THE LASTEST LINE: SEMO FANS NEED TO START MAKING NOISE

Southeast Missouri State University's Indians are definitely a basketball team worth going great lengths to root for.

Now, if only SEMO fans will really start doing some serious rooting.

This is not a personal attack on any SEMO fan. I know many of them and they're by and large wonderful people who really are behind the Indians.

It's just that they need to realize that attending a college basketball game is nothing like going to a movie or the theater. It is entirely permissible and very much encouraged to make as much noise as possible, particularly at key points and not just in the closing seconds.

I've covered college hoops in a lot of places but I don't think I've ever experienced crowds that collectively sits on their hands as much as the ones that attends most SEMO games.

Last Saturday's contest against Arkansas State was a prime example. The entire game was filled with great intensity and high drama. It begged for the noise meter at the Show Me Center to rocket off the charts.

Instead, the building was eerily quiet for the majority of the contest. Even Michael Stokes' 30-footer at the halftime buzzer didn't emote the kind of response you would have found at virtually any other Division I basketball game in America.

About the only time the fans really seemed to get into it was in the final seconds of the contest, when Arkansas State trailed by three points and needed a 3-pointer to force overtime.

The way the SEMO fans responded in those final seconds is the way they should be acting for most of the game. It's the way the fans act at the nation's most storied hoop environments, like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and many others.

Because of the nature of the business, SEMO isn't able to attract the kind of talent of those super-powers, although the Indians certainly have some fine players in their own right this season.

But there's no reason SEMO's fans can't elevate themselves to the performance level of those boisterous rooters as some of the country's elite programs.

* What a win for the Indians at Bradley Wednesday night as the Indians improved to 8-1.

I'm not sure many people other than SEMO's coaches, players and most loyal fans expected the Indians to beat the preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite on its own court.

But SEMO supporters really shouldn't be surprised any more at some of the team's more impressive accomplishments.

There is no question Gary Garner and his staff are putting together that kind of program in Cape Girardeau.

* I believe SEMO administrators made a great decision in hiring Tim Billings as the school's new football coach.

Here's wishing Billings the best of luck as he tries to turn the Indians' program around.

* I'll be very surprised if Charleston doesn't claim its third straight University High Christmas Tournament title this week.

And I'm sure the other main contenders will use that statement as a prime motivational tool.

* I hope everybody had a very merry Christmas and here's wishing you all the best for the new year.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian