Tuesday, October 07, 2008 - 16:42:13
My baby brother brought his two-year-old up to Fayetteville this weekend for her first Hog game. I've been to sporting events with toddlers before, and I operated on the basis of two assumptions: 1). She'd be squirming by the second quarter, have wet her diapers by halftime, and be crying by the third. 2). At least if we did have to leave early, this was the season to do so.
I was wrong on
both counts.
Thursday, October 02, 2008 - 12:37:05
Doesn't look like Razorback football to these guys.
I'll be the first to admit that my expectations for this season underestimated the difficulty of turning around a program in the all-powerful SEC — which must be somewhat akin to changing directions on an ocean liner, except there's perhaps more to it than simply turning a wheel. But we shouldn't let our previously sunny outlooks color our interpretations of that change in direction. We should grin and bear it. A friend from up north once told me that we remind him of Philadelphia Eagles fans, and I'm beginning to see his point. Instead of enduring the growing pains with the rest of the state, several Razorback fans — including the usually quite cogent Jim Harris of Arkansas Sports ˚360 — have retreated into
outright fogeyism.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 09:53:16
The tumbleweeds have really been piling up on ye old blog, due to a number of things, but mostly marriage planning and an issue with movable type. But I'm back again, here to chronicle best I can one of the most painful seasons in recent memory. Walking on Sunshine (one of my faves)
invokes 1990. Blergh.
I haven't been on a message board all season on the assumption that logging in might trigger an emotional spiral. My own temperature's running too high to expose myself to others. If you keep up with the column at all, you know I've spent
the last coupla weeks trying to see the good in all of this. I'll keep doing so until I see some reason not to think we're getting what we paid for....
So far, I think we're headed in the right direction, and I'd keep watching even if I weren't being paid to do so. I'm what you'd call a fan.
Friday, July 25, 2008 - 12:55:46
Anxious much?
A man named Dacus who never played for our favorite football team sent me
this link, and I find it quite funny.
I'm getting married in October, and I've never had a dream about my fiancee leaving. Last night, however, I did have a dream that she was someone else, and I kept wondering why I was marrying this person that I hardly knew.
While chatting this over ony minutes ago, Lindsey Millar lamented the dearth of lovable weirdos on the Razorbacks. I asked him if he ever heard of
Brian Walker. God, I wish I had footage of the hula contest he won in Hawaii.
Thursday, July 24, 2008 - 11:35:07
First-year athletic director Jeff Long has been busily dragging the University of Arkansas Athletic Department into the 21st century. Measures taken over the last couple of weeks signal a sea change for Razorback athletics. Gone are the days of old, when the organizational values of what is both a multimillion-dollar business and a department at our largest state-funded university descended directly from a white male septuagenarian. We now understand — or at least recognize — the cultural changes necessary to running a successful athletic department.
Frank Broyles understood progress in material terms. His vision of the Razorback athletic program was strictly brick and mortar. Say what you will about the negative aspects of his tenure, nobody can overstate his positive impact on the Hogs, from the Razorback Foundation to Donald W. Reynolds Stadium. That vision just never really included a url.
Even the most churlish among us will note that top-flight facilities were not limited to our most profitable programs. All of our athletic facilities — from softball to tennis, track to football — stand in the first class relative to other universities. If we can all call him Pawpaw, Broyles did a pretty good job of not playing favorites. [read more]
Monday, July 21, 2008 - 18:35:35
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Lord knows I don't condone the Red Sox Nation, but this is pretty freaking cool, as is this.
If you know what's good for you, you'll stick the Smithsonian flickr feed on your RSS forthwith.
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Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 16:22:31
Nobody likes a scold. Few are more prone to tsk-tsking than pasty columnists with space to fill. I don't want to pile onto Matt Jones. He's still young enough and talented enough to make mistakes, learn from them and move on with his life. God knows I've racked up my fair share of bad choices. Adults of all stripes take recreational drugs, to varying degrees of impact on their lives.
Cocaine exits the system within three to five days. Random tests are all but helpless to detect it. Serious people are ready to admit that the drug enjoys widespread use in professional sports.
I just don't like being taken for a fool. The theater drives me batty. [read more]
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 - 21:30:25
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I was in my hometown of Crossett all last week for the funeral of a former Razorback. He had died on Sunday night — Wallace Wayne Jackson, class of '64. You wouldn't know his name. You won't see him in any team pictures. His stats aren't in the books. He was no bench-warmer — just ended up playing out his life off the field. [read more]
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Monday, July 07, 2008 - 11:22:40
Sunday, June 29, 2008 - 10:59:04
Frick some scoliosis.You might have heard by now, but the former Hog is currently whooping that ass in her debut:
The world will awake Sunday morning to news that Lewis is the 54-hole leader at the 63rd U.S. Women's Open, and that may surprise many. It doesn't surprise Dale Lewis, nor does it astound his 23-year-old daughter in the least.
Even if it is her very first tournament as a professional.
Friday, June 27, 2008 - 18:12:17
To add a little umph to this week's column, in which I purposefully tried to give as much space to the other draftees, here's a short report by two fantasy analysts about D-Mac's prospects. Someone once said that if you want to get the real news that you should read the business papers, because those guys have cash money riding on events. Well, if you want straight talk about rookie prospects,
check into fantasy predictions. They may not have (much) money riding on their analysis, but I can guarantee there's an awful lot of stat-monkey ego involved.
The first guy is just nuts, but the usually trustworthy Andy Behrens is hot for D-Mac, quoting Raiders blogger Jerry McDonald to poo-poo the folks who think McFadden will be overtaken by his fellow backs:
[McFadden] has lined up as an I-formation tailback, lined up as a single back, been split out as a wide receiver, lined up in the slot, and gone in motion. He's also taken shotgun snaps... It will be Fargas and Bush that fit in around McFadden.
Sounds about right.
Friday, June 27, 2008 - 17:57:59
Congrats to Sonny Weems, who was drafted to the guard-happy Bulls and subsequently traded to Denver for a 2009 second-round draft pick. Both Sonny and the Nuggets seem thrilled with the transaction. Nobody wants to share a locker room with Joakim Noah, better known in Eternia as Skeletor.
Led Castle Grayskull to two galactic championships in a row.
Where's Darian headed? Ervin packed his bags for Europe yet? Surely somebody will pick up Hill for some spare peanuts?
Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 15:32:37
Coming to an arrested adolescent near you.I'm actually fairly bored by the NFL. Professional sports in general, besides Major League Baseball, rank just a few rungs above pro wrestling with me. All that pageantry and money puts me off. See the NBA's ridiculously long, confoundingly organized playoff system, calculated to build the most fake excitement possible into games where even the athletes look bored. And the NFL's endzone antics and videotaping controversies fare no better in my head. Sure, the MLB has performance-enhancing drugs, but would you believe football players get by on fairy dust? You don't think Junior Seau —all 39 hulking years of him — has been injecting anything fishy of late? The man's gotta be held together by duct tape.
I manage to get excited about professional football and basketball exactly twice in each season:
1.) The playoffs (in the case of the NBA, the last hundred days or so).
2.) When a former Razorback takes the field or court. [more]
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 11:58:00
Coaches don't betray people. Sixteen-year-old girls betray people.
Listen: I don't care how Petrino got to Arkansas. People can preach loyalty all they want, but with millions of dollars on the line, all loyalty lands you is a career that's beholden to the whims of others. Good coaches don't wait to get fired from dead-end positions. They jump ship while they have some semblance of credit left for leverage. Nobody wants to have to work their way back up the ladder in this business.
Derek Braunecker has everyone in a tizzy with his account of the Petrino hire, as related to “The Sports Animals,” Shawn Arnell and the DemGaz editor Wally Hall. Braunecker's story paints the new Razorback coach's hire in a much more sympathetic light than we've seen from the media thus far. Braunecker claims that Petrino and his agent, Russ Campbell, had the green light from Arthur Blank and the Falcons management prior to the sentencing of Michael Vick on dogfighting charges. Blank withdrew his blessing based on the advice of his public relations department. [more]
Saturday, June 07, 2008 - 15:23:39
I despise Coco Crisp, not only for his childish antics, but also for stealing two starts from Jimmy Shields and my fantasy team. However,
the surfacing of the above video almost makes up for it all. That is the funniest shit I've seen since the dramatic hamster and Boom Goes the Dynamite.
Via
The Big Lead.
R E L A T E D: The NBA would be having a conniption fit right about now. Why is baseball different? Couldn't possibly be a race thing... Right?
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Friday, June 06, 2008 - 09:55:02
No longer flashy enough.
The other day I could swear I saw Darren McFadden driving down my street. Actually, I could swear I saw that car. Seconds later, I realized that there is absolutely no way McFadden still drives that thing. He had already switched to the Escalade over Christmas, even before the draft. God knows he's piloting some sort of flossed-out spaceship right about now. No need to be all sentimental for the Crown Vic. Especially after finally signing his contract....
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Thursday, June 05, 2008 - 17:04:55
Logan Forsythe has been drafted by the Padres. According to mlb.com, he was picked at #46. Here's to a long career.
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Thursday, June 05, 2008 - 16:35:01
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I recently received a package from a buddy in Georgia--a rabid Bulldogs fan, no less. I haven't seen him in a while, and we're in and out of touch. Other than tolerating his Georgia-ness and indulging his love for classic Hall & Oates at the occasional barbecue, I don't know what I've ever done to deserve this.
His package contained three Band-related LPs: Helena-native Levon Helm's American Son and Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars, as well as the Band-proper's late covers album, Moondog Matinee. I had Levon's two albums, though certainly not on vinyl, but I had never heard Moondog. My access to it was limited to stray tracks on a boxed set. Apparently, my buddy had never heard it either, but he "figured, above all, [I] need the picture of Helm in the Razorback shirt":
Pretty perceptive for a Bulldogs fan. That Lascaux-like Hog on Levon's chest would make for some tattoo.
Here's a track off of American Son in honor of my generous Georgian buddy.
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Thursday, June 05, 2008 - 15:49:11
Another man done gone.
The Diamond Hogs put together some valiant efforts over the weekend, keeping games close enough against quality opponents to justify their inclusion in the tournament field. They just couldn't get all of their pistons firing at the same time this season. Their phenomenal production early in the season, including Aaron Murphree's remarkable spree of 12 round-trippers, came at a time when they couldn't muster a competitive rotation or consistent middle relief. And the eventual equilibrium from the pitching staff late in the season coincided with a struggling line-up.
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Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 21:28:17
Heartbreaking, and not only for the unrealized potential.
Remember those big plastic clear things that screwed together over your treasured Bash Brothers baseball card? Ah, lost innocence. I used to run a regular racket on my fellow middle schoolers--a Becket under my arm and a mouthful of stale bubble gum, flipping through my over-stuffed binder like a king--but I never managed to get that coveted Ken Griffey, Jr. Upper Deck rookie card. Little did we know then, gushing over the slick-looking upstart that made the '87 Topps woodgrain set look oh-so-quaint, that the birth of Upper Deck was the beginning of the end for baseball card collectors.
A young kid at Pecanland Mall down in Monroe, LA parlayed a dinky kiosk call Cards, Coins, & Collectibles into a real-deal walk-in storefront in little over a year, I slobbered over every new ultra-collectible, gold-trimmed, puffy card, and adults began slowly and methodically screwing everything up. (I recently saw a good friend--a brilliant, fifty-something professor of literature--try to unload five complete sets of '91 Upper Decks at a garage sale. He couldn't give those things away.) What has me on this jaunt down a memory lane littered with creased cardboard rectangles? Because I noticed an article the subject of which is so intuitive and resonant that I wrote this entry before even reading it. Now,
let's see what Slate has to say.
UPDATE: This guy lost me right here:
Despite Griffey's illustrious career—some might call it disappointing relative to all the hype....
Sure, this is just a throwaway line, almost literally a parenthetical, but he's way off base. Ken Griffey, Jr.'s career is nothing less than a tragedy.
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