The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Farewell...for now

Commentary

This is going to be one of the greatest basketball seasons ever for SIU, even without Jermaine Dearman and Kent Williams.

Darren Brooks has become the great player I knew he would, Matt Painter has become the coach I knew he could, and the Salukis are having the great season I was not sure of but was definitely hoping for.

If the non-conference season is any indicator, this team is NCAA tournament bound. They have knocked off a few quality teams already, including Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which nearly knocked off North Carolina State in North Carolina.

It's going to be a year to remember. I'm just disappointed I won't be here to see it. No, I'm not graduating - that would be a scary proposition - and this is not a final farewell column like Todd Merchant and Ethan Erickson wrote last week.

But I will be gone for most of next semester and, more importantly, basketball season. I secured an internship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, so I will be writing for their sports section, which does not give much coverage to Saluki basketball. I might weasel my way into covering Arch Madness for them, but it is unlikely. I will be listening on the radio like all the other poor saps who can't be in Carbondale during basketball season.

But eventually, I will be back, and while I have no requests for the men's basketball program other than to keep it up, there are a few things I would like to see when I get back.

I call this list Brenner's bitchings:

 I know the season will be over, but hopefully women's basketball will win at least one conference game. I, along with Lori Opp, can scream and hope all we want to, but it is unlikely the women's basketball program will ever be turned around.

I could be wrong, so I'll make the women's basketball team a deal. For every Missouri Valley Conference game they win, I will write a positive column about women's basketball when I get back. I hope to be writing at least one.

 It would make my job easier, and the team easier to root for, if the football team started acting toward others the way the basketball team does. One of the staples of Bruce Weber's program was teaching his players to use basketball as a means of getting ahead in life, i.e. being nice to everyone so that opportunities will always be there later.

The basketball team was always more than friendly, as were Weber and Painter. Even after tough losses, the basketball players were not only civil, but they were friendly. That team was extremely easy to root for, and to this day I do not have a single negative thing to say about any of them.

Also, I was never verbally attacked or physically threatened by any basketball players. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the football team. It's really hard to root for a player that had threatened to kick the crap out of you at the beginning of the season.

For some reason, the football team has always had issues with the Daily Egyptian while the basketball team has not. Neither side should hate the other, and it would be nice to see a better working relationship next fall.

 Note to the SIU Athletic Department: Is it possible to make the SIU Arena aesthetically pleasing, at least on television? It looks God-awful on ESPN, and it would be nice if that could be remedied. I'm not offering any solutions because I don't have any. I was just hoping you did.

 Note to SIU students: This University has a baseball team. They play at Abe Martin field, right across from the Arena parking lot. They allow kegs on the hill in right field. Please go.

 Note to Saluki athletes, especially in smaller sports: Please stop complaining about coverage you feel is too negative. We are not public relations agents for SIU. Leave that to the good people in Lingle Hall.

Most of the complaints are over-sensitive, anyway. We're not out to get you, but if your team sucked, we're going to write about it.

 Is it possible to get a soccer team? I know it's an unpopular idea, especially among DE sportswriters, but I love soccer, and I think it would work at this University.

 And finally, a note to the readers: Some of you have written in after a few columns, complaining about negativity or, like last week, that I published the criminal records of Saluki athletes.

Let me make this clear for those of you who don't know. I love this University. It has given me more than I could have ever wanted, and because of SIU, I'm going to be interning for one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country. My life sucked before Carbondale, and I will be forever grateful to this University.

But that does not mean I'm not going to be critical. When you love something, you have to be able to tell it when it's being stupid. That's what a good friend does. I love this country, but I know the Patriot Act is an abomination to civil rights and American values, and I also know that our president has the IQ of a walnut. That does not mean I'm going to join Osama bin Laden.

The Daily Egyptian's adviser was always tough on me when I was being lazy, complacent or just plain stupid. But I am much better for it, and he would have done me a disservice to be nice and fluffy all the time.

That's my intent when I'm writing a negative column or article. I want the best for this University, and I will never forget the great times I had here. But when times could be better, I will say so.

I'd also like to thank the people who have sent me encouraging letters during the past year and a half. You guys got me through some pretty crappy times, and you will never know how much that meant.

A special thanks to Dr. Dianna Reusch. Thank you for all your letters. Your encouragement really made all the difference.