RBN tidbits from around the web.
– The Hogs reported on Sunday and, we have to admit, we were impressed with the short video coverage (subscription required) by RazorVision on ArkansasRazorbacks.com. While only a few minutes long, the professionally edited player interviews were introduced by former local sportscaster (and now the Hogs ‘Director of New Media’) Blair Cartwright. It’s quite a contrast from the ‘thrown together’ raw video footage that the former RazorZone used to produce.
– We’re also digging the official site’s new weekly previews and podcasts. This week’s preview lets us know that those new “tight” uniforms we’ve been hearing about will debut on Tuesday during Media Day. (Wow…us saying some nice things about the former ‘Hogwired’ site…now there’s a shocker.)
– Speaking of uniforms, Harry King plays a little ‘jersey number lotto‘ in his latest column about some of the incoming freshman Hogs. It’s pretty apparent that King doesn’t think the bar is set very high for a freshman to come in and take over at the wide receiver position:
Suspended for the first two games of the season, Marques Wade did not catch a pass as a freshman. Rod Coleman has caught one pass in two years. Carlton Salters caught four last year. Lucas Miller has started four games in two years and has caught 13 passes. London Crawford has the same number of receptions while starting two more games. Reggie Fish has started two games in three years and has caught 10 passes.
Those with rose-colored glasses will say the numbers are slim because the Razorbacks rarely threw. My money is on Joe Adams, Jarius Wright, Chris Gragg, and Greg Childs, “Come on down.”
Ouch…but we can’t disagree. For his part, Casey Dick says the freshman receivers have shown “some real speed” during summer workouts.
– Finally, it’s good to see that ESPN.com and reporter Chris Low have started up a new SEC Blog. (We’ve added the link to our sidebar blogroll.) Low, formerly a writer for The Tennessean, is a good fit as someone who has covered the SEC for years and knows the conference well.
And hopefully the freely accessible blog (with full RSS feed) is a sign that ESPN might be changing their ways about blogs from their reporters being ‘premium’ content for paid subscribers only.
Don't expect too much from Chris Low and the SEC blog. I've been following it for several weeks now and the most he's reported on Arkansas was updating people on all of our police troubles and the media days NFL-talk with Petrino. That's all. He focuses most of his attention on Tennessee (surprise), Alabama and Georgia. Florida is up there, too.
I emailed him and asked that he covered the entire SEC and not just those other schools. He actually replied and said that preseason is just getting underway and that they'll get around to covering all the schools equally.
I'm not holding my breath. But if you want to email him what you think, there's a good chance he'll write you back.
Additionally, he thinks that Arkansas should still be in the SWC. Whatever that means.
The uniforms remind you a little of Louisville with that stripe. I do like the sleeve. I've never thought much of that tight sleeve that we used before. I have always preferred the darker red (not maroon) to the bright red.
They clearly had to throw to the tightends in the spring. Although, Crawford made a couple of good catches there at the end. Maybe extra reps and a little competition will bring out a couple of the old guys.
We're back.
Hey were is Ben Cleveland. Was the injury he received last year enough to sideline him this season as well or did he go with HDN.
sg…I agree that the best place to get information on the Hogs is not at ESPN.com…but right here!
Like you, I'm going to follow Low's blog for a little while and see where it goes. I really mentioned it more for folks that hadn't discovered it yet.
Dieing…Cleveland is still on campus and apparently had a good summer. Alex Abrams mentioned him in an article back in June.
"Former Springdale High tight end Ben Cleveland, who has been slowed by neck and foot problems since arriving at Arkansas in 2006, was among the players who managed to get through Veltkamp's workout Friday morning.
"The sophomore looked like his old self, as he sprinted around the field and ran through cones with his teammates."
These kids are going to pay off in the long run. I'm glad we have a coach that knows you can't hold thier hand and exspect them to get better. Petrino is all buisiness, and I fully exspect him to get the full potential of all our Fresh., that have a chance to contribute, right away.