It was a bitter end to the careers of MSU seniors Barry Stewart and Jarvis Varnado, but Saturday's 76-74 loss to North Carolina in the second round of the NIT can't tarnish the legacy these two left behind.

In today's opinion offering, I write about what Varnado called "one hell of a ride." Stewart, a shooting guard pressed into backup point guard duty at times throughout his career, and Varnado, the NCAA's all-time leading shot blocker (564), are all over the MSU record books. And they've been there every night – each played in 141 games. Number of games missed: zero.

Their career numbers:

• Stewart – 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 37.9% field goals, 35.9% 3-pointers, 74.3 percent free throws.

• Varnado – 10.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, 58.9% field goals, 59.5% free throws.

Both got a standing ovation from the Humphrey Coliseum crowd when exiting the floor for the last time. It's sad that this season of promise didn't pan out like they'd hoped, but there can be no doubt that if the Bulldogs follow the example set by Stewart and Varnado, greater success awaits them in the future.

Congratulations to both guys. After covering them for two years, I can say without a doubt that they are class acts.

• LADY BULLDOGS GO DANCING: Also in today's Journal is a look at the Lady Bulldogs and their Congolese trio, who are playing Middle Tennessee State right now in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game is on ESPN and ESPN360.com. The winner gets Ohio State, which beat St. Francis (Penn.) earlier.

• DIAMOND DOGS DROP SERIES: MSU's baseball team lost to No. 6 Florida again Saturday, 5-4, thus dropping the opening SEC series of the season. So State is 0-2 behind its freshmen starters, Kendall Graveman and Chris Stratton, although the latter pitched well yesterday, yielding just one run on four hits in six innings. Chad Girodo took the loss. The series finale has just gotten under way.