Indian basketball team suffers another blow

Losing Dainmon Gonner, the junior-college recruit who failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, was certainly not good news for a Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program already reeling from last year's 6-22 record.

But even Gonner probably wouldn't have been enough for the Indians to transform from one of the Ohio Valley Conference's worst teams into one of its best in one year. Turnarounds like that are few and far between.

While I'm sure many Southeast basketball supporters have visions of grandeur for the 2002-2003 season, if you're a realistic fan, you're hoping the Indians can show solid improvement this season with a young team, then once again turn into an OVC contender the following year with the help of another new batch of recruits (that might include Gonner) and -- finally -- a full scholarship roster.

And helping the Indians' cause for the future should be Mike Nelke, who is transferring in from Valparaiso. Nelke appears to be quite a pickup for the Indians, a true point guard who can shoot, and he should be able to run the offense smoothly for his final two seasons of eligibility.

It's nice to see Southeast is finally going to have an athletic Hall of Fame to honor some of its former distinguished players, coaches and teams.

All the other OVC schools have one, as do most other Division I universities in the country.

Here's a big pat on the back to George Renick, who puts in countless hours each summer serving as the public address announcer for the Craftsman Union Capahas and Ford & Sons American Legion baseball teams in Cape Girardeau.

George, who is not only a fine announcer but also a heck of a good guy, is much appreciated by the local baseball community. What makes his work even more impressive is that he's not related to anybody on either team. He simply enjoys baseball and likes to help out.

And I in particular appreciate George because he keeps me in stitches up in the press box during the many summer baseball games I cover. He's a wild and crazy guy -- and I mean that in a very good way.

Still on the subject of summer baseball, the Capahas had a nice run in the National Baseball Congress World Series, going 2-2 to finish tied for 12th after it looked for a while like they wouldn't even receive a bid.

But Capahas manager Jess Bolen has got to be shaking his head over what might have been. After winning their first two games at the World Series, the Capahas allowed six unearned runs during a 8-6 loss to the Wichita (Kan.) Braves, then fell to the Beatrice (Neb.) Bruins 2-1 in 10 innings, thanks in part to another unearned run.

Still, it was another strong season for the Capahas.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian