« October 2008 | Main | December 2008 »
Friday, November 28, 2008 - 23:38:07
A Tale of Two Dicks: Observations from the North Endzone
As the game was looking like a replay of last weekend's Miss. State game, the title possibilities for this post included "Same Old, Same Old." But with the entry of Casey Dick for his younger brother in the second half and the storybook finish to Casey's Arkansas career, it became "A Tale of Two Dicks" (When would I ever get to use this again? haha). It was the best of times and the worst of times of the 2008 season encapsulated into one game. Here's twenty-one observations from an older brother who was there.
1. The morning of the Miss. State game involved my crossing the path of a black cat on the way back from getting a paper and the needed sports section. I jokingly told my mother that we might as well call Petrino and the Hogs back from Starkville. Game over. This morning while going for a paper I crossed the path of yet another cat. But it was not entirely black and wasn't wearing LSU purple and gold, so just maybe things would turn out alright.
2. From Warren to Pine Bluff to Little Rock, my mother and I met one vehicle that was obviously going to the game, and it had a tiger tail hanging out the trunk and Louisiana plates. Would the Hog faithful be there?
3. It turns out that they were and for the most part stuck through the bad weather that was suppose to stay south of Little Rock and the unanswered LSU points of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The LSU fans travelled well themselves, I should add.
4. The feel walking through the golf course was one that didn't have the buzz of the 2006 game. You could feel in the air that much less was at stake today. But it was still an Arkansas football game, and we wouldn't be seeing one of these for a long time, so I considered myself "up" for the game! I was just hoping the players were feeling the same thing.
5. There was still the "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez" element about the LSU tailgaters even in a year that wouldn't end in a national championship. I did spot a group of LSU fans, beer in hands, dancing to Cajun music inside the courtyard they had made with their parked RV's. It was one of those only in the SEC moments.
6. Tickets by the handful were to be had outside the gates. And so were free posters once you crossed through the gates. The good people of Chesapeake Energy were giving out these "Ultimate Razorback" posters that shows a cartoon Hog player that has an arrow to the "Thighs - Darren McFadden, Running Back, 2005-07," the "Arm - Joe Ferguson, QB, 1969-72" and so forth. When the day was done, they could have added "Feel Good Story, Casey Dick, QB, 2005-08."
7. We've all heard about the rudeness of LSU fans and their in-your-face ways. A fan who accidently knocked over our bottle drinks and fizzed them up (no spillage) insisted we take eight dollars for the accident. We eventually relented after much protest. Are you expecting me to say this was an LSU fan? In fact, the gentleman was a Hog. My friend Shannon who sat amongst the Tigers with his father reported that they were rude and arrogant, but some did congratulate them after the game was over. But no way an LSU fan would have paid for our drinks, right?
8. Two touchdowns on the first two drives and both at my end of the field. The Hogs are going to roll today, right? I don't think there were too many poncho wearing Arkansas fans who believed that this initial outburst of Arkansas touchdowns would turn into a steady rain of scores. We all knew the history of the season. If the Hogs were to win, it would have to, by the law of this season, be on the final play of the opposing team coming up short.
9. Missing from the stands was the wave, fist fights (at least what I could tell in my area), and the beach ball. This was no ULM, so maybe we were all just a bit more focused.
10. In between the first and second quarters there was an on the field presentation to a former Arkansas baseball player who had won the Cy Young award. My first thought was shouldn't they have saved this for a baseball game? My second thought was what in the world was this former Hog doing wearing a burnt orange jacket to accept his award? Very odd sartorial choice there.
11. Was very impressed by our band's in-state recruiting efforts (we've built that fence apparently), for at half-time they mentioned each senior by name and most were from Arkansas. As a nice touch, they played the fight song together in the middle of the field with the other band members forming a circle around them.
12. Arkansas' "Special" teams were confounded by Trindon Holliday the entire game. I was confounded by my inability to come up with a good George Jefferson "The Jeffersons" reference put-down for LSU's QB Jordan Jefferson. The good news is that Holliday has only one more year left to scare the bejeezus out of us on kick-offs. The bad news is I think I'll have three more years to work on my Jefferson taunts.
13. My mother and I went into a hug one another, keep one eye open stance whenever Tejada kicked. We were both happy to change the tenor to the conversation associated with Mr. Tejada's name as of last Saturday. I imagine a mother and son Tiger fan duo in Baton Rouge tonight are saying some not too kind things about one Colt David.
14. My Dick Brother Conspiracy Theory - Might Nathan Dick exaggerated his thumb injury that he sustained just before the half to get his brother into the game? I like to think that he did. And to show that I hadn't forgotten about my own brother who watched the game at home with my father, I got him a free poster before I left the stadium. On giving it to him, he pointed out the free factor. I pointed out the "I didn't have to get it for you at all" factor, haha. All Arkansas fans who have brothers, ask yourself, would your brother exaggerate an injury to get you into your final game? Casey better get his brother something much nicer than a free poster!
15. The LSU player who kicked the ball out of frustration can probably tell you what Les Miles' shoe polish tastes like via rear entry. I was so thrilled to see another team do something so foolish. Just a feeling, but I think the personal foul penalty was not called as much on the Hogs this year as in the years of the Nutt era.
16. On Wednesday night I sat through the overwrought, Outback melodrama (should have read a review first) that is "Australia," the movie. After the Jarius Wright thing of beauty touchdown and some successive defensive stops for a change, I knew we were in for some more drama with the Drama Hogs of 2008.
17. Where were the turnovers? Wet ball, wet field, but no fumbles lost. The last time an LSU running back lost a fumble was in 2006 in Little Rock. But no repeat performance this year. Nathan Dick's turnover before the half seemed to have, thankfully, gotten the required Dick turnover out of the way for his brother.
18. I want the image of London Crawford catching Casey Dick's last pass as a Hog for a TD to burn itself nursing home deep into my memory. The thrill of sharing that happinesss with around 50,000 other people, all that positive energy, is something you just can't capture at home in front of the tv. It is a moment of feeling completely alive and in the present. Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!
19. But before the Hogs could firmly establish themselves as State Champions of Louisiana, they still had to survive a kickoff to the person that I described at the time as the bane of my existence, Trindon Holliday. And sure enough, there was LSU suddenly at the middle of the field.
20. Give the Symmetry Trophy and the Boot to the Hogs. A gutsy 4th down conversion propels the Hogs to victories against both ULM and LSU. And both ULM and LSU come up short on a final kick. Though I want to end future seasons with bowl and championship trophies, I'll take the Symmetry Trophy this year and a positive ending to the rebuilding year that we thought it might be.
21. Why stop at twenty-one? Casey Dick's and Nathan's jersey numbers combine for twenty-one just as they combined to give Arkansas its first and likely only brother quarterbacked victory, one that will live on in Razorback lore for its uniqueness as well as its storybook thrill of a finish. Casey and Nathan, welcome to your share of Hog immortality!
(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)Miracle on Markham, Part 2
Wow. Wow. Wow!!!
Talk about your storybook finishes...after a famously up & down Razorback career, Casey Dick couldn't have asked for a more triumphant way to close it out. Huge kudos to him...he certainly deserves to end on that note after all he's been through (and props to London Crawford, Dennis Johnson and all the other Hog heroes).
Damn, that final touchdown was amazing!
I have so many thoughts running through my head I'm not in any condition to write a proper post, but I wanted to put something up so you all could share your own observations. We'll have a more coherent reaction up once we've had time to process it all.
Definitely looking forward to hearing what you all have to say after this one...the floor is all yours.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - 15:35:29
I Give Thanks for Stefan Welsh
And Courtney Fortson.
And Rotnei Clark.
And John Pelphrey.
And last-second wins.
And my cable system, which carries CSS and allowed me to watch that last-second win.
Hold on ... I'm still trying to catch my breath after jumping around my den like a total idiot after Welsh nailed the game-winning shot ... OK, I'm ready.
What a nice victory for Pelphrey's young Razorbacks, one that will hopefully do wonders for their confidence. To not only pull out a last-second win on the road, but to do so after trailing by as many as 10 points in the second half - that was impressive.
And what a joy it was to see the fast-paced offense, the bulls-eye three-point shooting and the dynamic freshman duo of Fortson and Clarke. It felt like old times.
Maybe their final record won't be anything special, but I think this year's team is going to be very fun to watch. And after the plodding, grinding style of the Heath era, that's something we can all be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Woo Pig Sooie!
(there's more at www.razorbackexpats.com)Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 15:34:10
This is the Way the Season Ends, Not With a Bang but a Whimper
Well, fellow Hog fans, it's hard to believe, but we're only a few short days away from the end of the 2008 football season. It's been a season of change...more about looking to the future than competing in the present. And it's certainly been a 
season of exciting finishes, although I suspect when we look back on it we'll remember the missed opportunities against Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State more than our stands against Auburn or Tulsa.
Of course, you're probably wondering what Nobel Prize-winning poet and rabid Razorback football fan T.S. Eliot would say about the season. Given that we're shuffling quietly into the twilight rather than going out with our typical humiliating bowl loss, he might twist his classic "The Hollow Men" to say something like this:
This is the way the season ends
This is the way the season ends
This is the way the season ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
How are we ending with a whimper, you ask? That story won't be fully written until we play LSU on Friday, but here are a few thoughts:
* back-to-back depressing losses to South Carolina and Mississippi State
* offensive savior Michael Smith sitting out for the LSU game with a hamstring injury
* for that matter, LSU's own troubles of late have taken a bit of the usual luster off the battle in War Memorial
* reports that a group of players - most of them seniors - haven't bought into Petrino's ways and have been more or less sabotaging things from within for awhile now. (Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, DT Ernest Mitchell and DE Antwain Robinson didn't travel to Starkville for the game last weekend.)
* Casey Dick ending his up & down Hog career by being benched in favor of his brother. Forget T.S. Eliot...that's almost Shakespearean. We'll have a more thorough look at the Casey Dick era next week.
(there's more at www.razorbackexpats.com)Monday, November 24, 2008 - 15:07:09
Congratulations Nolan
Along with the likes of Charles Barkley, Danny Manning and Dick Vitale, Nolan Richardson was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend. In addition to the numerous basketball luminaries on hand, he was surrounded by plenty of family members and former Razorback stars.
The always insightful Barkley summed up Nolan's legacy thusly:
"He's one of the great innovators of the game who's just now getting the credit he has always deserved. Everybody is playing now like his teams did, or at least they're trying to. Florida won a national championship like that. Rick Pitino won one like that. But he played like that before it became popular."
Speaking of legacies, the lack of proper recognition for Nolan and Arkansas' all-time greatest sports team (hint: it wasn't the 1993-94 footballers) is an embarrassment that should be rectified as soon as possible. As fate would have it, this season marks the 15th anniversary of that heroic squad.
So, let's make it happen. Naming the court after Nolan? Retiring some jerseys? At the very least, a nice halftime tribute to the coaches and players? Your move, Jeff Long.
(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 22:47:28
Tough Day in Razorbackland
Ugh. Given that it was this group's first road game, the result is not unexpected. Toss in the fact that Missouri State was opening its new arena, and you knew the Bears would be up for the contest.
Still ... USA Today Sport Weekly projects Missouri State to finish 10th in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference.
It's been a long day. Sunday can't come soon enough.
(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)The (Bowl) Dream is Over
Wow. Wow. Wow.
What a near comeback. What a nice performance by Nathan Dick. And what a day for Lucas Miller. Still, when all was said and done, Arkansas was left with yet another heartbreaking loss, as the defense was shredded by MSU's awful offense.
And let the record show that the Razorbacks' dream of appearing in a crappy bowl officially died at 4:48 CST on Saturday, Nov. 22. No trip to Shreveport for the Poulan Weedeater Bowl (I know, I know - it's not called that anymore.) No journey down Highway 78 for the Pizza Bowl in Birmingham.
I'll give you a few moments to compose yourself.
After the brutal start to this season, it would have been nice to see the team get a bowl berth (and nice for next season to get the extra practice time). Look at it this way, though: At least there's no chance of the Hogs dampening your holiday fun with yet another lame bowl loss.
I'll confess to being ready for this season to end, which is convenient since, in fact, it will do just that next Friday. I retain every bit of my enthusiasm for the hiring of Petrino and am full of hope for the future. And I will tune in next Friday afternoon for what has become one of the most enjoyable parts of the Thanksgiving weekend and root the guys on as enthusiastically as ever.
But, I've just about had my fill of disheartening losses for the year. Good thing there's the possibility of only one more.
(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)2-0, Baby
Q&A: Bahn on Basketball, Part 1
SEC Power Poll: Week 12
Random Question of the Day
Eyes It, Skies It...Buys It?
The Odd Couple
J. Hawg's Pick 10
Whew!
Basketball Prediction Open Thread
It's Only Two Games
The Pumpkin King is Deposed in Tennessee, A Prince is Ousted in Kansas, and Talk of Revolution in Alabama
A Good Afternoon Spoiled
Q&A: Getting Gamecocky
A Passing Fancy
SEC Power Poll: Week 10
The Hogs and the Presidents
Monday Evening Hodge Podge
Nine Games in to the Petrino Era: Taking Stock
Whew!
 |
  |
| © 2004 - 07 Arkansas Times. All Rights Reserved. |  |
