Below is a blog by a former OSU basketball player and what his opinion is on some of the current Buckeye troubles.
Club Trillion
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
From the Bench
Ohio State Still Sitting on Stolen Monopoly Money
Robert Shields
Three weeks ago, I wrote about the need for Ohio State to forfeit its victory over Arkansas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and since that time new information has come to light that makes Ohio State look like even bigger cheaters.
So I still want the win over Ohio State.
Sure, on that day, the Buckeyes beat the Razorbacks on the scoreboard. But it was ill gotten gains for the team from the Big Ten, as has now been proven beyond doubt.
I am also glad to see Bobby Petrino change his tune about wanting to be declared the winner of that game. Like any coach, he said all the right things about how he wanted to play Ohio State’s best. Many fans echoed that sentiment. I never did.
You should never be allowed to play ineligible players, and make no mistake these players were ineligible.
Even just two weeks ago, a host on Drive Time Sports said that he doubted any fans would want to take a victory that way. I would, primarily because Ohio State and Jim Tressel knew what they were doing and how they were going to steal it.
Petrino now says that he didn’t “understand how they let those guys play.”
“Those guys” would be the paid players of Ohio State. I railed against it then and still do to this day. I even appreciated the recent quote from UA Athletic Director Jeff Long (you can insert his big glossy title here if you want) and agree when he said, “I didn’t realize that was an option.” Who did?
Next time any coach or Program wants to suspend a player, wait until after the Alabama game and get the NCAA to impose the penalty on the Akron Zips the following week.
The NCAA has a chance now to correct this mistake, and that is to take the game away from Ohio State. Or as a bonus they can just go ahead and penalize Auburn instead.
The column written three weeks ago stating Ohio State should forfeit produced more responses than any column written in the last year. Many fans seem reticent about not wanting the victory because it was not earned on the field.
I contend that Ohio State did not earn it, either. It used a team that was not its team. It used players that should not have been eligible -- and would not have been if the NCAA had known that its coach was lying and that not only had players received expensive tattoos but also received vehicles at discounted prices.
Before the Sugar Bowl, some Hog fans clamored that they wanted to play the full contingent of Ohio State players so the Buckeyes fans could not claim later when the Hogs beat them that it wasn’t their real team. I now argue it never was their real team. The Hogs were supposed to play the Buckeyes, but instead they played a paid team like the New England Patriots.
I never agreed with that sentiment that “we want to play their full team.” Why? Do you like playing cheaters? When I was a kid, I got mad playing Monopoly when I found out the person who was the banker was stealing money. The moment you busted them, you knew you won the game with the infamous, “You cheated!” It was no small wonder that they had all the properties and money.
In this world, you don’t get to keep what you stole when you’re caught. Maybe the NCAA will see it differently, but you don’t help your school’s cause when you say you don’t want it. You should be demanding the NCAA to give you the victory (forfeit is the term) or at the very minimum Ohio State does not get to keep it (vacate is the term).
Further, I don’t think Alabama laments for one moment the national title that it won over Texas the previous season when Colt McCoy left the game. I am sure they never cried, “Stop the game, we want to play their best.”
Speaking of Alabama, the Hogs claim a victory over Alabama back in 1993 when Alabama won it 43-3 because they used one illegal player. I don’t hear anyone saying they want to give back that victory in the stat book even though that player could have sat out and the Crimson Tide still would have crushed the Hogs. The players for Ohio State that should have sat made a huge difference in the Sugar Bowl. It was those players that won the game for Ohio State.
I also never remember any Oklahoma Sooner fans back in 1978 yelling for the Hogs to go ahead and play all its players in the Orange Bowl because they didn’t want Arkansas to have an excuse when they lost. The Hogs did sit Ben Cowins (leading rusher), Donnie Bobo (best receiver) and Michael Forrest (back-up running back), which would have helped. The Hogs won the legendary game anyway. Lou Holtz was brave and made the right decision. All American Leotis Harris also tore ligaments and never played in the game for the Hogs.
Ohio State’s administration was cowardly and played their players anyway when any logical, moral, or ethical conclusion would lead you to sit those players. Instead, you want to reward them for their Machiavellian approach?
Some have said the NCAA may not make them vacate that game while vacating the rest of the games last season because the NCAA had struck a deal with Ohio State before the Sugar Bowl for those players to play. The NCAA issued that deal while being deceived, though. If the NCAA had known Tressel knew of the transgressions prior to the season and all these new allegations that had come to light, their decision may have been much different.
One can easily argue Ohio State should not have even been in the Sugar Bowl. They stole the place of another deserving team that played by the rules.
Ohio State needs to pack up the Sugar Bowl trophy today and drive it to Fayetteville because the only eligible team that day was Arkansas. The other team did not show. And it is wrong for anyone to condone their actions in saying they can keep it.
Ohio State is sitting on the stolen Monopoly money. It’s time to take it away from them. Don’t let cheaters prosper.
So you can go ahead and count the Sugar Bowl as a win for Arkansas, and Long can start writing that bonus check out to Petrino for winning a BCS bowl game.
Send your favorite board game to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
You can follow me on twitter @rsfromthebench
end
Robert Shields
Three weeks ago, I wrote about the need for Ohio State to forfeit its victory over Arkansas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and since that time new information has come to light that makes Ohio State look like even bigger cheaters.
So I still want the win over Ohio State.
Sure, on that day, the Buckeyes beat the Razorbacks on the scoreboard. But it was ill gotten gains for the team from the Big Ten, as has now been proven beyond doubt.
I am also glad to see Bobby Petrino change his tune about wanting to be declared the winner of that game. Like any coach, he said all the right things about how he wanted to play Ohio State’s best. Many fans echoed that sentiment. I never did.
You should never be allowed to play ineligible players, and make no mistake these players were ineligible.
Even just two weeks ago, a host on Drive Time Sports said that he doubted any fans would want to take a victory that way. I would, primarily because Ohio State and Jim Tressel knew what they were doing and how they were going to steal it.
Petrino now says that he didn’t “understand how they let those guys play.”
“Those guys” would be the paid players of Ohio State. I railed against it then and still do to this day. I even appreciated the recent quote from UA Athletic Director Jeff Long (you can insert his big glossy title here if you want) and agree when he said, “I didn’t realize that was an option.” Who did?
Next time any coach or Program wants to suspend a player, wait until after the Alabama game and get the NCAA to impose the penalty on the Akron Zips the following week.
The NCAA has a chance now to correct this mistake, and that is to take the game away from Ohio State. Or as a bonus they can just go ahead and penalize Auburn instead.
The column written three weeks ago stating Ohio State should forfeit produced more responses than any column written in the last year. Many fans seem reticent about not wanting the victory because it was not earned on the field.
I contend that Ohio State did not earn it, either. It used a team that was not its team. It used players that should not have been eligible -- and would not have been if the NCAA had known that its coach was lying and that not only had players received expensive tattoos but also received vehicles at discounted prices.
Before the Sugar Bowl, some Hog fans clamored that they wanted to play the full contingent of Ohio State players so the Buckeyes fans could not claim later when the Hogs beat them that it wasn’t their real team. I now argue it never was their real team. The Hogs were supposed to play the Buckeyes, but instead they played a paid team like the New England Patriots.
I never agreed with that sentiment that “we want to play their full team.” Why? Do you like playing cheaters? When I was a kid, I got mad playing Monopoly when I found out the person who was the banker was stealing money. The moment you busted them, you knew you won the game with the infamous, “You cheated!” It was no small wonder that they had all the properties and money.
In this world, you don’t get to keep what you stole when you’re caught. Maybe the NCAA will see it differently, but you don’t help your school’s cause when you say you don’t want it. You should be demanding the NCAA to give you the victory (forfeit is the term) or at the very minimum Ohio State does not get to keep it (vacate is the term).
Further, I don’t think Alabama laments for one moment the national title that it won over Texas the previous season when Colt McCoy left the game. I am sure they never cried, “Stop the game, we want to play their best.”
Speaking of Alabama, the Hogs claim a victory over Alabama back in 1993 when Alabama won it 43-3 because they used one illegal player. I don’t hear anyone saying they want to give back that victory in the stat book even though that player could have sat out and the Crimson Tide still would have crushed the Hogs. The players for Ohio State that should have sat made a huge difference in the Sugar Bowl. It was those players that won the game for Ohio State.
I also never remember any Oklahoma Sooner fans back in 1978 yelling for the Hogs to go ahead and play all its players in the Orange Bowl because they didn’t want Arkansas to have an excuse when they lost. The Hogs did sit Ben Cowins (leading rusher), Donnie Bobo (best receiver) and Michael Forrest (back-up running back), which would have helped. The Hogs won the legendary game anyway. Lou Holtz was brave and made the right decision. All American Leotis Harris also tore ligaments and never played in the game for the Hogs.
Ohio State’s administration was cowardly and played their players anyway when any logical, moral, or ethical conclusion would lead you to sit those players. Instead, you want to reward them for their Machiavellian approach?
Some have said the NCAA may not make them vacate that game while vacating the rest of the games last season because the NCAA had struck a deal with Ohio State before the Sugar Bowl for those players to play. The NCAA issued that deal while being deceived, though. If the NCAA had known Tressel knew of the transgressions prior to the season and all these new allegations that had come to light, their decision may have been much different.
One can easily argue Ohio State should not have even been in the Sugar Bowl. They stole the place of another deserving team that played by the rules.
Ohio State needs to pack up the Sugar Bowl trophy today and drive it to Fayetteville because the only eligible team that day was Arkansas. The other team did not show. And it is wrong for anyone to condone their actions in saying they can keep it.
Ohio State is sitting on the stolen Monopoly money. It’s time to take it away from them. Don’t let cheaters prosper.
So you can go ahead and count the Sugar Bowl as a win for Arkansas, and Long can start writing that bonus check out to Petrino for winning a BCS bowl game.
Send your favorite board game to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
You can follow me on twitter @rsfromthebench
end
Monday, May 16, 2011
From the Bench
Plenty of Razorback-Related Entertainment on Twitter
Robert Shields
I was recently ashamed to find out Wally Hall had a Twitter account before me. Talk about being behind the times. So I went ahead and took the plunge, and the evidence can be found @rsfromthebench.
There has always been a little bit of stalker mentality in me as it’s derived from my overall paranoia. As I always say, “It’s not paranoia if they’re out to get you.” Yet even though I struggle against embracing technology, I love Twitter. It’s kind of like TMZ on crack, but in a bad way as people intentionally show their weaknesses.
My traditional Line of Communication Hierarchy (LOCH) is face to face, Big Phone, cell phone or little phone (as in, I will call you back on the Big Phone), email, Facebook, Twitter, then voice mail, and I never leave voice mail because nobody listens to it so I’m back to square one in face to face. I have found, though, that many use Twitter as their number one choice, which is amazing since it’s all public.
I believe the younger generation loves Twitter mainly because all of today’s youth thinks they are starring in their own reality show. Twitter provides them that platform to play act as a star. I have come to find out that for most on Twitter what they really want is to be “following” about five people, but they want a million “following” them and their daily tragedies.
Twitter makes it quite clear on its privacy policy that “What you say on Twitter may be viewed all around the world instantly.” It also makes clear that “information that you provide to us is information that you are asking us to make public.”
Being the economist (the dismal science), I track human misery so I am the exact opposite. I “follow” almost every name that I see. I “follow” a million and nobody follows me. That’s cool.
Although, I was really excited when I got the message Penguin Books was following me only to find out they followed everyone. I was also discouraged when Tom Hanks would not follow me. My claim-to-fame-follower is Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times. I have come to find out everyone has that one follower they are proud of that follows them. The mysterious Rey Pygsterio tells me his is John Daly.
Plus, who would want to follow me anyway when I make a lame tweet like “Hey, Greg Rennick is on Wheel of Fortune and made a great Hog Call.” Good for Greg, “supa weak for me.”
So this is a sports column, and I typically follow sports people, and as I always do this time of year, you get a list. My top five favorites in reverse order to follow on Twitter that is Razorback related:
5) Zach Hocker ––He actually tweets very little, which is very smart. I follow him because he is the kicker. And traditionally, the kicker is the biggest basket case on any football team because of all the pressure put on them by coaches to win games in impossible situations. They always get the blame even if the center or holder blows it. He seems calm now and was the iceman through last season. He only has made nine tweets and I have almost that many following me. I figure if he tweets something it’s important, or it will be a major meltdown when the pressure gets to him.
4) Ronnie Wingo Jr. –– Mostly because I like to see the bitches that follow him. I use that crude term because it appears to be the slang these young women like to use to refer to their gender. This is no reflection on Mr. Wingo, at least as I never saw where he referred to them with that term. Still, I had to laugh when one young lady’s tag line was “10 steps ahead of these bitches.”
3) Marshawn Powell –– I follow him mostly because the man speaks his mind. He let his fans know when he was going into surgery. I am glad that it all went well and hopefully he will be on the court before summer is out. He also let his fans know when he was bored that “Fayetteville is supa weak.” (I assume he meant at that moment, but still to be used in future GSD piece.) My only suggestion to him is that if you’re really bored then go shoot some free throws because it’s what Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird would have done even while injured. He’s not alone, though, other Razorback players say they are bored. This is not surprising since they are not expected to drink or have fun only to play the game for their fans. They are held to a higher standard than other students.
2) Jerry Franklin –– We’ll its Jerry Franklin. He is a very emotional leader on the team, the QB of the defense. He sets the tone. He’s also sometimes funny on his tweets such as, “what can you really do with 50cent.” It’s OK if you don’t get the reference, but it does remind me of the SNL skit on the plane if the seat is fifty cents or Ludicris. Lastly, he actually tells me things that I might really need to know such as if a place is having a sale on wings. Believe it or not that is important to me.
1) DJ Williams –– He is well-loved by everyone. There is no way that I am not putting him at number one. He leads by example. Obviously, others in the media also love him and tweet back to him. He’s a great tweeter. As a matter of fact, if I don’t see a tweet from him over a long period of time, I start to get concerned. He loves his fans and asks them questions. If you see other stars’ tweets, they can be more dictating. So, he’s refreshing. And currently he is trying to hook up with Jordana Brewster via Twitter. It seems to be working because she recently responded to him. Go DJ!
Don’t forget to follow my lameness on twitter @rsfromthebench.
Send your list of favorites to follow and followers to fromthebench@yahoo.com . Or, of course, hit me up on Twitter.
end
Robert Shields
I was recently ashamed to find out Wally Hall had a Twitter account before me. Talk about being behind the times. So I went ahead and took the plunge, and the evidence can be found @rsfromthebench.
There has always been a little bit of stalker mentality in me as it’s derived from my overall paranoia. As I always say, “It’s not paranoia if they’re out to get you.” Yet even though I struggle against embracing technology, I love Twitter. It’s kind of like TMZ on crack, but in a bad way as people intentionally show their weaknesses.
My traditional Line of Communication Hierarchy (LOCH) is face to face, Big Phone, cell phone or little phone (as in, I will call you back on the Big Phone), email, Facebook, Twitter, then voice mail, and I never leave voice mail because nobody listens to it so I’m back to square one in face to face. I have found, though, that many use Twitter as their number one choice, which is amazing since it’s all public.
I believe the younger generation loves Twitter mainly because all of today’s youth thinks they are starring in their own reality show. Twitter provides them that platform to play act as a star. I have come to find out that for most on Twitter what they really want is to be “following” about five people, but they want a million “following” them and their daily tragedies.
Twitter makes it quite clear on its privacy policy that “What you say on Twitter may be viewed all around the world instantly.” It also makes clear that “information that you provide to us is information that you are asking us to make public.”
Being the economist (the dismal science), I track human misery so I am the exact opposite. I “follow” almost every name that I see. I “follow” a million and nobody follows me. That’s cool.
Although, I was really excited when I got the message Penguin Books was following me only to find out they followed everyone. I was also discouraged when Tom Hanks would not follow me. My claim-to-fame-follower is Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times. I have come to find out everyone has that one follower they are proud of that follows them. The mysterious Rey Pygsterio tells me his is John Daly.
Plus, who would want to follow me anyway when I make a lame tweet like “Hey, Greg Rennick is on Wheel of Fortune and made a great Hog Call.” Good for Greg, “supa weak for me.”
So this is a sports column, and I typically follow sports people, and as I always do this time of year, you get a list. My top five favorites in reverse order to follow on Twitter that is Razorback related:
5) Zach Hocker ––He actually tweets very little, which is very smart. I follow him because he is the kicker. And traditionally, the kicker is the biggest basket case on any football team because of all the pressure put on them by coaches to win games in impossible situations. They always get the blame even if the center or holder blows it. He seems calm now and was the iceman through last season. He only has made nine tweets and I have almost that many following me. I figure if he tweets something it’s important, or it will be a major meltdown when the pressure gets to him.
4) Ronnie Wingo Jr. –– Mostly because I like to see the bitches that follow him. I use that crude term because it appears to be the slang these young women like to use to refer to their gender. This is no reflection on Mr. Wingo, at least as I never saw where he referred to them with that term. Still, I had to laugh when one young lady’s tag line was “10 steps ahead of these bitches.”
3) Marshawn Powell –– I follow him mostly because the man speaks his mind. He let his fans know when he was going into surgery. I am glad that it all went well and hopefully he will be on the court before summer is out. He also let his fans know when he was bored that “Fayetteville is supa weak.” (I assume he meant at that moment, but still to be used in future GSD piece.) My only suggestion to him is that if you’re really bored then go shoot some free throws because it’s what Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird would have done even while injured. He’s not alone, though, other Razorback players say they are bored. This is not surprising since they are not expected to drink or have fun only to play the game for their fans. They are held to a higher standard than other students.
2) Jerry Franklin –– We’ll its Jerry Franklin. He is a very emotional leader on the team, the QB of the defense. He sets the tone. He’s also sometimes funny on his tweets such as, “what can you really do with 50cent.” It’s OK if you don’t get the reference, but it does remind me of the SNL skit on the plane if the seat is fifty cents or Ludicris. Lastly, he actually tells me things that I might really need to know such as if a place is having a sale on wings. Believe it or not that is important to me.
1) DJ Williams –– He is well-loved by everyone. There is no way that I am not putting him at number one. He leads by example. Obviously, others in the media also love him and tweet back to him. He’s a great tweeter. As a matter of fact, if I don’t see a tweet from him over a long period of time, I start to get concerned. He loves his fans and asks them questions. If you see other stars’ tweets, they can be more dictating. So, he’s refreshing. And currently he is trying to hook up with Jordana Brewster via Twitter. It seems to be working because she recently responded to him. Go DJ!
Don’t forget to follow my lameness on twitter @rsfromthebench.
Send your list of favorites to follow and followers to fromthebench@yahoo.com . Or, of course, hit me up on Twitter.
end
Monday, May 09, 2011
From the Bench
Five Years Later, Mustain Out of Football
Robert Shields
Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.
Those famous words from F. Scott Fitzgerald sum up the football career of Mitch Mustain better than any sentence anyone could write.
Mustain came to prominence as the hero of a much-celebrated Springdale High School team, but those high expectations from his high school days played a big role in plummeting his success in college.
It’s only been five years since Mustain chose to go to the University of Arkansas amid so much drama, but that time period of Razorback athletics and all that came with it seems so much farther away.
Regardless, the end of Mustain’s football career has arrived after not being selected in the NFL draft.
Where did it all start? The kid was all-everything. He was Parade All-American, Gatorade player of the year, and the USA Today player of the year sweeping all those honors. He was one of the most heralded players ever to come out of high school in Arkansas and graduated early to enroll at the UA.
He was part of what some in the northwest corner of the state claim was the best team in Arkansas high school history. And it was with that hubris people expected to be handed the keys to run Razorback football that Mustain’s demise began.
The Mustain-Gus Malzahn era in Springdale was a great team, but not the best because that same group lost to a team from Little Rock Central that had won back-to-back state championships -- and that Central team was not even close to being the best team ever in the state.
Nonetheless, Mustain was a great high school quarterback. He came with the other sought-after Springdale athletes who merged to form a single team from two schools. He came with his coach, Malzahn, who was to become the new offensive coordinator and play caller for the Razorbacks.
Someone that popular will always have detractors. The whispers started early in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Star when he had a very poor performance and was out-shown by Tim Tebow. That led some doubters to say he was a system quarterback.
Mustain seemed certain to redshirt at Arkansas with Casey Dick in front of him having won a few games and having a lead in experience. Unfortunately, Dick was hammered by a linebacker that severely injured his back. Some argued this was an example of the lack of love between the offensive and defensive coordinators, which was a clash of the old guard against an upstart high-school coordinator with new ideas.
Mustain was forced into a more prominent role. In the offseason, Darren McFadden kicked off his toe and the burden on the new offense grew all the more. Dick healed slowly making the playing of Mustain compulsory.
The Hogs opened the season with high hopes against perennial power USC in Fayetteville. A complete shellacking then occurred. Mustain was inserted late into the game as the devastation mounted under quarterback Robert Johnson. A press conference was held the next day with a beleaguered-looking Houston Nutt explaining there would be a change at quarterback.
Mustain took the Hogs on an eight-game winning streak at quarterback with his play ugly at times but the team still finding a way to win. He threw several interceptions in the overtime win against Alabama, but most importantly he threw the game-winning touchdown to Springdale buddy Ben Cleveland.
A book was published about the Springdale football season the previous year with quotes from Mustain included in the book. The quotes sometimes were less than flattering of his current head coach, and some point to this as his demise as the Razorback quarterback. He did not start again after the South Carolina game when he was pulled early in the contest.
Mustain saw little playing time from that point on for the Razorbacks. His offensive coordinator took a job at Tulsa and his primary Springdale receiver transferred to USC. Mustain was not far behind him.
At USC, Mustain saw relatively little action. His last start for USC was at Notre Dame in a loss. The cruel irony was that when Mustain was in high school, Notre Dame was one of his top choices.
So five years later, we are left to wonder what if? What if his mom had not met with Frank Broyles? What if Mustain had stayed at the University of Arkansas where he most certainly would have ended up as the starter the next year? What if so many adults hadn’t put so much pressure on the kid’s shoulders so early in life?
I left out all the details of emails, Little League parents meetings, and all that stuff. In a cheap pandering moment, you can read the details as I saw them in my book, “Scarlet Fever: A Razorback House Divided.” It’s available at Amazon for the Kindle, nook, and soon to be on Apple’s iBookstore.
I end with wishing him the best and a second chance at a pro career. Everybody loves a comeback story.
Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/rsfromthebench or send your thoughts on what might have been to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
end
Robert Shields
Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.
Those famous words from F. Scott Fitzgerald sum up the football career of Mitch Mustain better than any sentence anyone could write.
Mustain came to prominence as the hero of a much-celebrated Springdale High School team, but those high expectations from his high school days played a big role in plummeting his success in college.
It’s only been five years since Mustain chose to go to the University of Arkansas amid so much drama, but that time period of Razorback athletics and all that came with it seems so much farther away.
Regardless, the end of Mustain’s football career has arrived after not being selected in the NFL draft.
Where did it all start? The kid was all-everything. He was Parade All-American, Gatorade player of the year, and the USA Today player of the year sweeping all those honors. He was one of the most heralded players ever to come out of high school in Arkansas and graduated early to enroll at the UA.
He was part of what some in the northwest corner of the state claim was the best team in Arkansas high school history. And it was with that hubris people expected to be handed the keys to run Razorback football that Mustain’s demise began.
The Mustain-Gus Malzahn era in Springdale was a great team, but not the best because that same group lost to a team from Little Rock Central that had won back-to-back state championships -- and that Central team was not even close to being the best team ever in the state.
Nonetheless, Mustain was a great high school quarterback. He came with the other sought-after Springdale athletes who merged to form a single team from two schools. He came with his coach, Malzahn, who was to become the new offensive coordinator and play caller for the Razorbacks.
Someone that popular will always have detractors. The whispers started early in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Star when he had a very poor performance and was out-shown by Tim Tebow. That led some doubters to say he was a system quarterback.
Mustain seemed certain to redshirt at Arkansas with Casey Dick in front of him having won a few games and having a lead in experience. Unfortunately, Dick was hammered by a linebacker that severely injured his back. Some argued this was an example of the lack of love between the offensive and defensive coordinators, which was a clash of the old guard against an upstart high-school coordinator with new ideas.
Mustain was forced into a more prominent role. In the offseason, Darren McFadden kicked off his toe and the burden on the new offense grew all the more. Dick healed slowly making the playing of Mustain compulsory.
The Hogs opened the season with high hopes against perennial power USC in Fayetteville. A complete shellacking then occurred. Mustain was inserted late into the game as the devastation mounted under quarterback Robert Johnson. A press conference was held the next day with a beleaguered-looking Houston Nutt explaining there would be a change at quarterback.
Mustain took the Hogs on an eight-game winning streak at quarterback with his play ugly at times but the team still finding a way to win. He threw several interceptions in the overtime win against Alabama, but most importantly he threw the game-winning touchdown to Springdale buddy Ben Cleveland.
A book was published about the Springdale football season the previous year with quotes from Mustain included in the book. The quotes sometimes were less than flattering of his current head coach, and some point to this as his demise as the Razorback quarterback. He did not start again after the South Carolina game when he was pulled early in the contest.
Mustain saw little playing time from that point on for the Razorbacks. His offensive coordinator took a job at Tulsa and his primary Springdale receiver transferred to USC. Mustain was not far behind him.
At USC, Mustain saw relatively little action. His last start for USC was at Notre Dame in a loss. The cruel irony was that when Mustain was in high school, Notre Dame was one of his top choices.
So five years later, we are left to wonder what if? What if his mom had not met with Frank Broyles? What if Mustain had stayed at the University of Arkansas where he most certainly would have ended up as the starter the next year? What if so many adults hadn’t put so much pressure on the kid’s shoulders so early in life?
I left out all the details of emails, Little League parents meetings, and all that stuff. In a cheap pandering moment, you can read the details as I saw them in my book, “Scarlet Fever: A Razorback House Divided.” It’s available at Amazon for the Kindle, nook, and soon to be on Apple’s iBookstore.
I end with wishing him the best and a second chance at a pro career. Everybody loves a comeback story.
Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/rsfromthebench or send your thoughts on what might have been to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
end
Monday, May 02, 2011
From the Bench - Robert Shields - Ohio State Must Forfeit
Ohio State Must Forfeit Sugar Bowl
Robert Shields
The idea that Ohio State should forfeit its Allstate Sugar Bowl win to Arkansas really goes without saying in light of all that has come out about that program since December.
Yet many are speculating that the Buckeyes may have to vacate victories from last season as a result of troubles with the NCAA -- but probably not the Sugar Bowl because of the deal they cut with the NCAA that allowed several players to play before going on suspension for the upcoming season.
A couple of weeks ago, I joked that Kevin Trainor, UA sports information director (he has a new glossy title but I don’t keep up with those things), needs to go ahead in the next edition of the Razorback football media guide and count the win against Ohio State.
Now, I am serious.
The win should be counted by the Hogs for a multitude of reasons, and this would not be the first time the media guide and the UA’s official records are in conflict with another school (see Ole Miss).
The University of Arkansas has the authority to run its own record book. The Sugar Bowl, just like the mythical national championship game, actually has nothing to do with the NCAA. Even if the NCAA wanted to force Ohio State to give back the Sugar Bowl trophy, it cannot do it, just like the NCAA could not force Reggie Bush to return his Heisman Trophy.
This is an issue between Arkansas and Ohio State, and I disagree that Ohio State won fairly because it played illegal players who were being paid.
The argument that Ohio State may not have to vacate the win against Arkansas comes from the belief that the NCAA had signed off on the deal to accept the five-game suspension in lieu of the players missing the Sugar Bowl.
But justice delayed is really justice denied.
The NCAA made that decision under false information. It may have made a different decision had it known that its coach knew of the wrong-doing. Ohio State’s coach, as it has come to light, knew what his players did. He just hid the fact from the NCAA and his bosses.
The NCAA ruling to reinstate them was based on the fact the players did not know they were doing wrong. Crazy, isn’t it. My point is the coach did, and he hid it, which makes for easy grounds to vacate the win. Just like on the Cam Newton deal where Auburn suspended him for one day and the NCAA reinstated him within a day, ultimately eligibility always rests with the school. A school always plays players at its own risk.
The investigation continues at Ohio State so more infractions may be found. If any, and I mean any more exists, that would supply further ground for the game to be vacated and the win given to Arkansas because the NCAA made the initial decision only on the information that it had at that time. The ruling may have been different if it had all the information, such as the other infractions and the coach knowing about the whole thing.
Also, it meant everything to the final score that those five illegal players played in the game. Without Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State does not only lose but loses in a big way. If you don’t think it made a difference, the Ohio State player who intercepted Mallett’s last pass at the end of the game was one of those five.
Regardless, Arkansas had to play against a paid team. So not only should the game be vacated, the Hogs win by forfeiture. What is so bad is that they were still ineligible in my mind at the time of the game because they had not paid their sentences. They also had to pay restitution of the ill-gotten gain.
Surely, that was all paid before the Sugar Bowl. When you go to court, and I know from experience, you’re told to pay the bailiff on your way out. In what world do you get to play in the bowl game and not get punished until next year? You want an example why today’s youth have a problem? Look no further than this example of discipline.
As wacky and illegitimate as the NCAA has been this past year, it should not surprise anyone if they actually make the Buckeyes vacate all their wins but the Sugar Bowl. It would fit their illogical, quirky, and unfounded rulings this past year.
So I impose my own ruling: Ohio State forfeits.
Send your suggested penalties to fromthebench@yahoo.com
end
Robert Shields
The idea that Ohio State should forfeit its Allstate Sugar Bowl win to Arkansas really goes without saying in light of all that has come out about that program since December.
Yet many are speculating that the Buckeyes may have to vacate victories from last season as a result of troubles with the NCAA -- but probably not the Sugar Bowl because of the deal they cut with the NCAA that allowed several players to play before going on suspension for the upcoming season.
A couple of weeks ago, I joked that Kevin Trainor, UA sports information director (he has a new glossy title but I don’t keep up with those things), needs to go ahead in the next edition of the Razorback football media guide and count the win against Ohio State.
Now, I am serious.
The win should be counted by the Hogs for a multitude of reasons, and this would not be the first time the media guide and the UA’s official records are in conflict with another school (see Ole Miss).
The University of Arkansas has the authority to run its own record book. The Sugar Bowl, just like the mythical national championship game, actually has nothing to do with the NCAA. Even if the NCAA wanted to force Ohio State to give back the Sugar Bowl trophy, it cannot do it, just like the NCAA could not force Reggie Bush to return his Heisman Trophy.
This is an issue between Arkansas and Ohio State, and I disagree that Ohio State won fairly because it played illegal players who were being paid.
The argument that Ohio State may not have to vacate the win against Arkansas comes from the belief that the NCAA had signed off on the deal to accept the five-game suspension in lieu of the players missing the Sugar Bowl.
But justice delayed is really justice denied.
The NCAA made that decision under false information. It may have made a different decision had it known that its coach knew of the wrong-doing. Ohio State’s coach, as it has come to light, knew what his players did. He just hid the fact from the NCAA and his bosses.
The NCAA ruling to reinstate them was based on the fact the players did not know they were doing wrong. Crazy, isn’t it. My point is the coach did, and he hid it, which makes for easy grounds to vacate the win. Just like on the Cam Newton deal where Auburn suspended him for one day and the NCAA reinstated him within a day, ultimately eligibility always rests with the school. A school always plays players at its own risk.
The investigation continues at Ohio State so more infractions may be found. If any, and I mean any more exists, that would supply further ground for the game to be vacated and the win given to Arkansas because the NCAA made the initial decision only on the information that it had at that time. The ruling may have been different if it had all the information, such as the other infractions and the coach knowing about the whole thing.
Also, it meant everything to the final score that those five illegal players played in the game. Without Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State does not only lose but loses in a big way. If you don’t think it made a difference, the Ohio State player who intercepted Mallett’s last pass at the end of the game was one of those five.
Regardless, Arkansas had to play against a paid team. So not only should the game be vacated, the Hogs win by forfeiture. What is so bad is that they were still ineligible in my mind at the time of the game because they had not paid their sentences. They also had to pay restitution of the ill-gotten gain.
Surely, that was all paid before the Sugar Bowl. When you go to court, and I know from experience, you’re told to pay the bailiff on your way out. In what world do you get to play in the bowl game and not get punished until next year? You want an example why today’s youth have a problem? Look no further than this example of discipline.
As wacky and illegitimate as the NCAA has been this past year, it should not surprise anyone if they actually make the Buckeyes vacate all their wins but the Sugar Bowl. It would fit their illogical, quirky, and unfounded rulings this past year.
So I impose my own ruling: Ohio State forfeits.
Send your suggested penalties to fromthebench@yahoo.com
end
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
