Football Fix

9 comments July 1st, 2008 9:05am Walking on Sunshine

As I was perusing through the RazorBloggers copy of Phil Steele’s 2008 College Football Preview (a.k.a. the annual college football bible), a couple of interesting things caught my attention.

For those of you who are familiar with Steele’s preseason magazine, you know how easy it is to get completely lost in it.  Never has so much been put into 328 pages for the college football crazy.

If you’ve never seen it, take it from me, you can find yourself mesmerized to the point where you wonder out loud if this is the long lost cure for Attention-Deficit Disorder.

Home Field Edge — One of the things that Phil does every year is give each team what he calls a “Home Field Edge” value.  This equates to the amount of points a team can expect to benefit when playing in front of the home crowd.

As you can see below, the Hogs fare very well in this ranking.  And when you look at home points divided by average attendance, Razorback fans are actually the most valuable in the SEC.

Strength of Schedule — We all knew the Hogs’ 2008 schedule was brutal…and Steele just confirms that.  Only the University of Washington ranks ahead of Arkansas nationally.

Here’s the list of SEC schools, and you can see the complete ranking here.

As much as I like the Georgia Bulldogs, it’s going to be tough to negotiate that schedule and win a national championship.

Phil Steele has been the most accurate of the preseason magazines over the last nine years.  For 2008, he picks the Hogs to finish dead last in the SEC West, with a below .500 record overall.

Here’s hoping that at the end of the year, Phil wishes he had put us in his “Teams Most Likely to Surprise” list.

Bucknam Named Razorbacks Track Coach

1 comment June 27th, 2008 9:27pm TipsterHog

Hogwired.com: Chris Bucknam Named Cross Country, Track and Field Head Coach

Following 25 seasons and 35 conference championships at Northern Iowa, Chris Bucknam has been named head men’s cross country and track and field coach at the University of Arkansas, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long announced on Friday.

Also:

• Hogwired.com: Press Conference Transcript
• Alex Abrams: Replacing A Legend
• Robbie Neiswanger: Athletes Willing To Give Bucknam A Chance, Booth Keeping Options Open
• Marty Cook: Northern Iowa’s Bucknam takes over for McDonnell
• Rob Keys: Hogs’ new coach retaining Booth
• Nate Allen: Back on track

Updated 6/28/08 10:35 a.m.

Best Razorback Games Of 2007-08 — One For The Razorbacks

16 comments June 27th, 2008 10:05am TipsterHog

It’s not like there was going to be much of a surprise about what game would occupy the top spot in our countdown of the best Razorback games of the 2007-08 seasons.

When you defeat the #1 team in the country for the fourth time in school history and the first time in 26 years, that pretty much takes all the guesswork out of the decision for us.

Arkansas Defeats #1 LSU - SportsCenter

Arkansas Defeats #1 LSU - College GameDay

Arkansas Defeats #1 LSU - Pump Up The Volume

And who knows…when you look back in 50 years at a victory over the #1 team in the country that was clinched on the last play of triple overtime…it might just qualify near the top of the best Razorback games of all-time.

Weems Drafted, Traded To Denver Nuggets

2 comments June 26th, 2008 11:45pm TipsterHog

Hogwired.com: Sonny Weems Traded to Denver After Getting Drafted by Chicago

After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, former Arkansas guard/forward Sonny Weems is now headed to Denver.

The Bulls took the first-team All-SEC selection with the ninth pick of the second round and the No. 39 overall selection in Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Also:

• Ryan Malashock: Weems Drafted By Bulls, Traded To Nuggets
• Brandon Marcello: Weems drafted, traded
• Chris Cocoles: Weems winds up in Denver
• Rocky Mountain News: Trade nets ‘world class’ athletic talent for Nuggets, With Sonny Weems, football’s loss is Nuggets’ gain

Updated 6/28/08 9:10 a.m.

Best Razorback Games Of 2007-08 — The Sixth Option

5 comments June 26th, 2008 6:05am TipsterHog

The stat line was unimpressive: 1-2 from the field, four rebounds, one assist and two turnovers.

Two points in 10 minutes of playing time.  Two points out of the 92 points scored.  Two points that were ‘thrown in’ late…with just 5.3 seconds left in the game.

Yet…they are two points that will be remembered for years to come when the name Steven Hill is mentioned by Hog fans.

The #2 game in our countdown of the best Razorback games of 2007-08 is the Hogs’ SEC Basketball Tournament semifinal victory over the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

Hogs Beat Vols In The SEC Tournament

Afterwards, Hill used his typical dry wit to describe the play:

“I was probably the sixth option,” Hill said with a laugh.  “They’d rather have anybody on the team shoot than me.  But, hey, it happened.”

Sure…Charles Thomas played a tremendous game, scoring 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.  And Patrick Beverley and Darian Townes picked up the offensive slack for a slumping Sonny Weems.  Basketball is ultimately, of course, still a team game.  And this was a great game played by both teams.

But come on, now…we’re talking about Steven Hill.  You know…the 7 foot guy who, at times over four years, caused more head-scratching and cussing by Hog fans than just about any other player in the history of the school.  Yeah…that guy…Steven ‘Freakin’ Hill!!!

And now?  Well…now he’ll be remembered as the guy who, as a senior, made the game winning, turnaround jumper against a top 5 opponent to insure his team’s bid to the NCAA Tournament.

As Churchill reminded us, “History is written by the victors.”

Best Razorback Games Of 2007-08 — Instant Classic

6 comments June 25th, 2008 6:05am TipsterHog

After it was over, here’s how we described the game that is #3 on our countdown of the best Razorback games of 2007-08:

You know…just another Razorback Saturday.  The stadium field gets a name; the legendary Keith Jackson stops by to ‘Call the Hogs’; Felix rushes for 174, DMac rushes for 321 and we completely steamroller Steve Spurrier.  Ho hum?  Yeah, right.  It was a magical night.  What an honor it was to be there to see an ‘Instant Razorback Classic’ in person.

And thanks to YouTube (and GTHogFan), there’s really no need to say anything more.

Felix Jones 40 Yard TD

Felix Jones 72 Yard TD

Casey Dick TD Lucas Miller

DMac TD to RoJo

DMac 80 Yard TD

Best Razorback Games Of 2007-08 — Out Of The Shadow

3 comments June 24th, 2008 6:05am TipsterHog

It was a shadow that hung over the program for nearly a decade.  And with just one win, it was gone.

For the first time since 1999, the Arkansas Razorbacks won a game in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  And that victory over the Indiana Hoosiers is #4 on our countdown of the best Razorback games of the 2007-08 seasons.

Sonny Weems would cement his legacy with a career-high 31 points (including 18 in the second half).  And Darian Townes would rise to the occasion as well, scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

But it was Weems only assist of the game — an alley-oop pass to Steven Hill with a little over 11 minutes left — that started a 12-3 run that eventually finished off the Hoosiers.

Indiana vs. Arkansas - NCAA March Madness 2008 highlights

Afterwards, Coach John Pelphrey described his team perfectly while foreshadowing what was to come:

“They’re a resilient bunch,” Pelphrey said of his team. “They’ve been given up for dead two or three times, and they bounced back. … The challenge for them is to have some repeat success, in terms of their effort, their focus, their level of play, [because] this is the NCAA tournament and our next opponent is unbelievable.”

The victory over Indiana would, of course, be the last win of the 2007-08 basketball season.

But considering the nine-year journey just to make it to the second round again, watching a season-ending thrashing by the tournament’s top seed was easier to take than enduring another ‘one and done’ postseason appearance by the Hogs.

Best Razorback Games Of 2007-08 — Rockin’ The House

3 comments June 23rd, 2008 6:05am TipsterHog

This week marks the end of the 2008 ‘fiscal year’ for Razorback sports.  And while most media outlets write their recap stories at the end of December, we actually think it’s more appropriate to do it now before a new set of seasons give us new highs and lows to live through and discuss.

It’s certainly an understatement to say that momentous changes have occurred in Razorback athletics off the field over the past 12 months.

But each day this week we’ve chosen to focus on the moments on the field that we’ll all remember in the years ahead…the best Razorback games of the 2007-08 seasons.

Coming in at #5 is the only baseball game of our countdown.  And with Coach Dave Van Horn and his program going through a rebuilding year in 2008, it turned out to be one of the few highlights in what was mostly a season to forget.

With nine conference games remaining, the Diamond Hogs entered their series in early May against #13 South Carolina with a below .500 conference record.

And things weren’t looking very promising for the home team during the crucial Friday night opening game after the Gamecocks built an 11-8 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.

With two outs and down to their last strike, Hogs’ junior outfielder Chase Leavitt beat out an infield single to load the bases and set up the heroics of freshman pinch hitter Jacob House.

South Carolina vs. Arkansas 2008

It was the second year in a row that a pinch hitter had provided the biggest bang on fireworks night at Baum Stadium.  In 2007, outfielder Wayne Hrozek hit a two-run double in the 10th inning to clinch the Western Division title for the Razorbacks.

After the biggest hit of his life, House was humble when interviewed after the game:

“I’m just trying to get it to the next guy,” House said. “I just wanted to get a hit somewhere and keep the inning going, but then it went out of here.”

“When I hit it, I thought ‘man that felt good.’”

The Gamecocks never recovered that weekend after the ninth inning collapse.  The Hogs would go on to record their only conference series sweep of 2008.

RazorBits: Filling Time

22 comments June 17th, 2008 6:05am TipsterHog

RBN tidbits from around the web.

– A lot of local sportswriters are filling their column inches at the moment talking about how to pass the time between now and fall football practice.  Robbie Neiswanger over at The Morning News gives Hog fans a few dates to remember between now and August 4th.  And the original Mr. Sunshine warms up a little stale football news for us.

– And speaking of stale, this report is a few days old but I didn’t see it blogged anywhere.  According to the Cowboys Blog, it sounds like a package is being added to the playbook that includes both Felix Jones and Marion Barber in the backfield at the same time:

Felix’s primary offensive role as a rookie will be a change-of-pace back. But the Cowboys also plan to put him on the field with Barber on occasion.

Barber and Felix lined up in the backfield together several times during today’s workout. Barber lined up in front of the offset I with Felix starting at tailback and motioning out wide.

[...] Felix didn’t put up big receiving numbers at Arkansas, which had a poor passing game. But the Cowboys’ scouts and coaches saw a back with good hands and route-running ability who could blossom as a receiver in the pros.

Hmmm…throwing the ball to Felix…why didn’t we think of that?  Three years…38 games…39 receptions.  Based on those numbers, a more accurate description would be ‘piss poor passing game.’

– Felix also made it to Canton, Ohio last Friday.  No…they weren’t inducting him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame just yet.  He was one of 18 Cowboys’ rookies who toured the facility.

– Finally, sportscaster Mike Irwin used his ‘blog’ yesterday to flame a “recruting guru” over comments made about recent Razorback decommit Darius Winston.  But since Irwin doesn’t mention Dudley Dawson by name, I guess it’s not really a personal attack, is it?

Acting Like A Leader

10 comments June 9th, 2008 6:05am Walking on Sunshine

Here’s the situation:  You’re asked to provide an overall ranking of SEC basketball coaches based on coaching skills, leadership, recruiting and potential.

So…how would your list compare to this one?

At first glance, I think most people would say, “Stallings seems a little high.  Kennedy looks a little low.  And what the heck do you have against John Pelphrey?”

Now…if I take the same list and add another column….does it make more sense?  Does it surprise you?

* Salaries compiled from various articles and school web sites.

As you can see, one of the absolute embarrassments left by former Athletic Director Frank Broyles and former Chancellor John White is the salary of John Pelphrey.

Over the years, Broyles tended to be very frugal (to put it nicely) with the salaries of his head coaches.  And that only reinforced the perception that Arkansas was a ’stepping stone’ job for a head coach.  A nice job to ‘prove yourself’…but if you wanted to make some real money, you were going elsewhere.

Pelphrey’s current contract is heavily weighted with incentives — $1.2 million of incentives — based on higher achievement.

But Razorback Basketball with its tradition, facilities, and fan support should never pay a coach in such a manner.  Higher achievement should be expected at Arkansas, not be an incentive.

Plus…if a coach needs huge monetary incentives to work hard and win championships, chances are you don’t want him to be your coach anyway.  (About half of the SEC basketball coaches have incentives, but none run more than $400,000.)

With the hiring of Bobby Petrino, new Athletic Director Jeff Long has made a statement that under his leadership, Arkansas will take a back seat to no one.  The $2.85 million salary for Petrino ranks him among the top five coaches in the SEC.

So if you want to be the best, hire a hungry young coach like Pelphrey and pay him what an upper-tier SEC basketball program pays.  Then let the rest take care of itself.

I have no doubt Long will correct this mistake at the first available opportunity.  Razorback Basketball and John Pelphrey certainly deserve better.

Let’s just hope that happens before Pelphrey decides to step onto that ‘next stone.’