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From A Hog Fan's Perspective By Ron Jumper The Arkansas Razorbacks have let themselves become the joke of college athletics and it is their own fault. Whether it is football or basketball, you can really take your pick, there has been nothing but drama and confusion among anyone associated with the university. Normally I refrain from writing about Arkansas because most of the nation doesn’t really care what is going on in Fayetteville. However, the latest string of events have gotten national attention from the media so I felt it was only right to discuss the whole situation from a Razorback fan’s perspective. Last week, the University of Arkansas fired head basketball coach Stan Heath. Arkansas fans really weren’t in love with Stan Heath, most of us were under the impression that he was a “nice guy” and was able to recruit pretty well. We put up with his lack of ability to make gameplans or find a game-to-game rotation because he was classy and was showing some signs of turning the program around. It wasn’t like it really broke the fans hearts when he was let go. However, I do believe fans didn’t like the way he was fired. Heath was told he had to make the tournament to keep his job, he made the NCAA tournament and was fired the next week. Around the nation, ESPN and other media outlets felt that Heath had took a program that had hit rock bottom and taken them to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, as well as having the entire roster returning for next year. From that perspective, it is hard to see what cost Heath his job. The biggest gripe that the average fan has about Heath being fired is that head football coach Houston Nutt was not fired after back-to-back losing seasons. From this perspective, I see exactly where the fans are coming from. It doesn’t really seem fair. I’d hate to hear what Nolan Richardson’s opinion is, you know he thinks race is written all over it. If you are an outsider looking in, you might could make that same assumption. Personally, I think it is a case of Frank Broyles over-valuing where Arkansas basketball should be. I don’t know if anyone could have started where Heath did in year one, as far as talent and fan support being so limited, and be a perennial top 10 team by year 5. It would take a lot to be in that situation. Okay enough of old news and onto the new juicier topics… Broyles went after Billy Gillespie to be the new head coach. He went after him very hard and was willing to pay him virtually anything. That didn’t happen, it just got Gillespie a big pay raise. After flirting with Calipari, the Hogs thought they had their man. They were starting to buy into the idea of Dana Altman as the head coach. Altman was coming off 9 straight 20-win seasons at Creighton and seemed like a great fit. This is where it gets a little fishy, rumor has it that about half of the team is going to be academically ineligible and that a few guys failed drug tests. Whatever the case, Altman got out of town so fast and so deliberate that it couldn’t have just been a change of heart. Regardless of what actually took place, it will be very hard to lure the next coach to take the Arkansas job. There is so much uncertainty and speculation going on that people forget that this is a team returning it’s entire roster and that this a school that doesn’t care how much money it costs to bring in a new coach. The window is also closing on actually being able to find a quality coach to take over. Earlier today, I was discussing all of this with fellow SportsOverload.com writer R.C. and, after I mentioned what a joke our athletic department had become, he joked that “we will probably hire Dickey Nutt.” Dickey Nutt is Arkansas State’s head basketball coach and the brother of head football coach Houston Nutt. I then added to that with, “we could change the school name to Nutt U, our mascot could be the Jackasses.” At that point was when I realized that nothing Arkansas did could surprise me anymore. I had become emotionally detached from the situation as a whole. With that R.C. replied, “all that could really surprise me would be like murder or rape.” I pondered that for a minute and realized I was pretty much in the same boat. (This is where my mind started to wonder…) I imagined a local news cast… “Hi, I’m (insert atrocious NWA newscaster here) reporting for (insert equally atrocious news station here). Tonight’s big story involves Razorbacks Special Teams Coach James Shibest, whose body came floating up in Beaver Lake earlier today. Speculation has broken out that Shibest had revealing pictures of Houston Nutt with his mistress at a local restaurant in Fort Smith.” R.C. quickly reminded me that Shibest was one of Nutt’s personal favorites. However, Frank Broyles has publicly stated that we might need to make a coaching change in special teams. (This takes place a year after Broyles retires…) “Hi, I’m (insert atrocious NWA newscaster here) reporting for (insert equally atrocious news station here). Tonight’s big story involves Razorbacks Special Teams Coach James Shibest, whose body came floating up in Beaver Lake earlier today. No suspects have been found. In unrelated news, former Athletic Director Frank Broyles was found after escaping from his nursing home and is claiming to have symptoms of alzheimers.” I couldn’t help myself, when my imagination takes off there is really no telling where it could end up. As far as what other people think Arkansas should do, Cold Pizza’s Jay Bayless suggested we should make history and pursue Pat Summitt away from Tennessee to be our men’s head coach. I really can’t even comment here, as I hold Bayless’s opinion on sports in general about as high as I do my parent’s new miniature dachshund Ginger. A name that popped up a few times on various message boards that I hadn’t heard before was Sidney Moncrief, who I desperately hope does not get the job. Moncrief was a horrendous college coach at UALR before coaching in the NBA. I think he led UALR to a 2-29 record and the next year Porter Moser took virtually the same team to well above .500 for the season. It basically all adds up to the future looking very bleak for Arkansas fans unless a miracle takes place. I’m not saying it can’t happen, I’m just saying I’ve learned from experience not to get my hopes up. I have been told by some other Razorback fans that they keep their expectations lower and don’t get too excited or too depressed when something happens. That way in times like theses they don’t feel like punching a brick wall or switching to an ASU fan, where failure is just accepted and embraced. April 4, 2007 |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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