competitive, including a 6-3 defeat in game two after being tied 3-3 in the eighth inning.

Southeast plays its next series this weekend at Southeastern Louisiana, but I can't wait for the homer opener against St. Louis University on March 2 -- especially since nothing that happened at Tulane suggests this won't be a big season, as most people expect.

* Turning to Southeast track and field, what a performance sophomore sensation Miles Smith turned in last weekend at the rugged Iowa State Invitational in setting school indoor records in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, and anchoring the 1,600 relay team to a school mark.

This looks like another strong year for Redhawks track -- women and men -- and Smith figures to be right in the middle of things, along with a host of his other splendid teammates.

* Former Southeast football star Dan Connolly, after recently participating in the Las Vegas All-American Classic, is now preparing to take part in the prestigious NFL Scouting Combine that begins Wednesday in Indianapolis.

It's all in anticipation of the NFL draft in late April as Connolly -- an offensive lineman who completed his eligibility at Southeast last season -- is expected to be selected.

* I want to offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of two local residents who were contributors in their own way to the area sporting scene and recently passed away.

Cary Flanagan was one of the big movers and shakers in local slow-pitch softball, including serving as district commissioner for ASA.

Gabby Johnson, who a lot of people might have known as the longtime manager of the Purple Crackle, was a big supporter of local sports who I would often see at Southeast basketball games.

I can't say that I knew Cary and Gabby extremely well, but it was always great to see them at various events as both gentlemen were always ready with a hearty handshake and a big smile.

Cary and Gabby both left us way too soon and will be sorely missed.

* Also recently, two former professional athletes with regional ties passed away: Hall of Fame bowler Dick Weber and former major league pitcher Nelson Briles.

I didn't know either personally and am not a particularly big bowling fan, but I always felt something of a connection to Briles because of his days as a key contributor to great Cardinals teams in the 1960s.

In fact, as a kid growing up in St. Louis, I started following the Cardinals in the mid 1960s and will never forget the job Briles did during their 1967 championship season.

After star pitcher Bob Gibson was sidelined with a broken leg, Briles stepped into the rotation and was brilliant down the stretch in helping lead the Cardinals to the National League pennant.

The sensational Gibson, of course, returned for the postseason and helped lead the Redbirds to the World Series title -- but without Briles they might not have even gotten that far.

* I really don't know what to make of the whole steroids thing after all the stir over Jose Canseco's supposed revelations about what has been going on in major league baseball.

I do know that I'm not automatically going to assume that Mark McGwire did the things that Conseco claims he did.

But by the same token, it sure wouldn't shock me in the least if it turns out that McGwire was juicing during his 70-homer season.

I'm sure more and more will become clearer as time goes on.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian