I am graduating from SIUE in exactly one week. I have been the sports editor at the Alestle covering this team since 2009, and have been a reporter at the paper since August 2007 when I started college.
Somehow, I made it in four and a half years.
While eCougarzone.com is scheduled to last through the end of this season, tonight is my senior night.
Monday is my final day of production at the Alestle before I clean out my desk and enter the "real world," some place I am increasingly becoming scared of, given this thing called the economy.
The Cougars have been great to me. I consider myself lucky to be at SIUE during this important time in our history. We have been losing and we have been losing bad. I always wanted to write about a Division I basketball team on a continuous basis, and I am grateful for this opportunity and the decision made back in 2007 to transition to NCAA Division I.
No, I won't be recognized at all, and that is perfectly fine with me. My dash for cash against UMKC a few years back makes up for that. All I ask for tonight is a win, something the Cougars have gotten against the Trojans on their senior nights the past two seasons.
Tonight, for the team is about gaining some confidence. SIUE has had a hard time these past two games. They were blown out by Cal State Fullerton and Ball State in back-to-back contests. The team showed moments of brilliance in each game, but they got off to starts that were way to slow to even have a chance at digging out of. In the end, both looked really bad, and they were bad. There's not enough sugar in the world to coat those games with and make them look better. We set the bar high in our first game against Illinois for this garbage to continue.
Hannibal LaGrange is an NAIA school founded in 1858 with an enrollment of 1,110 in Hannibal, Missouri. They compete in the American Midwest Conference along with schools like Harris Stowe, Columbia College, Benedictine University, Missouri Baptist and William Woods. The Cougars are the second Division I team and Ohio Valley team on their schedule. The day before thanksgiving, they went down to Cape and lost 82-72 to Southeast Missouri. This is not going to be a cakewalk by any means, as SEMO found out last month. the Trojans come in at 6-6 on the season and on a two-game winning streak. Two days ago, they beat Lindenwood-Belleville by 18.
SIUE leads the all-time series 2-0. They won 84-55 last year, in a game that was delayed nearly an hour because Hannibal LaGrange's bus was stuck in snow and traffic. Two seasons ago, SIUE won 76-66.
In case you are interested, here are my game stories from those last two meetings.
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