THE LATEST LINE: IS THIS A DOWN YEAR FOR AREA HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL?

Every place I go, when the subject of area high school boys basketball comes up, people are telling me how much of a down year this is.

When I talk to coaches, most of them say the same things: There is a lot of parity in the area, which makes for plenty of close, interesting matchups. But when it comes to super-type teams -- the kind Southeast Missouri is accustomed to having in most years -- they are nowhere to be found.

From the games I've seen, I have to agree with that assessment. Overall, this certainly does not appear to be one of the better seasons that our area has seen. It's hard to imagine any local squad even being a true state title threat -- and remember, Southeast Missouri used to annually dominate the statewide scene when it came to championships.

Of course, the ultimate judge of how strong this area is will come later in the year, when all the postseason results are in.

Last season was not a stellar one for boys teams in Southeast Missouri as only one -- Class 2A Portageville -- made it to the final four. And the Bulldogs were badly overmatched in dropping both their semifinal and third-place games in Columbia.

How will area prep basketball be judged when this season is over?

Only time -- and the postseason -- will tell.

* I have to admit, I was kind of hoping for a Minnesota-Denver matchup in the Super Bowl because I figured that would be about as entertaining a game as possible.

But my early gut feeling is that Atlanta and Denver are going to put on quite a good show anyway -- which, as we all know, isn't always the case in the Super Bowl.

The Falcons are kind of reminding me of Tennessee during the recent college football season -- a team of destiny.

How else do you explain a team going from being so bad two years ago to reaching the Super Bowl?

And how else do you explain a guy who hasn't missed a kick all season -- the Vikings' Gary Anderson -- pulling a 38-yard field-goal attempt just inches wide in the closing minutes to keep the Falcons down by only seven points and open the door for their overtime victory?

* Well, we're finally going to have an NBA season in a few weeks. But I'm sure it's going to take some time getting used to, with so many of the big-name players having switched teams.

And it's definitely going to take some getting used to not seeing Michael Jordan weave his magic -- and to seeing the previously dominant Bulls probably turning into one of the league's worst teams, at least for this shortened season.

* I don't know all the behind-the-scene circumstances -- if indeed there were any -- surrounding the recent resignation of Cape Central football coach Jerry Dement. And I can't tell you the reasons why he never could really get the Tigers' program going the way he would have liked.

But I will say that I have a great deal of respect for Dement and he was always a class act in any of the many dealings I had with him -- both professional and personal.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian