Rappin' Duke for the uninitiated

Looking back at Saturday

Great ending to Florida-Ole Miss. Nice win by Hootie, even though it was more Urban Meyer's idiotic coaching on that fourth down play. That was just awful. A quarterback sneak, out of the shotgun? It was good to see Baby Jesus not make a play though.
•••
Arkansas gets closer and closer to my predicted 2-10 season. Arkansas is a team badly in need of some coaching.
Interesting tidbit. Tyler Wilson has no idea on how to read a defense. This 7-on-7 football craze has bumped up the passing numbers, but it isn't teaching QBs to pass the ball.
Basically, Wilson was to taught to throw a ball to a spot and not to a receiver. It is roughly akin to forward pass version of the sweep.
In Petrino's pro-style offense, the QB is expected to look around and make adjustments. Wilson doesn't know how.
And don't hate on Casey Dick.
It isn't his fault that the offensive line isn't blocking for him. Seems like I predicted that as well. That the o-line would be a major headache.
Oh wait, I did.
Dick is the only player on offense that can make a difference. So don't get mad at him for holding onto the ball. He's just trying to make a play.
•••
Can't wait for the Arkansas-Tulsa game.
UCA and Tulsa duked it out on Saturday and it was 28-20 at the half. UCA's QB threw for nearly 400 yards and shredded the Tulsa D.
For the D*G's account, it looked like UCA just made a couple big mistakes early in the second half and Tulsa started rolling.
I've written elsewhere that I don't think Nathan Brown, UCA's QB, is all that spectacular. He has an odd, sidearm throwing motion that will not equal success at another level and he is also a system QB. Lots of chances to put up some numbers in that offense.
•••
Knowshon, why have you forsaken me?
•••
And on one final note: I hate Matt Dishongh and everything he stands for. Seriously dude, what is up with the five games you are picking for the pool? I'm not Hillary DeMillo bad, but it feels that way.

Nutt 3, Hogville/Wally/Beck 0

All your sad and lost apostles hum my name and flare their nostrils
Choking on the bones you toss to them
Well I'm not one to sit and spin
'Cause living well's the best revenge
Baby, I am calling you on that

Ole Miss 31, Florida 30
Jevan Snead threw two touchdown passes, ran for another score and led the Rebels to a 31-30 upset of No. 4 Florida on Saturday. It gave coach Houston Nutt a signature win in his fourth game at Ole Miss and put Florida in a hole with several tough Southeastern Conference games remaining.

Texas 52, Arkansas 10
Forget the famous rivalry. Colt McCoy and No. 7 Texas clobbered Arkansas like any other early season warmup. And when the most lopsided game between the border foes in decades was over, all Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino could do Saturday was collapse into a chair and sigh. Hard. "That's a beating," Petrino said.

When will Hogville and all our other lousy fans, media, and Little League parents be held accountable for what they've done to Razorback football? Still predicting a 6-6 season, Biggus? Mike Irwin must have really struggled getting that Ole Miss score out of his mouth on his NWA sportscast.

Letters to Ramon: State of Hog football

Lonesome Traveler provides a glimpse of the decaying interest in Razorback football that should concern the Powers That Be on the Hill...

As I was standing there this morning listening to Ed bemoan a team that once meant everything to him, I glanced over at you and wondered if you were thinking the same thing I was. About that time Ed said he had laughed with glee when Arkansas' quarterback threw an interception on the way to its trouncing last Saturday.

Here were two guys standing before you, whose hearts and souls had bled and wept for the so-called program. One had snuck in as a boy and hid under the stands with other like interlopers to watch his beloved Lance Alworth dance to touchdowns. The other in the past had reminded me of a Rick Schaffer clone. Never wavering in his support and allegiance no matter how idiotic his homer's argument was.

Yet on this morning, here were the same two. One who already has the LSU game tickets in the Rock for sale, and who made it only through eight minutes of the second quarter of the recent Little Rock game. The other, who laughed at the team in red's mistakes and pulled against them, only to get upset later when Ole Miss got beat in the last minute by a stripped fumble at the goal line.

I wondered if you were thinking how improbable and unprecedented the conversation would have been not so very long ago. I wondered if you were thinking, "If these two guys think this way, it must be bad!"

Improbable I suppose yet it seems there are a lot of conversations like that now, and funny too.... I hear more and more that start by, "How 'bout those ASU Indians!", or "How 'bout those UCA Bears!" At least in Central Arkansas I do.


And D Romeo chimes in about his experience at the game against Alabama last Saturday...

Left the BAMA game at halftime... mad that I stayed past the first quarter. On my way out of the stadium, you would have thought the game had ended (it was already over) with all the folks exiting the stadium. There was a fan carrying a sign that read, "Long live Houston!" The defense should not be this bad...........

This week's games...

This could be a bonus-point extravaganza week -- a 5-0 with all underdogs winning would be worth 15 points. Will the ACC continue its streak of producing underdog winners even in these match-ups with the Big 12? (Still waiting for the Big 12 South to play somebody.) If Virginia Tech does it to Nebraska and you took Nebraska, direct your complaint e-mails to Cornhusker fan Ryan Harris, who has assured us that the Big Red is back.

Time for the games for Week 5. For $800 and the Ramon Escobar Trophy, more prestigious than the Emmy for best reality show host, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 5 p.m. Friday. And remember, I always respond to e-mail sent before 5 p.m. Friday to confirm that I got your picks, so if you don't get that confirmation e-mail, send your picks again or post them online.

North Carolina-Miami
11 a.m., Sat., ESPN2
Line: Miami by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Tennessee-Auburn
2:30 p.m., Sat., CBS
Line: Auburn by 6
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Colorado-Florida State
2:30 p.m., Sat., ABC/ESPN
Line: Florida State by 5
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Alabama-Georgia
6:45 p.m., Sat., ESPN
Line: Georgia by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Virginia Tech-Nebraska
7 p.m., Sat., ABC
Line: Nebraska by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Good luck.
****#****

Another Auburn Thrashing

Auburn,not all that
Auburn fans wear mullets too
Couldn't pull out win.

5 things I think I think

1. The only question going into Arkansas at Texas is whether or not Texas covers the 27.5-point spread. I mean, we all know Texas is going to murderlate (Bugs Bunny-ism) Arkansas. But covering a four-TD spread is a tall order. So let's ask the Magic 8 Ball ... Will Texas cover the spread against Arkansas?



(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the Magic 8 Ball is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering.)

2. Speaking of point spreads, OU is favored by 17.5 this Saturday ... against TCU. That should really sting Hog fans.

3. Who is running CBS Sports? And why does he have such lousy taste in SEC football games? How else do you explain The Tiffany Network picking Tennessee (firing Fulmer) at Auburn (15) instead of Alabama (8) at Georgia (3)?

4. Speaking of Tennessee, you have to love the Vols' ingenuity in trying to slow down Florida ...



5. The Wildcat's success in the NFL (see Miami vs. New England): Proof of Gus Malzahn's genius? Discuss and prepare a 2-page report by Sunday's noon kickoffs.

Ramon's Escoblog: Yes, that is a real photo

Ramón Escobar of Telemundo performed at an event to introduce advertisers to new shows.

Neuva York, May 18, 2006 -- Ramón Escobar, senior executive vice president for network entertainment, joined a dozen professional singer-dancers in a polished performance of "All That Jazz" from the musical "Chicago," rewritten to proclaim that Telemundo's programming is "Made for You."

Hogville, Wally, and Beck may have killed Razorback football for the next decade

The thing about Hogville is that they delete and ban so many posts and posters with dissenting viewpoints that you are left with a board in which it looks like this online representation of Razorback fans are all in agreement. They are not.

Hogville operates like the old days of Mother Russia. Got something to say that we don't like? Your voice disappears from our site. The guy who owns the site will get on KARN and claim that "the great thing about Hogville is that we allow all viewpoints," but it is pure BS.

Public opinion does not equal what you read on Hogville.

What's worse are the broadcast journalists who sell out to Hogville because they think they are getting an audience, or in some cases a following. Mike Erwin and Mark Lericos, two NWA TV guys you have never heard of otherwise, might as well be writing quotes for Long and Petrino on the UA dole. They come off as nothing more than PR flaks for the UA. Erwin has particularly taken broadcast journalism to a new low in this state in the last year.

Another sellout looking for attention from these freaks is Shawn Arnell, who sounds like he knows radio and could be a good talk-show host if only he wasn't longing for the attention of this group of wackos. Shawn, other people listen to your show besides Hogville readers, and they aren't happy with what you and Wally have done in the last year.

Wes Moore, please be careful. So far your posts there have remained typically just to promote your newscast, which you do a fine job on. But when I see you have thrown up an ad on that site, well it makes me not want to tune in anymore.

Razorback football may be over for another decade thanks to the false perception of public opinion pushed upon the state by Hogville, some members of the Razorback press clique, and some whining parents from NWA upset that Little Johnny didn't get to play throw and catch like he did in high school.

Well fans, you've got your wish -- the University of Arkansas finally has the passing offense you've cried about. Unfortunately, half the fans in the stadium on Saturday don't like the losing ways that have come with it. Neither do half the fans in the state.

Letters to Ramon

A round-up of recent pool e-mails...

"I really hate Bama. It is so obnoxious how Saban's team play PERFECT in every big game. Any bad pass is not batted down, it is intercepted... and run back for a touchdown. NO turnovers. No penalties. Perfect blocking. NO missed tackles. Perfect punts and ko/field goals. And every damn game has some punk running untouched at least 80 yards for a touchdown. I really hate them. We have been tortured fans since the Cotton Bowl in 1990, with rare, brief moments of happiness. Why do we pull for our program, again? I think I'd rather be a Cubs fan... ugh!" -- Alejandro

"That effing Frank Beamer kept me from 5-0.... another reason to hate VaTech." -- Robb O.

Pool Insider: The Plot Against the Big 12

Last week, I received a complaint about no Big 12 games making the weekly five, and this week I got the following additional complaints...

"I assume we are going to start seeing some Big 12 games as they start firing up. We have Ark-Texas next week, Tech-a&m, Tech-Nebraska, Texas-OU..." -- John Sully

"There seems to be a lot of bias by 'the one who picks the games' this week to pick everything in the south. You know, contrary to popular belief, there are other football conferences besides the SEC and ACC. But, I realize that Nebraska is off and I appreciate NOT having Notre Dame in this week and therefore you probably had slim pickings." -- Ryan Husker

So let me address these complaints. First, there is absolutely no bias against the Big 12 in the football pool. In fact, I would prefer that Arkansas be in the Big 12 instead of the SEC. Second, the games are picked with total disregard for conference affiliation. Games are picked using a formula to balance the games featuring the top teams in the country and the games that will be the most competitive. That's how you get the games. They basically pick themselves.

Why are there so many ACC games in the pool thus far? It is a very balanced conference with fairly good teams and they start playing conference games in the ACC right from the get go. So while the Big 12 teams are mostly getting their easy non-conference games out of the way, the ACC is already fighting for the belt.

It's funny because I also get complaints when enough SEC teams don't make the weekly five. For instance, this week people want to know where the Alabama-Arkansas game is. I'll tell you where it is, it's on Raycom. That is typically a sign it is not exactly the biggest game in the country.

The South will typically be represented more because there is better football in the South. That's why you have CBS paying $55 million and ESPN paying $2 billion for rights to the SEC.

Trouble at Auburn with Kodi Burns' parents

From Arkansas Sports 360:

Kodi Burns' Parents Pull a Springdale Move at Auburn?

Still, we couldn't help also noting this whole Little League parents deal with Kodi Burns and his folks meeting with Tubby. Shades of Houston Nutt and the Springdale three, or whatever it was. What's with Arkansas parents and their little pampered superstars when they head off to college, anyway? Tubby better not bench Rogers' Lee Ziemba or he'll no doubt have another meeting scheduled.

Full story here.

5 things I think I think

1. Am I the only one who hears Keith (the venerable ABC announcer, not the former tight end) Jackson's voice when somebody says Alabama? His "Ala - BAMA" is the standard by which all CFB announcers should be judged.

2. SEC fans should celebrate Dave, Dave and Dave while they can. You will miss the Raycom telecasts when Pam Ward is calling the 11:30 am games next season. No, not because she's a woman but because she's a worse play-by-play announcer than whichever Dave fills that role.

3. If there's a funnier writer expounding on CFB than Clay Travis (Deadspin), I don't know who it is. Two Daves and EDSBS are close seconds. Or a second and a third. Oh, you know what I mean.

4. Gregg Easterbrook dubbed Saturday's Alabama at Arkansas game as "The Weasel Bowl," in honor of the two coaches. Given it's Alabama and Arkansas, I guess there are worse titles that could have been given.

5. If you have teenagers who root for the Dallas Cowboys, do not buy them "Boys Will Be Boys." The chronicle of the 1990s Super Bowl teams proves you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than the Dallas locker room. For an adult, the stories of drugs, orgies, drugs, an attempted murder between teammates, drugs and orgies reads like the Motley Crue book. Not so much for kids.

The Wally Code: Petrino coach of the year?

Thursday's Wally Hall column offers more comedy and cheerleading for Bobby Petrino as Wally attempts to build him up to a Nick Saban level. As Wally draws out the comparisons between the two, it's funny that one thing he fails to mention is that Saban won a national championship. Petrino? A Big East championship.

Wally calls out to his colleagues in the biz for Petrino to be named the "Associated Press National Coach of the Year" if the Razorbacks win a bowl game. Let me get this straight. Wally thinks a coach who depended on fourth-quarter comebacks against Div. I-AA Western Illinois and Sun Belt rent-a-win Louisana-Monroe should be considered for coach of the year?

Somehow I just don't see the voting members of the AP selecting the winner of the PapaJohns.com bowl as national coach of the year. But not to worry because that's not going to happen -- neither is another win for the Razorbacks this season.

Then Wally throws out this gem: "Atlanta fans moved on immediately after Petrino, and Louisville fans understood Petrino had to get the NFL out of his system."

Atlanta fans moved on immediately after Petrino? Say what??? He is still the most-hated sports figure in that city, and that's probably topping Michael Vick. And Louisville fans understood he had to get the NFL out of his system? They didn't understand then, and they are still complaining about his annual flirtations with other jobs that far outnumbered Houston Nutt's two job interests and are blaming him for the downfall of Louisville football because of all the off-the-field issues the new coach inherited.

And don't forget how much Auburn fans still love Petrino after only one year as offensive coordinator in the Plains. They are counting down the days to his return to Jordan-Hare.

Wally starts off his column by saying Saban and Petrino are kind of like lemonade versus limeade. Except no one drinks limeade. And no one at the AP is going to vote Petrino coach of the year either.

The AP writer who supplies the weekly college football preview in the same issue as Wally's column makes a much better comparison between the two coaches in his game summary...

"Bobby Petrino vs. Nick Saban. The loser MUST honor his current contract."

This week's games

"You've got to be kidding me" was the curt response from Roosevelt "School of" Noise when I told him there are two great ACC games in the five this week. That may be a familiar refrain as people are opening this e-mail today. Yes, it's a mostly Southern football week with two unpredictable ACC match-ups and two SEC showdowns plus Georgia, the DeMillos' alma mater,traveling out west to try to escape with a win against magician Dennis Erickson. It's a big weekend for the Davis clan and Jeff Kendall as they hope their Auburn Tigers can generate more than three points of offense against Mike Parker's LSU Tigers. I forget who the Vol fan is in the pool, but My Do is already talking trash on behalf of his Gators.

So time for the games of Week 4. For $800 and the Ramon Escobar Trophy, still worth its value on Wall Street, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 5 p.m. Friday.


The Third Saturday in September
Florida-Tennessee
2:30 p.m., Sat., CBS
Line: Florida by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Virginia Tech-North Carolina
2:30 p.m., Sat., ABC
Line: North Carolina by 2

Wake Forest-Florida State
6 p.m., Sat., ESPN2
Line: Florida State by 4

The Tiger Bowl
LSU-Auburn
6:45 p.m., Sat., ESPN
Line: LSU by 2

Georgia-Arizona State
7 p.m., Sat., ABC
Line: Georgia by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game


Good luck.
****#****

Just for you Auburn fans

Here is a great haiku for a team who really sucks this year.
Listen Auburn fans,
Disco suits are out of style,
Porn staches are too.

Does Schaeffer still claim the economy is great?

About a month ago I was listening to Drive Time Sports, and Rick Schaeffer launched into a monologue about how the media was to blame for making too big of an issue of several football player arrests. Then, he compared it to the bad news on the economy, which he called a media creation, citing USA Today as one primary culprit for having a story a day about the economy being in bad shape.

In the words of a famous orator, what say you now, Rick? Still the media's fault?

Weasel Bowl

Weasel Bowl Approaches: This Saturday it's Little Nicky Saban versus Bobby Petrino as Alabama meets Arkansas -- the first Weasel Bowl! Note the schools of the Weasel Three -- Saban, Petrino and Rich Rodriguez -- are a combined 13-8 since these extremely expensive promise-breakers arrived. They'd probably be a combined 13-9 if Arkansas' game at Texas had not been postponed by Hurricane Ike, and surely Arkansas boosters are now praying that meeting is never rescheduled. The 13 victories include wins over cupcakes Western Illinois, Western Kentucky, Western Carolina and Miami (Ohio). Between huge salaries, legal fees and buyouts, Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan have already spent about $20 million to get a mediocre 13-8 result. Considering the fantastic advantages in money and recruiting power possessed by Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan, orangutans could have coached them to 13-8.

AP Photo/Butch Dill

Anti-Booty Haiku

Arkansas' last foe
"Bye Week" for Hurricane Ike
"Bye Week" won the game

Week 3 haiku

Auburn Tigers foe
Mississippi State
Final 3-2?

Bad weather + football = awesome

Although, in this case, it might be too much.

This was Texas Tech's home field 24 hours before kickoff against SMU. Before Ike's rain hit Lubbock.



http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/11991/texas_tech_is_playing_football_here_in_27_hours

LR 54, nWa 57

Arkansas Business reports...

Little Rock MSA No. 54 Among Milken's Best-Performing Cities List

The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway metropolitan statistical area ranked No. 54 among the Milken Institute's 2008 list of America's Best-Performing Cities Index.

Released Thursday, the index measures the hottest places for jobs creation in the country.

The Little Rock metro moved up on the list from No. 73 in 2007.

The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro dropped in the rankings from No. 21 last year to No. 57 in 2008.

Letters to Ramon

Who knew Marquette grads had it out so much for Notre Dame. Jeff G. explains...

Rival Catholic schools. There's a reason we don¹t have a football team, even though MU is (or at least was when I was there) one of the biggest Catholic schools in the country , and it¹s called Notre Dame. They were coddled in their nice leafy suburban campus with maid service and the like while we had to live three blocks from Jeffrey Dahmer.

Digger Phelps would not play us in Milwaukee unless it was during finals or Christmas Break b/c we were ill-behaved savages. A friend of mine left a hawker on his seat during a time-out. Yeah, we hate them. And they make it easy.

Rappin' Haiku

Straight Outta Compton,
Just Sippin' on Gin and Juice,
Shutup, Gentle Ben.

This week's games

You have to love the ACC. There are so many moderately good teams that are evenly matched, it's hard to figure out who is going to win. But the games are fun to watch. Here's another example this week as Georgia Tech, winner over Boston College last week, travels to Virginia Tech, loser to East Carolina in the first week. But that's just one of the five tough match-ups to pick this week, including Kansas as the underdog at South Florida, and Wisconsin as only a one-point favorite at Fresno State (what are these teams doing traveling to South Florida and Fresno, the Game Day crew may be asking afterward). Notre Dame fans and grads, and there are a lot of them in the pool, don't forget to go to confession if you go with Michigan. Oh yeah, and there's some game featuring USC (Tim Bichlmeier's team) against Ohio State (Richard Betts' team) for a possible four-point bonus. Should be some good ones.

So here are the games for Week 3. For $800 and the Ramon Escobar Trophy, always the right choice for your kid's show and tell at school, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 5 p.m. Friday.


Kansas-South Florida
7 p.m., Fri., ESPN2
Line: South Florida by 3

Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech
2:30 p.m., Sat., ABC/ESPN
Line: Virginia Tech by 6
* Underdog worth three points in this game

Michigan-Notre Dame
2:30 p.m., Sat., NBC
Line: Michigan by 1

Collision in the Coliseum
Ohio State-USC
7 p.m., Sat., ABC
Line: USC by 10
* Underdog worth four points in this game

Wisconsin-Fresno State
9:30 p.m., Sat., ESPN2
Line: Wisconsin by 1


Good luck.
****#****

Letters to Ramon

E-mail from Will Johnson on Monday:

"Can I add a nickname to my name on the distribution list too? If so I'd like to be referred to from here on out as DJ U-Excplicit Johnson."

E-mail from Will Johnson on Tuesday morning:

"I wasn't serious about now being referred to as DJ U-Explicit. I had a couple drinks last night while watching MNF."

Glenn B.'s analysis of Week 2

It was a bloodbath out there, especially with respect to the directional states (SC, WV, guilty as charged). Indeed, the only state that did well was the fictional state of East Carolina, which is, on a good day, not even a good state of mind.

Here are my advance picks for Week #3:

North Texas
South Alabama
Southeast Missouri
Middle Tennessee
South Florida

Behold the awesomeness that is me

And in other news: UCA quarterback Nathan Brown really isn't that good. He has a weird, throwing motion. So he isn't a pure passer and he doesn't have great feet either. He's a product of UCA's offensive system, they throw all the time and the reality is that once you get past a couple of schools in that conference, most of the other teams are middlin' at best.

If you got some free time on Saturday night, it wouldn't be a terrible thing to go watch UCA and UAPB play at War Memorial, but don't skip your daughter's wedding for it.


Aggies' Denham has a good night, but it isn't quite good enough
By Jeremy Peppas - Special to The Bee
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, September 7, 2008
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C7

Print | E-Mail | Comments (1) |

CONWAY, Ark. – UC Davis found its rhythm late Saturday night against No. 22 Central Arkansas.

After a miserable first half, the Aggies (0-2) started rolling late, but it wasn't enough as Central Arkansas (2-0) held on for a wild 24-21 victory.

The game wasn't decided until the final minute of the fourth quarter, when Central Arkansas defensive back Anthony Gambles intercepted a Greg Denham pass in the end zone.

The interception was the lone blemish on a good night for Denham. In his first career start, Denham, a sophomore, completed 30 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

Denham admitted he had some jitters in the first half, but, he said, "I got more confident. I was able to get into a rhythm."

In the first half, Denham only completed 6 of 13 passes and was sacked three times. But in the second half, Denham wasn't sacked and completed 24 of 32 passes.

"It was our offensive line," UC Davis coach Bob Biggs said. "We got a little bit more time, we were able to get the quarterback a little bit more time to throw. That was the difference."

UC Davis had to go to Denham because the Aggies couldn't get anything going on the ground. As a team, UC Davis finished with a miserable 11 net yards on the ground.

"We have to have more balance," Biggs said. "We have to be able to run and throw, and we weren't able to run. That's got to improve."

Denham's main target was wide receiver Chris Carter, who finished the game with 13 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

"That guy was good," Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque said. "At the end, we had two guys on him and he was still making plays."

For Carter, a junior, it was a career night. But he still left the field disappointed.

"I really wish I could have that last play back," he said of the game-ender. "Maybe make a better play on the ball, but he made a good play to get the interception."

UC Davis comes home to face Portland State on Saturday night.

Nutt 2, Hogville/Wally/Beck 0

Wake Forest 30, Ole Miss 28
"Sam Swank kicked a 41-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to cap a dramatic final minute and give No. 20 Wake Forest to a 30-28 win over Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels (1-1) were a minute away from giving first-year coach Houston Nutt a signature win in only his second game, when Snead led a 7-minute, 80-yard drive."

Arkansas 28, Louisiana-Monroe 27
"Ole Miss, coached by former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, lost at No. 20 Wake Forest 30-28 on a last-minute field goal. The Arkansas crowd cheered when the score was announced. Of course, the Razorbacks would have lost by the same score and in exactly the same fashion if Jeremy Gener's 45-yard kick in the final minute had been good for Louisiana-Monroe."

Monroe? In the words of Ted Knight, "Monroe???!!!"

Kickin' Haiku

Auburn fans break wind
Tailgating Central is back
War Memorial.

Letters to Ramon

A round-up of more recent comments from e-mail...

I admit that I was drinking a little too much of the 'Kool Aid'... boy it was sweet!!! I left before the 4th quarter started and told folks either way (win or lose) I was already disgusted. I also told all my friends that folks are going to wish Houston Nutt was still around here after we get our heads bashed in throughout the season. It is going to be the days of old were we are out of the game by the end of the 1st quarter. I know I may be going a little over-board on the other end of the spectrum, but I did not like what I saw on the field, at all.

- they dominated us on both lines all day, I thought our O-line would be awesome....
- our secondary has a long way to go and we got no pressure at all, even with a blitz I don't recall much pressure
- no run game whatsoever
- players did not look like they were ready to play... fumbles, dropped balls, missed tackles, missed assignments, etc.

If we don't grow up in a hurry with both our youth and understanding of the new system, it will be an ugly season with 1 maybe two wins if we are lucky.

AND this was freaking W. Illini!!!!

-- D Romeo


"I will never pick Nuttless. That sorry SOB!" -- Joe C.

"F'ing Clemson." -- Robb O.

Razorback press clique turns flak for Petrino

I stopped listening to Sports Rap on KARN one year ago this month. Listening to Wally Hall and Jim Harris gush over who hated Houston Nutt the most was more than I could take. The hate Nutt mob was rolling, and here was an outlet on the radio where it was not only encouraged but pretty much mandatory to follow the lead of the hosts.

They were even having these goobers from Hogville join in on the air and claim that all viewpoints were welcome on Hogville, which the many people who have been banned or deleted on that site for typing something contradictory to the party line can tell you is pure BS.

Fast forward to a year later. After Saturday's near loss to Western Illinois, suddenly I thought listening to Sports Rap this week would be entertaining again (boy is it).

So who is the first person I hear on the air? Mike Irwin, the TV sportscaster from one of those NWA stations who found sudden popularity on Hogville for posting completely unobjective, hate-filled, and malicious stuff about Houston Nutt. (Wally later discovered the same scam.)

Can someone tell me what business an NWA sportscaster of marginal note has on a Central Arkansas sports talk show? It would be one thing if the guy had something to offer, but he doesn't, other than being Beck Campbell's favorite mouthpiece. So here he is on KARN coming to the defense of poor Bobby Petrino like some hired PR flak. It was frankly embarrassing to hear.

Irwin is not the only guy to flak out in defense of Petrino after Saturday's game. Virtually all of these Razorback press clique guys who climbed the hate Nutt bandwagon are doing it this week. Jimmy Dykes was a guest on Bo Mattingly's radio show and again provided another example of our embarrassing sports media.

Why do these guys feel so compelled to come to the aid of Petrino after one near loss? You would think they have some stake in it.

Oh wait, they helped push Nutt out the door, so yes the successor better work out. Otherwise they will look like all those geniuses who cried for Nolan to be fired and then proclaimed Stan Heath as the savior of Razorback basketball. And we all know how that one worked out, don't we, Dudley.

Letters to Ramon

Some comments from recent e-mail...

"FYI, I was too drunk to put postage on my envelope this weekend. My $10 is going out in today's mail. Lots of upsets this weekend... wish I had the foresight to have taken advantage of more of them. Please keep Clemson out of future pools... they are just too much of a heartache to bet for or against!!!" -- Greg Bizzy B

"I can't believe I went 2-3 this week. I never did that even once last year!! What's with the TN q-back? I might have been able to do a better job. disgraceful....." -- Beth Shields

"Mr. Wells teaches an Oaklawn class? Why I should abuse my position in the media and pass along that valuable nugget to one Harry King. I think King, who is also the lord and master of Oaklawn, would find that column worthy." -- Jeremy Peppas

"I stumbled out of the gate last season and never recovered. 2008 will be different. Arkansas is going to have a tough year this year, I fear. And it will be insult added to injury if Ole Miss has a stand-out season. I don't harbor ill will toward HDN but he sure left the program in shambles, and did not get far enough away from town to avoid some angry stares and glares. Go State! Beat Ole Miss!" -- Glenn B.

This week's games

Thursday alert: Please note that there is a Thursday night game this week, so that means you need to turn in your picks before that game starts. All picks must be turned in at the same time, so don't send a pick for Thursday's game with a promise of more to come later. If you miss Thursday's game, you can still send in your picks for the other four.

It's an all-bonus-game week, including a couple of underdogs worth four points if they win. Will Vanderbilt, which beat South Carolina last season, deliver the upset again? Will Boston College continue its quest to be as unpredictable as Clemson? Can Skip Holtz keep the wins rolling for East Carolina? And could Houston Nutt possibly pull out an upset against Wake Forest? The Nutt haters who pick Wake in this game probably won't be too happy if he does.

The games for Week 2 follow. For $800 and the pretigious Ramon Escobar Trophy, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 5 p.m. Thursday.


South Carolina-Vanderbilt
7:30 p.m., Thu., ESPN
Line: South Carolina by 10
* Underdog worth four points in this game

Georgia Tech-Boston College
11 a.m., Sat., Raycom ACC
Line: Boston College by 7
* Underdog worth three points in this game

BYU-Washington
2 p.m., Sat., Fox Sports Net
Line: BYU by 10
* Underdog worth four points in this game

Ole Miss-Wake Forest
2:30 p.m., Sat., ABC/ESPN2
Line: Wake Forest by 8
* Underdog worth three points in this game

West Virginia-East Carolina
3:30 p.m., Sat., ESPN
Line: West Virginia by 8
* Underdog worth three points in this game


Good luck.
****#****

Pilgrimage to Razorback Stadium

Thought I'd share some random thoughts from my annual pilgrimage to Razorback Stadium this past Saturday to see the Hogs play the Leathernecks. My two brothers and I along with my four year old(Jack), made the trip. We left around noon and the drive up was pleasant. Stopped at Whataburger for a bite to eat, saw too many state troopers(boy they have nice cars), took a short nap and arrived at Lot 56 around 4 p.m. My brother Dan's company has a nice tailgate that we invaded and grabbed a couple of pops. There space is in that new picnic grounds. I think Lindsey and/or Tyson had something to do with it. It's a nice space. Lined with E-Z Up tents and kids playing in front of a stage where a live band is playing rock favorites. It was Arkansas hot and humid, but the shorts and t-shirt helped keep it cool. Jack made instant friends with another boy and ran around until he turned red and was about to pass out. Finally made our way to the stadium around 5 p.m. and ran into a group of Leathernecks waiting for the shuttle bus to the stadium. Had a nice conversation about the school and the team. For those Marines, the Western Illinois Leathernecks have obtained permission to use the name. Something about an act of Congress to allow it. I don't know if I believe about that, but we'll let it slide. The stadium was alive. The crowd was enthused. Definitely not a football crowd. Too many families and kids with texting devices. We took our usual seats in the top row of the east side, just prior to the luxury boxes. The sun was directly in our face and a woman, her 10 year old son and 15 year old daughter sat in front of us. The girl immediately pulled out her IPhone and started texting. Not five minutes after they sat down, the mother stood up and said, we're leaving, it's too hot here. We never saw her again. This phone phenomenon is something I haven't paid much attention to, but I remember BR pointing it out in his weekly column. I think he calls it the Bentonville Princesses playing Tetris. Well let me tell you, the Princes play it too. The kid next to me and his dad were playing Brickbreaker during the fourth quarter as the Leathernecks went up by 10. I couldn't believe it. I tried to shield Jack, so he wasn't confused about why we attend a football game. Luckily, during the fourth quarter comeback, my brother Pete's enthusiasm, enlightened Jack into calling the Hogs and cheering them onto victory. We even got some cold air falling out of the sky boxes from time to time, to make it somewhat comfortable. To the lady who left early, you missed out. I hope your daughter got through to her friend to relay the fact she saw Tammy buying a Polish Sausage at the concession stand. That girl, so doesn't need a Polish. I say every Princess and Prince needs to pick up a Polish, drop those IPhones and root them Hogs. Later.

Pool insider: The first standings

So you see yourself in the standings tied with many others at 7 (3-2) and wonder why you have been placed at the bottom of this group rather than the top. This is a common question I get at the beginning of every season. You're not at the bottom because I have something against you.

Rather than go with alphabetical order, which I've always thought was a kind of boring way to organize since having to sit in front of Eanes all those years, I've organized the standings by order of entry. So if you are tied with someone right now and they are placed above you in the order, it's simply by who entered the pool first. It seemed like a fair thing to do.

But that pretty much only lasts for Week 1. After this week, everyone gets jumbled around and the weekly score comes into play in ordering participants who are tied.

Just as a bit of completely unnecessary trivia, Mike Beranek was the last person to enter the pool this year. So that's why he sits at the bottom of the 4 (2-3) list.

On another note, I have been waiting years for Mike P.'s wife to enter the basketball pool so that I could give her a certain nickname in the standings. Well, she finally entered the football pool. So enter The LZA.

Week 1 standings coming soon

I've got the picks from Week 1 scored, but I'll be a little delayed sending out the standings because of the late-finishing overtime game between Tennessee and UCLA on Monday night. So be patient. The standings are coming. I'll give you the spoiler: Only one person got a perfect 5-0 (worth 12 points with the two bonus points), and he's a certain English teacher of well-renown at Catholic High who can school anyone on Oaklawn.

A number to remember

Centerpoint Energy — After hours emergency
800-844-7440

Sunday morning
"Hi, I live at [redacted] and I don't have any gas coming into my house."
What's your account number?
"I dunno know"
Okay, give me your social security and your address.
"Okay. [Redacted]
You don't see to have any problems with your account. Are you in the house?
"Yes."
You are!?! Sir, you need to get out of your house immediately. You might have a gas leak.
"What."
Get. Out. Now.
"Umm, okay."
Have you called the fire department?
"No"
We'll have someone over immediately.


And let me tell you, Centerpoint's response was like the second coming of Jesus.
The best part? No gas leak. They had been doing some street work or something and had shut the gas off, but it wasn't logged or recorded anywhere.

'Petrino: Run game will improve'

Now there's an irony in the headline of Monday's sports section.

After all the complaining about the passing game under Nutt from the crazies out there who want more passing primarily because they want to be entertained rather than an actual concern for doing the best thing to get a win, now suddenly after almost having another Citadel game the problem is the running game.

Calling a rushing play only 16 times in the entire game is going to get you crushed in the SEC. It almost got you crushed in the Missouri Valley Conference. You get what you ask for, fans.

By the way, nice pants.