Arkansas Blog

Whew! At first I thought you were reporting Eddie had died. I guess that's a reflection of my mindset, what with all the murders in LR and then the death of Gerald Ford.

I always liked Eddie, despite his '70s hair perm. He definitely needs to put away the car keys, though.

I with you hugh...I thought Eddie had suddenly passed thru that great hoop in the sky. On the first of 2 out of town trips we ever took without our kids, I was checking into the Fayetteville Hilton one afternoon when I spotted Ben Gosey from Fort Smith ahead of me in line.

When Ben got done at the desk he started to walk past me. I grabbed his arm and talked a blue streak as men will do when checking into a hotel with their wives for the first time after the birth of a child.

I don't know what all I said, but as I got to the end of my BS I realized the arm I was grabbing was not that of Ben Gosey of Fort Smith, but that of a confused Eddie Sutton in Fayetteville for a golf tournament.

He continued to look at me blankly and then walked off. I was sooo embarrassed. But maybe that was the first one sided conversation anyone had with him that didn't involved basketball.

I'm still personally upset about his Afro-wearing years, but I'm letting bygones be bygones.

Damn time flies. Scott was on the elementary school team I helped coach at Root School-Fay- in '77-78. Scott was about the only 8 year old who could dribble and he was a head taller than the other kids. Eddie rarely missed a game.

Life was good then, Afro's and all. Richard Nixon was gone. No war. "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" was in Top Ten. Billy Carter launched "Billy Beer." Congress summoned the President's brother to testify about influence peddlin to Libyans. Imagine that today.

Wish we could hire him a designated driver and bring him back to Fayetteville to coach our underachievers.

Somewhere in the desk at the last place I worked is a letter from Eddie saying he loved UA and would never leave. Within 2 weeks he had crawled to Ky.
I agree with the comment about him helping our underachievers.