Conference Realignment Pushing College Sports in the Wrong Direction
Robert Shields
The football conference realignment talks continue with much speculation from fans across the country. What is driving the talk this year is the movement afoot by the Big Ten to add schools to its conference, which many speculate will cause the SEC to kick into expansion mode to not be outdone for that TV dollar.
The biggest piece of the puzzle continues to be Notre Dame, but I don’t think Notre Dame will relinquish its football independence to join the Big Ten even if the Big East is pillaged and leaves its other sports playing in a second-tier conference because nothing else matters at Notre Dame other than football.
The other heavy speculation is Missouri to the Big Ten. Missouri still feels slighted from a couple of years ago when they beat Kansas straight up then lost the Big 12 championship game, which put Kansas in the BCS and left Missouri relegated to a lesser bowl game. Missouri fans felt cheated and should have been represented better by its conference.
Missouri also may want out because the revenue sharing in the Big 12 is not optimum for the school. The Big 12 revenue sharing tends to allocate more money to its TV teams, which to those paying attention means Texas and Oklahoma.
Because all of this, most see the Big 12 as the most vulnerable conference and the most likely to be raided right behind the Big East if expansion happens in earnest. This is also another reason you need to slap anyone who brings up the notion or lists any positives of the Hogs going to the Big 12. It’s all negatives if the Hogs leave the best conference in the SEC and go anywhere.
Right about the time the Hogs joined the Big 12 and started the new conference play would probably be about the time Texas and Oklahoma jumped from the Big 12 to the SEC leaving the Big 12 in the lurch a la the old SWC, but this time it would not be Rice left in the cold, but Arkansas.
I hate the concept of conference realignment. I believe it to be detrimental to college football in the long run. I know that I am a dinosaur at times, and I know many people love change and relish the idea of super conferences, but to me it is pushing college sports in the wrong direction.
All these changes and the possible creation of super conferences only make college football closer and closer to NFL Light. At some point, what is the difference between watching the Central division of the NFC or the Western Division of the SEC – it will all be contrived solely to generate revenue.
Ultimately, that is what expansion is all about – creating revenue. Do I think these super conferences will emerge? I do not believe it will happen this year, but I do think it’s inevitable because of the before-mentioned revenue demon that drives college athletics more and more to being a true professional sport.
There is a pending court case in which a former UCLA player from the 1995 championship team that beat the Hogs in the final game of the NCAA tournament is suing because his image shows up in one of these video games that the kids play. In the game, a kid can pick ancient teams such as the 1995 UCLA team, and a particular player looks very similar to and has the same number as the player suing. It is a “likeness” case.
Years ago, I would have laughed at such a suit, but in this day of the NCAA and college presidents and athletic directors trying to make every buck like a pro team, maybe these college players deserve their share since the schools get royalties off these game sales.
In the end, I hope college athletics and especially football will deviate from its present course of mimicking the NFL because that was far from the model that drove college football to its success.
But if college sports truly wants to go this route and be solely about making money like the pros, maybe it is time they started paying their employees.
Send what was different for the Hogs in the 1995 championship game they lost after an 11-game winning streak in the NCAA tournament to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
College football: North vs. South
Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.
Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America.
Cheerleaders:
NORTH: If you are slightly coordinated, you make the varsity squad.
SOUTH: You begin cheer camp at age two, complete with ballet, dance, and gymnastics training.
Getting Tickets:
NORTH: Five days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus and purchase tickets.
SOUTH: Five months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus & put name on the waiting list.
Women's Accessories:
NORTH: ChapStick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of Jack Daniels/Crown. Money is not necessary — that’s what dates are for.
Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they’re going to the game because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don’t want to see the few hungover students that might actually make it to class and throw up on their floor.
Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the university opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.
Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting “Game Day” to get on camera and wave to the folks up north.
Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance by the Dave Matthews Band, who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.
Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask, “Where’s the stadium?” When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you’re near it, you’ll hear it. On game day it becomes the state’s third largest city.
Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup with the home team’s mascot on it, filled less than halfway with soda, to ensure enough room for Jack Daniels/Crown.
When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are still less than half full.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.
Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of Jack Daniels/Crown.
Commentary (Male):
NORTH: “Nice play.”
SOUTH: “*#@&@, you slow *&%$@#! - tackle him and break his legs.”
Commentary (Female):
NORTH: “My, this certainly is a violent sport.”
SOUTH: “*#@&@, you slow *&%$@#! - tackle him and break his legs.”
Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.
After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is emptying out.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon. Planning begins for next week’s game.
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.
Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America.
Cheerleaders:
NORTH: If you are slightly coordinated, you make the varsity squad.
SOUTH: You begin cheer camp at age two, complete with ballet, dance, and gymnastics training.
Getting Tickets:
NORTH: Five days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus and purchase tickets.
SOUTH: Five months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus & put name on the waiting list.
Women's Accessories:
NORTH: ChapStick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of Jack Daniels/Crown. Money is not necessary — that’s what dates are for.
Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they’re going to the game because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don’t want to see the few hungover students that might actually make it to class and throw up on their floor.
Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the university opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.
Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting “Game Day” to get on camera and wave to the folks up north.
Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance by the Dave Matthews Band, who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.
Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask, “Where’s the stadium?” When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you’re near it, you’ll hear it. On game day it becomes the state’s third largest city.
Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup with the home team’s mascot on it, filled less than halfway with soda, to ensure enough room for Jack Daniels/Crown.
When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are still less than half full.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.
Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of Jack Daniels/Crown.
Commentary (Male):
NORTH: “Nice play.”
SOUTH: “*#@&@, you slow *&%$@#! - tackle him and break his legs.”
Commentary (Female):
NORTH: “My, this certainly is a violent sport.”
SOUTH: “*#@&@, you slow *&%$@#! - tackle him and break his legs.”
Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.
After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is emptying out.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon. Planning begins for next week’s game.
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Monday, May 17, 2010
From the Bench
A Long Way to Get to 10-2
Robert Shields
This time of year, I get to write pretty much whatever I want since the Razorback footballers are on holiday until August and there are no current scandals that used to provide me with such easy subject material. Yeah, baseball is still going on and the turnout at Dickey-Stephens Park for the Diamond Hogs was impressive. Fans were obviously excited to see the first return of Razorback baseball to Central Arkansas in almost a quarter of a century, but let’s be honest – the only reason anyone talks about Razorback baseball on the talk shows is because they don’t have anything else to talk about.
This is the time of year when statewide columnist Wally Hall starts writing about his pastor and the same group of do-gooders he always likes to kiss up to every year. Why? What else is he going to write about? He’s even already resorted to defending Tiger Woods in a column recently.
Even though I gave Jeff Long a C+ on his report card just a couple of weeks ago, I appreciate the fact that he sees the value of marketing the Hogs in Central Arkansas by playing in the area and creating a presence. He obviously smells the money.
Speaking of money, Notre Dame is not going anywhere. I don’t know why this talk always comes up about the Irish joining the Big Ten. Notre Dame has never shown an interest in it, and new coach Brian Kelly has even said he likes being an independent. Some say if the Big East loses football teams to the Big Ten expansion, then Notre Dame might have to do something. I think Notre Dame will just stick its other sports wherever Villanova and Georgetown go. I don’t think they worry that much about where the other sports play, especially the women’s. Do they even have gymnastics?
I like Notre Dame to do something in football next year. I think they have talent that was underutilized with the last coach. I like their schedule next year with really only three true road games and the tougher games at home. Many past Notre Dame coaches started fast out of the gate with a lot of wins, and Kelly was an even better hire for the Irish than those lame-os. So in conclusion, Notre Dame is not going anywhere unless being moved by a higher power, and in this case a lot more money would qualify as that higher power.
I received a large response from my column last week about shooting down anyone who brings up moving Arkansas into the Big 12 or anywhere out of the SEC. Most seemed to agree that was a terrible idea and that the love of the SEC runs deep throughout most of the state. Hopefully, nobody actually had to slap anyone talking about switching conferences, as was my suggestion that still stands any time you hear someone talking this nonsense at the Chili’s or wherever you hang out.
That said, it might be kind of fun to be in the same conference with Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. Too bad a move to the Big 12 would throw the Razorbacks into the north end of that conference with Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Nebraska thanks to the geography of where the campus in NWA is located. So just say no to the Big 12.
I was slow to predict the outcome of the football season last year and I may be equally slow to predict with certainty this year. I typically give two preseason predictions so that I can cover all areas and draw more criticism. One prediction comes in the early summer when I am in need of a column so I don’t have to resort to writing about my preacher, and another later when two-a-days in August are in full swing following the fan fest also known as “media day.”
I do two predictions because things often change dramatically between those two periods, such as players getting arrested on Dickson Street, kicking their toe into sidewalks outside a club, or late-in-the-year surgeries because something was not healing on its own. This year will be easier to predict than last season thanks to an easier schedule. The team will be better, but better enough for the fan expectations is really the question.
The hold-up is still on the defense. If the defense moves from being the worst in the conference to middle of the pack, it should be a great year. (A quick way to do that for Bobby Petrino would be to move to the Big 12.) If the defense is only marginally improved, you may only see marginal improvement in the team overall. I am also scared to death still about special teams. I won’t have a better feel for it until the freshman kickers show up and their ability is revealed. So, I am not ready to roll out a 12-0 at this moment, at least until Clay Henry issues his judgment on the defense at the Little Rock Razorback Club dinner.
To get to a record that will keep the fans who fly banners at bay, I think the Hogs need to start well with a victory over Georgia in Athens. It is the game that could put the Hogs on their way to a great season. It will also be the first real test of the defense as to whether it has improved over last season, which surely it has. But we said all that last year about the Georgia game, which was at home.
Long story short, 10-2. But that’s not my official prediction. It’s a warning.
Count how many topics I covered and how many people I managed to insult in one column and send it to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Robert Shields
This time of year, I get to write pretty much whatever I want since the Razorback footballers are on holiday until August and there are no current scandals that used to provide me with such easy subject material. Yeah, baseball is still going on and the turnout at Dickey-Stephens Park for the Diamond Hogs was impressive. Fans were obviously excited to see the first return of Razorback baseball to Central Arkansas in almost a quarter of a century, but let’s be honest – the only reason anyone talks about Razorback baseball on the talk shows is because they don’t have anything else to talk about.
This is the time of year when statewide columnist Wally Hall starts writing about his pastor and the same group of do-gooders he always likes to kiss up to every year. Why? What else is he going to write about? He’s even already resorted to defending Tiger Woods in a column recently.
Even though I gave Jeff Long a C+ on his report card just a couple of weeks ago, I appreciate the fact that he sees the value of marketing the Hogs in Central Arkansas by playing in the area and creating a presence. He obviously smells the money.
Speaking of money, Notre Dame is not going anywhere. I don’t know why this talk always comes up about the Irish joining the Big Ten. Notre Dame has never shown an interest in it, and new coach Brian Kelly has even said he likes being an independent. Some say if the Big East loses football teams to the Big Ten expansion, then Notre Dame might have to do something. I think Notre Dame will just stick its other sports wherever Villanova and Georgetown go. I don’t think they worry that much about where the other sports play, especially the women’s. Do they even have gymnastics?
I like Notre Dame to do something in football next year. I think they have talent that was underutilized with the last coach. I like their schedule next year with really only three true road games and the tougher games at home. Many past Notre Dame coaches started fast out of the gate with a lot of wins, and Kelly was an even better hire for the Irish than those lame-os. So in conclusion, Notre Dame is not going anywhere unless being moved by a higher power, and in this case a lot more money would qualify as that higher power.
I received a large response from my column last week about shooting down anyone who brings up moving Arkansas into the Big 12 or anywhere out of the SEC. Most seemed to agree that was a terrible idea and that the love of the SEC runs deep throughout most of the state. Hopefully, nobody actually had to slap anyone talking about switching conferences, as was my suggestion that still stands any time you hear someone talking this nonsense at the Chili’s or wherever you hang out.
That said, it might be kind of fun to be in the same conference with Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. Too bad a move to the Big 12 would throw the Razorbacks into the north end of that conference with Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Nebraska thanks to the geography of where the campus in NWA is located. So just say no to the Big 12.
I was slow to predict the outcome of the football season last year and I may be equally slow to predict with certainty this year. I typically give two preseason predictions so that I can cover all areas and draw more criticism. One prediction comes in the early summer when I am in need of a column so I don’t have to resort to writing about my preacher, and another later when two-a-days in August are in full swing following the fan fest also known as “media day.”
I do two predictions because things often change dramatically between those two periods, such as players getting arrested on Dickson Street, kicking their toe into sidewalks outside a club, or late-in-the-year surgeries because something was not healing on its own. This year will be easier to predict than last season thanks to an easier schedule. The team will be better, but better enough for the fan expectations is really the question.
The hold-up is still on the defense. If the defense moves from being the worst in the conference to middle of the pack, it should be a great year. (A quick way to do that for Bobby Petrino would be to move to the Big 12.) If the defense is only marginally improved, you may only see marginal improvement in the team overall. I am also scared to death still about special teams. I won’t have a better feel for it until the freshman kickers show up and their ability is revealed. So, I am not ready to roll out a 12-0 at this moment, at least until Clay Henry issues his judgment on the defense at the Little Rock Razorback Club dinner.
To get to a record that will keep the fans who fly banners at bay, I think the Hogs need to start well with a victory over Georgia in Athens. It is the game that could put the Hogs on their way to a great season. It will also be the first real test of the defense as to whether it has improved over last season, which surely it has. But we said all that last year about the Georgia game, which was at home.
Long story short, 10-2. But that’s not my official prediction. It’s a warning.
Count how many topics I covered and how many people I managed to insult in one column and send it to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
From the Bench
Join the Big 12? Hell No, NWA
Robert Shields
The talk has been rampant during football’s offseason about conference realignment. I guess it comes from boredom when your basketball team is not very good because this subject has come up often in Arkansas in recent years.
The talk locally usually centers around something like this: If Missouri goes to the Big Ten, the Big 12 will be looking to find a replacement and will want the Razorbacks. Realignment has taken an especially serious tone nationally in the last month as the Big Ten looks to create a superconference by raiding other conferences and possibly adding Notre Dame.
Statewide radio host Bo Mattingly spent a good chunk of a show last week talking about this issue, and ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes joined in the discussion talking about the possible positives of switching conferences. I am going to hope Bo was just trying to make idle talk to create an interesting show or provoke Michael in Stuttgart to even address the topic of switching conferences.
Dykes’ remark about Arkansas in the SEC was that “We're out here by ourself” and then he complained that the closest campus in the SEC is six hours far away (presumably he is talking about Ole Miss), which is by the way just an hour-and-a-half drive away for much of southeast Arkansas. I have to wonder if he even considered fans in the rest of the state when making these comments.
Blame northwest Arkansas for the new talk of Arkansas going to the Big 12. When people like Dykes talk about Big 12 schools being more convenient for Arkansas fans to drive to, they are really talking about Arkansas fans in NWA because east and south Arkansas can go to Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, and Vanderbilt as easily as NWA fans can go over to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri.
Maybe I am suffering sampling error, but I just don’t hear any interest about switching conferences here in Central Arkansas. Most of this interest is emanating from the northwest corner, and I firmly believe everyone in the rest of the state loves being in the SEC.
Some have the Hogs placed in the Big 12 North if they switch conferences. I can’t see Hog fans being interested in switching their game package from the likes of LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee to teams like Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Colorado.
I guess some folks in northwest Arkansas see Kansas and Missouri as a closer drive than Ole Miss or LSU. For some in the state, its six hours just to get to a Razorback game in Fayetteville much less just trying to get to the Missouri border. I think most in the state other than the invading interlopers in NWA (and there are a lot of them, for example athletic director Jeff Long) still align themselves with the South and being a Southerner. I am starting to wonder about northwest Arkansas as this talk about switching conferences has raised its ugly head, and the talk has been heavier this time with the Big Ten really thinking hard about expanding.
Every school outside the SEC thinks it’s a big deal if they get to go to a bowl game and play an SEC team. The Hogs used to feel this way when they were in the SWC. It was a big deal when the Hogs played Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia in bowl games. Now, the Razorbacks get to play in the equivalent of a nationally televised bowl game almost every week.
There is no conference like the SEC. If you win the SEC, you’re probably in the national championship game and you’re going to win it.
I guess some see the allure of possibly being more competitive in the Big 12 North. I guess some see us beating Texas and Texas A&M in recent nonconference games and see us entering the conference and being dominant. I see this as only fool’s gold. The Hogs left the SWC with good purpose. There is no reason to return. One only has to ask a Nebraska fan this year how treatment fares against the likes of Texas. One thing you can always claim in the SEC is that everyone is treated badly and receives bad calls.
Alabama still whines about the J.J. Meadors catch at Tuscaloosa. The same play at Austin is incomplete. Never forget that fact.
So this week, if anyone talks about switching conferences with you, slap them good and say no.
I end with this cautionary note. If the Hogs ever do pull games out of Little Rock and all the games are played in Fayetteville, maybe it is time to change conferences because the University of Arkansas will be headed toward being a regional school with a campus on the very fringe of being Southern. It will also have a dwindling statewide fan base.
Send your realignment ideas to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Robert Shields
The talk has been rampant during football’s offseason about conference realignment. I guess it comes from boredom when your basketball team is not very good because this subject has come up often in Arkansas in recent years.
The talk locally usually centers around something like this: If Missouri goes to the Big Ten, the Big 12 will be looking to find a replacement and will want the Razorbacks. Realignment has taken an especially serious tone nationally in the last month as the Big Ten looks to create a superconference by raiding other conferences and possibly adding Notre Dame.
Statewide radio host Bo Mattingly spent a good chunk of a show last week talking about this issue, and ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes joined in the discussion talking about the possible positives of switching conferences. I am going to hope Bo was just trying to make idle talk to create an interesting show or provoke Michael in Stuttgart to even address the topic of switching conferences.
Dykes’ remark about Arkansas in the SEC was that “We're out here by ourself” and then he complained that the closest campus in the SEC is six hours far away (presumably he is talking about Ole Miss), which is by the way just an hour-and-a-half drive away for much of southeast Arkansas. I have to wonder if he even considered fans in the rest of the state when making these comments.
Blame northwest Arkansas for the new talk of Arkansas going to the Big 12. When people like Dykes talk about Big 12 schools being more convenient for Arkansas fans to drive to, they are really talking about Arkansas fans in NWA because east and south Arkansas can go to Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, and Vanderbilt as easily as NWA fans can go over to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri.
Maybe I am suffering sampling error, but I just don’t hear any interest about switching conferences here in Central Arkansas. Most of this interest is emanating from the northwest corner, and I firmly believe everyone in the rest of the state loves being in the SEC.
Some have the Hogs placed in the Big 12 North if they switch conferences. I can’t see Hog fans being interested in switching their game package from the likes of LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee to teams like Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Colorado.
I guess some folks in northwest Arkansas see Kansas and Missouri as a closer drive than Ole Miss or LSU. For some in the state, its six hours just to get to a Razorback game in Fayetteville much less just trying to get to the Missouri border. I think most in the state other than the invading interlopers in NWA (and there are a lot of them, for example athletic director Jeff Long) still align themselves with the South and being a Southerner. I am starting to wonder about northwest Arkansas as this talk about switching conferences has raised its ugly head, and the talk has been heavier this time with the Big Ten really thinking hard about expanding.
Every school outside the SEC thinks it’s a big deal if they get to go to a bowl game and play an SEC team. The Hogs used to feel this way when they were in the SWC. It was a big deal when the Hogs played Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia in bowl games. Now, the Razorbacks get to play in the equivalent of a nationally televised bowl game almost every week.
There is no conference like the SEC. If you win the SEC, you’re probably in the national championship game and you’re going to win it.
I guess some see the allure of possibly being more competitive in the Big 12 North. I guess some see us beating Texas and Texas A&M in recent nonconference games and see us entering the conference and being dominant. I see this as only fool’s gold. The Hogs left the SWC with good purpose. There is no reason to return. One only has to ask a Nebraska fan this year how treatment fares against the likes of Texas. One thing you can always claim in the SEC is that everyone is treated badly and receives bad calls.
Alabama still whines about the J.J. Meadors catch at Tuscaloosa. The same play at Austin is incomplete. Never forget that fact.
So this week, if anyone talks about switching conferences with you, slap them good and say no.
I end with this cautionary note. If the Hogs ever do pull games out of Little Rock and all the games are played in Fayetteville, maybe it is time to change conferences because the University of Arkansas will be headed toward being a regional school with a campus on the very fringe of being Southern. It will also have a dwindling statewide fan base.
Send your realignment ideas to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Monday, May 03, 2010
From the Bench
Report Card on Athletic Director Jeff Long
Robert Shields
Every year, I issue a report card for the basketball and football coaches at the University of Arkansas and give them grades in certain categories. Jeff Long, the UA’s viceroy of athletics or whatever he is calling himself these days, supposedly sits down every year and evaluates the coaches, so it only seems fitting that he gets his own grades also. Being the first time I am doing this to Long, the categories are subject to change in the future. Let the grades roll.
Image: B
If you think marketing your university is the most important thing, then he gets an A because the guy is more about marketing than wins and losses. He tries to market the school in any way possible, and I know many of you know this because you are sick of all the spam e-mails from RazorMail or whatever it’s called. I give him the B because I don’t know of anything really that negative happening with the Program. The NCAA is not visiting, it seems nobody is in big trouble with the law, and nobody is embezzling.
Handling the Coaches: B
Although, many wanted him to fire John Pelphrey, he has not been faced with this aspect of the job yet. I am not sure what another year of Pelphrey is going to do for the basketball program, but Wally Hall seems to think it won’t be rosy next year with the round ball. If Long fires Pelphrey after next season, then Wally is right as Long would have waited one season too long. A coach does not grow into coaching in the SEC. It just does not happen that way. You can either win or you cannot. With all the grand recruits coming out next year in Arkansas in basketball, what happens if Long does fire Pelphrey at the end of next season and it affects the recruitment of these players? How Pelphrey goes next season may go a long way in determining this grade. On football, I am not sure Long and Bobby Petrino even talk. Maybe, that is best. I kind of remember the last AD and previous football coach said they talked to each other all the time.
Money/Tickets: C-
Fundraising is not really the job of Jeff Long because that really falls under the Razorback Foundation, but we all know that wall is sometimes very thin. The athletic department that Long heads up really can’t function very well without the Razorback Foundation and the money that it raises and the AD is the leader in that regard. The other part of that fundraising equation to meet budget for the UofA is ticket revenue. Under Long, he has raised football and basketball ticket prices, and it has been painful for the common fan. During a time of economic hardship with people being laid off, not getting raises or having to take pay cuts, it seems raising ticket prices would go counter to the reality that is happening in people’s homes. Long will get an F in the category the day the Razorback Foundation dumps lifetime giving as the determining factor in seat assignments in favor of some other mechanism for priority seating. Some say the UA is already headed down that road and longtime customers aren’t going to be happy.
The Little Rock Predicament: A
Long has embraced the idea that the Hogs play in two venues. Heck, he may even like it from a marketing standpoint. The RazorRock festivities on Friday before the first Razorback game in Little Rock last year were a great idea. The fact he extended the existing contract for a couple more years was a good thing. He seems to know competition in Little Rock for entertainment dollars is growing steeper and that pulling out of the area is a bad idea. He obviously wants to reduce the revenue gap between Little Rock and Fayetteville, and to me that is an indication he wants to stay in Little Rock. The fact that the Razorback baseball team is playing at Dickey-Stephens Park this year tells me all I need to know -- Long smells money in Central Arkansas.
Overall: C+
I will admit this grade seems skewed from all the other grades just given to him. But the reality is that the Hogs are not winning any type of championships in anything -- even SEC championships. This has to improve for this grade to go up. A trip to the SEC Championship Game in football season this year would help. Long should be held to the same standard as the coaches in various sports, and that is to win or go home.
Send your grades to fromthebench@yahoo.com
Robert Shields
Every year, I issue a report card for the basketball and football coaches at the University of Arkansas and give them grades in certain categories. Jeff Long, the UA’s viceroy of athletics or whatever he is calling himself these days, supposedly sits down every year and evaluates the coaches, so it only seems fitting that he gets his own grades also. Being the first time I am doing this to Long, the categories are subject to change in the future. Let the grades roll.
Image: B
If you think marketing your university is the most important thing, then he gets an A because the guy is more about marketing than wins and losses. He tries to market the school in any way possible, and I know many of you know this because you are sick of all the spam e-mails from RazorMail or whatever it’s called. I give him the B because I don’t know of anything really that negative happening with the Program. The NCAA is not visiting, it seems nobody is in big trouble with the law, and nobody is embezzling.
Handling the Coaches: B
Although, many wanted him to fire John Pelphrey, he has not been faced with this aspect of the job yet. I am not sure what another year of Pelphrey is going to do for the basketball program, but Wally Hall seems to think it won’t be rosy next year with the round ball. If Long fires Pelphrey after next season, then Wally is right as Long would have waited one season too long. A coach does not grow into coaching in the SEC. It just does not happen that way. You can either win or you cannot. With all the grand recruits coming out next year in Arkansas in basketball, what happens if Long does fire Pelphrey at the end of next season and it affects the recruitment of these players? How Pelphrey goes next season may go a long way in determining this grade. On football, I am not sure Long and Bobby Petrino even talk. Maybe, that is best. I kind of remember the last AD and previous football coach said they talked to each other all the time.
Money/Tickets: C-
Fundraising is not really the job of Jeff Long because that really falls under the Razorback Foundation, but we all know that wall is sometimes very thin. The athletic department that Long heads up really can’t function very well without the Razorback Foundation and the money that it raises and the AD is the leader in that regard. The other part of that fundraising equation to meet budget for the UofA is ticket revenue. Under Long, he has raised football and basketball ticket prices, and it has been painful for the common fan. During a time of economic hardship with people being laid off, not getting raises or having to take pay cuts, it seems raising ticket prices would go counter to the reality that is happening in people’s homes. Long will get an F in the category the day the Razorback Foundation dumps lifetime giving as the determining factor in seat assignments in favor of some other mechanism for priority seating. Some say the UA is already headed down that road and longtime customers aren’t going to be happy.
The Little Rock Predicament: A
Long has embraced the idea that the Hogs play in two venues. Heck, he may even like it from a marketing standpoint. The RazorRock festivities on Friday before the first Razorback game in Little Rock last year were a great idea. The fact he extended the existing contract for a couple more years was a good thing. He seems to know competition in Little Rock for entertainment dollars is growing steeper and that pulling out of the area is a bad idea. He obviously wants to reduce the revenue gap between Little Rock and Fayetteville, and to me that is an indication he wants to stay in Little Rock. The fact that the Razorback baseball team is playing at Dickey-Stephens Park this year tells me all I need to know -- Long smells money in Central Arkansas.
Overall: C+
I will admit this grade seems skewed from all the other grades just given to him. But the reality is that the Hogs are not winning any type of championships in anything -- even SEC championships. This has to improve for this grade to go up. A trip to the SEC Championship Game in football season this year would help. Long should be held to the same standard as the coaches in various sports, and that is to win or go home.
Send your grades to fromthebench@yahoo.com
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