Sweet road Chicago?

Commentary

For those students who live in the greater Chicago area, listen very closely Saturday night.

You might hear the doors of a new year of winning basketball screeching open, but you also might hear the pain of imp-driven spikes piercing the hopes of the Salukis - and that goes for both teams.

The results of the men's and women's basketball teams in the Windy City Saturday night will, in all likelihood, set the tone for both seasons.

The SIU women's basketball team will travel to the play the Northwestern "we wish we could compete in the Big Ten" Wildcats Saturday, enjoying their best record of the Lori Opp era and on a three-game winning streak for the first time since Roger Maris still owned the home run record.

The Northwestern game, though seemingly unimportant on paper, is crucial in the world of the over-analytical, paranoid and superstitious sportswriter.

That one game could decide the fate of the non-Kent Williams Saluki basketball team this season - and not because the Wildcats are a difficult opponent or a pathetic squad that could pull off a demoralizing loss.

SIU is battling history.

Demons of the past could tailspin the Salukis into oblivion this Saturday, or it could bring in a new era of female basketball prosperity.

The Dawgs bumped their record over .500 on Dec. 8 last season, lost their next game and did not pick up another win for 71 days en route to a school-record 15-game losing streak. Last time, it was Winthrop that did in the lady ballers, and Northwestern is now in the same position. A loss could lead to another season such as the last one, and a win may mean the complete opposite.

The team, as one might imagine, buys into this theory with the same enthusiasm they would have investing in United Airlines.

"We're trying as hard as we can not to think back to last year," said senior guard Molly McDowell, who said the team had not even thought about it until asked. "We were 4-3 going into our Christmas tournament last year and just kind of fell apart right there, so this is a critical time for us to practice hard and hopefully nothing like that will happen again."

It may not, but those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to hate it with a passion.

The same can be said of the men's team, which was unable to compile more than five straight wins last season but cannot seem to comprehend what a loss is this season. A win may give evidence of a team more talented than last year's, but a loss could be mind numbing due to the lack of quality teams on SIU's non-conference schedule.

Illinois-Chicago is not just a bad team. It is a bad team that lost to Evansville. And as the old Missouri Valley Conference saying goes: "If you lose to Evansville, you're out of the league."

The Flames are a potential RPI killer and SIU, though it does not have a record of taking teams lightly, would be advised to pay extra attention during its excursion to the North or risk getting run off the road by a small school snowdrift.

If you can only pay attention to Saluki basketball for one day during break, whether it's because of an eggnog-induced catatonic state or simply laziness, make it Saturday.

SIU's winter break record and possibly the season will be decided on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Michael is a junior is journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.