There's plenty for us to see -- and remember -- this week

Step into the Show Me Center this week and you'll see basketball.

It's what you won't see this week that's most remarkable.

With every bounce of a basketball in the seMissourian Christmas Tournament, talk will turn toward an old game, a classic player, maybe a classy coach.

You might mention coach Arnold Ryan. A few seats away, somebody will describe a spectacular move by Marcus Timmons. A few rows up, somebody will wonder aloud about Oran's 1966 championship game and try his best to find the right answer, digging through the mental closets of incredible memories that have made the tournament a magical gathering.

Memories. That's what this tournament is about.

Making them. Preserving them. Recalling them.

We all have them, whether they're of the exciting games, the friends we've made or the amazing athletes and coaches we've seen.

John K. Holcomb remembers the 1948 tournament that pitted Cape Girardeau schools College High and Central in the championship, a game College High won 28-24 at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. He recalls that it was the only time the Preps won the tournament, but fittingly so since the idea came from then-coach and principal Irvin Keller. Teammates Carl Gross and Harry Rust, along with Central teammates Charles Blattner, Bill Engelman, Marvin Proffer and Richard Ryan are among those from the game who live in the Cape area today.

Many fans said they remember the 1951 semifinals that featured three Cape Girardeau teams -- St. Mary's, University High and Central -- along with Puxico. The four-day event broke attendance records with 9,475 fans, up by 2,325 from the previous year. Classic players like Miller, Shannon, Farrar and Vandeven led St. Mary's past the Preps and a lineup with Porter, Tygett, Rust and Draper for third place that year. Puxico and Grady Smith, whose 72 points led all scorers in the four-game event, toppled Central (with Stehr, Munger, Ford and Pettigrew) for the title.

I remember the drama of seeing incredible winning streaks snapped in the tournament: Scott County Central's 53-game streak ended by Jackson in 1988, Charleston's 55-game streak ended by Scott County Central in 1990 and Scott County Central's 63-game streak ended by Jackson in '91. The state record was 64.

Steve Mosley remembers watching Advance's Carl Ritter join other classic athletes on the floor; watching Woodland's Norman VanAmberg setting a single-game scoring record; and hearing the crowd chant "Butler! Butler!" for a Central High teammate who came off the bench and ignited his team. He remembers guarding Notre Dame great Kenny Reiker, holding him to just six points, and seeing the Howardsville cheerleaders' foot-stomping routine send a wave of energy through the room like nothing could.

I remember University High's unceremonious exit from its namesake tournament in 1986 with back-to-back losses to Charleston and Leopold. Even more dramatic was the way the Preps left with an 84-11 loss to Charleston in the first round, setting a record for fewest points allowed in a tournament game.

Marilyn Whitmore of Jackson remembers a first-round game almost 20 years ago involving Chaffee and Woodland. Tied 50-50 with four seconds left to play, Joe McLemore put up a 25-foot shot that went in, lifting 15th-seeded Chaffee past second-seeded Woodland.

I remember then-tournament director Joey Haines' live interview with Randy Ray on the 6 o'clock news in 1986 -- the last time the event was played at Houck Field House -- in which he pleaded with fans to not come. All 2,500 seats already were full for an 8 o'clock championship game between Notre Dame and Scott County Central, he warned. Spectators had to be turned away in droves.

Mrs. Delwin Elfrink remembers how her family would bundle up their four children the day after Christmas, squeeze in early-morning shopping trips and head for Houck Field House for the first-round games. The children would follow behind, their pockets stuffed full of the toys that made up their holiday bounty. Even today, she said, her grown children make it a point to see Dad at the games and share stories.

I remember walking into the pristine Show Me Center for the first Christmas tournament game there on Dec. 26, 1987, as a fledgling reporter for The Daily Standard. I remember marveling that high school games could even deserve to be played in such an expansive mansion of an arena.

In the years that followed, with the future Mrs. Hall sitting beside me, the awe never really went away. Neither did the memories.

The new ones begin today.

Jamie Hall is the sports editor of the Southeast Missourian.