The Southerner Journal

By Ronald Sitton

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 7) — Miles will move to Michigan. Nutt will be fired. Tuberville, Bowden and Grobe will become Arkansas’ next football coach.

The media’s more-or-less unwritten creed not to print lies, rumors or innuendo seems quaint in the world of the 24-hour blogosphere, especially in the sports arena. Why wait when you can speculate and be the first to tell the world know what’s going to happen?

In some circles, that’s called prognosticating and seems best left to a different type of medium, i.e. the psychic. The public expects psychics to get it right about half the time by sheer blind luck. The public does not lose control of its emotions when the psychic’s wrong, because psychics are expected to screw it up, much like the weatherman. That’s not casting any blame, just noting that no one knows the future and despite having all the available variables, the best the public can expect rests on an educated guess.

But this isn’t about that kind of medium.

Due to the transitory nature of news, the public expects printed publications (i.e. newspapers, magazines) to be more reliable than broadcast publications (i.e. radio, television). When people talk, they’re expected to frame information to their benefit regardless of audience, providing one reason for the longevity of politicians and attorneys. Read the rest of this entry »

Connecting the Dots
by Glynn Wilson

TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Jan. 7 - It is 72 degrees in mid-January and still drizzling rain in T-Town. It looks like global warming is taking a toll after six years of being denied and ignored by the Bush administration.

All the national news organizations are focusing on what Bush will say in an address to the nation this week about the quagmire in Iraq.

Trial balloons are being floated over the airwaves saying he will propose sending anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 more troops to face the growing insurgency there. Not many Republicans or Democrats think that will be enough troops to do much good, and most of the Democrats think it will just do more harm than good.

The notable exception is Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who wants to run for president in 2008 and thinks the only path to that success will be some sort of “victory” in Iraq.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

“Bear” Bryant’s image casts a shadow over Tuscaloosa.

Meanwhile back at the Christian-Republican ranch in Alabamaland, all the buzz is about the University of Alabama’s success in recruiting Nick Saban to take over the UA football program.

The only war that really matters here is the one between the Crimson Tide and a smattering of orange-clad opponents on the gridiron, most notably the Auburn tigers and the Tennessee volunteers.

As usual I am torn between the glaring contradictions.

While the people of Alabama claim to be deeply Christian, their Bible clearly says in the venerated Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me … Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”

Yet towering over the psyche of this place is a granite statue of the winning football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. And as we reported this week before the Saban press conference, there is an empty spot on the “walk of champions” in front of the newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium for a new statue for the next coach who wins a national championship.

And just about everyone around here, including virtually every sports writer at every local newspaper, thinks Saban has what it takes to capture that spot in college football history - even if the national sports press corps thinks Saban is a liar.

The opinion and theory that Saban will be a winner here will be tested on the football fields of the Southeastern Conference and beyond.

What I want to know is: When will the people of Alabama and the local news media start caring as much about good government as they do about a winning football program? When will they get as tough on politicians are they are on football coaches?

If a football program is a business and the coach should be treated as a CEO, then shouldn’t we think of government in the same way? If George W. Bush was the CEO of a corporation - or a football coach - he would have been fired in 2004.

But the people elected him again for another four years and the mainstream press for the most part went along with it and even endorsed him.

So much for the theory of the “liberal media.”

Now that the Democrats have taken back control of both houses of Congress, there are many of us out here wondering if they will play the role of a national board of directors - and fire Bush by impeaching him and removing him from office.

The people and the press in Alabama so wanted former Gov. Don Siegelman and HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy to go to jail for their alleged crimes. Where is the outrage over Bush’s crimes against nature and humanity?

If we had elected Al Gore in 2000, we would live in a different world today - a world with no quagmire in Iraq and perhaps some progress by now in dealing with global warming.

But no, the oil companies and corporate CEOs have gotten richer under Bush’s watch - and we’ve done absolutely nothing to deal with the growing threat to the planet from climate change and the greenhouse effect due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Maybe we will start caring about that issue when the beaches of Gulf Shores erode north to Bay Minette.

Related stories:
Alabama Fans: Meet Nick Saban
Tide Faithful Goes Nuts Over Saban’s Arrival

Editor’s Note: A controversy rages in Alabama over whether to continue calling the Alabama-Auburn game the “Iron Bowl.”

Over at Tuscaloosa News columnist Tommy Stevenson’s new blog, he’s asking the question.

We raised the issue last year in this story, which should tell you where we come down on the subject: It ain’t “The Iron Bowl” no more.

What do you think? Sign in below and give us your comments. Onto the story…

by Paul Rockne

It’s Traditional Rivalry Week for Southeastern Conference football.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Funny, when Paul “Bear” Bryant was alive, it was hard to get a picture of him where you could see his eyes, especially on the football field. Now, with the sun behind Bryant-Denny Stadium, it’s hard to get a photo of his new statue with his eyes in the picture…

There are three of these throw-out-the-record-books games, in which the outcome is the be-all and end-all for rabid fans, on tap this weekend - headed by the Iron Bowl, which annually pits Alabama against Auburn.

In the state of Alabama, polls have shown that over the years some three-fourths of the population - young and old, women and men - watch the Bama-AU battle if it is offered on TV. This year it is being carried live on CBS (not a good omen for Alabama, which has fared poorly on that particular network in the past few years).

Outside of Alabamians, few football fans in the other 49 states will be tuned into CBS Saturday because they will be tuned into the big No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Michigan game over on ABC that will determine the Big Ten title and put the winner into the BCS national championship game.

The Tide-War Eagle game is more important than life or death to a good number of the teams’ fans. While it doesn’t quite mean that much to the teams and players - winning or losing won’t mean a winning or losing season for either and a win won’t put either into the Western Division title game - it does have it’s importance to both.

For Alabama, it will mean stopping a four-game losing streak to Auburn. A Bama win would also be big in that it would be the first-ever for the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Right now Auburn owns a five-game winning streak in T-Town, owns the Alabama home field. Add to that the fact that, so far, Bama Coach Mike Shula is 0-for against Auburn. No coach can last for long at Alabama if he can’t beat Auburn - and Shula knows that.

A win for Auburn would erase the two losses this season and send the Tigers a-bowling with a good taste in their mouths. It would also be win No. 10 for the season for Coach Tommy Tuberville’s team. And it would probably mean a new version of the “Fear the Thumb” T-shirts that AU unveiled after last year’s Iron Bowl triumph.

People outside Alabama have a hard time understanding exactly why the “Iron Bowl,” if we should still call it that, is such a big deal (although ESPN announcers have been debating among themselves if it is or isn’t the nation’s fiercest rivalry, thus giving the game more national attention).

Remember, this is a series that was put on hold for 41 years over a dispute - following a tie game - over a referee and per diem money paid to players to travel. Alabama owns a 38-31-1 edge in the series, with the lone deadlock coming in that final game before the 41-year break. There have been 22 shutouts in the series (meaning a close, low-scoring game benefits the Tide?), while Auburn owns a 4-1 record in one-point games in the series (meaning a close game is a good omen for AU?).

One final historical fact does seem to lean the Tide’s way. This is the eighth time since the series was rekindled in 1948 that both teams come into the Iron Bowl off losses. Alabama holds a 5-2 edge in games that followed the double losses.

The other two other rivalry games set for Saturday include Ole Miss (3-7, 1-5) at No. 9 LSU (8-2, 4-2) and No. 22 Tennessee (7-3, 3-3) at Vanderbilt (4-7, 1-6). The schedule also includes one big non-rivalry matchup - No. 5 Arkansas (9-1, 6-0) at Mississippi State (3-7, 1-5). Arkansas can clinch the Western Division crown with a win over the Bulldogs, or a win over LSU next week.

Other league games on tap this week include a trio of cremepuffs with the SEC taking on two Sun Belt Conference squads and one Divison 1-AA team: No. 3 Florida (9-1) will get no computer points for its national title game bid with a win this week. The Gators host Division 1-AA Western Carolina (2-8). South Carolina (5-5) looks pretty assured of getting that sixth win to become bowl eligible as the Gamecocks host Middle Tennessee (7-3). Kentucky (6-4) will be at home against Louisiana-Monroe (2-7).

Saturday’s weekend TV football lineup, other than pay-for-view is as follows:

Miami at Virginia, 11 a.m. (WB)
Yale at Harvard, 11 a.m. (WGN)
Iowa at Minnesota, 11 a.m. (CSS)
Maryland at Boston College, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Michigan St. at Penn St., 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
Buffalo at Wisconsin, 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Oklahoma at Baylor,11 a.m. (FSNS)
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 11:30 a.m. (Lincoln Financial)
Charleston Southern at Coastal Carolina, 12:30 p.m. (SS)
Army at Notre Dame, 1:30 p.m. (NBC)
Michigan at Ohio State, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Auburn at Alabama, 2:30 p.m. (CBS)
Alcorn St. at Jackson St., 2:30 p.m. (CSS)
Kansas St. at Kansas, 2:30 p.m. (FSNS)
Bethune Cookman at Florida A&M, 2:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
San Diego St. at TCU, 3 p.m. (VS)
Arkansas St. at Troy, 6 p.m. (CSS)
Washington at Washington St., 6 p.m. (FSNS)
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
South Florida at Louisville, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Rutgers at Cincinnati, 6:45 p.m. (ESPN)
California at Southern Cal, 7 p.m. (ABC)
UCLA at Arizona St., 9:15 p.m. (FSNS)

by Ronald Sitton

North Little Rock (Nov. 12) - “Woooooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!”

Last night I watched the Razorbacks humble my alma mater 31-14. If you don’t know me, you might think I’d have mixed feelings. The truth: I pull for Tennessee whenever they’re not playing Arkansas.

Even though I watched from home, I felt a bond with the majority of the record-breaking 76,758 people who stayed in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to see the end. Never before did a win over the Volunteers come so easy.

For a moment, I thought I might be getting superstitious. After all, I’ve sat in my recliner week-after-week watching the Razorbacks. I thought back on the eight games Arkansas appeared on television and the two games I had to listen to the radio to catch. I remembered sitting in a sports bar in St. Louis to catch the Louisiana-Monroe game; I smile. I’m going somewhere else next week just to keep away from superstition.

For the first time in history, Arkansas will play at least 10 games (and possibly more) on television this year. Prior to this season, Arkansas held a .444 winning percentage in televised games with a 86-108-2 record. Arkansas lost its first nationally televised game to Ole Miss in 1953, and plowed its way to a 20-38-1 record on national television by 1992. Luckily, the Razorbacks owned a 33-16-1 record on regional television in the same period, for a 53-54-2 record on television prior to entering the Southeastern Conference.

Since joining the SEC, Arkansas has enjoyed more televised opportunities than it ever did in its Southwestern Conference days. The 1988 Razorbacks won five regionally televised games to go 7-0 and win the SWC championship, but lost two nationally televised games to end the season. Both the 1999 and 2002 Hogs matched the seven televised games, while the 1998 and 2004 Hogs played eight and the 2001 and 2003 Hogs played nine.

Yet while enjoying more time on the tube, the Hogs enjoyed fewer wins with a 13-20 regional mark and a 20-33 national mark up through last year, for an overall SEC mark of 33-53 for a 38 percent winning total. That’s not something you brag about to recruits. However, Nutt owned an 8-9 regional and 17-23 national record in televised games prior to this season.

It’s no wonder national voters have had a hard time moving the Hogs up in the rankings. The last time the Razorbacks got in the Top 10 in 2003, they got as high as No. 7 before dropping three straight. In the last two years, Arkansas owned a 1-7 record in nationally televised games and a 1-4 record in regionally televised games. Recruits want to play on TV, but not get beaten on TV.

Following the nationally televised win over the Volunteers, Arkansas jumped to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and moved to 5-1 in national telecasts and 2-0 in regional telecasts on the year. Winning nearly 88 percent of your TV games also attracts recruits. Arkansas 6-0 SEC start marks the best in school history, while the 9-0 run represents the best since the Hogs started 10-0 in 1998.

Even if no station picks up the opportunity to show the Razorbacks possibly clinching the SEC-West in Starkville next weekend, the remainder of the season appears on national television. The UA-LSU game will mark the team’s ninth television appearance this season and a bowl game will make 10 games on TV, with an 11th if the Razorbacks play in the SEC Championship game against Florida.

If that kind of exposure won’t help Darren McFadden’s Heisman push, I don’t know what will.

501 blues

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel blogged that he’d take Arkansas over Florida because “the Razorbacks are the hottest one-loss team in the country –- and Darren McFadden has got to be climbing up that Heisman chart.” The Los Angeles Times described his stint as tailback, quarterback and wide receiver against Tennessee as “Star Material.” ESPN commentator Ed Cunningham said after the game that he plans to switch his Heisman vote from Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith to McFadden.

According to the post-game comments, even his opponents sing praise. Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer called McFadden “the best back we have seen this year.” After chasing McFadden all night, Tennessee linebacker Ryan Karl said, “They have the best running back I’ve seen since I’ve been here and I’ve been here three years.”

McFadden notched his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game - his sixth this season – while running for 181 yards and two touchdowns, throwing for a third touchdown and becoming only the fourth running back to crack the century mark against the Tennessee defense in 34 games. In the last two games, McFadden rushed for 400 yards with four touchdowns.

After rushing for 1,113 yards as a freshman, he has already gained 1,219 yards rushing and scored for the seventh straight game this season. His 12 touchdowns ties for the ninth-most in a single season in school history, while his 23 career touchdowns rank ninth and his 11 career 100-yard games ties for fourth in school history.

Those kind of numbers scream Heisman potential - if not this year, probably next. However, I wince every time McFadden strikes his body-builder pose to show off the “501″ on his biceps, which represents the area code of Little Rock, his home town. Granted, he waited until he was nearly on the sideline this game. But it’s already cost the Razorbacks an unsportsmanlike penalty against South Carolina this year. A second penalty likely happens in a more important game.

SEC Recap

I got up yesterday in time to watch College Gameday, which came to Fayetteville for the first time in history. If I start prognosticating, it’s due to watching the crowd lose its mind when ESPN’s Lee Corso put a mascot’s hog hat on his head, indicating he thought No. 11 Arkansas would take out Tennessee. Kirk Herbstreit donned a normal version of the hog hat.
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by Ronald Sitton

I watched a lot of college football Saturday while listening to Arkansas getting extra practice in its 63-7 thrashing of Southeast Missouri State. I’ll get to that later. I present the Top 10 things that interested me during my procrastination Saturday:

1) Where’s the brotherly love in the Southeastern Conference? Week after week, the unbeatens fall in a league full of bullies. With the Bowl Championship Series rankings released Sunday, No. 4 Auburn (AP-8, Harris-7, USA Today-7, CPUs-5) seems to be in the conference driver seat with No. 6 Florida (AP-9, Harris-9, USA Today-10, CPUs-4) nipping at their heels. Auburn gets a non-conference match-up against Tulane and Florida gets to take the week off to think about its championship aspirations. To get to the National Championship, the SEC needs some other conferences to start practicing the same brotherly love or we’ll never know if the SEC reigns as the supreme conference until we get a playoff … maybe in my grandkid’s lifetime.

2) No. 11 Tennessee (AP-7, Harris-8, USA Today-9, CPUs-12) looks forward to playing at home on CBS against an Alabama team seemingly not as tough as they used to be. My alma mater roughed up Georgia last week in the second half before taking this week to heal some wounds. Alabama won its first overtime game in the Mike Shula era and celebrated as such. I don’t think they’ll be celebrating as much next weekend. Since David Cutcliffe returned to Tennessee, the Volunteers think their offense will win any given Saturday. I look for the Vols passing game to fly by the Bama ground game.

3) This week’s Lincoln Financial Game of the Week between No. 13 Arkansas and Ole Miss looks a lot feistier than it did prior to this weekend. After Auburn took out its misery on Florida, Arkansas (AP-15, Harris-17, USA Today-18, CPUs-8) remained as the only team unbeaten in league play (having given up the non-conference opener with five turnovers to Southern California, which also looked beatable yesterday). The Rebels gave Alabama fits until falling in overtime. Most likely Brent Schaeffer will try to exploit Arkansas’ secondary. Even so, I don’t see the Rebels slowing down the Hogs’ running backs, a position that’s become so crowded maybe Houston Nutt will see the logic of moving Peyton Hillis to linebacker to build depth. Maybe … not likely.
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