SIU game could be a gauge for Indians' season

That Southeast Missouri State University's football team lost its season opener Thursday was not surprising. Although the Indians went to Division I-A Ohio hoping to spring an upset, they entered as underdogs.

Still, the Indians showed enough positive signs in the 17-3 defeat -- particularly defensively, although the offense struggled most of the contest -- to reinforce the belief that this could indeed be a big season in Cape Girardeau. And the defeat should do little in the way of derailing Southeast's hopes of its first Ohio Valley Conference title and Division I-AA playoff berth.

Even though Thursday's game was a solid first test for the Indians, it really wasn't a good indicator of the year they might have. A better gauge will be Saturday's home opener against rival Southern Illinois, which like Southeast is a Division I-AA program with high hopes for the season.

While Southeast was losing to a Division I-A squad in its opener, SIU was pounding Division II Quincy (Ill.) 64-14, meaning the Salukis will come to Cape Girardeau with plenty of confidence -- even if it was gained from pummeling a totally overmatched opponent.

It should be a fun night of football at Houck Stadium.

Former Southeast All-American wide receiver Willie Ponder recently moved one step closer to a spot in the National Football League Monday when he survived the New York Giants' roster cut to 65.

New York released two other receivers that day, meaning there are only six healthy wideouts on the Giants' roster. Virtually all NFL teams carry a minimum of six receivers.

It looks like Ponder has an excellent chance of making the roster when final cuts are announced today.

I'm not going to make excuses for Southeast men's basketball coach Gary Garner, but I do want to point out a couple of things regarding FanSpeak comments last Sunday that obviously referred to junior-college recruit Randy Holbrook not meeting NCAA Division I eligibility requirements.

There's probably not a basketball program in the country -- no matter what level -- that hasn't had a player either become academically ineligible or fail to meet academic eligibility requirements. Just in the past few days, St. Louis University recruit Brandon Morris did not meet academic eligibility requirements for a junior-college transfer and will not play for the Billikens this season -- the exact scenario regarding Holbrook.

Also, no scholarship money is wasted when an athlete is not eligible. That scholarship can be used on another player or saved for the following year.

Holbrook was a player who became available late in the recruiting process, and Southeast coaches -- along with other Division I coaches recruiting him -- knew he was a risk academically. They felt it was worth the risk to pursue him, and if he didn't make it, nothing really was lost.

Criticize Garner for the Indians' record the past two seasons but not for recruiting matters that happen everywhere.

Former Southeast basketball player Calvert White received a career thrill when he played for the Virgin Islands National Team that recently faced the United States and its star-studded NBA lineup in the Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico.

The Virgin Islands lost 113-55 and went 0-4, but it still had to be quite an experience for White, who has represented the Virgin Islands in the past and has played professionally in the Netherlands.

Also on the Virgin Islands squad was current Murray State star Cuthbert Victor.

Southeast baseball coach Mark Hogan is a Cardinals fan anyway, but he is probably taking that up a few notches these days.

Most people know that Hogan coached Cardinals outfielder Kerry Robinson at Southeast, but Hogan also coached new St. Louis reliever Mike DeJean at Livingston (Ala.) University in the 1990s.

And what a thrill it must have been for Robinson to hit his first major-league walk-off home run the other night. It's great to see Kerry contributing like he has been once he got the chance to play more.

Former Southeast pitcher Brandon Smith, who last played for the Indians in 2002, recently was released by the Boston Red Sox organization and signed with the Colorado Rockies organization, where he was assigned to their Class A Tri-City (Wash.) team.

Here's a quick update on how the Blue Springs (Mo.) A's -- who won the American Legion State Tournament that Cape Girardeau competed in -- fared during the American Legion World Series.

The A's went 1-2 and did not advance out of pool play in the eight-team tournament. Rochester (Minn.) captured the title by beating Cherryville (N.C.) 5-2.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.