Rock Candy: March 2007 Archives

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Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 16:36:01

JR and Henry blogging LIVE

Welcome to the JR and Henry live blog for the Final Four. It's 4:40 and the television is on. The players are slowly rolling in. I just mixed my first cocktail. JR's getting his ass whipped Kid Dynamite for the 100th consecutive time in Tyson's Punch Out. G Baby, our host, has a cold Smithwick's.

Why is Ernie Kent on the pregame show? Probably trying to get that Harvard job. Lord knows he ain't even qualified for that. The Razorbacks, and that damn buffoon Broyles, still don't have a coach, although the crew is full of laughter at those on Hogville posting that Jerry Tarkanian is the next coach of the Razorbacks.

The menu tonight is quite extravagant. G Baby had some lobsters and crab cakes flown in today from Maine. Fresh boiled shrimp and lots and lots of booze.

Here are the players: JR, Henry, G Baby, Gibby06, DY, Hero Harris, and the dames. Via satellite, the Sheikh and Lo.

Tip off is in 25 minutes. Track the games with us. It's certain to be a ridiculous time.

4:47: Just watched "One Shining Moment." JR wants to know where was Scotty Thurman's shot in the national title in 1994? Mad Dog Madsen sighting. Dude is straight up WHITE.

4:51 - Who puked on the court?

4:53 - Gibby06 (Ohio State); G Baby (Georgetown); DY (Georgetown); JR (Ohio State). And the correct answer is, Georgetown. As of this posting, the Razorbacks still don't have a coach. Nice work, Frank.

4:54 - Nice shirt Craig O'Neil.

4:55 - Alright, here's what happens when you put a bunch of lawyers in the room. Freaking lawyers. Two of them are huddled in the corner talking jurisdiction in the Paul Eells case. Barf.

4:57 - DG just plowed through the front door. Hair in tact.

4:59 - Shaikh has it from an inside source that a deal is in the works to bring Stan Heath back. Seems more plausible to us than anything else save hiring Porter Moser.

5:01 - Waiting for the annual "Hello Friends" spawns a conversation about the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Who gives a damn?

5:05 - Second round of drinks coming out. That didn't take long. Prime viewing spots being gobbled up. DG brought cigars, I suppose to celebrate his latest haricut, but who knows. JR will smoke one fo shizzle. DG laughing at his own jokes. Does Georgetown have 5 fans at this game?

Posted by at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]

To do Saturday: SEC Gymnastics at Alltel Arena

I dream of the day they bring the SEC MEN'S basketball tournament to Alltel Arena, and we are getting a men's first- and second-round NCAA Tournament here next season. Right now, the SEC really likes Alltel for the women's sports, with the women's basketball tournament coming back in a couple of years.

Tonight, the SEC Gymnastics Championships will be held at Alltel beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $13.25. See some Olympic-type talent on the floor in vault, floor excercise and balance beam.

Posted by at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Friday, March 30, 2007 - 17:33:11

Stephens caddy favorite Carl Jackson profiled in Golf Digest

There's a good story this month in Golf Digest, and it's available on the web, of Carl Jackson, the longtime friend and employee of the Jack Stephens family who has caddied for two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw. Jackson is the caddie master at Warren Stephens' private golf enclave Alotian in west Pulaski County.

Posted by at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Itkin adds Las Vegas Philharmonic to busy schedule

David Itkin, the music director and conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, will lead the Las Vegas Philharmonic begining July 1.

According to an ASO press release today, Itkin's first concert will be a July 4th “Star Spangled Spectacular” at Hills Park in Summerlin.

“This is a very exciting new opportunity in a fast-growing city with a unique entertainment environment," said Itkin in the press release. "I’m looking forward to the new challenges that it will present.”

Itkin will continue his position as music director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, which he has led since 1993, and the Abilene (Texas) Philharmonic, where his tenure began in 2005.

Live Final Four blogging by J.R. and Henry

Join sports columnist/bloggers J.R. and Henry here on the Little Rock blog tomorrow beginning at 5 p.m. for live blogging of the NCAA basketball tournament's Final Four.

CBS will carry the Final Four Saturday, featuring Georgetown vs. Ohio State in game 1 and UCLA and Florida in game 2.

Posted by at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

LR native lands skit spot on "Letterman"

UPDATED, 2:57 p.m. Friday:

Will Trice, a Little Rock native living in New York and pursueing theater and the arts, was chosen for a skit on "The Late Show With David Letterman" that will air ~~tonight~~ sometime in the next two weeks ("Letterman" airs nightly at 10:35 on KTHV-TV in Little Rock). Trice will portray an opera singer who attempts to break glass, we're told. The ~~show was taped yesterday~~ segment is being taped Friday for airing later, as often many of the skits put on the show are not "live" in front of the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater at 53rd and Broadway.

Trice is the son of local actress Judy Trice and the brother of full-time local lawyer and part-time performer Kathryn Pryor.

Posted by at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 15:45:19

J.R. and Henry: So long, Stan

This J.R. and Henry column for the blog also appears in the print edition of this week's Times:

So long, Stan

The Stan Heath era at Arkansas has come to end. ESPN’s Andy Katz, who scooped all the local guys, reported on Monday that Stan Heath was fired as the head basketball coach at Arkansas. This news is only mildly surprising.

(Katz also said Monday he didn’t believe Texas A and M’s Billy Gillispie would leave Aggieland for Fayetteville, though anyone with any UA inside connection seemed to think otherwise when the Times went to press Tuesday. However, by Thursday afternoon it appeared certain Gillispie was no longer a UA job candidate.)

After five seasons, Heath went to the NCAA Tournament twice, but was beaten in the first round both times. His teams never sniffed a division or overall title and made the SEC Tournament final only once, getting run by Florida just a few weeks ago.

While it was believed that Heath’s teams would turn the corner, especially after landing talented freshmen Patrick Beverley and Stefan Welsh and star junior college transfer Sonny Weems, they didn’t. This season, Arkansas seemed to play like many of the teams Heath coached in years past.

We’ve been ardent supporters of Heath’s work. After all, when he arrived at Arkansas there was nothing. Not an ounce of talent. He had to go out in the midst of a lawsuit, which exposed some deep-seeded racial tensions at the UA, and recruit players who could actually pass, shoot and defend.

This one of Heath’s real talents; he proved to be a good recruiter. It appeared that this year’s team was the most talented of the Heath era.

But the record reflected something entirely different. Despite beating Southern Illinois, West Virginia and Marist on a neutral court in Orlando, the Razorbacks continued to lose to poor teams on the road. The Hogs often looked unmotivated and lethargic ambling up and down the court. Arkansas couldn’t string together critical wins until the very end of the season. The result was a 7-9 conference record and only 18 wins overall.

Yes, there was that run through the 2007 SEC tournament. But tournament runs have to be taken with a grain of salt. While championship week is fun for the fans, it’s the entire body of work and not just those final games that make the season.

The issue now is what Arkansas will do with this vacancy. Arkansas fans assume that the administration will go out and hire a big-name coach. They better, because with up to seven scholarships on the table this fall, hiring a mid-major nobody from a crybaby conference like the Missouri Valley isn’t the smart move.

You’ll recall a similar situation when Danny Ford was fired as the Razorback football coach in 1997. Arkansas had the chance to hire then-Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville, but the “search committee” blew it and Arkansas ended up with an unproven mid-major cheerleader that has turned the football program into an episode of “Days of Our Lives.” This time, though, UA athletic director Frank Broyles said Monday he’d been given the authority to find the next coach and present the name to UA Chancellor John White to be accepted or rejected.

Late last week, Minnesota offered then-Kentucky coach Tubby Smith $1.8 million per year to take their head coaching job. He did. New Mexico ponied up more money than it ever had to get Iowa coach Steve Alford. Kentucky, presumably, will pay whatever it takes to get its No. 1 choice, which appears to be Florida’s Billy Donavan, who still has a couple of games to coach for the Gators in Atlanta.

Stan Heath, who came to Arkansas after one miracle season at Kent State, was fired because he didn’t win enough. It’s a plain and simple standard for Division I coaches. Winning is all that matters. We’re fine with Heath being fired for that reason. But we’re not fine with the standard being applied to one coach and not another. It’s unfortunate, sad and representative of the continued inequality in Fayetteville. And it’s all the more reason for the UA to bid farewell to Frank Broyles too, which it will do in December.

Nevertheless, the issue now is hiring the right coach to succeed Stan Heath. Here’s hoping Chancellor White has learned from the mistakes of the past.

J.R. and Henry are a couple of Little Rock-based sports fanatics who blog their column regularly on the Arkansas Times’ Little Rocking entertainment blog.

Posted by at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]