Remebering Jackie Robinson 60 Years later

Jackie Robinson breaking baseballs color barrier is one of the FEW events in the history of sports that changed the world outside sports.

Jackie Robinson had a thankless task, he had to perform at the highest level when almost everyone wanted him to fail. His own teams fans booed him and threw drinks at him. He had every excuse to fail.

If Robinson had failed it would have pushed the cause back 5 more years. Instead he flourished- winning Rookie of the year in his first season.

The way the media portrayed minorities began to change. At that time racial slurs were printed in newspaper columns. Now 60 years later Don Imus is fired for questionable comments.

The level of tolerance in this country has improved leaps and bounds and Mr. Robinson played a huge role in the progress.

Thank you Jackie. Your contribution to our American pastime has changed our entire society. 60, 80, or 100 years later your Legacy should not be forgotton.

SIU Signs Chris Lowery to 7 Year Deal

SIU fans can sleep tonight. Chris Lowery will be coaching the Salukis next year. This is outstanding news for the future of the program because some of the top recruits, including Post Dispatch Player of the year Torres Roundtree, are committed to playing for Lowery and not to just to SIU. Lowery is a young guy who relates to top high school players and is being rewarded for his recruiting abilities as well as hit ability to get kids to buy into his hard nose defensive style.

The deal is worth $750,000 a year and ESPN reports that all of the money is guaranteed.

One final note for SIU fans- this DOES NOT mean Lowery will be here for 7 years. Other schools can ask for permission to talk to Lowery in future years and can also afford to pay any buyout clause as well as give Lowery over $1MM a year. However, Saluki fans can sleep easy tonight knowing that Chris Lowery will leading SIU in the quest for their seventh straight NCAA tournament birth next season.

Til the Whistle Sounded

The Kansas Jayhawks found out first hand Thursday night that the substantial amount of media attention paid to the SIU Salukis was not one bit hype.

KU survived 61-58 to advance to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tourney. Southern ended with 29 wins, tops in school history.

Seniors Jamaal Tatum (19) and Tony Young (14) paced the Dawgs in scoring. When he walked off the court, Young had participated in more victories than any man ever to wear an SIU hoops jersey. Randal Falker muscled his way to 11 points and 9 rebounds. Defying a painful ankle injury, Matt Shaw logged 36 minutes, posting 9 points, 6 boards and 3 assists. Southern had a 28-22 edge on the glass.

The Dawgs were down 8-2 in the first five minutes, but roared back to trail by just 27-24 at the break. The final 20 minutes saw maroon clad Salukis body surfing over every square inch of hardwood, contesting every loose ball. Announcer Dick Engberg gushed approvingly over Southern's manic scrapping. SIU dictated the tempo throughout, and matched Kansas' 34 second half points.

For Kansas, Brandon Rush collected 12 points. Although no other Jayhawk could reach double figures, KU displayed an uncanny touch on the 10 foot bank shot in traffic. Today the short jumper is a shot that's almost obsolete, but it's mastery brought them victory.

On court, it was a game crammed full of hustle, but nearly devoid of hysteria. Coach Lowery and staff were steaming in frustration over a couple of questionable calls, most notably a Jayhawk dunk which took place after the shot clock expired.

Can the emotion of such an intense game be distilled in a single moment of chance? Perhaps. When SIU's Bryan Mullins made a clean steal, he drove hard to the basket, but his bid for a left handed layup rolled off.... and Jamaal Tatum's tip in came EVER so close to climbing over the rim!

Yes. but no regrets. What an incredible season the Salukis and Chris Lowery recorded. They performed with fortitude and class under witheringly stressful conditions time after time. Many of them played hurt and made no excuses on the rare occasions they were defeated.

Ultimately they were superb representatives of SIU, the Valley, and the whole of Southern Illinois. That's how basketball is supposed to be played...with consummate skill and shoulder to shoulder teamwork. Well-deserved applause and cheers are echoing across the Land between the Rivers. Thanks, Dawgs, for a phenomenal year. What a ride!

Not even close- Salukis pound Va Tech 63-48

With one starter going down the other four stepped up. Jamaal Tatum was unstoppable hitting 6 of 9 from three point range and pouring in a game high 21 points. The entire team was hot from behind the arc combining to hit 12 of 21 (57%) from downtown.

Tony Young and Brian Mullins played their usual stout defense and succeeded against the Va Tech pressure- where the Illini guards failed. In the exact spot where the Illini coughed up their huge lead SIU played it cool and collected, milking the shot clock, getting offensive rebounds, and never letting the Hokies pressure become a factor.

It was a turbulent start for SIU with Jamaal Tatum only hitting 1 of his first 5 shots from the floor. Even with the slow start, SIU's defense was good enough to hold Va Tech to a 15-15 tie with 6 minutes remaining in the first half. After Mullins hit a running layup JT caught fire and nailed three straight 3's to give SIU a 28-20 lead at the break. For a team that controls the tempo as well as SIU does an 8 point lead felt more like 16.

Randal Falker showed why he is the defensive player of the year in the MVC. Falker had some dynamic blocked shots in the second half and never allowed Va Tech to get established down low. The Hokies had to settle for jumpers and aside from a few great plays from Deron Washington they were never able to get into a groove against the smothering SIU defense.

Many have questioned Chris Lowery's "slow down" offense over the last 3 years but good luck finding one such critic today. The idea is to wear teams out on both ends of the floor and shorten the game. This strategy is especially effective for closing teams out late in the game when you have the lead. Many teams get a lead and become passive trying to protect it but SIU is accustomed to using the entire shot clock so it's just business as usual for the Salukis as they quietly put their opponents to sleep.

A perfect example of Chris Lowery's slow down offense came at the 10 minute mark in the second half of today's game. With a 12 point lead SIU burned a full minute off the clock by drawing 2 fouls, collecting an offensive rebound, and eventually scoring from the free throw line in the possession.

The Salukis are headed to the sweet 16! The major media has ignored SIU so far this tournament but they can't ignore them any longer. The Salukis will travel to San Jose, California to play the winner of today's Kansas/Kentucky matchup. The media will undoubtedly favor SIU's opponent but that won't deter this group of players. Give this team another challenge so they can overcome it- they wouldn't want it any other way.

Dawgs Bowl Over Crusaders 61-51

With an injured Matt Shaw scowling morosely from the bench Friday night, it seemed the Salukis' were in for a mighty difficult second half.

Despite a 30-25 halftime lead, the Salukis' chances appeared to have dimmed considerably when Chris Lowery sent Tony Boyle forth to do battle. As it turned out, what was the problem?

Boyle, who later growled, "Sometimes you gotta suck it up", was more than adequate. In fact, he was absolutlely inspirational. After Shaw had led all scorers with 11 in the first half, Boyle turned up the heat on the staggering Crusaders with 14 of his own. He canned 4 0f 5 from the field and six of eight from the stripe. He wrestled down five boards, to boot. Ball game!

Possessors of staunch defensive prowess themselves, Holy Cross had the audacity to go snoot to snoot with the Dawgs and try to beat them at their own game. After all, low post "hoss" Tim Clifford, (who has 5 inches and 15 pounds on Carlos Zambrano) figured to be an asset in a low scoring game.

Then there was the issue of Keith Simmons' 44 game streak of double figure games. The pesky Torey Thomas could steal a brick out of the pyramids. Did SIU really have the sort of game to match all this? Yep.....

The thing is, nobody....not Lowery...not TV analysts.... actually nobody can really figure out exactly what make the Dawgs tick. Take away one thing, they invent something else.

Not that in-your-chest defensive basketball is particle physics. It's just that SIU keeps tinkering with the exact formula of the thing. On Saturday they concocted still another winning combination.

The no-nonsense Boyle was abetted by a flyin' version of Jamaal Foster, who parachuted out of the rafters for a gawk-inducing tip in. Then there was Bryan Mullins, whose multitudinous methods of engineering a victory are becoming things of wonder. Case in point: (method # 257)...after being involved in a grisly turnover on offense , which resulted in a Crusader rocketing away with the ball,. Mullins slammed on 200 meter dash speed, ran down the scofflaw on the sideline and freaked him so much he boomed the ball four feet over his partner's head and into the crowd.
S.I.U. ball. Thank you Bryan. Oh, yes, heck of a job on that three from the corner down the stretch.

Southern' defense was so startling that Holy Cross just couldn't bear up. They played tough and earned respect...but just couldn't reel the Dawgs in. Southern limited Simmons to just 4 pts. and who else ever did that? Thomas nailed 9 free throws to get a creditable 15 for the game. Clifford displayed a nice touch from ten feet in, netting 9 for the night.

Peeking out from within a forest of arms, SIU's Randal Falker managed to tally twelve. Meanwhile, Jamaal Tatum used six free throws to get 10.

It's probable Shaw will not play Sunday. Virginia Tech wins it, right? They're tough, talented, motivated, etc. Not so fast. The Salukis have an uncanny cohesion and an immunity to pressure. As Lowery looks down the bench, he may still have no idea what some of his troops might be able to do. One thing Tony Boyle has taught them all. You don't worry one bit. Just get out there and tear 'em up. A win Sunday would be an all time victory record for Southern and clinch a spot in the sweet 16. They'll suit up and be out there. You can count on it.