Comments on: Better The Devil You Know

By: Jim Daly Sr.

Jim Daly Sr. — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:05:26 +0000

Wow, I'm actually agreeing with some of the bloggers here.

Blindhog. I have traveled the country extensively and Webb is worst editorial writer I have ever read. I have asked Paul Greenberg if Webb is related to the owner of the paper, otherwise, there is no other obvious explantanion for his column. I have never received an answer to this

Gonzo:

I agree that if the media backlash has any effect on recruiting it will be with out-of-staters. However, (anybody can correct me on this) I think that it may have a positive unexpected effect. Whether Nutt fans like it or not, I think that Bobby Petrino has had a much bigger national reputation in the media than than Houston. Given the reputation of Petrino's offensive strategies this would seem appealing to many skill players. Or to put it simply, would you travel 700-1000 miles to play for Nutt or Petrino? .

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:41:18 +0000

I'm not real sure about that one Tipter. I do know he's a pretty good pitcher, as is Jim Youngblood. Daniel Stegall was the QB at Greenwood before Wilson, and went to the NY Mets in the 7th round, but Baseball was alway's Daniel's first love, so it's really hard to say if Wilson will follow in his footsteps. They're 2 different kinds of players too. Stegall was probably the better overall athlete. He had a football scholorship to Miami, before signing with the Mets, but was not as highly recruited as he could have been, playing in the shadows of Mitch Mustain. Football-wise, Wilson doesn't have the speed stegall had, but can make almost any kind of throw. I hope he stay's with football. This kid will make a great addition to the Hogs, after losing Kale Pick.

By: TipsterHog

TipsterHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:05:28 +0000

Gonzo…thanks for bringing your local insight to the blog. (And thanks again for being a regular commenter, too.)

Wow…as they would say in the advertising biz…that's a big "get" landing Wilson…and after just a few days on the job, as well.

What's your take on whether Wilson will go pro in baseball?

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:49:58 +0000

Wilson is a little bit under-sized at '6-3", 185 lbs., but has a very gifted arm. I've watched him lead his team now to consecutive 5-A State Championships. He can throw a dart or a lobb pass to the corner with very good accuracy. He threw for over 4000 yds, and 50 TDs his Jr. season. I think he had similar stats this year as well, so I'll have to check and make sure.

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:42:05 +0000

Good news from my home town of Greenwood. Tyler Wilson commited to the Hogs today. He was offered scholorships earlier in the year by LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Arizona. California also showed some interest before Wilson finally commited to Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn of Tulsa. Evidently he de-comitted from Tulsa today, and re-commited to the Hogs. Greenwood runs the same type of offense Tulsa does, while at the same time, Gus and Greenwood coach Rick Jones are good friends. This, plus the fact Wilson didn't care much for the offense Houston Nutt ran at Arkansas, probably had a lot to do with his origional decision. Bobby Petrino is already making a big difference with our in-state recruits. It would be real nice to see him do this with Joe Adams too. GO HOGS GO and GO COACH PETRINO!!!!!

By: BlindHog

BlindHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:08:11 +0000

Kane Webb is an idiot, always has been. How that guy ever got of the People page is beyond me.

By: Boycott Home Depot

Boycott Home Depot — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:05:20 +0000

We need to run Home Depot out of Arkansas. They won't mind. Hog fans need to buy at Lowe's or National Home Centers, or your local hardware or lumber store.

Boycott Home Depot!!!!!!!!

We need bumper stickers and T-shirts with Hogs on them.

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:15:13 +0000

I could be wrong, but I think from a recruiting standpoint, the back-lashing that Petrino's been enduring over the past week won't affect the in-state recruiting as much as the out of state recruiting. If I were a prospect, it would concern me more about coming to the UofA, from out of state, than it would if I were a home-state kid. I wouldn't want to travel 700 to a 1000 miles if I thought the coach wouldn't be around any longer than a couple of years. For some reason, Florida seems like a stretch to me. (as Wally Hall mentioned) Personally, Eastern Texas and Northern Louisiana seem to be much more realistic, especially since Petrino is pushed for time with the local UA verbal commits he already has. There's still plenty of uncommited talent in this region.

By: Jim Daly Sr.

Jim Daly Sr. — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:49:02 +0000

Who needs ESPN when we have Kane Webb of the Demo-Zette writing a stupid and silly (even for him) column about Pertino's job hopping. Webb left the Demo-Zette for a short time and then to my horror has returned to the paper. So he relates his situation with Petrino's? Maybe I'm wrong but this looked like an attempt by Webb to score points with major media types at the expense of Petrino. Maybe even get the attention of ESPN as well as Atlanta and Louisville sportswriters. Wally Hall is still deflecting anger from himself toward ESPN,** but his comment about Salisbury and his negative statements having an effect on recruiting was odd. Do any of these recruits even know who Salisury is? Or if they do, Do they really care? Guess what, I tuned into ESPN the other night and didn't hear a word about Petrino. (Baseball and steroids is now the headliner). Keep in mind that journalists don't like anyone that makes more money than they do, so they really get mean when the opportunity presents itself. Which, if anyone is rermotely interested, was part of Webb's cliches and corny philosophical meanderings – that is, money in itself doesn't bring happiness, to which I would add; but it sure does fend off a lot of unhappiness.

Hoggster: I don't think that Blank's attitude was based on Vick's.situation. That was out of his control. But Petrino's leaving makes Blank look like an incompetant regarding the direction of his football team. Besides bruising his ego, it puts him on the spot. It will be interesting to see who the next Falcons coach will be and how much Blank is willing to pay him. Blank, more than Petrino, is now on the hot seat in Atlanta.

**The TV broadcast on ESPN2 of the OU-UA game was held up for about 6 minutes in order to finish the Division II football championship (Which turned out to be more exciting than the finish of the the basketall game). I wonder if Wally will use that delay as more proof of disrespect for Arkansas by ESPN?

By: TipsterHog

TipsterHog — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 21:33:20 +0000

jc…I guess we haven't "moved on" as fast as you have. But thanks for the editorial advice.

By: jc

jc — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:07:02 +0000

For a blog that dislikes Nutt so much you guys sure like to write about him A LOT. There is so much to be excited about with the upcoming Cotton Bowl and the Petrino era. Let us all move on!

By: hoggster

hoggster — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:37:57 +0000

I wonder if all this junk is a way for Blank to divert the Vick pulicity to something else?

Seems as though people are talking about Petrino much more than Vick these days.

Just my two cents.

By: Jim Daly Sr.

Jim Daly Sr. — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:58:47 +0000

The biggest sigh of relief upon the hiring of Petrino was heard from…Wally Hall. Wally apparently was getting tons of grieve from fans who were holding him personally responsible for Nutt's leaving. Wally tried to dampen this by the usual tactic of scapegoating, If you're a scapegoat then find a bigger and better scapegoat.to shift the mob's ire and attention to. Wally found his target by subscribing to the conspiracy theory held by many fans that ESPN had somehow fixed the Heisman voting and screwed McFadden. Good move Wally. Then ESPN dumped on Arkansas and Petrino and Wally was almost out of the woods, White, Wally, Long, Broyles have all taken their hits having been targets for fans who quite frankly (can I use that term) didn't know diddly squat about the machinations of all this coaching musical chairs. Apparently ESPN commenttors didn't do thier homework either.. A thanks to Tipster for revealing Arthur Blank's' "loyalty." (it also appeared in the Demo-Zette's Voices Page). As I said before in a previous post, Blank is a very rich business man and I'm sure that his decisions were made strictly on the basis of what would make him more money.

What has fascinated me in all this back and forth was the fanaticism and reverence dispayed toward Houston Nutt by posters and letter writers. I am reminded ot something called the cult of personality regarding dictators. where the leader becomes more important than that what he leads. Here's is a definition from Wikipedia; make of it what you wiil, but consider the last sentence.

"A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create a larger-than-life public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies as well.

A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is specifically built around political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of non-political leaders."

By: hogs272

hogs272 — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:08:58 +0000

cant believe listening to the ESPN crew for 5 minutes rail on Petrino then get directly at Arkansas.

-Berman….."apparently they deserve each other"

-Keyshawn (that rocket scientist)…."what recruiting can he do in 3 days"….apparently he forgot that Nutt has a chip on his shoulder and cell numbers of out top prospects

- ditka, jackson…."trust issues"….give me a break….look at there types switching for bucks and opportunity just like the rest of the real world.

Clear this is some sort of "kick'em" campaign.

By: Hawgfan100

Hawgfan100 — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:43:35 +0000

Agree across the board with MiM's comments, especially on letting Petrino show us something before judging him and on Coach Horton. I'd also like to see Reggie stay but that seems more and more unlikely. No hard feelings if he goes but I think he'd be very difficult to replace.

By: mike in magnolia

mike in magnolia — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:34:07 +0000

We just finished having one soap opera and now the media is trying to create a new one for us. I read the article with interest to see what coach's agent had to say. It was very interesting to see the other side of the story. Can we as Arkansas fans just let all of this die and let's judge the man on his actons as the new coach and not on what the pundents tell us.

On a side note I do hope the Coach P will consider keeping Coach Horton. He seems to have been able to hold everything together over the last two weeks. Just my thought.

By: hoggster

hoggster — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:26:27 +0000

Wow, Gonz and Tips….

Thanks for the heads up on Petrino's agent.

Again, typical NFL stuff….

By: TipsterHog

TipsterHog — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:48:30 +0000

Totally agree Gonzo. Here's the direct link: Bobby Petrino's agent fires back at Atlanta Falcons

By: GonzoHog

GonzoHog — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:38:17 +0000

Anyone interested in Bobby Petrino's situation in Atlanta, need's to click on "More Network Headlines", and go to the story "Bobby Petrino's Agent fires back at Atlanta Falcons". If it's fair to hold judgement against the man, according to what the "yo-yos" on ESPN had to say, then it should also be fair to hold judgement for him, according to what his agent had to say.

By: Hawgfan100

Hawgfan100 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:25:51 +0000

The article is up on the Headlines, Gonzo. Provides some good stats info on Petrino's offense at L'ville as well.