Blame this messenger for the end of beer promotions

I hope Southeast Missouri State baseball fans who love to drink a cold one or two while cheering on the Redhawks -- and especially appreciate when they don't have to pick up the tab -- won't be too upset by what I'm about to admit.

I think I'm in some way responsible for Southeast officials deciding to cancel the last two scheduled "free beer" days at Capaha Park.

How can I be to blame, you say? Well, I find it rather curious that these promotions -- put on by three local beer distributorships, they also include free food -- have been going on for nearly 15 years without incident, and nobody ever seemed to complain.

Not until this year, that is. Specifically, the complaints apparently came in following the April 6 game against Missouri, when more than 2,700 fans -- the second-largest crowd in Southeast baseball history -- watched the Redhawks beat the Tigers on Bluff City Beer night.

So, you might ask, how am I to blame? Well, in addition to my normal coverage of the game for the Southeast Missourian sports department, I was assigned by our news department to do a front-page story on the anticipated huge crowd.

Naturally, I made plenty of mention about the beer and food giveaway that, along with the natural attraction of the state's most prominent university playing a game in Cape Girardeau, helped draw all those fans.

I thought the article was light and appropriate, and I got plenty of compliments on it, including from folks at Southeast and Bluff City Beer.

But it also drew plenty of attention to the fact Southeast put on an event that handed out free beer and had two more such events scheduled for later in the season, involving River Eagle Distributing and Kohlfeld Distributing.

And that attention apparently prompted some people to sound off against the event in the Missourian's Speak Out and FanSpeak sections. Others called the university to voice their complaints about the practice of handing out free beer.

The result? Sources tell me that the university's department of public safety felt enough heat to join with the Cape Girardeau police and threaten Southeast athletic department officials with running a sting operation that would have "plants" using fake identifications to obtain beer.

Southeast officials were reportedly told that if they could not spot the phony IDs, they would be held responsible and could suffer serious consequences. So I don't blame the university for canceling those final two promotional days of the season. And who knows if they're ever going to be held again?

My take on the whole thing? A lot of people around here are just too darned sensitive. Lighten up.

So some folks don't agree with drinking alcohol? There's nothing wrong with that. But that's their choice, just like it's the choice of people who choose to drink. And as long as it's done responsibly, what's the problem?

The bottom line is that, in the nearly 15 years the school has joined forces with local beer distributorships to put on these promotions, there never have been any serious problems. I've attended just about all of them in my duties of covering the games, and the crowd is generally well behaved.

And it's not like alcoholic beverages aren't consumed at Southeast baseball games anyway. Since Capaha Park is a public facility, drinking is allowed, and that's one of the reasons the Redhawks' attendance is annually so good. People are going to imbibe at Capaha whether drinks are being given away or they have to bring them, so what's the big deal with the special promotions?

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Blame me if you want, but please, just don't get physical. (Just kidding about that last remark -- I think.)

* Although the university never announced the signing, apparently because of some strange new policy, the 6-foot-6 center Southeast women's basketball landed during the early signing period sure looks intriguing.

Joiceline Thesing, a sophomore at Labette (Kan.) Community College, is expected to at least be a solid OVC performer right off the bat, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, according to Labette coach Josh Matthews.

Thesing still has to pass a summer class to be eligible at Southeast, but Matthews expects that to happen.

Southeast officials apparently don't want any signings announced if players still have to fulfill summer academic obligations to be eligible.

I've been told it all stems from university president Dr. Ken Dobbins being embarrassed by the Charles McCoy situation last summer, when Southeast touted him as one of the top football recruits in school history only to have him be ineligible for the season.

But any time you sign a player -- even an outstanding high school student -- you take a risk that he or she won't be eligible. And many junior college recruits finish up their course work toward graduation in the summer.

I think it's a pretty ridiculous policy, because recruits winding up ineligible occurs at schools across the country, and I don't see where the embarrassment factor comes into play. It's just something that happens in recruiting.

To me, it's more embarrassing when a program signs players and the university doesn't even acknowledge it.

Either way, here's hoping Thesing meets her academic responsibilities and becomes the tallest player in Southeast women's hoops history.

* I'm not saying it's going to happen, but the last time Southeast's men's basketball program signed a center from SMS-West Plains Community College (Brian Bunche) and a swingman from Meramec Community College (Mike Branson), the Redhawks went 44-16 during those players' two seasons, including Southeast's first NCAA Division I Tournament berth in the 1999-2000 season.

I bring this up because Southeast landed a center from SMS-West Plains (Andrais Thornton) and a swingman from Meramec (David Johnson) just this past week.

Coincidence or fate? Southeast fans will just have to wait and see.

Overall -- and the ultimate proof will be how they perform as Redhawks -- it looks like Southeast has already signed four solid players for next season, and it's likely that at least two or three more will join the fold in the coming weeks.

* More on Southeast men's basketball:

The 2005-2006 schedule has not yet been released by the university, but sources tell me that one of the two "money" games the Redhawks play will be against national runner-up Illinois. That should be interesting.

Southeast's other "money" game will be against Nebraska.

On the flip side, the Redhawks aren't going to play regional rival Southern Illinois next season. With the Ohio Valley Conference moving to a 20-game schedule -- up from its current 16 -- the non-conference slate had to be trimmed considerably, and the Salukis were apparently one of the casualties.

* In response to last Sunday's FanSpeak regarding why I write so much about Southeast sports in my weekly column, it's because that's the beat I primarily cover and it's what I know the most about.

But I agree that there are plenty of high school athletes worthy of mention, none more so than Central's sensational sophomore pitcher Brad LaBruyere, who recently tossed his second no-hitter of the season, which is quite an accomplishment. He's definitely a player to watch in the future.

* Former Central High School pitcher Talley Haines recently left the Boston Red Sox organization and signed with the Chicago Cubs organization. He has been assigned to the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx of the Class AA Southern League.

Haines, pitching for Boston's Class AA team in Portland, Maine, put up impressive early-season statistics, with an 0.87 earned-run average in 10 1/3 innings while working in middle relief.

But Haines was released for financial considerations; as an eight-year minor league veteran, the Red Sox simply felt he was making too much money for a Class AA player.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.