THE LATEST LINE: COLLEGE GRID SEASON IS OFF AND RUNNING

It wasn't exactly Florida vs. Tennessee, but the 1997 college football season got off to a decent enough start Saturday when Northwestern beat Oklahoma 24-0 in the Pigskin Classic in Chicago.

Wait one minute. Is that really so? Was their really an official football game played on Aug. 23? It hardly seems possible.

But make no mistake about it. Those were actually big, strong college kids going at it on the Soldier Field turf, playing a game before their schools probably even started.

And as fans, don't we just love it. There's another early game today as well, when Syracuse meets Wisconsin in the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J.

Ah yes, the college football season. It's already off to a flying start. Next weekend there will be more games, then the following weekend just about everybody in the country will have already hit the field.

And the professional football season is just around the corner, with NFL teams scheduled to open up next Sunday.

No question about it, this is one busy sports season, with baseball races heating up and college and pro football just starting up.

And that's not to mention all the high school sports that are getting under way in the next few days, with football openers set for Sept. 5.

If you're a fan, you've got to love it -- even if it is hard to decide what to watch when all these events start overlapping.

* Well, Southeast Missouri State University's football opener is just about here. The Indians will get things going Saturday when NAIA power Lambuth comes to Houck Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

For a team that is coming off a 3-8 season, I can't remember this much talk around town in a long time. There seems to be plenty of genuine interest and excitement over all the new players -- primarily some of the key I-A transfers -- that have been brought in to help turn things around.

I'll have to admit that, on the surface, things do appear to be promising. But before people get too carried away -- and I know a lot of the players seem to be ultra-confident that this will be a big season -- everybody has to remember a few things.

First of all, just about all the other teams in the Ohio Valley Conference have also brought in plenty of physically talented I-A transfers. That seems to be the way that I-AA football is going these days.

But a word of caution: Not all of these I-A guys pan out. Remember, there is always a reason whey they left their previous schools. And sometimes, those reasons don't translate into success on even the I-AA level.

Overall, it's good to listen to the words of SEMO head coach John Mumford, who said that talk is one thing, but doing it on the field is another.

We'll start to see just how well SEMO can do it when Lambuth comes to town Saturday. But the true test will be when the Indians start to play the fellow I-AA teams on their schedule.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian

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Clinton seeks trade powers

The Associated Press

EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- Anticipating a battle with Republican lawmakers, President Clinton urged Congress on Saturday not to stall his authority to negotiate trade agreements swiftly, saying that would lock U.S. businesses out of expanding global markets.

In his weekly radio address, the president said a protracted fight over the so-called "fast-track" authority would only limit U.S. access to burgeoning Asian and Latin American markets, where demand for American goods is high and where other nations have already negotiated 20 trade agreements.

"Our workers and our businesses are the best in the world, but they can't compete in the slow lane," Clinton said. "If we don't seize these new opportunities, our competitors surely will."

Fast-track authority, held by every president since 1974, grants Clinton the power to negotiate trade deals that Congress must consider quickly and cannot amend. It will expire next month unless Congress renews it.

Lawmakers have been at odds with the Clinton administration for two years over provisions dealing with worker rights and the environment. These issues are of vital interest to two key Democratic constituencies, labor unions and environmentalists.

But Republicans, who control Congress, argue that they are outside the scope of free trade deals and open such measures to protectionist forces.

On Saturday, Clinton reiterated his support for including those two concerns in any future trade deals "to make sure all our people share the fruits of increased prosperity and commerce."

"We have to pull together, not apart, to compete and win in the global economy," Clinton said.

White House spokesman Barry Toiv said it will be a tough fight but added: "We think we're going to prevail."

Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky suggested recently that a possible compromise was in the works to allow inclusion of labor and environmental concerns that are "directly trade-related."

Fast-track authority would let Clinton fulfill his promise to expand the current North American Free Trade Agreement covering Mexico and Canada by creating a hemisphere-wide free trade area by 2005. He also has committed to reaching a free trade deal with Pacific rim nations by 2010.

Such agreements would especially benefit American farmers, Clinton said, as well as other economic sectors where the United States is highly competitive: information technology, medical equipment and environmental technology.

He said that 25 percent of U.S. economic growth now comes from overseas trade, and U.S. exports support more than 11 million "good, high-paying American jobs," including one of every five manufacturing positions.

"To keep our economy growing and to create these good jobs, we must keep tearing down foreign barriers to American goods and services," Clinton said. "After all, 95 percent of the world's consumers live beyond our borders."