Nobody asked me but...after an exhaustive search that spanned the four corners of the Earth, Sikeston has found a head football coach to replace Jerry Dement who resigned in late November.
It took a while, but that is to be expected when you are battling the Dallas Cowboys for a head coach. Seriously folks, congratulations to Kent Gibbs who will guide the Bulldogs next season.
Gibbs was recently the head man at Fredericktown and by all accounts had the Blackcats heading in the right direction after years of sub .500 football.
Gibbs had a successful run while at Hayti from 1982-1985. In 1984, Gibbs led the Indians to a second place finish in Class 2A. Gibbs had an overall record of 22-21 while with the Indians. The success at Hayti, when put in prospective with a before and after account, is even more impressive.
The five years before Gibbs arrived at Hayti, the Indians had a combined record of 12-35. The five years after Gibbs, Hayti went 7-40.
Sikeston is having its worst stretch of football since 1973 and 1974, when the Bulldogs were 1-8 each year. Of course when you start at the bottom, you can only go in one direction. Gibbs has a proven track record of improving teams at each of his stops. Fingers are crossed in Bulldog country.
* Congratulations to Sikeston wrestlers Gavilan Bland and Robert Madison on qualifying for the Class 3 state championships this weekend in Columbia.
Bland wrestles in the 160-pound weight class and has an overall record of 29-5 this season. Madison battles in the heavyweight division and overall is 25-6 this year.
New Madrid County Central will send three wrestlers under head coach Arlen Pixley. Senior DeAnton Brown and juniors D'Adrian Farr and A.G. Sanders all qualified for the Eagles in Class 1.
Over at Dexter, the Bearcats will also send three grapplers to state. Mikey Henley, Matt Overall and Ben Vaughn will compete in Class 2.
* Two area high school football players recently signed to play at the next level. Justin Clark signed at Murray State for next fall, while Jamarcus Williams signed with Tennessee-Martin.
Once again, SEMO drops the ball on two local primetime athletes. Of SEMO'S 19 recruits, four were from the state. The closest one to our area was from Ste. Genevieve. Head coach Tony Samuel also got 10 junior college players to transfer to SEMO.
While these players might turn the program around, one would think a new coach would try to lock up the local talent first and foremost.
Williams is heading to a Martin program that made the playoffs last year and Clark is heading to SEMO's chief rival in the Ohio Valley Conference. How did SEMO not grab these two from Charleston? That question should be echoing throughout the athletic complex at SEMO.
And finally, nobody asked me but...I have a great idea to boost the sagging attendance at SEMO basketball games. Have local high school basketball teams play before the Indians...er, Redhawks. It works well over at Three Rivers.
Just think of the crowd possibilities if Notre Dame and Jackson squared off before the college tipoff.