Greetings and welcome to the November issue of Southern Illinois Sports Connection. This is somewhat of a transition month here at SISC.

Certainly we’re still keenly interested in high school and college football but the sound of basketballs bouncing in the distance is a reminder that round ball season is at hand. In fact, junior high basketball is already off and running and tip off for both boys and girls high school basketball is right around the corner.

In looking ahead to the upcoming high school basketball season I can’t think of a better person to profile on our cover than Curt Reed, who is beginning his 44th year of coaching and is a true profile of Southern Illinois.

It’s been said virtually every year, and I can assure you it will be said again this year, that Reed could be named coach of the year – every year. While he is a master of X’s and O’s his strongest asset as a coach is the ability to get every morsel of talent from his players.

Accompanied by a photographer and a videographer I trudged off in mid-October to Hamilton County to secure our cover story. First, we conducted the interview at Hamilton County High Shcool where we laughed at Reed’s stories one minute (and he has many of them to tell) and then stood amazed the next when he talked about some of the hardships he overcame just to get to school. After the interview, at Reed’s insistence, we all returned to his home where his lovely wife Janet had fixed peanut butter cookies (still warm) and we enjoyed milk and cookies. Then we took a tour of Macedonia (located 12 miles west of McLeansboro) that included stops at the home where Reed grew up, his turnip patch and Ernest Sullivan’s General Store.

Simply stated, it was quite an enjoyable and remarkable day.

I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy the story about the McLeansboro coaching legend and I hope it also provides some insight into Curt Reed the man.

This month’s magazine also features stories about West Frankfort’s Ryan Patton, who has gone from a long shot to play as a walk-on at SIU to a starting linebacker and a mainstay for the Salukis. If you enjoy a story about overcoming the odds and proving the naysayers wrong this is one you’ll enjoy.

Also this month is another story about another young man who also overcame great odds just to be able to play sports again. Bennett Page, an eighth grader at Benton Middle School, was diagnosed two years ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which took him away from the baseball diamonds and basketball courts that he loved and left him battling for his life. Earlier this fall Bennett returned to sports and played baseball for the BMS team and was chosen to compete in a year-end all-star game. Bennett’s triumphant story is a testament to willpower, positive thinking and prayer.

That’s just a small sampling of what you’ll find in this month’s issue, and as always I believe there’s something tucked inside these pages for nearly everybody.

In short, it’s another of our buffet-issues.

Enjoy!  

Jim Muir, Publisher