Arkansas Blog

Yup, this does it for me.

Lets get on to other stuff now.

WOW! Great to see - - the man never made, never makes, a mistake. Everyone else is the liar. Whew ..for a second, it seemed like a miniscule apology was in order - -maybe for just not bothering to text message recruits, maybe even, if he wanted to spin it, for allowing Prewitt to engender such ill will to a player WITH WHOM HE SAID, AT THE END OF THE YEAR, HE THOUGHT HE HAD A GOOD RELATIONSHIP. What ARROGANCE -- go ahead fans and say that's great, because he's laughing while you do.

What with the LRSD School Board fracas and the hints of infidelity at the UofA, we actually have a combination of the two going on in Chicago. Just click on my name.
I wonder which science project got the nod at that school?!!

Well this is absolutely meaningless. If Nutt can make thousands of text messages to Bragg during the season, what is the volume like now that the season is over? Are the contents of those text messages being kept now that Nutt has learned his lesson? When does Nutt actually coach if he's texting all day like a teen with ADD?

Exactly what kind of booster is allowed to even come to Razorback games after what Prewett did? Banished from the sidelines? How harsh!

Then we get to why the top 2 recruits from the state are going to Auburn, and why we lost an undefeated QB and all SEC WR. Let's not even contemplate why our OC left for a demotion at Tulsa.

The bull is wounded and the wolves are circling. Let's see if they play Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now" at games this year.

Judging from HDN's normal speech patterns and modes of expression, I'd say his lawyer contributed a lot to this "letter". No telling what got deleted or added.

We shall wait and see.

I'll bet every person with a company-paid cell phone makes personal calls on it. I would expect Houston's to be on some kind of flat-fee plan where the personal calls don't cost extra.

Its too bad Houston won't just say "I am not going to talk abut my personal life" and then just shut up.

If there is a cost for these calls, lets see. . . that would probably amount to $1,000 on top of his $1,000,000+ compensation. What is that - 1/10 of 1% of his pay?

That's about like you or I stealing a box of paper clips from the supply room.

Frisk him Dan-O!

He doth protest too much. Guys, let's be honest. anyone that text messages another woman that is not his wife that often and says nothing is going on is either gay or married. I don't care personally. But c'mon.

I'm just saying.

correction. I meant to say "is either gay or lying."

There, that's better.

Well, my goodness, lets keep this in perspective. If he texted or called this lass a couple of thousand times, surely he can show these paled in comparison to the many thousands of times he texted or called the Mrs. . . He can show this, can't he?

I believe in redemption. I would love to see it for Houston. I have never seen it without honesty.

This could get ugly.

As soon as he reimburses the state for the cell phone bill that we paid for, this whole thing becomes none of our business.
If UA wants to fire him for lack of attention to his job, ok.
But his persoanl life is none of our business.

Re: all those calls/messagers- had it been me, Mrs Diogenes would have dealt with it already w/ a sadly well deserved, self inflicted "surgical Strike"

"Some have raised questions about the number of text messages and phone calls reflected in my cell phone records. Text messaging is one of my primary modes of communication on a daily basis. " -- Coach Houston Nutt

Why isn't this alone grounds for dismissal?. This obscenely paid UA faculty member has the mentality of an adolescent.

And, please, "...primary modes of communication on a daily basis." Is a conversation with this man merely a string of cliches and advertising jargon?

Whan an embarrassment.

I'd like to see Frank's records...

All those "non-existent" phone calls to ghost coaches...

Seems to me like that dude is just gonna stay in that chair until someone claims KING!

I'm leaving Nutt alone on this thread...

But I'd sure like to see 10 wins this season...sure would do some good...

GO HOGS!

My God, people. Have we returned to Salem and the witch trials of 1692? When we can't find a way to legally convict a man, are we going to do what the Salem barbarians did . . . tie weights to the man's body and fire idiotic, irrelevant questions at him until he dies of torture two days later?

Apparently so. But still, I simply can't believe some of the vile, mean-spirited, unsubstantiated conjecture I'm seeing human beings post here and elsewhere about the personal lives of fellow human beings.

I am a Razorback fan. But I have never met Houston Nutt. I have never spoken a word to Danny Nutt. I could not pick Donna Bragg, Diana Nutt, or Teresa Prewitt out of a lineup. I do not give a damn how many text messages somebody sent somebody else, or the time of day the messages were sent as long as the team is winning 10 straight games, seven out of eight conference games, is the SEC-West champion, and goes to a January 1 bowl.

I don't understand how or why supposedly intelligent people are so quick and willing to equate 30,000 text messages or phone calls to a sure-fire, undoubted romp in the sack; or lying: or being gay if you're not lying. Would you say such things to the man's face? To Donna Bragg's face? To Diana Nutt's face? You can pull the big mean macho machine act all you wish, but you know damn well the answer to the question is "No."

I am far from a saint. I do not thump the Bible. I do not think I am holier than thou. I am simply saying that I am a life-long Arkansan who is embarrassed to the 10th power by the narrow-minded, brutal, unsubstantiated attacks I see here and elsewhere. I would say the same thing if it were you who is under what I consider to be an unfair attack.

To those I've pissed off, I say wear the shoe if it fits. And by all means, go ahead and fire back something you think is cute or clever if it will make you happy or help you feel more justified in carrying out your irresponsible, counterproductive witch hunt. To me, it will only make you more of an embarrassment than you already are.

And by all means, go ahead and fire back something . . . if it will make you happy - Posted by: durangokid
********
Hmmm. Must be feeling guilty as you rise to his defense. You should now prove your innocence by posting your cell phone records for the last year . . .

What I actually said, Mr. Don, was "To those I've pissed off, I say wear the shoe if it fits. And by all means, go ahead and fire back something you think is cute or clever . . ."

Obviously, I've pissed you off, and obviously the shoe fits you. I'm sure, just as I predicted, that you believe your response was cute and clever, but like I said I'm only more embarrassed for loose-lipped gossips like you.

If you think I was "defending" Nutt, you missed the point entirely, but that would not surprise me, given many of your previous comments on this subject. There will be no further response from me. I believe I've made the point I wanted to make in the original post.

dK, Jr.:

You need a chill-pill little buddy. You didn't p*** me off. As far as "many of my previous comments", there are 3 on this thread. Since you are having a reading or comprehension problem, let me summarize for you in short paragraphs for your easy understanding:

The first is hardly gossip - I pointed out Houston is only doing what most other people do, the taxpayer cost is minimal and he would be better served if he stopped talking about it. I think that is probably defending him, not gossiping.

The second is marginal - just observing that if he called this female friend more than his wife - he is playing with fire. No gossipy insinuation there - just noting a monumental error in judgment on his part.

The third is a somewhat light hearted response to your acerbic comments. You got me there.

Oh man, now this post makes a fourth comment. That probably meets the definition of "many" comments. That means you got me again.

I can embarrass myself just fine, thank you, but I sincerely appreciate you being embarrassed for me and others with whom you disagree.

Kinda like being part of the family, I guess.

The oxygen forcefed into this burn is the coaching ineptitude shown in our final three games of the season. If the Hawgs had won at least one of the three ---- LSU, Fla or Wisc --- there wouldn't be this general discontent.

I do half agree with you Louie. The fire was smoking under the leaves with the benching of Mitch, Damian leaving, and the calls to David Lee behind Gus' back. The three key losses killed all of the joy of the 10 wins and left Dale with no cushion, no defense when he went off the deep end and undid all the good he had done the year before. His actions made all of his work the year before look like lieing and then he went on to lie about everything that he did. A bad month for Dale.

Text messaging is a very good means of communication. Calling somone's cell phone is intrusive--it's a request to interrupt whatever they're doing and pay attention RIGHT NOW. A text message can be replied to at leisure. Sure, the content can be adolescent. The same can be true of blog comments.

But then, the attentive reader knew that already.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised that a football coach would have an adolescent mentality. They spend all of their time with kids playing games.

Many are more mature, grow up alittle as they reach their 40s and 50s to be sure. Houston's weakness reminds me of some retarded development that I have seen. His lies are not mean or calculating, necessarily. They seem more casual, convenient, perhaps just years of telling people what they want to hear.

Frank has gotten away with murder for years just by having a polished and mature demeanor. Houston would be well served to see a sport pyschologist and hire a good PR man to help him with his public image. Being a goof and losing to many big games is a bad combination.

Dear Hog Fan:

Let me get this straight, my predecessor wins 10 games in the SEC, goes to a good bowl, is Coach of the Year, has a sure fire Heisman candidate and potentially 3 first round draft picks this year, and this is the way I'd be treated? Thanks but no thanks.

/s/Every decent respectable winning coach in the Northern Hemisphere

Oddball,

Only if you are a nut.

(is that foreshadowing? Should we have seen this coming.)

What I want to know is this: How many text messages did the dear lad send to any other reporters? male, female, whatever?

If he primarily relies on text messaging, as he seems to have said he did, wouldnt there be quite a few phone calls to other reporters too?

I havent seen this mentioned.

I can accept that houston works wtih donna bragg on easter seals business and that's fine, that's very commendable, but 20 minutes before a bowl game kicks off?

thats too many messages and calls for working for a charitable organization anyway. why didnt he have phone calls or text msgs to other members of the Easter Seals board or whatever its called?

if I had a husband, and he made 555 (or whatever) phone calls or text messages to another woman, AND then it got in the papers --- he would definitely have some 'splainin to do. I should think that info would be helpful since its been all over the papers because if that were my husband, I might want to take him to the cleaners.

"my predecessor wins 10 games in the SEC"

Sorry, but HDN didn't win 10 games in the SEC. The good teams beat him. Take a good long look at the Southern Cal score. Take a look at the last three games. When these two very good running backs are gone, HDN is gone.
(too bad he didn't know they were good in the '05 Vandy game. They carried the ball for a grand total of 4 times. Anyone remember when HDN did his best to make Sorahan the starter over Matt Jones? Yep, a great evaluator of talent, I would say.)

More fallout from the Imus situation:

There will only be 49 contestants in the Miss America Contest this year because no one wants to wear the sash that says IDAHO.

Actually, I wouldn't have minded seeing Tavaris Jackson throwing to Matt Jones. No QB looks good in Houston's system. No receivers and the DBs know where the ball is going (Monk, I know, but one guy can't do it by himself.)

I have plenty of friends that have company paid for cell phones who call their friends, their spouses, and their kids.

This is common everyday practice for those in positions where cell phone use is paid for, in my job it is just a perk and my company doesn't care who I call as long as my job is getting done.

I don't like Houston Nutt, but even if he is having an affair it is none of our business people. If using his cell phone to talk to friends and family is a big no no then make him repay it, but leave him alone and focus on his coaching.

Nobody wants Nutt fired for allegedly having an affair. Who honestly cares about that? The fact that 90% of Dale's "explanation" deals with this is a ruse, meant to create the impression that anyone who wants Nutt gone is grasping for straws by focusing in on his personal life. Most people want him gone for the simple fact that he is a poor to average coach, who consistently embarrasses the state and University on a national level. A coach who has never won any kind of championship at UA, has NEVER taken responsibility for ANYTHING, and bullies anyone who has the audacity to actually question him.

I agree murf. If the boy had a crush on the little newscaster it is no one's business.

The calls to Miami and Norh Carolina are much more interesting.

Thanks Polecat. Well put.

Look here people. If HDN is gonna take all the time required to TEXT that whole open letter on a cell phone ... well....you gotta give him credit for that. That sucker's gotta have the most talented thumb in Arkansas. Maybe that is what attracted Donna Bragg to him.

MEMO TO DON KEYHOTAY:

I apologize, Mr. Don. I came down on you way too hard. The truth is, I confused you with another guy who's posted a lot of crap that I deem unfair and unfit on a number of previous threads dealing with the Fayetteville fiasco.

My dear sweet sainted wife has often told me I should never have a drink after 10 p.m., and she's always right. I usually listen, but obviously didn't last night, so the booze and this Salem witch trial just got to me and . . . well, what else can I say?

Except this . . . I just plain dislike seeing people gossiped about and treated unfairly. It doesn't matter if they're Houston Nutt, Diana Nutt, the lady newscaster whose name I will never mention again, or Don Keyhotay. When I see it happening to them, to you, or to anybody else, I'm going to speak out. Again, my personal apology to you for the overkill.

Hey faux Polecat, I thought you agreed to stop posing.

Original Polecat

Houston knew he was going to be under a microscope when he was hired. That comes with celebrity.

If Britney Spears were on the public payroll, the press would be having a field day with her telecom records.

Think of Houston as the Britney Spears of football coaches.

Anyway, I can't feel sorry for a guy who makes millions adding 0 value to society.

Original Polecat---Forgot to type in name under comments, it puts my signin name if I don't, which is polecat. My bad. I do like fauxpolecat, though. Fauxpole.

Crazy,

I think you have come as close as anyone to really understanding what we have here. Dale's personality is essentially drama queen stuff. As long as Dale is around we can enjoy one mess after another. It may not be football, but you can't say it won't be entertaining, if you like that sort of thing.

This year just happens to be his masterpiece, a 'national title' of soap operas. We can't expect drama this good every year but we should lead the conference most years.

It's clear winnng big is not that big a deal to him. He only goes to work when his back is to the wall and he relaxes once he has enough hay in the barn to bring him back for another year.

If the NCAA does the right thing and bans text messaging of recruits (see article) Houston won't need to do so much text messaging in the future.

*************
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_sp_co_ne/ncaa_texting_ban_2
"INDIANAPOLIS - Coaches would no longer be allowed to send text messages to recruits under a rule change backed by an
NCAA panel.
...
"

Polecat,

You ask "who honestly cares" about HDN's personal life? For starters the parents of recruits. Second the people who put behavior or morality claues in coaches and player contracts. Other SEC coaches and recruiters are probably interested. And by the increased traffic on websites and talk around the water coolers I'm guessing the fan base is pretty interested as well, whether they claim to be or not.
Character counts. Nutt is a role model whether he likes it or not.

Coach Nutt says his relationship with Ms. Bragg was purely professional...or at least plutonic. Put common sense and the sheer volume of text messages aside for a moment and take him at his word. At the very least he was on a slippery slope.

Lots of text messages on Thanksgiving, after the LSU loss, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day...many well after midnight. And the clincher...19 minutes before kickoff of the bowl game! All men have a secret thought life. The evidence is overwhelming that Ms. Bragg was at the very least in HDN's head big time...for whatever reason.

If HDN's definition of an "inappropriate" relationship is limited to physical touch then I believe he did nothing wrong. But ask your spouse how many text messages you would be allowed to exchange with another member of the opposite sex, or if he/she would consider 1,000+ in six weeks as "appropriate" behavior. The question isn't was he having an affair. The question for Nutt or any man is what stage of the affair was he at?

Rather than another letter from his attorney, Coach Nutt may want to thank McAfee for derailing a train before it got any further down the track and possibly saving his marriage.

'Coach Nutt says his relationship with Ms. Bragg was purely professional...or at least plutonic." -- KnockKnock

I know "plutonic" was a typo, KnockKnock, but it sounds like something Nutt might say, and better, something that might be true here in Pluto's republic.

Polecat,

Thanks for treating my type gently. And with humor.

Guess who else cares about Nutt's personal behavior? Jim Rome. He just asked on his nationally syndicated television show "Is Houston Nutt an SEC football coach or an eighth grader at the mall?"
Rome said regarding more than 1,000 text messages between himself and an anchorwoman in less than two months..."I know it is an over-used cliche but in this case it fits...Houston, you really do have a problem."

More great national pub for the home state.

Ooops. For "treating my typo gently." Isn't it ironic to spell "typo" wrong? I'm not as good with my thumbs as Houston.

Texting is popular with sneaky teenagers, sneaky men. and cheating women. A cheating mate can text their love interest from most anywhere, and go undetected. While a voice message is to dangerous.
Isnt that right Houston?

The Joys of Text

KnockKnock,

(With apologies fo David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap) It's often a fine line between a stroke of genius and a typographical error.

OK, two cases of calls to known schools with head coach openings which HE WAS NOT EXPRESSING AN INTEREST. During this period of time, how many other schools did he call?

These calls after the flirtation with Neb and LSU are what is disturbing to me.

Besides the two free pass on the won-lost record, did JFB give a free pass on loyalty to the program?

Again, my personal apology to you for the overkill. - Posted by: durangokid
******
dK Jr.:
Apology accepted.

As I said, I view this as a family. A family can agree ad nauseum or heatedly disagree . . .and occasionally step in a cow patty here and there.

And there are definitely a few family members that no one can explain.

Usually, that's where I come in.

Thanks, Mr. Don. While some people may step in a cow patty here and there, it seems there's almost always a fleck of dung on MY boots! Happy trails to you. -- dK Jr

Who cares about cell phone messaging or what may be going on in his private life. The head nutt just needs to figure out how to win some BIG football games or take a hike. I've been a HOG fan all my life but 1964 was SOOOOO long ago. A "winning" season to the fans doesn't mean a thing if at least a run for a national chanpionship can't be factored in every few years. Heck, 1964 was 43 years ago, hog fans !!!

When he gets that feeling, Nutt gets a textual healing....

Too bad more quality recruits aren't on the receiving end of his prodigious text messages.

As Brummett noted, we all know the closing act of this play....HDN walks away laughing all the way to the bank, $10 million richer while U of A scrambles to hire the second head coach in a year for a revenune producing sport. Let's hope he goes 13-0 in his final Hawgaluya performance and then Mississippi State hires him.

I was gonna have a non-plutonic affair with this man one time but, what both of us being of a certain age, neither one of us can see the damned phones to text anything that makes sense at all.

He ended up running off with my cable repairman and now Im just left in a plutonic pickle here.

I still want to know if HDN text-messaged any male reporters, or anybody else. Guess he didnt have time.

Hi friend,

As I said, I view this as a family. A family can agree ad nauseum or heatedly disagree . . .and occasionally step in a cow patty here and there.

Thanks for it...