The Southerner Journal

Poor ole Ball State.

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.

But apparently, Stewart Mandel doesn’t agree.

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.

By Ron Sitton

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 24 - I rehashed my routine this morning: e-mail, networking, sports, news, work.

I’ve read where people who start reading the sports section in their daily newspaper are likelier to die young than people who start with the comics. I’m sure there’s a test that will indicate I’ll die sooner because of my routine, but today I don’t really care. I need coffee. I finished another stage in a long-overdue project last night, so today I’m catching up with my SEC sports addiction.

I start reading about the Razorbacks … scratch that, restart. I go to a “Razorback” site, Razorback Central, and they’re talking about the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. I could care less about Gus Malzahn and what he’s installing at Tulsa (although I did find it intriguing yesterday while reading GoVolsXtra.com that Slick Shelley left Tennessee to transfer to Tulsa). Malzahn is last year’s news. What about the Hogs?

OK, NBA player Mike Miller says John Pelphrey’s going to win big. And Patrick Beverly has apparently made the world his oyster with his play as a member of Team USA’s Under-19 silver-medal winning basketball team. Great. Basketball. Why should I care about basketball in the middle of summer?

Oh, a few nuggets from the Hill. Thankfully, Dennis Nutt’s brain is not currently bleeding. I’m sure his replacement, Tim Horton, is thankful for his guaranteed $165K over two years. That’s it on the football front. So I go to SI and ESPN. I read about D. Nutt in the college section, but it’s not sexy enough to compete with “Hound Dog” Vick on the front page.

Next, I check on my alma mater to find they’ve banned smoking in Neyland Stadium. Why should that interest me as much as anything about the Hogs or Vols? So I read every available John Adams column at GoVolsXtra. Adams seems to be into praising the SEC this year, e.g. in one column he says SEC quarterbacks must be pretty good when one backup quarterback is a Heisman Trophy candidate. By the way, that would be Darren McFadden, who occasionally quarterbacks in the “Wildcat” formation.

Another column notes that Houston Nutt will probably jet from the criticism to a surprisingly attentive open market. I’m sure Nutt could get another job, but I don’t believe he wants another job. Arkansas is his dream job. The criticisms and soap operas may be a sad part of that, but if he wins another 10 without Mustain and Malzahn, the Razorback Nation will shut up for awhile.

I decide to read every Paul Finebaum column available to find the ‘Bama faithful believe Nick Saban will deliver in year one. On the other hand, Tommy Tuberville won’t hand him the Iron Bowl. Since LSU’s Les Miles plans to beat up everybody in red, I guess ‘Bama and the Hogs just got bulletin-board material for the summer.

Everybody’s giving kudos to Urban Meyer for winning a national title with Ron Zook’s recruits. I wonder if he’ll get slammed if he doesn’t win with his own to the degree Miles gets slammed for not winning enough with Saban’s recruits. I even read about Terry Bowden’s imminent return to coaching and the ACC’s horrible track record against major conferences.

I realize this is the major down-time for sports as we’re heading into the “dog-days of summer” — not an intentional reference to Vick - but now’s the time for conjecture. Who’s going to be the next Boise State? Can the SEC West beat the SEC East? I know. I know. Everyone’s happy because their team remains undefeated through August.

But I’m sick of this lovefest. I’ve spent the whole day reading and I’m ready for football. Now if it’d only get started.

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

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Ronald Sitton

North Little Rock (Nov. 10) – My alma mater plays my life-long love this weekend.

As a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, I often faced too much work on the weekends to take time out to attend the football games at Neyland Stadium. Yet I never missed the Arkansas game.

I always dressed in my Razorback paraphernalia and sat in the UT student section. You can imagine the fuss: students shouting occasional obscenities and throwing ice, popcorn, etc., all in fun of course. I’d invite them to take my journalism course. We’d laugh; the Hogs would lose and all of my students were happy.

I saw “The Fumble” unfold right in front of me after my Tennessee friends left the game because it was too rainy and the Volunteers were losing in a battle of unbeatens in Houston Nutt’s first year as Head Hog. I sat in disbelief as Tennessee drove for the winning touchdown, 28-24. Two years later, I took my roommate to her first UA-UT game and watched the Vols thump the Hogs, 63-20. I refused to leave though my fellow Tennessee student body gave me plenty of good-hearted encouragement.

I quit going to UA-UT games; the Hogs play better when I’m stuck in front of a TV. I vividly remember Barry Lunney Jr. leading the Razorbacks to an upset of No. 3 Tennessee in Joe Kines’ season as interim head coach. I watched Clint Stoerner and Anthony Lucas hook up in Fayetteville to redeem the quarterback for “The Fumble,” 28-24. Of course, I also watched the last six-overtime game in Knoxville.

I’ve missed the rivalry.

OK, it’s hard to call anything a rivalry when one school’s on the losing side of a 12-2 run. But Arkansas usually plays Tennessee close. That and last week’s win over South Carolina convinced ESPN’s “College Game Day” to shoot live from Fayetteville for the first time in the show’s 13-year run. I imagine the Razorback Nation will give them a warm, perhaps record-setting, welcome.

If the Razorbacks win, they only need one more to wrap up a Western division championship and a trip to the Southeastern Conference championship. If the Hogs lose, they’re still looking at the Cotton Bowl at worst. The Volunteers can play for little more than pride and a second-tier bowl after losing to LSU last week. Tennessee’s only eighth against the rush in the SEC. This ain’t Rocky Top: Arkansas 35, Tennessee 28.

Now that I’m finished perseverating, I plan to get ready to go downtown tonight to catch up with old friends and head to the best seafood in town, The Flying Fish in The River Market. After that, we’re heading to The Art Scene in downtown North Little Rock. We went there a few weeks ago to see about the place I had only written about. We painted and enjoyed ourselves for more than five hours for only $30. I hope to do the same tonight.

Photo by Tanya Sitton

He Ain’t No Tattau — Ron Sitton sits with his first attempt at painting since his elementary days.