David Letterman’s alma mater went undefeated in the Mid-American Conference for the first time in 30 years. The Cardinals cracked the Top 25 nationally, but sit behind a slew of one-loss teams from the “power conferences.” Come bowl time, they’ll be snubbed.
Why not give them the opportunity to play for it all? Just think of the nation’s interest in a Ball State vs. Alabama game if both finish undefeated. Sure, most folks would pick ‘Bama to win every time. But what about those once-in-a-lifetime moments when the perfect “team” overcomes talent? Can you imagine the hysteria if the Cardinals won?
But we’ll never see that, America. Why? Because the big boys want their money so much that they’re AFRAID of a playoff. Pure yellow-bellied flea-bitten fin-flappin’ bush-wackin’ shark-livered shovel-nosed RACKIN’ FRACKIN’ SCAIRT idjits!! (Apologies to Sam.)
Seriously, though. If we’re ever serious about a playoff, it needs to be open to EVERY undefeated team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, not just those in the “power conferences.” If they’re so powerful, they’ll win. Right? Isn’t this America? Where the little guy still gets a fighting chance amongst the bullies?
And don’t cry the lame game that some undefeated seasons mean more than others. If a school competes in the soon-to-be 120-member FBS and can make it through a season unscathed, it deserves a shot. Leaving ANY undefeated FBS team out of a playoff would be a travesty, and confirm the suspicions of those thinking it’s a rigged game.
On a personal note, I hope the Razorbacks give John Chavis a home. I’m not calling for the ouster of Willy Robinson, but the Hogs can always use another great defensive mind.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Oct. 3) – I bleed Razorback red.
Some find it funny, as I’ve never attended the University of Arkansas’ flagship campus in Fayetteville. Nope, my alma maters include the defunct NLR Northeast High, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Tennessee’s flagship campus in Knoxville.
While working on my terminal degree in East Tennessee, I took a few occasions to watch the Volunteers in action. Peyton Manning’s last home game against Vanderbilt stands out in my mind as a Tennessee fan, even though it wasn’t the highest-scoring game (17-10). Yet it made an impression that the Vols expected to win at Neyland Stadium. After the season, Knoxville renamed the street running next to the communications building after the university’s most high-profile student athlete, i.e. Peyton Manning Pass.
Of course, I became a traitor in the eyes of most Vol fans the next year.
I’m the guy standing in the middle of the UT student section wearing my Hog-hat and loving the game Nov. 14, 1998. I made a bet with my Intro to Journalism students that my 8-0 Hogs would knock off their 8-0 Vols. If the Razorbacks won, the students would “Call the Hogs” on Monday morning.
Fellow students who went to the game with me left shortly after the rains came, but I stayed willing my Hogs to victory. I distinctly remember the deflated crowd around me as the Hogs started moving the ball again with less than two minutes on the clock. I know the Razorbacks can finish this. I can hear the Hog calls echoing through the communications building on my birthday. Then destiny took over.
I’ll always contend Stoerner should have been ruled down and the play whistled dead because the ground cannot cause a fumble. I may be the guy described as having “The Clint Stoerner Face.”
But at least my Hogs played a competitive game. I can’t say the same thing happened the next time Arkansas visited during my Knoxville stay. When down 35-0 after one quarter, it’s tough to watch a 63-20 loss. But I endured the loss while standing in the UT student section defiant in my Razorback garb, ice raining down occasionally from fellow classmates.
How could they understand? The night I entered this world, my dad left the delivery room to check the score of the Razorback-SMU Mustangs game, which Arkansas won 35-29 on its way to a 10-1 season and a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia.
I didn’t stand a chance.
Fast forward nearly forty years. I’ve watched a whole state live and die with the ups and downs of the Razorback football team. You’d think that my time at Tennessee, which incidentally produced a National Championship and a street named after the coach in 1998, would have turned me into a Vol fan for life. When they’re not playing the Hogs, I am.
This year the Hogs stand 2-2 with nary a win in sight if one believes the naysayers. Even the optimistic would admit the schedule will be brutal with this young team. Hopefully not 77-point differential brutal as the last two games have been.
But after watching UT put 63 on ‘em in one game, 77 over two doesn’t seem that bad. Not that the Volunteers are giving me anything to cheer about this year. Thank God I have a sister-in-law who went to Vandy.
Of course, Florida rolls into Reynolds Razorback Stadium after falling to a Houston Nutt-led Ole Miss team. Bobby Petrino continues molding the clay that one day might turn the Hogs into a formidable opponent.
Sometimes teams must take lumps prior to improvement. It’s harsh, but it happens to everyone; look at Alabama. Debates aside, the luck of the Fayetteville draw did not escape Gator defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, a Batesville native.
“I guess in Little Rock, the stadium was smaller, so you got like 60,000 in there, and they felt like they were right on top of you, it was so loud,” Strong said. “But Fayetteville is such a larger ballpark that if they don’t really get into it, it doesn’t get as loud.”
That’s what I witnessed at the Western Illinois game: a bunch of people sitting on their hands waiting to be entertained. The same thing happened when ‘Bama stuck it to the Hogs early. Where were the Hog calls? Where’s the undying support craved by every team, but especially a young team? It’s tough enough winning in the SEC when the fans are behind the team. When they’re not …
So why do I bring this up when perhaps you’ve come to The Southerner Journal to read political musings on last night’s Palin-Biden debate? I love SEC football slightly less than God, my family and the Razorbacks. I’ve already decided who I plan to vote for and why.
I vote on policy, not party; I bleed Razorback red.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Sept. 21) — Despite receiving loads of grief from a sister-in-law who couldn’t understand why I would continue watching a game already out of hand, I suffered through the Alabama-Arkansas thrashing. For those who didn’t keep track, the final read 49-14; it wasn’t even that close.
(Come on ‘Bama nation; did you really think you’d get a game from a team that barely beat it’s scheduled W’s this year?)
Oh how I wished Darren McFadden and Felix Jones would have returned for their senior years. Truth be told, though, it wouldn’t have mattered when the quarterback looked like Neil O’Donnell in Super Bowl XXX.
I could go on about Arkansas’ lack of rushing defense or the fact that at least three guys tried to arm-tackle Julio Jones on his touchdown reception. I could moan about not scoring right before halftime, especially when the first play looked like he broke the plane. But bitchin’ fixes little.
On the positive side:
Michael Smith filled in admirably for the departed McFadden/Jones combo by nearly doubling the rushing output allowed by the Crimson Tide so far this season. He even caught a few.
Jonathan Luigs looked like a Remington winner (except on Alabama’s goal-line stand).
The Hogs gathered their first interception of the year, and it led to points.
Tyler Wilson lost his redshirt status, but threw for a touchdown in his first action of the year. I don’t know what that says about Dick II or Mortensen, but it shows Petrino is looking for Mallett’s competition early this year.
Alex Tejada kicked his extra point opportunities. Maybe we’ll even use him for field goals if we get in a semi-close game again this season.
Arkansas gets to play Mississippi State later this year.
Notice that I only included one more plausible win, and that’s dependent on Sylvester Croom not doing anything to improve his team in the meantime. I’m not counting on that.
I am counting on the fact that it only gets worse for the Hogs from here. Why the next three weeks may make Alabama look as though it eased up, especially if the Razorbacks cannot stop the run.
Murderer’s Row, week 2: @ Texas; week 3: Florida in Fayettenam; week 4: Auburn on the Plains. After Saturday’s debacle, I wouldn’t be surprised if they all hung 42 or more on the Hogs. Remember, these teams actually play for championships (and also need the high scores to move up in the polls).
Arkansas will take its lumps this year, much like ‘Bama in Saban’s first year. I don’t expect the Hogs to have as much success as ‘Bama in ‘07, but I do expect them to become a Murderer’s Row-type team by Petrino’s fourth year. They may even sneak up on somebody this year …
OK, not likely. That’s the fan in me trying to find the sunshine in the hurricane. It’s the kind of thing that keeps me searching for any positives after the halftime score reads 35-7 and keeps me from throwing objects at the television when the quarterback tosses his third interception on the opening series of the second half. I may be delusional but I bleed Razorback red. Yet I also admit I may be anemic after this season.
However, I’m witnessing the rebirth of the UA-Monticello Boll Weevils this year after its growing pains. Look out Gulf South Conference: There ain’t nothing more evil than a damned Boll Weevil. Many consider the GSC to be the SEC of Division II; I just hope that other Arkansas team can make as dramatic a turnaround in the SEC in a few years. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to get used to growing pains.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Sept. 1) - Hope your Labor Day passes with less labor and more fun than I’m about to encounter. However, I’ve got enough time for thought fodder after watching the Bobby Petrino-led Arkansas Razorbacks make dilemma-nadeSaturday night.
Citizens of the state of Arkansas will never see the Hogs play Arkansas State or Central Arkansas, not in my lifetime; perhaps never.
I once wanted such a match-up, believing that it was possible to watch good football and still invest in the state of Arkansas. After all, LSU plays every Louisiana school they can schedule. They beat ‘em up, pay ‘em well and the full house serves to fill the coffers with money of fans wanting to see David vs. Goliath.
That’s a financial windfall IF people come out to the games. I saw empty seats at Petrino’s first game; do you think they’re going to fill when most folks are more worried how they’re going to fill the gas tank? The $45 spent per ticket barely dents the gas tank in my four-cylinder S-10 pickup.
Sure, more Arkansans would want to see the Hogs play Central Arkansas from the Football Championship Subdivision than fellow FCS-member Western Illinois. If Arkansas were somehow to lose, it could be chalked up to the revenge factor from all of the former Razorbacks playing for the Bears.
Most Arkansans would rather see Arkansas give “home games” to Arkansas State instead of Louisiana-Monroe. Don’t you imagine the extra revenue from that game alone would force Central Arkansas businesses to kick in the money to make War Memorial seat as many as Reynolds’ Razorback Stadium (perhaps even more)? The novelty factor alone would fill the stands for years.
But let’s not forget the “embarrassment” factor.
Petrino prays the Razorbacks learned from the adversity of the ugly win. Maybe he didn’t hear the boos from the crowd, which I admit were few and far between. But I know more than a few people sitting in the stands had nightmares of The Citadel creeping through their heads. This kind of loss might have sent him packing even though he plans to be around awhile … oh, I forgot, Frank’s no longer in charge. Maybe we would keep him.
The Hog Nation should be thankful. Instead of taking depression meds like fans of Clemson (ain’t ya glad we didn’t get Bowden?), Virginia Tech (oh the irony of special teams play) or North Carolina State, enjoy the fact Arkansas plays in the SEC instead of the ACC. Sure, there’s no actual correlation, but who wouldn’t want to be in the SEC?
You see, this way you can enjoy athletics all over the state and not be concerned about the flagship university losing its luster. Didn’t you get a kick out of watching ESPN’s score ticker and seeing UA-Monticello (D-II) step up to beat FCS-division’s UA-Pine Bluff? And even bigger than that, seeing ASU knock off Texas A&M in their first game playing as the Red Wolves?
A&M coach Mike Sherman told sportswriters the loss disappointed him. But he looked to the positives.
“Well, you know I’ve been in situations like this before, and I told the guys you can learn more about yourself from adversity than you even can from winning a football game,” Sherman said.
You’re right, Mike. Though we’re happy the Hogs won anyway, it looks like a long season ahead. Thankfully, it won’t be longer from having to hear East Arkansans crow about the Red Wolves devouring the Razorbacks.
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 »