Western students were tourney MVP’s

On behalf of Coach Cowles, Coach Felton and the Lady Topper and Hilltopper basketball teams, I would like to send a sincere and heartfelt thanks for the Western student body’s tremendous support throughout the 2003 Sun Belt Conference basketball tournament.

The conference handed out Most Valuable Player awards to two student-athletes who participated in the tournament, but an MVP award could easily have been extended to the Western student body.

I hereby bestow on all Western students your own tournament MVP award for your part in helping put two teams in the NCAA Tournament.

For the men’s final, Diddle was packed with over 8,000 screaming fans, half of whom were Western students — 2,500 of you were in your seats one full hour before tip-off after waiting patiently in line for hours for Diddle to open.

I have seen many of the great crowds and venues throughout all of college basketball. I can honestly say that during our two final games, Diddle was as good as it gets anywhere in the country.

As I sat next to an executive from ESPN during the men’s final, he said that he had never seen anything like what he saw Tuesday night from a student body anywhere in the country.

Forget Duke and the “Cameron Crazies.” The college basketball world may soon use Western and the “Diddle (please come up with your own name)” as the national benchmark for student support.

I am already looking forward to next season in Diddle. Go Tops!

Wood Selig

Athletic director,

Western Kentucky University

Students should have been allowed onto court

I am writing to congratulate the Western basketball teams on their triumph in the Sun Belt tournament.

I have been a fan of these teams since my freshman year and jumped at the chance to see the Hilltoppers sweep the tournament in Diddle Arena.

I love watching college basketball because of the purity of the game. The players do not play for money; they play for love. They want to win because they have the desire to be the best.

That is what makes college basketball great, and that is why you see arenas full of students rushing the court after the home team has done something amazing.

But what happened on Tuesday night?

With only seconds left in the men’s game, my friends and I made our way closer to the court, ready to charge the hardwood and celebrate with the newly crowned tournament champs.

As the horn sounded Western’s victory, we were greeted by a cop who stood in our way, shaking his head. At least fifty people were behind me, ready to run.

But no, it was not to happen.

The court rush is perhaps the greatest show of fan support that we could have given to the team, but the man in blue stood in our way.

I had been looking forward to this moment since I heard Western would host the tournament, but thanks to uptight security, my moment was crushed.

If only I had a box of doughnuts.

William Lacap

Nashville junior

Students created fantastic atmosphere

Way to go Tops!

Congratulations to all our student-athletes and the staff of the men’s and women’s basketball programs for your outstanding victories.

More importantly, however, thanks to the Western students for your tremendous support of our school during the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Your enthusiasm was contagious, and you created an atmosphere in Diddle Arena that is unsurpassed in the 25 years I have been watching Western basketball.

You created an energy-charged atmosphere and made us proud to be a part of the Hilltopper basketball legacy.

Donna Harmon

President,

Hilltopper Athletic Foundation Board

‘Dr. Salisbury was great’

I was a student of Dr. Salisbury’s for three semesters. It meant something to me when he called me his “old friend Mr. Elzy.”

Dr. Salisbury fascinated me in the three years that I knew him. He’d lived throughout Latin America as a scholar and humanitarian.

In 1968, he nearly lost his life when the Mexican government brutally cracked down on political dissidents ten days before the Olympic games were held in Mexico City. Luckily, he avoided the atrocity and was able to continue living a full and adventurous life.

As a professor, Dr. Salisbury was one of the best. He was well-organized, very thorough and actively helpful.

To keep his students’ attention, he told intentionally corny jokes, kept us up-to-date on the sagas of Britney and Justin and occasionally did a mock baseball swing, complete with sound effects. He used Ricky Martin, Carmen Electra and Jennifer Lopez as multiple-choice options on his tests about Latin America.

I didn’t know him well on a personal level. I do know that he was very proud of his children. He talked about them a lot and included pictures of them in the slide shows of historic sites that he showed his classes. It always brought a smile to his face when he pointed them out to us.

I don’t expect people who never knew him to understand, but Dr. Salisbury was great. I really feel like I just lost an old friend.

Joe Elzy

Louisville senior