november 2008

SI SPORTS CONNECTION •NOVEMBER 2008

SI SPORTS CONNECTION • NOVEMBER 2008

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A time honored banking tradition of serA time honored banking tradition of serA time honored banking tradition of serA time honored banking tradition of serA time honored banking tradition of service...vice...vice...vice...vice...When walking through our doors, you notice something is different. The

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Bill Bonan IIBill Bonan IIBill Bonan IIBill Bonan IIBill Bonan IICommunity Bank PresidentCommunity Bank PresidentCommunity Bank PresidentCommunity Bank PresidentCommunity Bank President

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SerSerSerSerServing Southerving Southerving Southerving Southerving Southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Metro East since 1909n Illinois, St. Louis, and Metro East since 1909n Illinois, St. Louis, and Metro East since 1909n Illinois, St. Louis, and Metro East since 1909n Illinois, St. Louis, and Metro East since 1909.....

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Publisher/Editor Jim MuirGraphic Design/Layout Michael ThomasPhotographers Christopher Kays Ceasar MaragniContributing Writers Teri Campbell Danny Czerwinski Chris Denault Roger Lipe Ceasar Maragni Jim Muir Mike Murphy Mario Moccia Sean Patrick Darla Sloan Joe Szynkowski Shannon Woodworth Nathan Wheeler Tom Wheeler

You can get your monthly issue of Southern Illinois Sports Connection at the following businesses: Subway Sandwich in: Mt.Vernon (three locations), Rend Lake College, Sesser, Chris-topher, Benton, Pinckneyville, Du Quoin, Carbondale (four locations), Herrin, West Frankfort, Johnston City, Carterville, Vienna, Metropolis, Harrisburg, Anna, Marion (three locations), McLeansboroCircle K Convenience locations in: Carbondale, Murphysboro, Benton, Mt. Vernon (three locations) Farm Fresh locations in: Benton, Har-risburg, West Frankfort ROC One Stop locations in: Eldorado (Rt.45), Mc LeansboroAll Stars & Stitches in BentonBeav’z Sporting Goods in ChristopherBoccie Ball Club in BentonBP One Stop in NashvilleBP Convenience Rt. 148 in EnergyEldorado Discount LiquorsFielder’s Choice in West FrankfortFood Park in McLeansboroHunt’s Hardware & Groceries in DaleJD Street BP in Johnston CityJumping Jimmy’s Convenience in SesserLake Zone Convenience in WhittingtonLee’s Sports in NashvilleMikey B’s Bleacher Bum Cards in CartervilleMoto Mart in Du Quoin Moto Mart in PinckneyvillePhillips 66 Gas Mart in NashvillePhillips 66 Gas Mart in ChristopherShell Convenience Rt. 154 east of PinckneyvilleSun Mart in SesserWilli Shell Rt. 51 South in Du Quoin

4

The Lineup

COVER STORY 14: The Sly Ol’ Fox - SISC Goes One-on-One with McLeansboro coach Curt Reed

Features November 2008

A Portrait of Courage 8: Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 18 months ago 14-year-old Bennett Page makes a trium-phant return to what he loves – sports

General Patton 30: Nicknamed “The General” by his teammates Ryan Patton beat the odds as a walk-on at SIU and is now a defen-sive mainstay for the Salukis

Shine On 36: Southern Illinois golfers faired well in post season play with the Marion Lady Wildcats claiming a first-pace finish in Class AA competition and the Benton Rangers grabbing a second-place trophy in Class A play Let’s Get Physical 38: At 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds if Anna-Jones-boro’s Rik Hicks can’t run around you he’ll try and run over you

SISC Comes to Life 47: Beginning in November SISC Magazine also becomes SISC the television show

Morningstar Shines on Original Saints 50: Shawnee Com-munity College rolls out the red carpet for its first-ever basketball team

42: RLC Report Nathan Wheeler

44: Goro’s Rant Chris Denault

45: Tis the Deer Season Darla Sloan

48: In Focus Ceasar Maragni

54: SISC Viewpoint Danny Czerwinski

52: Around The Horn Sean Patrick

6: Publisher’s Greeting Jim Muir

12: Shawnee C.C. Shannon Woodworth

23: FCA - Transforming Lives Roger Lipe

24: Murf’s Turf Mike Murphy

27: JALC Journal Teri Campbell

34: Ask the AD SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia

40: From Where I Sit Tom Wheeler

Cover: Long-time McLeansboro basketball coach Curt Reed relaxes in the Fox’s Den (Photo by Ceasar Maragni)

SI SPORTS CONNECTION •NOVEMBER 2008 5

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Letter from the PublisherS O U T H E R N I L L I N O I S

SPORTS CONNECTION

Jim Muir, Publisher

Greetings and welcome to the November issue of Southern Illinois Sports Connection. This is somewhat of a transition month here at SISC. Certainly we’re still keenly interested in high school and college football but the sound of basketballs bouncing in the distance is a re-minder that round ball season is at hand. In fact, junior high basketball is already off and running and tip off for both boys and girls high school basketball is right around the corner. In looking ahead to the upcoming high school basketball season I can’t think of a better person to profile on our cover than Curt Reed, who is beginning his 44th year of coaching and is a true profile of Southern Illinois. It’s been said virtually every year, and I can assure you it will be said again this year, that Reed could be named coach of the year – every year. While he is a master of X’s and O’s his strongest asset as a coach is the ability to get every morsel of talent from his players. Accompanied by a photographer and a videographer I trudged off in mid-October to Hamilton County to secure our cover story. First, we conducted the interview at Hamilton County High Shcool where we laughed at Reed’s stories one minute (and he has many of them to tell) and then stood amazed the next when he talked about some of the hardships he overcame just to get to school. After the interview, at Reed’s insistence, we all returned to his home where his lovely wife Janet had fixed peanut butter cookies (still warm) and we enjoyed milk and cookies. Then we took a tour of Macedonia (located 12 miles west of McLeans-boro) that included stops at the home where Reed grew up, his turnip patch and Ernest Sullivan’s General Store. Simply stated, it was quite an enjoyable and remarkable day. I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy the story about the McLeansboro coaching legend and I hope it also provides some insight into Curt Reed the man. This month’s magazine also features stories about West Frankfort’s Ryan Patton, who has gone from a long shot to play as a walk-on at SIU to a starting linebacker and a mainstay for the Salukis. If you enjoy a story about overcoming the odds and proving the naysayers wrong this is one you’ll enjoy. Also this month is another story about another young man who also overcame great odds just to be able to play sports again. Bennett Page, an eighth grader at Benton Middle School, was diagnosed two years ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which took him away from the baseball diamonds and basketball courts that he loved and left him battling for his life. Earlier this fall Bennett returned to sports and played baseball for the BMS team and was chosen to compete in a year-end all-star game. Ben-nett’s triumphant story is a testament to willpower, positive thinking and prayer. That’s just a small sampling of what you’ll find in this month’s issue, and as always I believe there’s something tucked inside these pages for nearly everybody. In short, it’s another of our buffet-issues.

Enjoy!


By Jim MuirPhotos by Ceasar Maragni

Bennett Page became a teenager on Feb. 20, 2007. The Benton youth also became a symbol of courage and inspiration on

the exact same day. Leaving behind the number ‘12’ and reaching the teen years is normally a red-letter date for most youngsters. But for Bennett his 13th birthday marked the date that he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cindy Page said her son had been bat-

tling flu-like symptoms that he just couldn’t seem to shake when it finally became apparent that there might be something else causing the constant fatigue. “We had planned to go to the doctor to get Bennett checked and then go out for a birthday lunch,” said Cindy. “Well, we never

made it to lunch that day.”

A Portrait of Courage

Bennett Page takes a swing during the SIBCA All-Star game in Marion.

Bennett arrives in Marion to participate in the 4th Annual SIBCA Junior High All-Star baseball game. (Insert:Several of Bennett’s friends got their heads shaved after Bennett lost all his hair due to chemotherapy treatments. The “Kojak” look was quite popular at Benton Middle School last year.)

(Provided)


A Portrait of Courage

Bennett Page takes a swing during the SIBCA All-Star game in Marion.

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 18 months ago 14-year-old Bennett Page makes a triumphant return to what he loves – sports

Blood tests taken in Carbondale showed an abnormality and the Pages were sent to St. Louis Children’s Hospital where additional testing, including a bone marrow test, was completed. By day’s end the Pages were told that Bennett had leukemia. Cindy said the diagnosis was painful and left her feeling as though she was experi-encing a “bad dream.” “The diagnosis was tough but I just kept thinking that yesterday our lives were so normal and now everything was just spinning. You just go numb, you don’t know what to expect, what the future holds, what’s going on,” she said. “I guess it shows my ignorance about medi-cal terms, but I never associated the word ‘leukemia’ with the word ‘cancer.’ It took a couple days to try and figure it all out and see what we were facing.” Bennett did not return to school follow-ing the diagnosis and instead began a rigid treatment program that included weekly and sometimes twice-weekly trips to St. Louis. The Pages noted that Bennett’s life always revolved around

sports since he was just a little tyke and the prospect of his illness leaving him without his teammates and on the sideline resulted in nearly as much anguish as the diag-nosis. Bennett said his immediate reaction was more about how many sports-related activities he would miss than the difficult diagnosis. Cindy said Bennett will

have to remain under treatment for two more years.

“I was worried about not being able to play,” Bennett said. “And it made it even tougher because the class I played with finished second in state in baseball and second in state in basketball during the year I missed. I tried to go to as many games as I could and my teammates did a good job making me feel like I was still a part of the team. But, I really missed playing.” As a show of camaraderie and unison when Bennett lost all his hair because of

the chemotherapy treatments his team-mates shed their locks. “There were about 10 or 12 of them that got their heads shaved,” he said. “My friends really tried to make me a part and to make me feel like everything was normal.” Cindy said the outpouring of support was simply overwhelming. “We were so deluged with phone calls when he was first diagnosed with people that were concerned, but I was so numb that I just couldn’t talk about it and if I did try to talk about it I cried,” Cindy said. “So, we created a website (www.bennettpage.org) and the response to that has also been incredible.” Bennett is scheduled to take chemo treatments until July 2010.

“What amazes me is that he takes daily chemo pills plus monthly chemo through his port in St Louis and has a quarterly spinal tap with chemo in his spine,” said Cindy. “I can’t wait to see what kind of athlete he is with no chemo and cancer free!” The Pages have a younger son, Hamil-ton, age 9, and to assure that he didn’t get pushed to the side during the lengthy treatment, she said that she took care of all the medical issues involving Bennett while her husband Sid managed all of Hamilton’s activities. Following more than a year of treatment Bennett returned to school this year and also attempted to resume his athletic career by trying out for the eighth grade baseball team.

Bennett can always depend on the support of his family in everything he does. Here he’s with mom Cindy and little brother Hamilton.

Bennett Page, right, chats with fellow All-Stars from Benton, Cole Forby, left, and Ethan Hughes, center.


When asked what it meant to be able to suit up and compete again Bennett kept his words to a minimum but the excitement in his voice was evident. “It was exciting, just really exciting,” he said.

Benton Middle School coach Kyle Kirkpatrick said he had reservations about Bennett trying to play while undergoing chemotherapy. “I was worried about it at first,” said Kirkpatrick. “Bennett showed up in August for practice and I was really concerned about the number of in-nings he would even be able to play. He ended up playing every inning of every game. He was one of the first ones to finish when we ran and he had the second highest batting average on the team. He did all that and had chemotherapy treatment twice during the season. He’d go through all that and then he’d come back and he was the same Bennett Page every day. It was just amazing to me.” At the end of the season Bennett was chosen to participate in the Southern Il-linois Baseball Coaches Association All-Star game that was played at Ray Fosse Park in Marion. The game is an east versus west match up with players from more than a dozen teams participated in the event. Sid Page talked about the contrast in those dark days of February last year to the recent sunny Saturday when his oldest son played in the SIBCA All-Star game.

“We really didn’t know if he would ever be healthy enough to play sports again, period,” Sid said. “When you think back to the way things looked 18 months ago and then to get to see him out on the field again in an all-star game, well, it was just an amazing feeling.” Sid said the entire ordeal has provided a great lesson to him concerning life’s priorities. “When it happens to somebody else you think, ‘that’s bad’ and then you go on with your own life,” he said. “When it hits home you really start looking at life completely different. It certainly makes you appreciate what’s important in life. When you read the website you just see

the number of people that have con-tacted us. It’s just incredible to see the support from our close friends and in some instances from people we didn’t even know.” Cindy echoed those sentiments and credits friends, prayer and faith in God for Bennett’s recovery. “Life will never be same for us,” she said. “We treasure every minute, the old saying about ‘stop to smell the roses’ well, I understand that now. We had a huge support system. The people of Benton really pulled together to help us. We just had tremendous sup-port and we’ll never forget that.” Kirkpatrick said Bennett’s desire to play and be a part of the team has pro-vided a lesson, not only for the entire team, but also for him personally as a

coach. “He’s a huge inspiration for his team-mates but he has also inspired me,” said Kirkpatrick. “When Bennett was first diagnosed with cancer somebody had a bunch of bracelets made up and I still wear mine today. I look down there and see it and it reminds me that no matter what you’re going through you just have to keep battling.” With baseball season behind him Bennett has turned his sights on basketball. “He’s at practice every day working hard,” said Kirkpatrick. “He’s sixth or seventh man right now, he’ll get a lot of playing time this year. Bennett just con-tinues to be an inspiration to us all and

Father Sid Page is all smiles when Bennett takes the field during the SIBCA All-Star game in Marion.


YOUTH IS SERVEDShawnee Community CollegeBy Shanon Woodworth

Golfer back on course after joining Shawnee team

Anthony Dempsey’s heart started beating faster as he slowly ap-proached the 18th green at Turtle

Run Golf Club in Danville. This was a moment he had looked for-ward to for some time.

Dempsey had walked away from his dream of being a collegiate golfer when he graduated from high school in 2005. It was a decision he’d made on his own, but one he had been carrying a tremendous amount of regret about.

Thankfully, for Dempsey, he was remembered as an outstanding golfer in high school. And when Shawnee Community College an-nounced that it was creating a competitive golf team, someone told SCC golf Coach D.W. Davis about him.

Davis took a chance and offered him a spot on the team. And, on Oct. 4 during a match at Turtle Run, Davis realized he was watching a rising star.When Dempsey approached the 18th, he was in first place. He was beating 56 other collegiate players.

“He was back, and I knew it,” Davis said. “You could see it in his eyes; he knew he was back, too.”

For Dempsey, it was a rebirth in the sport he had loved so much.

“I’ll just be honest,” Dempsey said. “I made some mistakes in high school. I did some things wrong, and I let my grades go. I turned my back on golf but golf never turned its back on me.”

The tournament in Danville was being

played for the 40th consecutive year and to take home the first-place trophy would be a tremendous honor, and Dempsey was fully aware of this.

In the end, however, Dempsey took home second-place, thanks to a birdie sunk on the final hole by the final golfer.

Dempsey accepted the trophy with more grit and determination than he ever had before.

Davis says that if Dempsey keeps his focus on the game, he’ll be a competitor in the national championship.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Davis said. “I saw a strong golfer out there. One who didn’t let up when he was down and one who played through discouragements, and who kept his heart and mind in the game.”

Dempsey said that while the fall season is over for golf, he would be prepared for spring and the chance to compete in the national championship at Goose Pond Golf Course in Scottsboro, Alabama.

Thanks to the indoor practice facilities at the Gambit Golf Club in Vienna, Dempsey said he would be able to practice five days a week throughout the winter.

In the meantime, Dempsey said he would keep his grades up. Currently, he is earning a nearly 3.9 grade point average at SCC.

“Playing for Shawnee has changed my life for the better,” Dempsey said. “It has given

me confidence; it has made me a com-petitor again.”

Dempsey graduated from Hopkinsville (Kentucky) High School in 2005. He at-tended one year of community college in Hopkinsville before coming to SCC.

“Playing for Shawnee has changed my life for the bet-ter,” Dempsey said. “It has given me confidence; it has made me a competitor

Anthony Dempsey (Photo Provided)


Saints Athletics: One more reason to GO SHAWNEE!!

Softball

Baseball Women’s Basketball

VolleyballMen’s Basketball

www.shawneecc.edu


By Jim MuirPhotos by Ceasar Maragni

Dressed in a green wind suit – McLeansboro’s favorite color Kelly green of course – Curt

Reed is a man in perpetual non-stop motion. Only minutes before a scheduled SISC interview Reed entered the Hamilton County High School gymnasium in full stride carrying a handful of papers that he said (as he hurried past) he had to take to another part of the school. With the quick and sure gait of a man half his age the 66-year-old Reed vanishes out of sight but quickly returns, slapping a couple of students on the back and mak-

ing small talk as he glides past. “OK boys,” he says as he approaches the photographer, videographer and reporter never slowing his stride. “Let’s get go-ing.” Through the storied annals of McLeans-boro basketball lore you have to believe that many young men have heard that same exact sentence, perhaps not quite as mild-mannered as it was delivered on this day. Unique, one-of-a-kind, a one-owner, contrary, tough, disciplinarian, hard-nosed, hard-headed, a cut-up, cantanker-

ous and sly are all words that have been used to describe Reed who is set to begin his 44th season of coaching. While Reed might be different things to different people the one constant that no-body can argue with is that he’s a winner and a coach that has the distinctive abil-ity to demand and then extract the utmost talent from his players. The fact that he’s notched more than 700 wins in his career is testament to his coaching skill, but the fact that he’s done it oftentimes with less talent than the opposition is a testament to Curt Reed the man. Like him or don’t like him, Curt Reed is his own man, period. Part Macedonia grit, part homespun humorist and 100 percent McLeans-boro toughness Reed is, as he phrases it, “chomping at the bit” for the 2008 round ball season to begin, his 21st as head coach at his alma mater, Hamilton County High School. Never at a loss for a quip, a quote or a seasoned anecdote, ask Reed how he’s doing and this might be the answer you get. “I’m doing just about like a Missouri sharecropper with a broken hoe leading a blind mule … but that’s better than a John Deere tractor in a half-acre field trying to plow a farrow lined with steel. You can’t plow steel but I can take that old, blind mule by the nose and get him from one end of that field to the other. So that old mule ain’t so bad after all.” Translated, that means Reed is doing just fine, thank you.

Many Southern Illinois basketball pur-ists know Reed only as the demanding, intense, sometimes glowering and of-tentimes intimidating coach that prowls the sidelines of Foxes’ games. But understanding Reed’s less-than-humble beginning, the poverty, hardships and daily difficulties that he had to overcome just to get to school each day certainly provides a glimpse about why he is not at all bashful about making demands of his players and those around him. Reed grew up dirt poor in Macedonia, a small farming community located on Route 14 between Benton and McLeans-boro – 12 miles west of McLeansboro and 12 miles east of Benton. His boy-hood home had no indoor plumbing and no electricity for a good portion of his high school days and his parents never owned an automobile. Reed is quick to point out that the loca-tion of the small frame home where he grew up also played directly into his future. “If I’d lived on the other side of the road,” Reed notes pointing to the Mace-donia Road, the dividing line between Hamilton and Franklin counties “I would have been in the Benton school district and I might be wearing maroon (Benton school colors) right now.” But, Reed lived on the Hamilton County side of that old blacktop, a stretch of road that he says he walked “a million times” and his wardrobe is predominate-ly Kelly Green. The house where Reed grew up as the youngest of six children is locate ap-proximately 1-1/2 mile south of Route 14 and from that point it’s another 12 miles east to the old McLeansboro High School. In a family that had no means of transportation other than walking, that 13-1/2 mile distance must have looked like 1,000 miles many mornings for Reed as he tried to get to school during basketball season for a 7 a.m. practice. “I’d walk that mile-and-a-half stretch on the Macedonia Road and it didn’t matter what the weather was – raining, sleet-ing, snowing – just to get to the highway.

Hamilton County boy’s basketball Coach Curt Reed at the Foxes Den in McLeansboro.

Reed talks with Keith Welch junior varsity basketball Coach at Hamilton County High School.


There was mornings when my hair was frozen,” said Reed. “And then when I’d get to the highway I’d stick my thumb out, we called it ‘thumbin’ back then, and I’d try to hitch a ride to McLeansboro and make it to practice on time. I’d be down at the highway between 5:30 and 6 o’clock in the morning and some days I’d end up walking half way there before I’d get a ride.” Reed said there were instances when he didn’t make it to practice on time, something that drew the attention but not the sympathy of then McLeansboro Coach Gene Haile, described by Reed as “a tough disciplinarian.” “Coach Haile didn’t cut me any slack at all, but it wasn’t just me. It didn’t matter if it was Jerry Sloan or David Lee, you were expected to be at practice on time,” said Reed. “I mean he didn’t threaten to kick me off the team or anything, but he told me there were players that were put-ting the time and the effort in and they were the ones that were going to play. He let me know that regardless of the situa-tion he expected me at practice on time, period.” Reed said that warning from his coach registered and prompted him to have his thumb out a little earlier the following morning and also provided somewhat of a Godsend. “The very next morning I hitched a ride from a lady and I was telling her about what my coach had told me,” recalled Reed. “She told me she worked at a dress factory and came down that road every

morning. She told me that if I’d be there at the highway she’d give me a ride. And from that day on she gave me a ride to practice a lot of mornings. All I know about her is that her name was Mrs. Miller … but I say God bless Mrs. Miller.” Reed said coming up with lunch money each day was a struggle during his high school days but laughed as he explained how his

competitive nature and a little innovation

helped him secure a mid-day meal in the school’s cafeteria. “Back in those days it cost 35-cents to eat lunch at school and there were many, many days that I didn’t have the 35-cents,” Reed said. “But, if I had a nickel or two I would go back behind the church with a group of boys and we’d draw a line in the dirt and pitch nickels to the line. The closest to the line got to keep all the nickels. That’s

probably not very good to tell that story but it’s the truth and that’s how I ate lunch most days.” Reed said he never felt sorry for himself but instead used the poverty he grew up in as a motivator. “I’d have to draw water from a well and then boil it to take a bath before school, we didn’t have a television and we had an old battery operated radio we used until we got electricity,” Reed recalled. “But you know, walking that old Mace-donia Road, getting your thumb out and going through those hard times made me a better man and made me appreciate what I have. I know what it’s like not to have the things you want and sometimes the things you need. I remember when I was a player and we’d finish practice and I’d see my teammates get in a car and drive off I’d think, ‘boy if I ever get a car to drive that would be the sweetest thing in the world.” Reed was asked if he sometimes re-calls the effort he had to make to get to practice when today’s players, most with their own vehicle, fail to be on time. “I still recall Coach Haile’s comments to me that day quite frequently,” Reed said. “I’ll be honest with you, it irritates me when somebody’s late and I know they have a vehicle and live right here in town. Yeah, it gets under my skin and I do think about what I had to go through to get to practice.” Reed makes no apologies for his tough and disciplined coaching style but

“Coach Haile didn’t cut me any slack at all, but it wasn’t just me. It didn’t matter if it was Jerry Sloan or David Lee you were expected to be at practice on time.” – Curt Reed –

Reed stomps his way through his turnip patch on the family homestead

Coach Reed stops for a soda and some conversation with his long-time friend Everett Sullivan who still operates a general storein Reed’s hometown of Macedonia.


career that also gave more insight into the world where he grew up. “Until I got to high school I had never even seen a football,” said Reed. “Now somebody might say, well where in the world did you grow up, but you have to remember that as a kid my world was Macedonia, we had no television, no transportation, shoot, I didn’t know where Benton was.” Obviously, once Reed got to high school and did see a football he figured out very quickly how to run and carry the pigskin at the same time. A bruising runner at 6-feet-3 and 205 pounds, Reed scored 122 points (20 touchdowns) during his nine-game senior season. “I could have gone further in football and I really liked track but my love was basketball, I just love basketball,” Reed said. “I remember back in the fifth grade I wrote an essay for a teacher that my ambition was to be a basketball coach. Back then I never dreamed that I would be able to do that and the only reason I did get an education and get to become a coach is because of athletics. Do you think my parents could have sent me to

college? There was no way, abso-lutely no way. If I hadn’t gotten an athletic scholar-ship I’d have never been able to go to college. It’s much more than just a ball bounc-ing, basketball has provided me with a livelihood and with

18

quickly points out that without a sup-port system his coaching philosophies wouldn’t be successful. “I’ve had great support here at McLeans-boro from the administration, the parents, and the fans. They’ve backed us 100 percent,” Reed said. The longtime Foxes’ coach was asked how Curt Reed the player, the kid that hitchhiked from Macedonia to practice, would have liked to play for Curt Reed the coach, the disciplinarian and task-master. “It would have been tough on Curt Reed the player,” he said. “In fact, it would have been tough on me and David Lee and Jerry Sloan when we were in high school to play for Curt Reed the coach. But, I’ll guarantee you one thing, we’d have gotten it done and we’d have gotten it done pretty good.” Reed said players today are required to know and absorb much more than during the era when he played in the late 1950s. “We might prepare for 20 different things that the other team is going to use and we might only use one of them. We go over every in-bounds play, every press, every offensive set that the other team will run,” said Reed. “When I played we ran three offensive plays – one, two and five. Number one was screen down, number two was screen across and num-ber five was to clear for either David Lee or Jerry Sloan. That was it and we won using those three plays.” A 1960 graduate of McLeansboro High School, Reed was a four-sport athlete playing basketball, baseball, football and track. Despite the fact that he lists basketball as his “first love” and has notched more than 700 wins as a coach he says football probably would have been his best opportunity in col-lege. Reed related a humorous story about his football

everything I have.” Reed said despite his hardships grow-ing up he never considered himself to be poor. “As far as monetarily, we didn’t have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of and there’s many a time I’ve gone from the house to the outhouse and got flogged by a rooster,” Reed said. “But, I had the most precious thing a person can have, my mother’s love …so no … I was not poor.” Reed received a basketball/football scholarship to Southern Illinois Univer-sity where he played one year before transferring to McKendree College, in Lebanon, where he had a stellar career and is a member of the school’s hall of fame. After short coaching stints at Wyanet (50 miles north of Peoria) and Tremont (near Morris) Reed returned to his roots coach-ing at the McLeansboro Junior High in 1975. He later became an assistant at the high school before taking over the head coaching position in 1986. Reed listed being an assistant on the undefeated 1984 McLeansboro team, a 28-3 team in 1992 and his 1991 Foxes’ team that went 0-5 in the Benton Invita-tional Tournament and then finished third in state as some of his most memorable coaching experiences. “It was just an unbelievable experience to be associated with that 35-0 team in 1984, and then as head coach, the 1991 and 1992 teams were very special to me,” Reed said. Reed often talks about “coaching to give his team a chance to win.” He was asked to define that particular phrase and also to list the single greatest reason for his success. “First, it’s called preparation,” said Reed. “When we go into a game we’re going to know everything that team is going to do, on in-bounds plays, press, defenses, offenses, everything they do. It’s like if you have a ‘C’ student and that student has the right preparation and goes over and over and over the material, there’s a

Coach Reed is proud of this ring which honors him for his induction into the Illinois Coach’s Association Hall of Fame.

Curt Reed with his wife Janet.


much greater chance they’ll do better on the test. In basketball the preparation is practice and the test is the game. Focus, detail and preparation, that’s how we give ourselves a chance to win.” Reed was asked what he enjoys most about coaching and what he enjoys least. “I enjoy the games, there’s no question about it, but I love practice, it’s where you prepare for the test,” said Reed. “As far as what I enjoy the least, that’s easy … riding the bus. I’ve been riding buses for more than 50 years.” While Macedonia might have been the extent of Reed’s world as a kid grow-ing up once he bought his first car – a 1953 Ford without a heater – he quickly showed a flair for exploration. “I worked all summer after I graduated high school for $2 an hour and finally got enough to buy that old car,” said Reed. “There was four or five of us from Southern Illinois that were going to McKendree and when I’d come home I would never go the same way back to Lebanon twice. Sometimes I’d take blacktop roads, sometimes highways and sometimes gravel roads. There are more ways to get from Macedonia to Lebanon

than you can imagine. That old car didn’t have a heater and I carried a bunch of blankets in the trunk and in the winter time when you got cold you just wrapped up in a blanket.” His coaching skills also allowed Reed to expand his boundaries even more. In 1997 Reed was hire by Tourney Sport USA to coach basketball in Hawaii and was later hired by Brigham Young Uni-versity to coach a college team during the summer in China. “I’ve been to Hawaii 10 times and to China three times,” said Reed. “If my mom and dad were alive they wouldn’t believe that.” Entering his 44th coaching campaign in a few weeks Reed said he has not lost any of his drive or desire and said he has no plans to retire. “If you’re coaching young men and you don’t still get excited and fired up you’re not worth your salt,” Reed said. “As far as how long I’ll coach, I’ll coach until they either fire me, I don’t enjoy it or I’m not able to do it. Right now I still get excited just talking about it, I love coach-ing, I love basketball and I love kids.”

A 'Hairy' Experience at

A ‘Hairy’ Experience atMcKendree

By Tom Wheeler The McLeansboro bus pulled up at the Johnston City football field for a Friday night game. As guys were grabbing their bags to carry in, Curt Reed, a senior all-state candidate yelled, “Wheeler, carry my bag in.” I was thrilled, I didn’t know if I should say, ‘yes sir, Mr. Reed’ or what, so I just grabbed his bag and told the other sophomores, “out of the way, I have Reed’s bag.” Fast forward two years. Now I’m a freshman at McKendree College. As a green freshman, I was required to wear a small purple “beanie” to show everyone I was a first year student. That afternoon I ran into Curt, already a big-man-on-campus. He looked at me and said “get that hat off, you look silly.” Believing in the ex-Fox I did just as he said. Later that night a group of upperclassmen asked me where my beanie was. I boldly told them, “Curt Reed told me I didn’t have to wear it.”

Coach Reed at home where a stuffed fox holds a prominent place in his basement den.

Curt Reed (circa 1959) sports the long curly lock down his forhead, a hairstyle he had worn since he was seven years old.


They apologized for harassing me and it was then that I was in Curt’s path ev-ery step he took. In fact for two years I was referred to as “The Shadow” because you didn’t see the big Fox without the little one beside him. On the night before we were to go home on Christmas break, I was cut-ting hair (50-cents a cut) in Curt and Chuck Garrett’s room. It was getting late and about dozen guys were in the room. Curt came in and sat in my barber chair, just playing around. Now you must realize, Curt had this long hair, with this long curl that hung down on his forehead, he had this hairstyle since he was seven years old. I asked if he wanted a burr and he grunted at me. I then said “if you get a burr, every guy in here will let you cut their hair, right guys?” They all agreed, knowing that Curt would never-ever get a burr. Before any one could take another breath, the “Shadow” took his clippers down the middle of Curt’s head and gone was the curl. As guys panicked at what I had done they rushed for the door, but quick-as-a-cat, Curt grabbed the door. “Now, we’re all going to get our burrs, finish me up Tom.” Kenny Dillingham was almost in tears as he watched Curt trimming guy’s hair; he looked out the third story window wondering if he could jump. Cliff Davis thought it was all funny, but then Cliff was like me, he wore his hair short. Bobby Joe Karnes remem-bers “wearing my toboggan all Christ-mas vacation.” Before the night was over Curt was grabbing people from the john across from his room and they were getting free cuts. Garrett came in and he became a barber as well, on the night 30 head of hair was cut. Every weekend for two years Curt Reed made sure I got home, and then back on Sunday night. Each trip was different; we never went the same way. From McLeansboro to Lebanon some-times we went thru Coello, sometimes

thru Sparta, sometime Coulterville I never knew and never asked. But I did know that when Curt said he wouldn’t forget me, he wouldn’t forget me. Riding in his Ford was an adventure in itself. In the winter he kept blankets in thecar because the heater wasn’t the best. There was a hole inside the back floor board and if it rained the tires pushed the rain in. The passenger door in back wouldn’t stay locked, so it would come open if you took a quick turn. One winter night after a game we were heading to town, snow five feet deep and freezing weather. As we were leaving the gym I asked teammates Larry Coldfield (Carrier Mills), Bennie Ellis (Shawneetown) and Clarence Oliver (Mounds) if they wanted to ride with us. They quickly said “No way!” I couldn’t understand why, know-ing they were going to have to walk. Finally Curt told me why. The night before after practice he gave them a ride to town, but before they got there he took them out to the country where he had found a hill with a frozen pond at the bottom. Do I have to tell you the rest, how he gunned the Ford down to the pond and as soon as he hit the frozen ice he went into a spin and the back door flew open. Needless to say, the three swore they would never ride with him again. Curt Reed is my buddy, my friend, my cohort, and my pal. If you know Curt you may consider him a ‘buddy’ also. If he’s squeezed your hand so hard when shaking hands that you can’t feel your fingers for a week, you may be a buddy. If you’ve heard him ask, ‘which way did they go, I only caught a glimpse of them,” or ‘do you want to mumble in the moss, Bub,’ or ‘do you want to jump rope or smoke dope,’ or ‘do you want to sling snot or throw the shot. Or maybe you’ve asked im ‘how do you feel?’ only to be told by Reed that he ‘feel with my fingers’ and wiggles his fingers. If you have been asked any of these, then you too are Curt Reed’s buddy, and probably just as proud of that as I am.

One of the Best

Back in the good ol’ days a high school athlete was just that, an athlete. Whatever the season, he was there to help his school

team win, no specializing, and no quit-ting one sport to concentrate on another, just what shape is the ball now? Simply stated, McLeansboro’s Curt Reed was one of the best all-around athletes to ever come out of Southern Illinois.As a football player Curt was a 6-feet-3, 205 pound running back and outside linebacker. As a senior for the Foxes he scores 122 points, good enough to be the leading scorer in the south. He had that unique ability to be just as fast in pads as he was without them. As a sophomore defensive back (we had to scrimmage the varsity) Dean Webb, John Brockett and myself devised signals to use at practice. If one of us yelled “left” that meant we would all run to the right. It would also mean Curt was carrying the ball left and if we wanted to live we ran in the other direction. Assistant Coach Dick Jones would get on us and we would answer “David Lee (quarterback) just faked us out.” It finally got so bad that when Curt broke thru the line, instead of going for the goal, he would look for one of us to run over. Think about a locomotion com-ing at my solid 125 pound frame, some-thing had to give (or possibly break). Curt was a good enough football player that he played freshman football at Southern Illinois University for Coach Carmen Piccone. Other area athletes who played freshman football with Curt included Christopher’s Bill Bullock and Dave Harris, and Wendell Grant and Lyndell Chamness from Johnston City. In basketball, some thought that Curt was always in the shadows of his good friend Jerry Sloan. Most fans that went to a Foxes game would also come away talking about Curt. He could run, shoot, rebound and you sure didn’t want him to guard you. Curt scored 485 points his se-nior year and 1,078 for a career that be-gan his sophomore year when he became a starter. This was after an outstanding junior high career at a school called Reed


(really, that was its name). Curt averaged 15.3 points in McLeansboro Christmas tournament (19.6 on the year) and only Fairfield’s Bob Demier and Sloan scored more. Curt was a good enough athlete that SIU wanted him to play basketball as well as football. Freshman basketball coach George Iubelt and varsity Coach Harry Gallatin was excited about getting Reed along with Southern Illinois products Eldon Bigham, Pinckneyville, Eddie Blythe, Carbondale and West Frankfort’s Dave Pike who was also recruited to play both sports. After starting on both freshman teams Curt returned to SIU as a sophomore wanting to only play bas-ketball, but the football coaches wanted him to play football where he was listed as a starter. Curt and Centralia all-stater Chuck Garrett decided to transfer to McKendree to play basketball for Coach Barney Oldfield. At McKendree he became a legend on and off the court and was named MVP his senior year. I remember one game his senior year where we were playing Drury College. Our 6-feet-10 center Jim Morby, from Peoria, was benched for the game by Coach Lou Vesley. Curt was moved from power forward to center on the night and had to guard a 6-feet-8, 250 pound center

21

that looked like he was chiseled out of granite. Despite the fact that he was giv-ing up five inches and 50 pounds Reed scored 26 points that night and had a remarkable 21 rebounds. Curt’s basket-ball career did not stop after his playing days at McKendree, while coaching at Tremont High School he played for the Peoria Chiefs of the Continental Basket-ball League. As great as Curt was in the fall and win-

ter sports it was in the spring in track and field where he was a one-man wrecking crew As a senior he scored 31 individual points in a 69-53 loss at Mt. Vernon. He won the highs, lows, and discus while finishing second in the 220 and the shot put. Sloan finished second in both the mile and two mile that afternoon.

At a meet at Carmi, Curt won the highs, lows and 220 while teammate Lee won the 100 and 440 and another senior all-around athlete Jack Winemiller won the discus and high jump.

Curt was also involved in what old tim-ers called “an incredible hurdle race ” when he, Christopher’s Bullock and Johnston City’s Grant finished in a three way tie in the low hurdles in Christo-pher in a meet that Marion won. Grant went on to be state champion in the high hurdles that year while Curt advanced to state in four events his junior and senior years Simply put, when I was growing up if you looked in Webster’s Dictionary for the word ‘all-around athlete’ you would find a picture of McLeansboro’s Curt Reed. – Tom Wheeler –

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The caption on this newspaper clipping reads:“CURT REED was a top scorer in Southern Illinois high school football the past season with 122 points. And now he’s averaging 19.6 points per game as a cager.”


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By Roger Lipe - Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Roger Lipe has served with Southern Illinois FCA since 1994 when he became the region’s first direc-tor. Roger operates out of the Carbondale FCA Office.You can reach him at: [email protected]

Headline: Opponent ≠ Enemy

From my earliest days in sport I can recall the attitude, held by many, that opponent = enemy. When

competitors are stating the score, I have heard and said, “Good guys up 10-7.” I remember a long-time college and pro-fessional football coach saying in very explicit language and without any pang of conscience, “They ARE the enemy!!” Many of us would join him in such state-ments. Most of us would have to confess to a less than charitable attitude toward our opponents. Let’s investigate this a little further. Practically speaking, a competition with-out a worthy opponent is just a practice. Without an opponent one cannot fully compete. In a very profound sense, we need our opponents just to have real

competition. The opponent is a neces-sary component to the whole process. An opponent is needed and should therefore be respected, whereas an enemy is hated and life is better without them.

An opponent makes a competitor better and the more competent the opponent, the greater the improvement for all concerned. Enemies aim to destroy each

other and that only results in harm to both. A worthy, respectful opponent helps bring out the best in sport for those who play their hearts out. A contentious, ruthless, enemy-oriented attitude only serves to bring out the worst in everyone involved. Play your heart out with a wise attitude that displays respect for your opponent and you will find such character reflected toward you. Compete foolishly as if opponent = enemy and you will devalue the beauty of sport for yourself, your teammates, your opponents, the officials and the spectators.

A worthy, respectful op-ponent helps bring out the best in sport for those who play their hearts out. A con-tentious, ruthless, enemy-oriented attitude only serves to bring out the worst in everyone involved.

Faith on the Field


Murf’s TurfBy Mike Murphy

Saluki Basketball – The Wait Is Over

The much-anticipated SIU basket-ball season has finally arrived. Season ticket sales have topped last year’s record number and

fans have gone ga-ga over what has been billed the best recruiting class in SIU basketball history.

The new record for season ticket sales is remarkable considering the direction of the area economy in the past year. It’s also something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by coaches and players.

“It really is something our staff and play-ers realize,” said Associate Head Coach Rodney Watson. “I know gas prices have started to come down but money is money and people still have to buy clothes for the kids and groceries. Don’t think it doesn’t make a difference to our players knowing people are faced with choices and they find ways to buy tickets to come support our program.”

Most of the frenzy surrounding this year’s team swirls around the new recruits. The group includes last years Mr. Basketball in Illinois, Kevin Dillard and a pair of St. Louis area players, Torres Roundtree and Anthony Booker. Dillard becomes the first ever Mr. Basketball at SIU and the fact that he averaged 23.3 points per game a year ago on a team that went 27-2 makes your head start to swim. I’m sure basketball fans remember Mr. Basketball in Illinois from 2007, Derrick Rose who played one season at Memphis, led them to the NCAA National Championship game against Kansas then went straight to the Chicago Bulls. Kind of makes you wonder if we will still be watching Dillard in a couple years at Carbondale.

SIU has other newcomers and returning players like Bryan Mullins, Wesley Clem-mons, Tony Boyle, Christian Cornelius,

and Carlton Fay. Mullins is the only one guaranteed a starting spot heading into the season. He makes no bones about it, this team could be special.

“I’ve never played with this much talent before,” said Mullins. “It enables you to do so many different things the way we go at people.”

What it might mean is that Floor Burn U now has the offense to go with that suf-focating relentless defense that is now an SIU trademark.

One of the complaints in years past was the way SIU seemed to shuffle around on the offensive end until the shot clock reached eight seconds and then rush a hurried shot. This team should be much better at creating opportunities for shots in the half court or off the break. This team should also have better shooters which should translate into more points. In Canada over the summer, Lowery’s squad averaged, averaged, 80 points per game or about 12 more points per game than last year’s team.

There will be ups and downs with this

group. One of Lowery’s toughest jobs might be keeping everybody happy with enough minutes of playing time. However, that is a problem many coaches would love to have.

Some of the major questions entering the season: Can SIU rebound well enough? Is Nick Evans ready for big time D-I basket-ball? Is Mullins foot completely healed?

There is a word that should be repeated quite often during this SIU Hoops season and that word is “patience.” Potential is a heavy thing that hangs around your neck and if things don’t go well early the weight gets almost unbearable until it drags you onto the floor. Let this outfit find its way and let this coaching staff mold it into the team that will make SIU a group that can go deep into the post season and upset the big boys.

Granted SIU basketball is heading in the right direction and it will make it. It might just take a little more time than some fans are willing to give. For me I’m just going to sit back and enjoy.

Let’s meet here next month.


The JALC JournalBy Teri Campbell

Logan Volleyball Team Earns Share of Conference and Region Titles

The John A. Logan College volleyball team completed regular-season play on November 1 with a record of 38-10. The Lady Vols posted a league mark of 7-1, earning a share of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference championship and the Region 24 title. They also took first place at the McKendree University Tournament, the John Wood Invitational, the Wisconsin-White-water JV Invitational and the Kankakee Community College Classic. Defensively, freshman libero Jaclyn Rodriguez leads Logan with 5.2 digs per game, which ranks eighth in the nation. Middle blocker Ashley Perry, a sophomore from Sparta, ranks ninth nationally in blocks, averaging 1.42 per game for the Lady Vols.On offense, sophomore Christy Long, an outside hitter from Carbondale, leads Logan in kills, contributing 2.9 per game, and Tara Ryterski, a sophomore from Nashville, Illinois, adds two kills per contest. Freshman setter Megan Hughes of Car-bondale and Murphysboro native Kristi Dewulf lead the Lady Vols in assists, averaging 5.5 and four per game, respectively.“We’ve had an excellent season and I’m happy that we’re co-champs in the conference,” said Fae Ragan, head volleyball coach at Logan. “Our sophomores have provided great leader-ship and played well all year. Christy Long is our go-to hitter and has anchored our offense all season. Tara Ryterski is valu-able in the outside and right side hitter positions. Kristi Dewulf provides outstanding setting and hitting contributions, and

Ashley Perry has been our rock in the middle on offense and defense. Jessica Gericke (Freeburg, Illinois) is a quality outside hitter and defender as well. As a whole, the sophomore class is one of the most talented I’ve coached at Logan.”While the season has been successful, the team has had its share of setbacks.“We’ve had injuries at nearly every position this season,” Ra-gan said. “It was tough at times, but the players worked hard to overcome the obstacles we faced. We’re excited about the way we’re playing now. We have a chance to win over 40 matches and we’re looking forward to the post-season.”For more information on Logan’s volleyball team, visit the John A. Logan College athletics website at: www.jalc.edu/ath-letics.

Fall Golf Season Wrap-Up

The John A. Logan College men’s and women’s golf teams had solid fall campaigns. The Volunteers competed in seven events, winning the Illinois State Junior College Championship and placing second in the Region 24 Preview Tournament.

“Six of our seven players are freshmen so we’re a very young team,” said Tom Ferris, head coach of the Volunteers. “We had some bright spots this fall, but we also played inconsistently at times as I expected with so many new players. From top to bot-tom, this is one of the most talented groups I’ve had. All of the guys are capable of shooting low scores, and we had five dif-ferent players lead us at the tournaments this season. This fall was important for gaining experience and maturity and we’ll continue to work hard in the off season to improve.”

On the women’s side, the Lady Vols competed in four tourna-ments this fall. They had their best showing in their final event, the Triton & Bear Invitational, where they took fifth and were the highest placing community college team in the field, also finishing ahead of several four-year universities.

“Jackie Jacobs (Metropolis) played great for us all season,” said Bill Glenn, head coach of the Lady Vols. “She won medal-ist honors at the Rend Lake Invitational and made the all-tour-nament team at the Kentucky Wesleyan College Fall Classic. All of the players performed well in our last event. We shot a 322 on the first day of competition, which is one of the lowest 18-hole team scores we’ve ever recorded. It was nice to end the fall season on a high note.”

For more information on Logan’s golf teams, visit the John A. Logan College


By Joe Szynkowski

Ryan Patton knew what he was getting into when he decided to walk on to Southern Illinois University’s football team. Always the standout multi-

sport athlete at West Frankfort, Patton wasn’t used to sitting on the sidelines. But that’s exactly what he found himself doing during his 2005 redshirt freshman season with the Salukis. Ineligible to play in any games, Patton quarterbacked the scout team offense while Nick Hill was being groomed for the soon-to-be depart-ing Joel Sambursky. But playing time early in his college career was worth trading, Patton said, for the chance to learn and soak in the col-lege game. When his coaches switched him to linebacker in the spring before his first eligible season, Patton’s patience was rewarded and he found his niche. “I

had some other offers from smaller schools but my whole goal was to either play basketball or football at the highest level possible,” Patton said. “Coming to SIU also gave me the greatest chance of playing and staying close to home.” Patton played in 11 games in 2006, recording nine tackles and one interception. He started his first college game last season and finished his sophomore campaign with 17 tackles. Now a junior, Patton has arrived as a bona-fide college linebacker – but the transition took some adjust-ing.

“It is definitely a different game,” Patton said. “I’m not the fastest guy so I figured the biggest difference between high school and college would be the speed of the game. The other thing was the physical aspect. My first year of camp, I learned just how physical it was.” Patton has delivered for the Salukis this season and is among the team leaders in tackles. He recorded eight tackles on Sept. 27 during SIU’s last-minute victory over Northern Iowa. He also returned an interception 52 yards for a touch-down in SIU’s 33-0 win over Youngstown State on Oct. 18. “That was definitely a great feeling,” Patton said of the interception. “I don’t know if I have one specific highlight that would be my most memorable moment. Obviously we had that huge win against Northern Iowa. And my first start last year against Indiana State was pretty nerve-wracking. I guess there are just a lot of little instances I will certainly always remem-ber.” Close to the top of his list of accomplish-ments are Patton’s academic honors. He was West Frankfort’s valedictorian and was named second-team academic all-conference in 2007 for the Salukis. He also last year received the Missouri Valley Football Conference Commis-sioner’s Academic Excellence Award. First-year SIU football coach Dale Lennon has seen Patton’s intelligence firsthand. He said the middle linebacker is quick on his feet and smart with his decisions, the perfect fit for the Salukis’ defensive scheme. “The 3-4 defense is definitely a thinking-man type of defense,” Lennon said. “And Ryan has really excelled in that respect. He’s a student of the game and a very quick study.”

“The 3-4 de-fense is defi-nitely a think-ing-man type of defense. And Ryan has really excelled in that respect. He’s a student of the game and a very quick study.” – SIU Coach Dale Lennon –

A true student of the game, Patton says the extra time spent watching game film has improved his skill as a linebacker.


Nicknamed “The General” by his team-mates, Ryan Patton beat the odds as a walk-on at SIU and is now a defensive mainstay for the Salukis

Phot

o by

Tom

Web

er

Playing in a drenching rain, Patton signals to the sideline for the next defensive scheme during the Northwestern game.

‘General Patton’


“I’ve just spent a lot of time learning the college game,” Patton said. “It’s not like I was going out there to prove to other people I could play at that level. More than anything I just wanted to prove it to myself.” Patton had already proved his abilities to anyone fa-miliar with West Frankfort athletics. He won regionals and sectionals during his high school days, while earning accolades such as all-state, all-south and all-conference. “Fortunately we were able to have quite a bit of suc-cess in baseball, football and basketball,” Patton said. “What you take the most from high school are the relationships with your teammates and coaches. We had a great group of guys and I still keep in contact with a lot of them. You just remember the little things like moments from practice or traveling that you can look back on.” Patton, 21, was a standout basketball player at West Frankfort, leading his team to a sectional title game his senior season and draw-ing plenty of attention from college scouts. When asked what position Patton played, Redbirds coach Kevin Toney replied, “all of them.”

“He had the smarts and the speed to bring the ball up for us,” Toney said. “But he also had enough strength and size to play down low. He wasn’t the fastest or biggest kid, but he had the competitiveness and that helped him a

lot.” It was a simple request from a timid Patton during his sophomore season that still strikes Toney as an indicator of great leadership and dedication. “It’d be Friday or Saturday night after a game and I’d be in my office,” Toney re-called. “He’d knock on my door and ask if he could borrow a ball and turn on the lights. What am I going to say, ‘No, you can’t put in extra work?’ Maybe an hour later, he’d come back down and he’d be drenched in sweat. And that became almost a habit for him and some of his teammates.

“They didn’t do it after every game and sometimes they would just play H-O-R-S-E, but a lot of times you could hear the shoes squeaking and the balls bouncing a little more firmly. That just shows his leadership skills. He didn’t just do it by himself, he got the other kids to join him.” Lennon has also been impressed by Pat-ton’s leadership skills. Aptly nicknamed “The General” by his teammates, Patton has proved his defensive mettle during SIU’s Saturday afternoon battles. “Ryan makes sure everyone is in the right place at the right time and his team-mates know they can depend on him,” Lennon said. “And he’s around a very talented group of players. But he’s that constant for us, that foundation. That’s probably his best quality, his depend-ability.” (Joe Szynkowski is a freelance contributor for SISC. He can be reached at [email protected].)

“I’ve just spent a lot of time learning the college game. It’s not like I was going out there to prove to other people I could play at that level. More than anything I just wanted to prove it to myself.”

--Ryan Patton, SIU linebacker--


Ask The ADBy Mario Moccia, SIU Athletic Director

• My question for you is about the new name for our football conference. I see it listed as the “Missouri Valley Foot-ball Conference.” Why the inclusion of the sport name? When Coach Lowery takes his Dawgs on the road to Creigh-ton, it's for a Missouri Valley Confer-ence game, not a “MVBC” game. Is the football conference separate from the rest of the Missouri Valley Con-ference sports, which all just go by “MVC?”

• The word football is included because it is not part of the Missouri Valley Conference (i.e. the 10 members that make up the MVC). The Missouri Valley Football Conference is a stand-alone conference, which rebranded its name this year from the Gateway Conference. This was done in part to take advantage of the positive exposure received by the Missouri Valley Conference. The two conferences, Missouri Valley Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference are separate entities, although league staff members work cooperatively in the same office.

• I've noticed with a lot of other college sports programs, the teams will go over to the band and student section and celebrate a win with them and sing the fight song. Why don't the Saluki basketball or football teams do this? I think it would motivate the stu-dent section and get them to actually learn the words to “Go Southern Go.”

• Good question. This is something that coaches usually incorporate into their programs from the beginning of their tenure or are part of long-standing traditions (University of Texas comes to mind). I'll mention this to the coaches to see if they would consider this. I know that the football program sings the fight song in the locker room after each win, and versus the University of North-ern Iowa, the team actually piled back

see that massive amount of dirt when I returned from St. Louis. I know noth-ing every goes as fast as we would like, and we have many more hoops to jump through as a University. At the present time, I would encourage you to look at our website to see some of the massive work being done west of Abe Martin Field. There is heavy equipment all over, and they are moving massive amounts of earth to build the new rec play fields. As soon as this is completed, you will see significant work take place on the new football site in March. The rec fields are so inaccessible to most people so I asked for photos to be posted on the site, so our fans can see we are actually mak-ing significant progress. We just opened three bid packages of a total of 40 for this project, so we are certainly on our way – just not sprinting out of the gate. This project is a marathon not a sprint, for sure.

• Will the problems with the economy and the credit markets have any effect on the progress of the football stadium and Arena renovations?

• Certainly, potential donors pause when their portfolios are down. Athletics, in general, is more recession-proof than many other things, but we are very aware of the economy. On a positive note, we had an all-time high football crowd a few weeks ago, and have already broken the all-time high of season-ticket sales for men's basketball. The way we have structured Saluki Way giving can be paid over a five-year period of time, in any increment, so if the markets are down and you still want to make a $50,000 commitment, we won't ask for $10,000 in year one. You can do $2,000 in year one, $2,000 in year two and the balance of the $46,000 would need to be paid over the next three years. In addition, these gifts are most likely 100 percent tax deductable so there are some other benefits as well.

outside to sing in front of the fans, and it was very well received.

• We have been to the last four home-coming weekends, three of them the weather made it difficult to sit through an entire game. Is there a reason we are committed to an early October date for Homecoming? Is a November date out of the question? If it is, could we possibly move the game to a night time start?

• Actually, the Department of Athletics has a very small say in what game and time are selected for homecoming. An individual on campus, Don Castle who is the Assistant Director of the Student Center, seems to be the point person for many different interests (Alumni Association, Foundation, Student Af-fairs, etc...). The two biggest events are

Family Weekend and Homecoming. We haven't set next year's game in stone, but it seems like there may be religious holi-days on both the September 19 and 26 games, so Family Weekend and Home-coming would perhaps fall on October 10 and October 24, respectively. Due to weather concerns, this would be about as late in the calendar as they would like to go. In addition, the game time is ultimately set by television. If there is no TV component, I am told they prefer an afternoon start to allow folks who attend the parade to go to the game immediately after the pre-game alumni tent festivities.

• It seems like Saluki Way construc-tion is moving very slowly. When will we start seeing major construction and earth moving events?As they say, ask and ye shall receive. I was just as surprised as anyone to


Southern Illinois golfers shined brightly in IHSA state competition with the Marion Lady Wildcats earning their first Class AA state championship and the

Benton Rangers grabbing a second place finish in Class A play. The girl’s Class AA tournament was held at Stone Creek Golf Club in Makanda and the boy’s Class A tournament was held at Bloomington. Cassie Rushing shot a 151 in the two-day event to lead the Lady Wildcats and twin sister Ashleigh was close behind with a 154. Other team members include Camp-bell Hunt, Lauren Bond, Melissa Sharpe and Hannah Pool. The Lady Wildcats are coached by Mary Thomason. The Rangers made a gallant second day charge starting in fourth place and pass-ing Mount Carmel and Peoria Christian but couldn’t overtake eventual state

champion St. Thomas More of Cham-paign. Bryce Doughty shot a two-day total of 149, good enough for eighth place individually. Other Benton golfers included Shane Dyel, Andrew Mitchell,

Thomas Simpson and Josh Harp. The Rangers are coached by Scott Simpson. In addition to the two outstanding team efforts Massac County’s Dustin Korte shot a two-day total of 144 good enough

Marion High School wonthe Class AA girls tournament. State Champs from left to right : Coach Mary Thomason, Hannah Pool, Campbell Hunt, Lauren Bond, Melissa Sharpe, Ashleigh Rushing and Cassie Rushing. Ph

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Marion’s Cassie Rushing with her tee shot on the 9th hole at Stone Creek

Photo by Chris Kays


(1) Centralia’s Anica Shores connects off the tee in Class AA competition at Stone Creek. (2) Wallace Huddson, chef at Kokopelli Golf Club in Marion, takes a closer look at the IHSA 2008 Class AA State Championship Golf Trophy won by the Marion High School girl’s team which was on display during a dinner at the Golf Club Restaurant honoring the team and their coach. (3) Shane Dyel with his second shot on the long par-5 seventh hole. (4) The 2008 Benton Ranger golf team, IHSA Class 1A State runners-up. (5) Massac County’s Dustin Korte with his runner-up medal.(6) Marion’s Ashleigh Rushing with her tee shot on the 9th hole at Stone Creek on the way to a two day total of 154.

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By Joe Szynkowski Rik Hicks wants to run you over. Scoring a game-winning touchdown is fun and all, but what Anna-Jonesboro’s 210-pound linebacker/fullback really relishes is contact. Just ask those who have encountered his stifling stiff-arm or those who have tried to disrupt his bowling-ball balance. They’d probably describe Hicks with one word – physical. “That’s the first thing that comes to my mind,” said Wildcats defensive coordina-tor Mike Eudy. “I know what he does in the weight room, how hard he works. He’s a big kid who runs hard and plays very, very physical football.”

Combine that size and ferocity with the quickness of a tailback and you’ve got Hicks. “He’s got that nice combo of size and speed which makes him a multiple threat for teams trying to defend against him,” said A-J coach Brett Detering. “He’s so big and physical to where he can certain-ly pound away, but he’s quick enough to compete with the fast kids, too.” Hicks started playing football as a fourth-grader at the urging of a family friend. He was instantly hooked and is now aspiring to play at the next level – “whoever gives me the chance,” he said. He started at defensive end as a sopho-more and had to wait his turn for full-back duties. His patience paid off. “He didn’t really get many carries during his sophomore year because we didn’t

play him with the soph-omores,” Detering said. “And there was a senior starting varsity in front of him at fullback so he really missed a year of running the football. “He’s run as well this year as any. He’s learned how to break a lot of tackles, he runs with his pads down so people don’t get a great shot at him. And he learned how to give good stiff-arms for kids trying to go low on him.” Hicks also competes in track during the spring and was part of last year’s relay team that advanced to the state tournament. Eudy, who is also A-J’s track coach, has seen Hicks’ hard work during the spring translate to Friday-night glory. “Being as big as he is he runs the football very well,” Eudy said. “Track has really made

him a better football player. And he’s as hard a worker as we’ve ever had here.” Hicks hasn’t experienced a losing varsity football season in Anna. In fact, no Wildcat has since 1999. Detering became A-J’s head coach in 1997 and took his lumps early, going 3-6, 0-9 and 4-5 his first three seasons. But he has led the Wildcats to the playoffs the past nine seasons and has restored the program to a prominence it experienced in the early 80s. “I think it’s an advantage that they come through high school watching the other guys in front of them be so successful,” Detering said. “Guys see what they have to do to maintain that. But on the other hand, they don’t really know how hard it was in the beginning or where we came from.

At 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds if A-J’s Rik Hicks can’t run around you he’ll try and run over you


“But they know how hard they have to work in order to not take a step back. Our kids like the challenge of upholding our tradition.”

Hicks echoed those sentiments. “Some people might think we take the winning for granted but all of us team-mates know it takes a lot of hard work,” Hicks said. “It’s taken a lot of long hours of practice for us to be able to get where we are today.” Playing at “The Pit,” Anna’s unique bowl-like football field wasn’t always so fun for the home team. The team didn’t re-cord a winning season through the 90s. Hicks credits Detering and his other coaches for turn-ing the program around. “Coach D, he’s a real smart guy,” Hicks said. “Ever since my sophomore year, he’s taught me so much about the game and how it’s supposed to be played.” And that has led to happy days at “The Pit.” “Playing at home is a pretty good feeling,” Hicks said. “Just being able to play almost down in a valley where our fans are up high and all around

us helps get the players really hyped up.” And the last thing an opposing coach or player needs is a hyped-up Hicks. He has taken pride in his running game, working hard in the offseason on learning how

to stay low and breaking tackles with stiff-arms. “The past couple of years I’ve had the chance to run the ball a lot,” Hicks said. “I like that because you get the chance to run people over. Defense is fun too because you’re able to hit the other guy.” Eudy feels fortunate to have such a hard-nosed player anchoring his defensive attack. “When I look back and think about Rik Hicks I’ll remember our kids in practice

wanting to get out of his way,” Eudy said. “I get to take care of the scout team defense and I watch the kids want to hit him low, but they know they can’t because you want to keep your players healthy. So a lot of times guys will go up

to make the tackle and realize it’s him and kind of shy away.” Hicks’ hits aren’t the only reason A-J cruised to another playoff berth this season – his kicking leg has been just as instrumental. Whether it’s a clutch field goal or a deep kickoff, the Wildcats know Hicks will come through. “He’s really been a complete player for us,” Eudy said, “not only on offense and defense, but kicking balls deep into the end zone on kickoffs, too. He feels like he can consistently pin people down there. And having teams start out at the 20 yard line every time really helps our defense out.” Detering said Hicks’ leg has helped give the team a boost not only during games, but at practice as well. He recalled one story from this season that epitomized Hicks’ fun-loving personality and competitive nature, two things that have trickled down to his teammates. “During practice we had a field-goal kicking contest and he lost to me,” Detering boasted. “He can definitely out-kick me by about 40 yards, but he missed a couple wide left and I won. Just little stuff like that makes it fun to be around Rik. He’s just a good-natured, hard-working kid who loves the game.” (Joe Szynkowski is a freelance contributor for SISC. He can be reached at [email protected].)

“I know what he does in the weight room, how hard he works. He’s a big kid who runs hard and plays very, very physical football.”

– A-J defensive coordinator Mike Eudy –

A-J ‘s star running back Rik Hicks

An outstanding running back Hicks is also a mainstay for the Wildcats’ stingy defense.


YOUTH IS SERVEDFrom Where I SitBy Tom Wheeler

The Agony of Defeat

Basketball season is here, and with it will come the ‘thrill of victory’ along with the ‘agony of defeat.’

As a high school senior at McLeansboro our Foxes rolled into the basketball pow-erhouse Pinckneyville led by All-Stater Sam Ulrich (he had 25 on the night). The Panthers were undefeated and ranked 11th in the state polls. With 5 seconds left in the game yours truly was looking for leading scorer Jim Burns to get him the ball, trouble was Jim had fouled out, so I launched a jumper that was all net and the Foxes won 65-63 – the thrill of victory. You would think at my old age that I would remember that feeling even today, but to be honest, the feeling I remember from my prep career is just the opposite. Rewind to 1961, our Foxes just upset a great Carrier Mills team to win the regional and then beat an undefeated Joppa team (27-0) in the schools first sectional win. This put us in the sectional championship against a Benton team led by rookie coach Rich Her-rin for the right to go to the Sweet 16. With less than a minute to go I knocked down two free throws to give us a three point lead. To be honest I was only in

the game because our leading scorer on the night, Lloyd Ingram had fouled out. As the Rangers brought the ball down the court I knocked the ball away from Terry Thomas and took off for a wide open lay up, the kind you’ve practiced since you were a little pup. For some reason I remember thinking, if I start my shot at the free throw line God would somehow let it fall in and I would be a hero. I choked. But, it gets worse. Ranger sophomore Bob Crawford immediately scored for the Rangers. Now we’re only up 52-51, less than 25 seconds and we have the ball. David Lee is double-teamed so I bring the ball down the court. After a quick pass to Johnny Brockett I cut to the opposite corner before Brockett threw it away. As a whistle blows I am absolutely stunned to see one official pointing at

me for a charging foul completely away from the ball. Bobby Orchard hits both free throws for the Rangers giving him 18 on the night. We bring the ball down the court, Lee takes a shot from the top of the key, in and out, Burns comes out of nowhere to almost tip it in, but almost-tips don’t win sectionals. I was crushed for weeks and to this day I still have dreams about missing that lay up and wondering ‘why’ the last foul was called on me. Looking back now I realize the Rangers won the game at the free throw line (21-of-27) compared to ours (14-of-22) as our best two free throw shooters Lee and Burns each missed three a piece. Talk about the ‘agony’ of defeat.’ Checking around I found that I am not the only one to remember this feeling. Zeigler-Royalton Principal Quint Ham-

The picture is 1961 as the Foxes receive their sectional runner up trophy, look at some of the faces and you see the true “agony of defeat” Players l-r John Brockett, Dean Webb, Jim Burns, Larry “Spud”Millenbine, David Lee, Terry Weatherford, John Albert St. Clair, Lloyd Ingram and head coach Gene Haile.


ilton remembers missing a ‘bunny’ late in a game in Mt. Vernon his sophomore year at Marion. His Wildcat team lost that game but did still tie for the South Seven Conference. He still has night-mares of the ball rolling around the rim but falling out. Herrin freshman basketball coach Justin Barrington, a Carterville stand out, re-members being hot from behind the three point line in the sectional finals against Benton. At the end of the third quarter, instead of being calm and controlling the ball with a Lion lead, Justin could ‘feel’ another three. Shot is blocked, Rangers score at the other end and big momen-tum has fired up the Matt Wynn coached Rangers. Justin said he will always remember his decision to take that shot. When Randy House, Benton and SIU great, was asked about memories of missed shots from the past he sim-ply answered, “I never missed a big shot.” Then getting serious he said “my thoughts from high school go back to football, only playing part of my senior year I wonder to this day what I missed,

considering the way I was built.” He remembers Coach Fred Heinz telling him if had put as much into football as he had basketball he could have played in the Big Ten. Randy still thinks about it. At son TJ’s wedding reception last month I asked former Illinois’ teammates Tommy Michael and Richard Keene if they had any games they couldn’t forget.

Both were like House and couldn’t re-member missing a big shot.

“I do remember a teammate that defi-nitely had an agony of defeat moment at Illinois,” Keene said. “Kwame Garris missed two free throws with NO time on the clock against Missouri in 1993. And to make matters worse KG had made 27 free throws in a row coming in to that game. Illinois lost in three overtimes 108-107 and some Missouri fan sent Kwame two bricks in the mail the next week.” Tommy’s philosophy of the ‘agony of

defeat’ was relayed in a story about his son Nate, a seventh grader. This fall Nate pitched a great game for his St. Joseph Ogden Junior High team to win the regional.

The next week he was starting pitcher in the first game at sectional, he didn’t last long. On the way home Nate told his dad, “I never want to play baseball again.” The wise father told his son “if you want to play in the big game, you must be ready to handle the loss just like celebrating the win.” That sum up today’s thoughts. If you have the courage to take that big shot, to pitch that big game or carry the ball in crunch time, then have the courage to accept the thrill of victory as well as the agony of defeat. If you enter each contest with this attitude, then 50 years down the line you won’t still be having night mares about that missed shot. Here’s hoping you only feel, the thrill victory!! That’s the way it looks From Where I Sit.


By Nathan WheelerRend Lake College Report

Former Mt. Vernon Rams make up nearly one-third of the Rend Lake College Warriors basket-ball roster this season. Accord-

ing to head coach Tim Wills, that much local flavor is rare.

“It’s unusual to have four kids from the same high school,” Wills said. “The way it’s worked out, they were not in the same class but I don’t know that I have ever had anything like this before.”

True college freshmen Truvaunty Badger and E.J. Randolph have joined sopho-more Glendale Moore and shooter Brian Gamber on the squad. Coming from the Mt. Vernon High School classes of 2005 and 2006, respectively, Gamber and

a two guard to a point guard. That is a re-ally hard adjustment to make. He has the ball in his hands more and has to make decisions. He is a really good kid. He has worked hard and he is doing the things he needs to do to get better.”

Badger said he is having no problem adjusting to the next level of play.

“It’s very fast, especially coming from the coach (Doug) Creel system,” he said. “It may make things a little harder, but I’m adjusting.”

Retired Rams head coach Doug Creel, who relinquished the position soon after his team’s well-publicized run to the Elite 8 last season, is a former Warrior forward from the Class of 1980.

His coaching spot at MVTHS has been filled by Gamber’s older brother, Scott Gamber. The family is plenteous with Rams basketball tradition. Their dad, Judge Terry Gamber, is a member of the MVTHS Hall of Fame.

The youngest Gamber hit 33 of 53 shots from beyond the arch last season and led the team with 315 points on his way to All-Region status as a freshman. He was second on the team in assists with 48.

Moore was third in scoring last season with 263 points in about half of the amount of games played as his fellow Warriors. With that, he led the team in average points per game with 16 and in average rebounds with six per game. Gamber was the Warriors’ runner-up rebounder last year with 5.69 per outing.

Wills said Randolph could be put in the three or four spot, and Gamber and Moore can easily play the two, three or four.

“Those two sophomores are very versa-

Moore will be taking the two rookies under their wings during their transition to college ball.

“It’s great to have local kids on your team who are going to get playing time and help us succeed,” said Wills. “With Glendale and Brian returning as All-Re-gion players, we are going to have some high expectations of them this year.”

“I didn’t get to play with EJ and Tru-vaunty,” Gamber said. “But I did watch them play. It helps to have that familiar-ity ... to know their tendencies, their strong points, and their weak points. I think that’s important.”

When Gamber was a senior in 2005, Badger and Ran-dolph were fresh-men, and Moore was a junior.

“It’s nice to be able to continue to play with these guys,” Randolph said. “Coming from the same program we understand each other.”

“EJ has come in as a freshman having to make typical freshman adjustments,” Wills said. “I think he is going to be a really good contributor.

“Badger is improving every day,” he added. “We are changing his position from


tile.”

He said all four could find themselves side by side in a game for the first time this season.

“It’s possible they could all play together at one time.”

As with all Wills’ players, his mission is to prepare them for more than just what they find on a basketball floor.

“I hope when they leave here, just like all of our players, they are prepared to move on. When they leave here we will have fo-cused on the things to make them better basketball players than when they came here, better students, more prepared to go on to take the next step and better human beings. There is another step beyond Rend Lake College. Whether it is playing basket-ball, academics without athletics, or going to work; we want them to succeed and be accomplished in whatever they do.”

The Warrior’s season kicked off Nov. 1.

“We just have to play hard and do the things we have prac-ticed,” Wills said. “We’re not going to be in mid-season form, but we have to be as good as we can be right now.”

Former Mt. Vernon Township High School Rams, left to right, EJ Randolph, Glendale Moore, Brian Gamber and Truvaunty Badger will suit up for the War-riors this season. (photo provided)


By Chris “Goroshnik” DenaultGoro’s Rant

In the spirit of Punxsutawney Phil, it's finally nice to poke my head back outside, feel the crisp Autumn air, take in the smell of burning leaves in

the distance... and then duck for cover as the deluge of polls once again invade my noggin.

With this also being a presidential election season, my brain's been overloaded with Electoral College polls, exit polls, pundit polls, etc. But I've been enjoying the red state/blue state madness for decades.

I can still remember a text program I had for the Commodore 64 called President Elect, and I must have tried dozens of times to have someone win the popular vote but lose the election, to no avail. When 2000's Election night actually pro-duced such a scenario, I did stay up well past 4 AM, taking in the election that I could never quite simulate on the C64.

But back on track... one glorious, long-awaited poll’s finally fallen upon us like the first snowflake of the season. I present to you the first ESPN/USA Today college basketball poll for 2008-2009: http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings

Dive right in ... take your time ... peruse the list. Take in all of those big school names. Look for potential early-season matchups on that list.

Now go ahead and toss this list right into the recycling bin, as the first poll of the year is completely meaningless.

That's right. Goro, your poll aficionado, is telling you to not even bother mentioning these polls right now, as they're a com-plete waste of time. When 22 of the top 25 are from the Big 6 leagues, as well as 36 of the 44 team’s total, you're looking at complete guesswork.

Sure, I'll agree with any of the teams that you'd find in the top 15 or so. Most of those teams are either loaded from last

year or they've got stellar freshmen and/or sophomores ready to contribute right away. But please spare me the actual idea of seeing no less than NINE teams from the Big East mentioned in this poll, with nary a nod for anyone in the MVC, Hori-zon or Mid-American conferences.

But then again, ever since the Big East su-persized from 12 to 16 teams in the 2005-2006 season, it's been gobbling up far too many NCAA at-large bids for my liking. (NCAA TOURNEY STAT ALERT...)... did you know that in the past two years, the Big East has had a total of 12 at-large teams, which equals the totals of the 25 non-BCS leagues COMBINED?

With that kind of success, you wonder whether the MVC should combine forces with the MAC, (The Really Big Valley Conference, perhaps), and guarantee themselves 4 or 5 NCAA teams year in and year out.

Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Even though it's never too early to discuss at-large hopes and dreams, let's get back to that sham of a poll.

Right off the bat, my MVC-biased mind noticed that Creighton wasn't mentioned at all. As for SIU, our young Dawgs have got loads of talent coming in, but I'm holding off on any ranking talk until they've got a good 10 games behind them. Let's see how the talent and teamwork mesh first.

Other teams that I think should at least bear watching early on and should have gotten some poll notice are Temple, Kent State, Dayton, UAB, VCU, and even Cleveland State, for starters. My sleeper pick was going to be Sienna, so it's good to see that they're getting recognition this early.

If you happen to be a fan of Vanderbilt, Washington State or Texas A & M, enjoy those votes now. I really don't see any of

those teams being Top 25 material when we get into the thick of the conference races, but that's just an informed guess at this point. And that's the main problem with these early polls – just too much guesswork.

Something I've mentioned before but bears immediate repeating is what I think would be the most beneficial stop-gap to the constant complaints about the early polls:

Do NOT release a single poll until January 1 – period.

The benefits of such a system would be huge:

1. Instead of finding numerous unchal-lenged BCS teams hogging the polls because of puffy home non-con schedules, you might actually see those teams work on putting in a couple of true road games to improve their future poll numbers.

2. You'd be much more able to accurately place the teams where they should be, and not be subjected to the major shuffling up and down that you see in the November and December polls.

3. This would be a godsend to non-BCS teams. As the system is now, it takes a 13-0 or 12-1 start for any non-BCS team to garner any votes, much less find a Top 25 ranking. If we waited until January 1st, any hot teams with nice, early upsets could have a much better chance at start-ing at a poll position that's more accurate.

So let me do the dirty work and scour through the mess of the early season polls for you. It'll be my dutiful honor to point out the errors and biases while you take in as much college hoops action as humanly possible.

I am Goro, and I approve this message.

Go DAWGS!!!!


‘Tis the Deer Season By Darla Sloan

“Gladness of the heart

is the life of a man, and the joyfulness of a man pro-longeth his days.” Ecclesiastes 30:22 Hunting season is here. The reason that I know this is because the one and only member of the male species living in my home, which I usually have to beg, and then plead, then threaten with bodily harm to get out of bed each and every morning is up way before daylight sitting in a tree. For some reason the mere mention of deer is enough to make him go with-out food, sleep or bathing for days on end. He cannot help the defect in his character. It is genetic. My family is composed largely of deer hunting addicts. For as long as I can remember my father has written to his Congressman trying to have deer season declared a national holiday. He has yet to be successful, however, if you are a member of my family tree it makes no difference if the govern-ment agrees or not, when opening day of deer season arrives, the rest of the world stands still. The amazing part of all this is that while I’m sure genetics play a large part, this is not limited to family mem-bers. Apparently long term exposure is also enough to acquire the addiction. The reason that I know this is because one of my best friends who had no clue even what to do with a gun just a few years ago (evidence of this can be found in the fact that she was admir-ing a shotgun at the dinner table one Christmas and shot out her grandmoth-er’s back door) now suffers from deer fever just like the rest of my family. She ties up her long, blonde hair and tucks it under a cap, dons her camou-

flage and off she goes with my sister to sit in a tree at 4:30 in the morning while I stay at the house and keep a close watch on the coffee pot. You see, my family is where Jeff Fox-worthy gets all his material and most of it comes from our annual deer camp extravaganza. This event is held each and every year on the Saturday night of the first weekend of deer season in the barn of some family friends who live near the farm where I grew up. No one is excused for any reason and still treated with any dignity by the rest of the family. We all gather at dusk with food already prepared and wait for the hunters to come in from the woods. One would probably think that our menu would consist of different kinds of wild fish and game – but not, we have learned not to count on the hunters to actually bring home dinner so we have turkey instead. After their arrival, we all go out to the trees surround-ing the barn and admire the kill, which is proudly hanging so that any passers-by can see the trophies of the day. Then it’s back inside the barn for the feast and entertainment, which consists of local talents playing the guitar and banjo ac-companied by our slightly off-key singing. The stories of this year’s hunt are plentiful (and of course slightly ex-aggerated) as well as the past year’s hunts relived. I could tell you

most of them by heart, in great detail, even though I’ve never set foot in the woods during deer season. Anyone who has not grown up in this type of environment, I’m sure, cannot imagine this would be an evening to look forward to, but this is my father’s moment of glory. His family is to-gether to celebrate his favorite holiday of the year. This really is the gladness of his heart, which truly does prolong his days.

(Editor’s Note: Darla Sloan is an agent with Coun-try Financial in West Frankfort and wrote this deer hunting saga a few years back. She reports that her enthusiasm for deer camp has waned somewhat but that her son Bryan (Eubanks) and her dad Wayne LeVault are still very much in pursuit of that prized buck. Aware of the one-track mind that deer hunt-ers develop this time of year, Sloan said that she doesn’t expect her son or dad to see this column, or for that matter this month’s magazine, until deer season is over or they come down from their tree, whichever comes first. SISC does not currently deliver to deer camps, deer stands or wooded areas .where guns are being fired. JM)


By Jim Muir

Southern Illinois Sports Con-nection Magazine is coming to life. Perhaps that’s the best way to describe a transformation of

sorts that will be taking place in the com-ing months as we bring SISC to life and into your home. Beginning on Sunday, November 9, SISC Magazine will evolve into a 30-minute television show to be aired weekly on WSIL-TV (Channel 3). Just to ease the minds of our loyal readers, noth-ing – and I mean absolutely nothing – will change with SISC Magazine. It will be produced by the same quality people and will remain the say quality product that our readers have come to expect. With that out of the way let me explain the rationale behind the television show. First, it’s a logical, common sense move. We do interviews and take pictures of coaches, players, fans, etc. to fill the pages of SISC each month. We have a diverse group of writers who each month

explore a wide range of topics, ideas and stories.

Well, why not video those interviews and really bring these people to life? And also, why not interview those writers and photographers who covered the stories and get their insight? When posed with those questions and

with the knowledge of how much Southern Illinois residents love the local sports’ scene, logic and common sense said, ‘yeah, why not turn SISC into a weekly television show?’ So, beginning with the November is-sue SISC has joined forces with Hi-Fi Entertainment and Video Productions to bring viewers a weekly sports program based around that month’s magazine. As I mentioned earlier, the best way to describe this new venture is to think of SISC Magazine coming to life and com-ing into your home. In the first program we’ll have feature stories on legendary Hamilton County Coach Curt Reed, West Frankfort’ Ryan Patton, a starting line-backer for the SIU Salukis and Bennett Page, a 14-year-old Benton youth who defines the word ‘courage.’ And join-ing me on that first show will be River Radio’s Mike Murphy, longtime photog-rapher Ceasar Maragni and retired coach and Southern Illinois sports historian Tom Wheeler.

We hope you’ll join us.

SISC MAGAZINE TV SCHEDULE FOR NOVEMBER

Nov. 9 12:30 PMNov. 16 12:30 PMNov. 23 12:30 PMNov. 30 1:00 PM

WSIL-TV3


In FocusBy Ceasar Maragni

To the rest of us he was known as Minnesota Fats, the world famous pool player and hustler, but to a young Dowell boy who

grew up next door to Fats, he was much more than that. Fats, whose real name was Rudolph Wanderone was a New York native who made his living traveling cross-country hustling pool. He might have continued his nomadic ways the rest of his life, if not for a meal stop during a winter snow storm here in Southern Illinois. That's when Fats became smitten with a pretty young waitress named Evelyn at Stardust nightclub in Du Quoin, located in the building which now houses The Perfec-tion Club. Fats and Evelyn were married two months later. After a brief time living on the east coast, the Wanderones returned to Dowell and set up housekeeping with Evelyn's widowed mother in 1945. Fats and Evelyn did extensive remodeling to the home, and lived there until 1993 when they relocated to Nashville, Ten-nessee for health reasons. It was in this small town setting that Rich Edwards, now 60 and retired living in Marion, grew up with the larger than life figure as his nearest neighbor. Edwards fondly recalls those early years. “Like many kids in Southern Illinois at that time, I grew up poor,” said Edwards. “But I was luckier than most of my friends, because I was always able to make some spending money by doing chores for Fats. I delivered his newspa-per, mowed his grass. He paid me twice the going rate for mowing. He was a great tipper. He was an absolutely won-derful neighbor who was always kind to me.” Edwards said that he'll never forget that

one summer when he was 15 years old and Fats invited him along on a trip to Detroit where the legendary pool player was scheduled to put on an exhibition for the Brunswick Company, manufacturer of pool tables. “First off, remember being Fats' neighbor boy, I had learned to shoot a decent game of pool. I'm not a great player by any means, but when one of the best play-ers in the world gives you lessons, you do learn a thing or two,” said Edwards. “Everything was first class on this trip. The food was the finest, the hotel was first class, and the exhibition was held in downtown Detroit. The afternoon of his exhibition Fats was showing the spell-bound crowd all sorts of trick shots. Then at one point he stopped and told the audi-ence that these Brunswick tables are so good that anybody could make the shot he just completed. With that he looked around the room, spotted me sitting way in the back pointed at me and shouted, ‘Hey you, young man, step down here!’ I did, and after I made the somewhat difficult shot, the crowd cheered. But what was even funnier is that later that

evening in the hotel restaurant a fellow walked by our table, stopped and said with a laugh, ‘I knew you were a ringer kid.’ Not much I could say to that.” Fats' pool hustling kept him on the road

a lot and especially after the enormous success of the 1961 movie “The Hus-tler,” which starred Jackie Gleason as Fats, Wanderone's fame and popularity exploded. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, ABC's Wide World of Sports, hosted his own national television show, Celebrity Billiards with Minnesota Fats and made numerous guest appearances on other television shows and in films. But Edwards said that Fats was always home for the holidays, especially Christ-mas. Edwards says he often thinks about Fats at that time of the year and shared a story that has never been told about the man. Edwards said Fats’ bluster was a gimmick and said he was as much enter-tainer as he was pool player. Muhammad Ali once called him a better boaster than himself, Edwards said. Edwards also related a story that he and Dowell grocer Jinx Maksin swore to keep secret, a story that he says shows another side of Fats that many people never knew.

DOWELL OLD Maskin’s Grocery StoreThis century old brick building which once housed Maksin’s Store in Dowell as it appears today.


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Ceasar Maragni is a photojournalist whose career has spanned over four decades covering news, features and sports throughout Southern Illinois

“Jinx Maksin owned a corner grocery store in Dowell and most of us from the south side of town shopped there. One time I walked in the store and I overheard Jinx tell Fats that his 25 new bushel baskets had come in. I thought that sounded kind of strange, and Fats could see that I was pay-ing attention. He called me over and told me to help him fill them up with hams, canned goods, fresh fruit and other staples. I then learned that for many years Fats had Jinx buy 25 empty bushel baskets so that he could fill them up with groceries for Maksin to deliver to the neediest families in Dowell for Christmas.” Edwards said those Christmas deliveries hit close to home for him. “My family was one of the recipients of those Christmas baskets,” Edwards said. “After I helped fill them all up, Fats told me that if Jinx or I ever told anyone that he was the one who provided those baskets, he would stop doing it. To my knowledge, no one ever knew that their Christmas angel was Fats. For ten more years, until I graduated high school and left Dowell for good at age 18, I helped fill those Christmas baskets. I’ll always remember how my mother’s eyes would light up each Christmas when they were delivered to our own home. I never told her that I helped pack them.”


By Shannon WoodworthShawnee Community College

ULLIN — The magic of Shawnee Com-munity College’s first basketball team continued on October 18, nearly 35 years after winning a sectional championship and the respect of both their fans and foes.

In fact, the appearance of Roger Morn-ingstar, a competing team’s best player – w ho also led Kansas University to the NCAA’s Final Four as part of his storied career – set the stage for a day full of surprises that kept everyone in atten-dance on the edge of their seats.

“When you consider all the obstacles they faced, you have to believe that something magical really did take place with this team,” Morningstar said. “I am here today because I have great respect for the coaches and the players of these original Saints, and for what they accom-plished as a team in 1973.”

While Morningstar’s name was never spoken in vain, the players from the 1973 Saints’ basketball team have often described him as the curse they could not shake. The team lost almost half their games that season to Olney Central Col-lege and Morningstar’s 6’6” frame.

“When we took the floor that year, we didn’t understand that we weren’t sup-posed to win,” said Ed Smith, a member of the Saints’ first team, who was also honored Saturday by having the college gymnasium bear his name.

“Our coaches believed in us, and we believed in each other,” Smith said. “But Roger Morningstar was a thorn in our side. Who would have ever thought after all these years he would reappear in our lives?”

On Feb. 12, 1973, the original Saints fell by only four points to Olney, a team that had just defeated the number one ranked junior college team in the nation before facing Shawnee College at Vienna High School for one of the final games of the regular season.

“A lot of people don’t realize it, but once we gelled, that is how good this team became,” said Tom Jones, SCC’s first head basketball coach, who also attended the event. “I still believe we should have beaten Olney that night. We should have won.”

But after winning the sectional title, SCC again fell to Olney and Morningstar in the first game of the Region IV Tourna-

ment held at Rock Valley College.

College President Dr. Larry Peterson invited Morningstar – selected in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics in 1975 – to Saturday’s event. Morningstar had a brief professional basketball career before becoming an executive with Con-verse Inc., where he landed the endorse-ment contracts of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and many others. Morningstar’s attendance at the event was kept secret until Peterson brought him out to an awe-struck crowd who stood in ovation as he took the podium.

Morningstar was not paid an appearance fee. He attended Saturday’s event be-cause, he said, he truly wanted to tip his hat to a team that deserves recognition.

All of SCC’s original basketball team attended Saturday’s luncheon and dedication, except for one, a teammate who now resides in Oregon, who was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.

Jones, speaking to the crowd, became emotional as he talked about the team. “I have often wondered if I would ever see this team again,” Jones said. “To be here today with this team and to share these memories with you is one of the greatest

After 35 Years Morningstar Shines on Original Saints

50


days of my life.”

Following the luncheon, a crowd of nearly 600 gathered in the college’s gymnasium where the ceremony took place honoring Smith. Following speeches by Guy Alongi, chairman of the Il-linois Community College Board; Dr. Glenn Poshard, president of Southern Illinois University; State Rep. Brandon Phelps, State Senator Gary Forby, Dr. Peterson, Terry Nunn, deputy director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education; Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois state treasurer; and Terry O’Sullivan, general president Labor-ers’ International Union of North America, Smith then took the podium.

Each of the speakers had just praised Smith for a long list of ac-complishments. Peterson had also presented Smith with a re-cre-ated college letter jacket, a re-created jersey with Smith’s number 44, and capped it all with the announcement that a scholarship had been created in the name of Smith’s parents, Connell F. and Mary Jewel.

As part of the day, Gov. Rod Blagojevich had even pro-claimed Oct. 18, 2008, as Edward M. Smith Day in Illinois.

Smith, known for his efforts of promoting union labor and for his political prowess, was clearly moved by the pomp that had preceded him. During his speech, the 1974 SCC graduate talked vividly about how Shawnee Community College had given him the foundation he needed to be suc-cessful. He also praised Dr. Peterson for his vision for the college.

Smith used a quote from Robert Kennedy to describe Peter-son’s leadership.

“There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? Robert Kenndy dreamed of things that never were, and asked why not? Dr. Peterson has this college, the one I love so much, moving forward because he is asking why not?”

After 35 Years Morningstar Shines on Original Saints“When we took the floor that year, we didn’t under-stand that we weren’t sup-posed to win. Our coaches believed in us, and we be-lieved in each other. – Ed Smith –

51


Around the HornBy Sean Patrick

On this very pleasant Hallow-een Day, I find myself strug-gling with which direction to go for this month’s ‘Around

the Horn’. Maybe it’s the thought of carving jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating as a dad for the first time, or maybe eat-ing pumpkin pie in a few short hours. Maybe it’s gearing up for the high school football playoffs tomorrow, where I will take to the airwaves with Scott Hudson for the Herrin/Harrisburg rematch. Or possibility I just can’t get away from the onslaught of hundreds of non-stop political advertisements wherever I look or listen. Either way, I’ll try to find some fun things to discuss as the baseball off-season blues are disappointingly here. First, let’s take a quick look at the 2008 World Series. There’s no doubt that I was pulling for the Rays, although it’s great that the National League team overcame the most absurd rule in baseball – home field advantage as determined by the All-Star game winner – to win one for the Senior Circuit. I know that Tampa Bay would have been the home team anyway, as their overall record was better than Philly’s, but come on, Bud! There’s no denying, though, that the Rays were the most fantastic sports story of 2008 – worst to first in one season. As a matter of fact, I personally witnessed ‘the worst’ during the summer of 2003. At each of the three games I attended that season, only a few thousand people were in the building to watch the former Devil Rays play. I was certainly amazed to see that stadium filled to capacity this past month. In addition, I was sure pulling for Ben Zobrist’s line drive to find a hole late in the final game to tie the game for the Rays. Zobrist is the first former Wiscon-sin Woodchuck to make it to a world series. I missed playing alongside him

on that Northwoods League team by just one year, as the former Dallas Baptist University standout and Eureka, Illinois native was there in 2003, while I was there in 2002. Perhaps that most important storyline of the Fall Classic, nonetheless, was the weather. As any of us who participate in baseball knows, Mother Nature can be the most frustrating, and out-of-control factor that comes into play on any given day. As high strung as I can be, I have to always tell myself that there are many parts of the game that I can control, but the weather is not one of them. As much control as one can exhibit, however, the way the series finished, as dictated by the poor weather, took away from the excitement of a world champi-onship game. Just as I began to really become involved in game five (for the second time) it was over. And I know 95 percent of you out there agree that Major League Baseball and FOX Sports should be ashamed for delaying the World Series because of an infomercial paid for by a politician. My, how money always seems to rear its ugly head into Ameri-ca’s pastime, most notably Major League Baseball! Best of luck to all area teams including my alma mater Carterville, during the football playoffs. It’s long overdue that a first-place football trophy has made its way to South-ern Illinois I’m proud of all my underclass-

men baseball players who have endured a tough fall conditioning schedule at Car-bondale Community High School. Head Coach Scott Hankey and I are looking forward to seeing the players reap the benefits of their hard work. Although I’m extremely excited to join Roger Medlen on the air again for this year’s CCHS basketball season, the upcoming baseball season will surely remain in the back of my mind. Speaking of baseball, CCHS will be offering an all-new lineup of winter camps in early 2009. These camps will give young baseball players from all over Southern Illinois the chance to get warmed-up for a new season, as well as pick up some suggestions, drills and tips for becoming a more focused and suc-cessful student-athlete. Led by the CCHS baseball coaching staff, and joined by many well-known guest instructors, these camps will be a must for players of all ages. More details will be released in the coming weeks! As always, thanks again for your time, this time, until next time when we go “Around the Horn”.


By Danny CzerwinskiSISC Viewpoint

(Danny Czerwinski does color commenatary for Benton Rangers athletics on WQRL (106.3 FM) in Benton and is co-host of “Saturday Morning Talking Sports” also on WQRL.

The Many Joys of College Basketball

The six month journey known as the men’s college basketball season begins this month. It’s a time of

excitement for many teams, fans, and universities as “their” team begins the season. Obviously, the NCAA Tournament is the highlight where virtually everybody gets involved. Before that starts, let’s look at many of the things that make fans enjoy this game before the NCAA Tournament starts. TV Remote Controls In recent weeks, the week night television sporting event calendar has been bleak. We had the baseball playoffs going on, but as October faded into November the games on the field have ended for another year. The NHL and NBA have started up. These marathon seasons go on with spo-radic exciting games and moments during the regular season to view. Christmas Day means spotlight games for the NBA, while the NHL gets small attention with an outside game on Year’s Day. Realistically, it’s the playoffs that draw mine and many others attention to these sports. Walk-Ons No other sport has the excitement at the end of games in which players that don’t get to play very much finally get into a game. The walk-on college basketball player is a fan favorite. No matter the score or time of game, when this player enters a game it always brings a loud cheer from fans and especially the student body. All people in the stands chant for a player or players to shoot and then roar with much approval if a walk-on scores. This is the epitome of a college student-athlete working hard both in the classroom and on the court in earning playing time. Non-Conference Games A good test for teams besides the NCAA Tournament is playing tough non-confer-

ence games. Granted, each team plays a softie or two but more and more college basketball teams are going out and playing the best games they can find. November and December are months where the titans of the college scene play each other. There is the ACC-Big10 Challenge, Maui Invi-tational, and the Great Alaskan Shootout among many where we get a big appetizer for March Madness with great non-confer-ence match ups. Conference Games January through March is the grind of conference play. Seasons are made or broken then and in the year ending confer-ence tournaments. Good games spawn into rivalries which turn into upsets and making the fans sit on the edge of our seats with each possession. Bragging rights are won or lost with each game as conference champs are crowned. Every-one loves the rivalry games that happen twice a year and those only played once a year in conferences with more teams makes each game that much more impor-tant to fans who yearn for bragging rights. It’s these games where teams are shaped and molded for the tournament run. Venues Rupp Arena…Pauley Pavillion…Dean Dome…Allen Fieldhouse…Assembly Hall…Cameron Indoor Stadium…Carrier Dome…These names and many others are synonymous with the lore of college basketball. Highlights, records, winning streaks, and upsets are all that make up the history of these facilities. Fierce, hard fought games are played year after year to add to the canvas of the sport over time. Fans wait in lines for hours or pay a high price to visit and see a game in these facilities. To see a game in one of these places is truly special. You as a fan of a team love to see your team play in an historic building like these. However, the tough road games in these kinds of places make it even sweeter if your team can roll in and get a win.

UpsetsThere are many names over the years that have caused grief to many and hope to their fans rings like a who’s who now. Gonzaga, George Mason, Richmond, Butler, SIU, Davidson, Princeton, Santa Clara, Austin Peay, and Villanova are all names that have sprung upsets and or made deep runs in the tournament. With the addition of these teams playing top ranked teams in the regular season, we are seeing more and more. There is much fervor when an “upset alert” comes across the screen and then you switch to the game to see if David can once again beat Goliath. Upsets are a fan favorite during the season and tournament unless you are the team being upset. Announcers We all have our favorites and non-favorites on each network. They are what make the game exciting and these are the people who eat, sleep, and breathe the game to make it more interesting and keep us knowledgeable about what is going on. We all look forward to Bill Raftery announcing a team has opened up the game in a “man to man.” Fans get their notebooks out to count how many times the biggest college basketball ambassador Dick Vitale mentions DUKE or the ACC during games that involve both or games that have neither in them. Gus Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Mike Reis, and so many others in the radio and TV booth add to the drama of any game no matter what time of the year. These are some of the many things that make us look forward to college basket-ball. Squeaking shoes, bouncing basket-balls and the blowing of whistles means the season has tipped off. It is time to begin the exciting journey that will lead us to the Final Four in April 2009.


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