Dear Marcus, Payday for Players Will Never Work
Robert Shields
Former Razorback football star Marcus Elliott has been on a crusade as of late when co-hosting on Drive Time Sports, and this topic seems to have sparked quite a debate across the state. His soapbox: Pay the players.
He is not alone in believing that college athletes, in particular football players, should be paid for all the revenue they generate in the billion-dollar business of college football. For or against, this has become the topic du jour this summer.
Now I weigh in so we can all put this issue to bed.
The Terrelle Pryor situation at Ohio State has brought this issue all the more to the forefront. It’s easy to hate on Pryor – he’s a punk kid that took down his million-dollar coach and one of the most storied college football programs in the country. He is a symptom of the larger problem.
I guess I can buy the argument that it was not Pryor who made him the way that he is and that it was the system that is in place that allows this to happen. What I don’t buy, however, is that by throwing more money at the problem and paying players it fixes anything.
Giving football players an extra $300 a month is laughable. It will not even come close to fixing the problem and will probably make it worse.
Where Elliott makes a sensible suggestion is in money generated from merchandise sales that is directly related to a player. Although the name wasn’t on the back, it was simple for any fan to infer that the Razorback jersey they bought at JCPenney with a No. 15 on the back represented Ryan Mallett just like the No. 5 several years ago represented Darren McFadden.
If I am wrong, the UA can prove it by not allowing apparel manufacturers to use the star’s number next time and we’ll see if that company complains about lagging sales.
Roughly two-dozen schools in major college football actually operate in the black. The vast majority operates in the red and almost all are subsidized by other student fees. But for the existence of the university, none of these punk kids would even be known.
It’s also not like the kids are not compensated at all. The difference in earnings potential between having a college degree and not having a college degree is in the millions over a lifetime. If these kids take advantage of their schooling, almost all of them can leave with a degree. If they wanted, most could leave with a great degree worth more than any amount the school could have paid them.
Some do, but we all know that is more the exception than the rule as these kids focus solely on athletics and partying and not so much on classes or finishing their major to get a degree.
There is also the problem of Title IX. If anyone thinks they can pay male athletes and not female athletes, they’re living in another century. The economic reality is that schools paying players just won’t work.
It does seem reasonable to me that if a player wanted to start his own website and sell red football jerseys with the number 15, that he should have that right. It is America after all.
I also can’t fault a kid who sells his own things. If you give a kid a ring, it’s his right to sell it. Otherwise, don’t give it to him. The NCAA does not see it that way, but they are flat out wrong.
So, the system is busted. How do you fix it? A lot of my suggestions will never happen because it’s a billion-dollar industry and my suggestions would hurt that model. Still, it won’t stop me from suggesting.
The first idea is doing away with all athletic scholarships, which actually goes in the opposite direction of paying players. I have always been a firm believer that if everyone is going the same direction, it’s often wrong and Groupthink has taken over.
This provision would have to include forbidding all coaches from having any contact with any prospective athlete at any time. All contact would have to be generated by the recruit. A coach could not even call a player back. To do so would make that player ineligible at that school.
The NCAA also has to find a way to address seven-on-seven football. It is a breeding ground for corruption during the summer with agents and scouting services. It’s football’s version of summer basketball, which also has its pitfalls. Plus, it really teaches nothing unless you are going into professional touch football like in the lingerie league.
Then there is the issue of scouting services or whatever you want to call them. They are the groups that follow kids and then markets them to universities. The NCAA has to outlaw schools from having contact with them because these services provide a huge loophole.
Some have suggested tougher penalties and particularly monetary fines. I just don’t see how that works. Who determines it? Who collects it? Who gets to spend it? And under what authority? There this whole Fifth Amendment thing that gets in the way because it’s illegal taking. You’re afforded due process in this country before someone can take your property, and that also includes money.
It becomes a kangaroo court if the NCAA gets to play prosecutor, judge, and jury in order to keep their member institutions’ money. I get that the infractions committee is made up of member institutions, but it’s not enough separation and independence for my taste.
So, it is a mess and a mess that I doubt anyone wants to really address, but it just gives everyone something to talk about and be self-righteous about during the summer until the first kickoff when we all become guilty again of supporting the corrupt system in place.
But my verdict is don’t pay the players. Anyone is welcome to cite this decision in the argument with Marcus on Drive Time Sports.
Send your suggestions to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
Follow me on Twitter @rsfromthebench.
end
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
In defense of Jim Tressell
By Dick "The Coach" Betts
Just about everybody I know has asked me in person or by text or e-mail or semaphore flags or smoke signals for the last couple of months what I think of the "Tressell thing." I repeatedly said I would wait until more came out because I knew more was to follow.
But when Tressell was asked to resign I have to tell you I was shocked. I was shocked for a lot of reasons but the biggest reason was the The Ohio State University was so willing to turn it's back on, and walk away from, the best college football coach in America. The President of the University and the Athletic Director had time and again given their full support and backing to Jim Tressell and then Sports Illustrated comes out with a witch hunt article of half truths and old news and Gordon Gee and Gene Smith and the rest of the Trustees caved like a surrounded Math Professor at a pantie raid, "I give, I give, just don't blemish my good name."
Jim Tressell has been the best football coach in the fifty years I have followed Ohio State football. John Cooper could recruit but he just never got the whole Ohio State/Michigan thing. Nobody loved Ohio State more than Earle Bruce but there was a reason they called him Old 9 and 3 Earle. And for most of my young adult life I thought Woody Hayes was God himself. But Tressell was better than all of them. He wasn't just a great football coach, he was a great man. He raised money for just about every charity in Columbus and was a lifelong supporter of all things military. Talk to any coach that ever coached with him, for him, or even against him and you will not hear one unkind word about Jim Tressell. Every one of them say they would want their son's to play for Coach Tressell. What did he do on the field in his ten years at Ohio State? Well, he won seven Big Ten titles and took his teams to eight BCS Bowl games. He played in three National Championship games (that's 30%) and won the 2002 game in double overtime against a Miami team that came into the game with a 34 game win streak. And, oh yeah, he was nine and freakin' one against Meeeshitagin! Woody never did that. Earle never did that. And John Cooper for damn sure never did that. And just this month the football team had the highest APR (Academic Progress Rate) for academics of any of the top 25 teams in the country. They graded out at 985. Stanford came in at 977. Jim Tressell is the best college football coach in America and Gee and Smith shit canned him like a pair of old underwear with more skid marks than the Indy 500 race track. It's like Danny DeVito divorcing Julia Roberts. What the hell were they thinking? They'll never find another one as good as the one they had.
And for what? Because he didn't report that he got an e-mail from an old ex player that said some of his players might be trading things for tattoos? Are you kidding? Every coach in the SEC is having a belly laugh over that one. No agents involved? No recruits being paid? No grade issue? No grade changing? No drugs? He lost his job over THAT? Where you work is it normal for people that do everything at the highest level for ten years and then make one mistake to be fired? Just wondering.
This mess all started with five players that knew the rules but chose to ignore them. They thought the rules were for others. They were above them. They were starters. They were important. They didn't need to put up with that petty shit, they were somebody, by God. And what's a Championship ring more or less? They had three of them. And that is the thing that bothers me the most of all in this whole stinking mess with the players. How could you sell a pair of gold pants? As Charlton Heston once said, you'd have to rip them from my cold, dead hands. You know that they will spend the rest of their lives regretting the day they sold those rings and gold pants. Good.
I've been reading letters from his players and they are eye opening. He made them read books and do book reports and read the reports to the team. These books were not about football but about character building and how to be a better person. He not only knew all 120 players and walk-ons but he knew all of their parents and all of their brothers and sisters BY NAME. He cared about his players and their families. He had the players constantly work with Out Reach programs and visit hospitals to see sick children and veterans. He is the kind of man you want your son to know. He started every day with a team prayer and asked every player what they were going to do that day to get better as a person. He also happens to be the best college football coach in America.
And now, because a few idiots who thought they were above following the rules, and because an e-mail that stated that might be the case wasn't turned over to the compliance people and because the gutless administration once again got weak-kneed and turned their backs on the promises they made, we are without the best college football coach in America. ESPN and Sports Illustrated are happy because they brought down the head coach of Ohio State football and the rest of us true die hard fans are heart broken. It is what it is, so where do we go from here?
Well, if it were up to me I'd start with the Compliance Department. It is headed by a man named Doug Archie. He and his entire staff would be history. I mean, what were these people doing for the last few years while players were trading trinkets for tats and getting special deals on cars? Every car deal has to be approved by Compliance. So how can there be problems there? And if guys are getting deals on tattoos someone is talking about it. It is the job of the people in Compliance to find out about those things. If they are not, they are not doing their job. Granted, they have a thousand athletes to worry about in a multitude of sports but I don't think they are to worried about anyone getting special benefits like a free tattoo on the fencing team Captain for selling his autographed epee.
Next would be the Athletic Director, Gene Smith, who oversees Compliance and who, along with E. Gordon Gee, asked Coach Tressell to resign. And Gee should join him. They asked Coach Tressell to leave because that's what would be best for The University. Well guys, time to man up and do what's best for The University; leave. I admired them both for years, now they just nauseate me.
I have no idea who the next football coach will be at Ohio State. Luke Fickell bleeds scarlet and gray. He is 37 years old, as energetic as a jackrabbit in heat and is Ohio State's best recruiter. He has been considered their best assistant coach for years and would be the ideal guy if he could just win every game. Fickell will get his shot this year but unless he wins at least 11 games I don't think they will give it to him. Ohio State is one of the top five jobs in the country. They can get anyone they want. They can get Stoops, Pelini, Meyer, anyone. I just hope it's not Gee and Smith doing the picking.
Ohio State is bigger than all of this. It's just our turn. The squeaky clean sweater vest screwed up and the media had a feeding frenzy. It will all pass. In a few months Luke Fickell will be running out onto the field in The Horseshoe and the sun will be shinning and Akron will get pounded and the Buckeyes will be on the road to another November date with Ann Arbor and her Meeeshitagin Wolverettes.
One thing is for sure. No matter where Jim Tressell goes or what he does he will always have a fan in Bolivar, Ohio.
Just about everybody I know has asked me in person or by text or e-mail or semaphore flags or smoke signals for the last couple of months what I think of the "Tressell thing." I repeatedly said I would wait until more came out because I knew more was to follow.
But when Tressell was asked to resign I have to tell you I was shocked. I was shocked for a lot of reasons but the biggest reason was the The Ohio State University was so willing to turn it's back on, and walk away from, the best college football coach in America. The President of the University and the Athletic Director had time and again given their full support and backing to Jim Tressell and then Sports Illustrated comes out with a witch hunt article of half truths and old news and Gordon Gee and Gene Smith and the rest of the Trustees caved like a surrounded Math Professor at a pantie raid, "I give, I give, just don't blemish my good name."
Jim Tressell has been the best football coach in the fifty years I have followed Ohio State football. John Cooper could recruit but he just never got the whole Ohio State/Michigan thing. Nobody loved Ohio State more than Earle Bruce but there was a reason they called him Old 9 and 3 Earle. And for most of my young adult life I thought Woody Hayes was God himself. But Tressell was better than all of them. He wasn't just a great football coach, he was a great man. He raised money for just about every charity in Columbus and was a lifelong supporter of all things military. Talk to any coach that ever coached with him, for him, or even against him and you will not hear one unkind word about Jim Tressell. Every one of them say they would want their son's to play for Coach Tressell. What did he do on the field in his ten years at Ohio State? Well, he won seven Big Ten titles and took his teams to eight BCS Bowl games. He played in three National Championship games (that's 30%) and won the 2002 game in double overtime against a Miami team that came into the game with a 34 game win streak. And, oh yeah, he was nine and freakin' one against Meeeshitagin! Woody never did that. Earle never did that. And John Cooper for damn sure never did that. And just this month the football team had the highest APR (Academic Progress Rate) for academics of any of the top 25 teams in the country. They graded out at 985. Stanford came in at 977. Jim Tressell is the best college football coach in America and Gee and Smith shit canned him like a pair of old underwear with more skid marks than the Indy 500 race track. It's like Danny DeVito divorcing Julia Roberts. What the hell were they thinking? They'll never find another one as good as the one they had.
And for what? Because he didn't report that he got an e-mail from an old ex player that said some of his players might be trading things for tattoos? Are you kidding? Every coach in the SEC is having a belly laugh over that one. No agents involved? No recruits being paid? No grade issue? No grade changing? No drugs? He lost his job over THAT? Where you work is it normal for people that do everything at the highest level for ten years and then make one mistake to be fired? Just wondering.
This mess all started with five players that knew the rules but chose to ignore them. They thought the rules were for others. They were above them. They were starters. They were important. They didn't need to put up with that petty shit, they were somebody, by God. And what's a Championship ring more or less? They had three of them. And that is the thing that bothers me the most of all in this whole stinking mess with the players. How could you sell a pair of gold pants? As Charlton Heston once said, you'd have to rip them from my cold, dead hands. You know that they will spend the rest of their lives regretting the day they sold those rings and gold pants. Good.
I've been reading letters from his players and they are eye opening. He made them read books and do book reports and read the reports to the team. These books were not about football but about character building and how to be a better person. He not only knew all 120 players and walk-ons but he knew all of their parents and all of their brothers and sisters BY NAME. He cared about his players and their families. He had the players constantly work with Out Reach programs and visit hospitals to see sick children and veterans. He is the kind of man you want your son to know. He started every day with a team prayer and asked every player what they were going to do that day to get better as a person. He also happens to be the best college football coach in America.
And now, because a few idiots who thought they were above following the rules, and because an e-mail that stated that might be the case wasn't turned over to the compliance people and because the gutless administration once again got weak-kneed and turned their backs on the promises they made, we are without the best college football coach in America. ESPN and Sports Illustrated are happy because they brought down the head coach of Ohio State football and the rest of us true die hard fans are heart broken. It is what it is, so where do we go from here?
Well, if it were up to me I'd start with the Compliance Department. It is headed by a man named Doug Archie. He and his entire staff would be history. I mean, what were these people doing for the last few years while players were trading trinkets for tats and getting special deals on cars? Every car deal has to be approved by Compliance. So how can there be problems there? And if guys are getting deals on tattoos someone is talking about it. It is the job of the people in Compliance to find out about those things. If they are not, they are not doing their job. Granted, they have a thousand athletes to worry about in a multitude of sports but I don't think they are to worried about anyone getting special benefits like a free tattoo on the fencing team Captain for selling his autographed epee.
Next would be the Athletic Director, Gene Smith, who oversees Compliance and who, along with E. Gordon Gee, asked Coach Tressell to resign. And Gee should join him. They asked Coach Tressell to leave because that's what would be best for The University. Well guys, time to man up and do what's best for The University; leave. I admired them both for years, now they just nauseate me.
I have no idea who the next football coach will be at Ohio State. Luke Fickell bleeds scarlet and gray. He is 37 years old, as energetic as a jackrabbit in heat and is Ohio State's best recruiter. He has been considered their best assistant coach for years and would be the ideal guy if he could just win every game. Fickell will get his shot this year but unless he wins at least 11 games I don't think they will give it to him. Ohio State is one of the top five jobs in the country. They can get anyone they want. They can get Stoops, Pelini, Meyer, anyone. I just hope it's not Gee and Smith doing the picking.
Ohio State is bigger than all of this. It's just our turn. The squeaky clean sweater vest screwed up and the media had a feeding frenzy. It will all pass. In a few months Luke Fickell will be running out onto the field in The Horseshoe and the sun will be shinning and Akron will get pounded and the Buckeyes will be on the road to another November date with Ann Arbor and her Meeeshitagin Wolverettes.
One thing is for sure. No matter where Jim Tressell goes or what he does he will always have a fan in Bolivar, Ohio.
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Monday, June 13, 2011
From the Bench
Razorback Football Preseason Prediction: 12-0
Robert Shields
As I always do each year, I make two preseason predictions -- one early in the summer and another after two-a-days start in August. Things often change over the summer as kids with too much free time get busted on Dickson or skip a week of summer school to go to Florida, so I like to put one out early as so many magazines already have and then issue a second opinion later.
Let the predictions roll:
Sept. 3 -- Missouri State at Fayetteville
Since I don’t even know the mascot’s name for Missouri State, it’s a good indication the Razorbacks will win the contest. Tyler Wilson will put on a show and everyone will forget Ryan Mallett for a week. Razorback Stadium will run out of bottled water in the third quarter as a high temperature of 102 degrees leads many in the club sections to hoard water and some females in the student section are forced to pull a Brandi Chastain.
Hogs 58-3 (1-0)
Sept. 10 -- New Mexico at Little Rock
The state of New Mexico usually does not fair well against Arkansas in sports. This game will be no different. The fans go crazy for the first appearance at War Memorial Stadium in a game that gives them a break from having to make three trips in three weeks to Fayetteville to see patsies get hammered. The golf course becomes a sports version of the Burning Man festival as several port-a-potties go up in flames.
Hogs 45-10 (2-0)
Sept. 17 – Troy at Fayetteville
Troy has upset teams in the past and they do occasionally make a bowl game, but it’s not to be this time. After three easy games, Tyler Wilson and the offense rack up some gaudy numbers forcing Paul Finebaum to discuss the Razorbacks on his radio show for the first time since last season.
Hogs 41-17 (3-0)
Sept. 24 – Alabama at Tuscaloosa
This game will have similar meaning to last year’s first road trip to Athens to play Georgia. If the Hogs win, they could be writing their ticket to a magical season. If they lose, Wilson’s favorite son status suddenly drops as the talk-show lines light up with people calling for the second-string quarterback to be given a shot. The Georgia game came down to the very end with Greg Childs juking a defender and racing to the end zone for the win. Wilson will struggle in his first road game but manages the game decently in his first SEC start. @Jay_Wright4, as he goes by on Twitter, catches a ball off his shoulder and sprints to the goal line where he is tackled going into the end zone for the win. FireNickSaban.com is launched (by an Auburn fan).
Hogs 16-14 (4-0)
Oct. 1 -- Texas A&M at Arlington
The Aggies wanted this game a whole lot more than the Razorbacks last year. Arkansas just had better athletes, yet the game came down to the wire. The Hogs will have to bring their A game against a much-improved team wanting its first win in this renewed series. If the Hogs are coming off an Alabama loss, it will be a difficult win to get. I have already predicted the Hogs win at Alabama, therefore they won’t lose this game. It will be close, though, as Zack Hocker kicks the game winner in a wild one. Before the kick, Hocker makes his first tweet on Twitter in six months with the hashtag #scared.
Hogs 31-28 (5-0)
Oct. 8 – Auburn at Fayetteville
Is there life after Cam Newton? Probably not unless you are Gene Chizik’s financial advisor. Why Gus Malzahn stuck around is anybody’s guess. My guess is that he is waiting for Pastor Floyd to create Shiloh Christian College where it will be legal to recruit (unlike at Shiloh Christian Academy). Tyler Wilson has a big day, and somewhere Bobby Lowder later holds a secret meeting with a casino owner to try to get Auburn back on track.
Hogs 38-24 (6-0)
Oct. 22 -- Ole Miss at Oxford
Houston Nutt will struggle to win games, but he will still win enough games that he’s not supposed to win and get his team into the lowest possible SEC bowl. As a fan, you have to hope that he does not get his team jacked up for the Hogs for only their second SEC road game of the year. It’s a game on the current schedule that looks dangerous as it follows an open week. Defense comes up with a key stop at the end of the game that is negated by a terrible call by an official. But Ole Miss misses a field goal to hand Arkansas a road victory.
Hogs win 31-30 (7-0)
Oct. 29 -- Vanderbilt at Nashville
Back-to-back road games in the SEC are usually a killer, but not when it is Ole Miss followed by Vanderbilt. Under a new coach, the Commodores find the offense from Arkansas to be too much. After the game, Bobby Petrino heads to the studio for a late-night session with Hank Williams Jr. to cut a new version of “Hog Wild.”
Hogs 41-14 (8-0)
Nov. 5 -- South Carolina at Fayetteville
South Carolina has to fill several spots and is not the same team that backed into winning the SEC East last year. It’s a tough year for Steve Spurrier as the photo of him with his shirt off at a NASCAR event becomes the new Internet meme and is Photoshopped into a picture that trends on Twitter. The NCAA investigates the Gamecocks for illegal contact with recruits since so many recruits retweet the picture. The NCAA thinks it’s a ploy. Auburn alums later buy Twitter. For homecoming, Joe Adams wins the Crip Hall Award.
Hogs win 38-24 (9-0)
Nov. 12 – Tennessee at Fayetteville
This will be an improved Volunteers team that had mental breakdowns late in games last year. It will be a more hardened team and will want this game against the Razorbacks to improve its bowl position down the stretch so that Vols fans can go somewhere other than Nashville. The Hogs will still be undefeated and ranked No.1 in the AP poll (but not the BCS) for the first time in decades. The game turns into a slug fest as the Tennessee defense is up to the task. The Hogs have early costly turnovers leaving the Volunteers in the game. Rain starts to fall as conditions worsen on the field. Entering the fourth quarter, the Hogs are behind and a sinking feeling sets in at Razorback Stadium of “Oh, not again, we’re letting it slip away.” Late in the game, Tennessee tries to run clock, but the Hog defense holds to give the offense five minutes to go 80 yards. Petrino unexpectedly goes to the ground after trying to throw the ball most of the game. Greg Childs then picks up a first down on a fourth-down slant route. Knile Davis gets the tough yards and Dennis Johnson breaks one up the middle for a big gainer, but it’s Ronnie Wingo who breaks one inside the 10-yard line all the way to Touchdown, Arkansas.
Hogs 31-28 (10-0)
Nov. 29 -- Mississippi State at Little Rock
Arkansas enjoys its third home game in a row, but this one is in Little Rock. The Hogs still hold the top spot, but oddly Mississippi State is still in the running for the SEC West. A loss could send the Hogs to a lower bowl and out of the SEC championship game. Hogs roll as the Bulldogs self-destruct. A giant pile of cowbells is set on fire after the game and damages much of the redesigned area. The War Memorial Park task force throws up its hands and finally admits the park’s best use is for tailgating anyway.
Hogs 42-17 (11-0)
Nov. 25 – LSU at Baton Rouge
The Hogs have every first-place vote in the AP poll except three who think Oklahoma is the top team. Just like Mississippi State the previous week, the SEC West is still on the line in this game. A Hog loss creates a three-way tie. The game is close as has been the case every time the two teams meet. A national audience tunes into the game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. LSU is ranked No. 3 and has its own hopes for a national title. The game goes into overtime as LSU kicks a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation on a questionable pass-interference penalty setting up the Tigers in good field position for the field goal. In overtime, LSU turns it over in its first possession and the ball is recovered by Jerry Franklin. On the first play, Tyler Wilson hits Chris Gragg wide open in the middle as he breaks a tackle and rumbles into the endzone. Les Miles is carried off the field by a mob of fans and is never seen again.
Hogs win 37-31 (12-0)
What happens next?
You now get to write the fairy-tale ending. Arkansas will be playing Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC championship and then Oklahoma in the BCS championship. So for now, I am predicting 12-0, but I may change that come August.
Send your season-ending story and prediction to fromthebench@yahoo.com. I will post them anonymously on shieldsrobert.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Twitter: @rsfromthebench
end
Robert Shields
As I always do each year, I make two preseason predictions -- one early in the summer and another after two-a-days start in August. Things often change over the summer as kids with too much free time get busted on Dickson or skip a week of summer school to go to Florida, so I like to put one out early as so many magazines already have and then issue a second opinion later.
Let the predictions roll:
Sept. 3 -- Missouri State at Fayetteville
Since I don’t even know the mascot’s name for Missouri State, it’s a good indication the Razorbacks will win the contest. Tyler Wilson will put on a show and everyone will forget Ryan Mallett for a week. Razorback Stadium will run out of bottled water in the third quarter as a high temperature of 102 degrees leads many in the club sections to hoard water and some females in the student section are forced to pull a Brandi Chastain.
Hogs 58-3 (1-0)
Sept. 10 -- New Mexico at Little Rock
The state of New Mexico usually does not fair well against Arkansas in sports. This game will be no different. The fans go crazy for the first appearance at War Memorial Stadium in a game that gives them a break from having to make three trips in three weeks to Fayetteville to see patsies get hammered. The golf course becomes a sports version of the Burning Man festival as several port-a-potties go up in flames.
Hogs 45-10 (2-0)
Sept. 17 – Troy at Fayetteville
Troy has upset teams in the past and they do occasionally make a bowl game, but it’s not to be this time. After three easy games, Tyler Wilson and the offense rack up some gaudy numbers forcing Paul Finebaum to discuss the Razorbacks on his radio show for the first time since last season.
Hogs 41-17 (3-0)
Sept. 24 – Alabama at Tuscaloosa
This game will have similar meaning to last year’s first road trip to Athens to play Georgia. If the Hogs win, they could be writing their ticket to a magical season. If they lose, Wilson’s favorite son status suddenly drops as the talk-show lines light up with people calling for the second-string quarterback to be given a shot. The Georgia game came down to the very end with Greg Childs juking a defender and racing to the end zone for the win. Wilson will struggle in his first road game but manages the game decently in his first SEC start. @Jay_Wright4, as he goes by on Twitter, catches a ball off his shoulder and sprints to the goal line where he is tackled going into the end zone for the win. FireNickSaban.com is launched (by an Auburn fan).
Hogs 16-14 (4-0)
Oct. 1 -- Texas A&M at Arlington
The Aggies wanted this game a whole lot more than the Razorbacks last year. Arkansas just had better athletes, yet the game came down to the wire. The Hogs will have to bring their A game against a much-improved team wanting its first win in this renewed series. If the Hogs are coming off an Alabama loss, it will be a difficult win to get. I have already predicted the Hogs win at Alabama, therefore they won’t lose this game. It will be close, though, as Zack Hocker kicks the game winner in a wild one. Before the kick, Hocker makes his first tweet on Twitter in six months with the hashtag #scared.
Hogs 31-28 (5-0)
Oct. 8 – Auburn at Fayetteville
Is there life after Cam Newton? Probably not unless you are Gene Chizik’s financial advisor. Why Gus Malzahn stuck around is anybody’s guess. My guess is that he is waiting for Pastor Floyd to create Shiloh Christian College where it will be legal to recruit (unlike at Shiloh Christian Academy). Tyler Wilson has a big day, and somewhere Bobby Lowder later holds a secret meeting with a casino owner to try to get Auburn back on track.
Hogs 38-24 (6-0)
Oct. 22 -- Ole Miss at Oxford
Houston Nutt will struggle to win games, but he will still win enough games that he’s not supposed to win and get his team into the lowest possible SEC bowl. As a fan, you have to hope that he does not get his team jacked up for the Hogs for only their second SEC road game of the year. It’s a game on the current schedule that looks dangerous as it follows an open week. Defense comes up with a key stop at the end of the game that is negated by a terrible call by an official. But Ole Miss misses a field goal to hand Arkansas a road victory.
Hogs win 31-30 (7-0)
Oct. 29 -- Vanderbilt at Nashville
Back-to-back road games in the SEC are usually a killer, but not when it is Ole Miss followed by Vanderbilt. Under a new coach, the Commodores find the offense from Arkansas to be too much. After the game, Bobby Petrino heads to the studio for a late-night session with Hank Williams Jr. to cut a new version of “Hog Wild.”
Hogs 41-14 (8-0)
Nov. 5 -- South Carolina at Fayetteville
South Carolina has to fill several spots and is not the same team that backed into winning the SEC East last year. It’s a tough year for Steve Spurrier as the photo of him with his shirt off at a NASCAR event becomes the new Internet meme and is Photoshopped into a picture that trends on Twitter. The NCAA investigates the Gamecocks for illegal contact with recruits since so many recruits retweet the picture. The NCAA thinks it’s a ploy. Auburn alums later buy Twitter. For homecoming, Joe Adams wins the Crip Hall Award.
Hogs win 38-24 (9-0)
Nov. 12 – Tennessee at Fayetteville
This will be an improved Volunteers team that had mental breakdowns late in games last year. It will be a more hardened team and will want this game against the Razorbacks to improve its bowl position down the stretch so that Vols fans can go somewhere other than Nashville. The Hogs will still be undefeated and ranked No.1 in the AP poll (but not the BCS) for the first time in decades. The game turns into a slug fest as the Tennessee defense is up to the task. The Hogs have early costly turnovers leaving the Volunteers in the game. Rain starts to fall as conditions worsen on the field. Entering the fourth quarter, the Hogs are behind and a sinking feeling sets in at Razorback Stadium of “Oh, not again, we’re letting it slip away.” Late in the game, Tennessee tries to run clock, but the Hog defense holds to give the offense five minutes to go 80 yards. Petrino unexpectedly goes to the ground after trying to throw the ball most of the game. Greg Childs then picks up a first down on a fourth-down slant route. Knile Davis gets the tough yards and Dennis Johnson breaks one up the middle for a big gainer, but it’s Ronnie Wingo who breaks one inside the 10-yard line all the way to Touchdown, Arkansas.
Hogs 31-28 (10-0)
Nov. 29 -- Mississippi State at Little Rock
Arkansas enjoys its third home game in a row, but this one is in Little Rock. The Hogs still hold the top spot, but oddly Mississippi State is still in the running for the SEC West. A loss could send the Hogs to a lower bowl and out of the SEC championship game. Hogs roll as the Bulldogs self-destruct. A giant pile of cowbells is set on fire after the game and damages much of the redesigned area. The War Memorial Park task force throws up its hands and finally admits the park’s best use is for tailgating anyway.
Hogs 42-17 (11-0)
Nov. 25 – LSU at Baton Rouge
The Hogs have every first-place vote in the AP poll except three who think Oklahoma is the top team. Just like Mississippi State the previous week, the SEC West is still on the line in this game. A Hog loss creates a three-way tie. The game is close as has been the case every time the two teams meet. A national audience tunes into the game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. LSU is ranked No. 3 and has its own hopes for a national title. The game goes into overtime as LSU kicks a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation on a questionable pass-interference penalty setting up the Tigers in good field position for the field goal. In overtime, LSU turns it over in its first possession and the ball is recovered by Jerry Franklin. On the first play, Tyler Wilson hits Chris Gragg wide open in the middle as he breaks a tackle and rumbles into the endzone. Les Miles is carried off the field by a mob of fans and is never seen again.
Hogs win 37-31 (12-0)
What happens next?
You now get to write the fairy-tale ending. Arkansas will be playing Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC championship and then Oklahoma in the BCS championship. So for now, I am predicting 12-0, but I may change that come August.
Send your season-ending story and prediction to fromthebench@yahoo.com. I will post them anonymously on shieldsrobert.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Twitter: @rsfromthebench
end
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Justice Delay is Justice Denied
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
Robert Shields
I have written about this Sugar Bowl/Terrelle Pryor/Ohio State ordeal now for the fourth time. It’s hard to let go as the situation keeps constantly evolving. The latest is the revelation that Terrelle Pryor will forgo his senior year and attempt to go to the NFL.
In this space, it was mentioned that the sanctions against the Ohio State players before the Sugar bowl were laughable and that they should not have been allowed to play. A devilish deal was made and they were allowed to play. It was corrupt then and it’s still corrupt now. The more information that has come to light makes this entire sordid affair all the more worse.
When you have been caught stealing and sentenced, it’s immediate. You don’t get to keep the ill gotten gains. You don’t get to pick when you’re willing to serve your sentence. It’s long standing practice and belief in this country that justice delayed is justice denied. This is for a good reason. And this Pryor situation is a great example. He got to play in the Sugar Bowl and has gotten to avoid his penalty as did his coach as did Jim Tressell. Tressell won’t have to serve his suspensions either because he has since resigned. I assume he left with some money.
Ohio State should have to forfeit all its games last year including the Sugar Bowl. Vacating the games will not be enough in this situation. There is no plausible deniability on this one. They cheated. They knew it. They did it deliberately to gain competitive advantage.
Last column, I used the track example. Yes. Ohio State cut the track short when Arkansas ran the entire distance. When you break the rules to gain a competitive advantage, to unbalance the playing field, violating fair play with purpose to win, you don’t get to win – you lose. Without that fundamental principle in place, you would never play anyone. You always compete with the idea that the other side is playing by the rules and not cheating and if they do cheat, they forfeit. It’s an elementary ground rule of any sport. Anything else is not a sport, its Thunder Dome and anything goes to win the game. It’s Machiavellian in the extreme.
It’s also not like everyone is trying to hang Ohio State on a technicality. This was cheating in the extreme to gain an advantage. This is not like some slight oversight of some obscure rule. Arkansas ran the whole oval of the 400 meters while Ohio State went straight to the finish.
It is beyond doubt that Terrelle Pryor should have sat for the Sugar Bowl along with other Ohio State players and Ohio State probably should have played the game without their coach. I can even buy the argument Ohio State never should have been in the game. They stole some other team’s place as they should have forfeited all their games from last season making them ineligible for the bowl. Ohio State allowing those players to play stole from anyone a truly fair game and any rightful winner of the game from everyone. It should have sat the players just as the Hogs did for the 1978 Orange Bowl.
I would admit it would be nice to see the Hogs play them without those players, but that’s not possible and that’s Ohio State’s fault. Ultimately that was a decision made by Ohio State that bamboozled everyone into letting those players play in the game.
Ohio State should remove thirteen victories from its all time win column and put in place thirteen losses impacting the schools overall win percentage and overall wins. It’s a punishment that fits.
I disagree with the assertion that it’s too late. It’s the same thinking that “well the bank robbery happened; it’s too late to go get them.” Bull. I also disagree with the analogy that I heard on the radio that it’s like telling a kid after they got to eat some stolen candy telling them that they did not enjoy it. No. The proper action is too no let the kid get away with improper behavior and you put soap in their mouth. The forfeit is the soap.
The Razorbacks were forced to play a game against cheaters. It should not be penalized and the offending party should be.
Arkansas 2010 season record 11-2. Series record against Ohio State 1-0.
You can follow me on twitter @rsfromthebench
end
Robert Shields
I have written about this Sugar Bowl/Terrelle Pryor/Ohio State ordeal now for the fourth time. It’s hard to let go as the situation keeps constantly evolving. The latest is the revelation that Terrelle Pryor will forgo his senior year and attempt to go to the NFL.
In this space, it was mentioned that the sanctions against the Ohio State players before the Sugar bowl were laughable and that they should not have been allowed to play. A devilish deal was made and they were allowed to play. It was corrupt then and it’s still corrupt now. The more information that has come to light makes this entire sordid affair all the more worse.
When you have been caught stealing and sentenced, it’s immediate. You don’t get to keep the ill gotten gains. You don’t get to pick when you’re willing to serve your sentence. It’s long standing practice and belief in this country that justice delayed is justice denied. This is for a good reason. And this Pryor situation is a great example. He got to play in the Sugar Bowl and has gotten to avoid his penalty as did his coach as did Jim Tressell. Tressell won’t have to serve his suspensions either because he has since resigned. I assume he left with some money.
Ohio State should have to forfeit all its games last year including the Sugar Bowl. Vacating the games will not be enough in this situation. There is no plausible deniability on this one. They cheated. They knew it. They did it deliberately to gain competitive advantage.
Last column, I used the track example. Yes. Ohio State cut the track short when Arkansas ran the entire distance. When you break the rules to gain a competitive advantage, to unbalance the playing field, violating fair play with purpose to win, you don’t get to win – you lose. Without that fundamental principle in place, you would never play anyone. You always compete with the idea that the other side is playing by the rules and not cheating and if they do cheat, they forfeit. It’s an elementary ground rule of any sport. Anything else is not a sport, its Thunder Dome and anything goes to win the game. It’s Machiavellian in the extreme.
It’s also not like everyone is trying to hang Ohio State on a technicality. This was cheating in the extreme to gain an advantage. This is not like some slight oversight of some obscure rule. Arkansas ran the whole oval of the 400 meters while Ohio State went straight to the finish.
It is beyond doubt that Terrelle Pryor should have sat for the Sugar Bowl along with other Ohio State players and Ohio State probably should have played the game without their coach. I can even buy the argument Ohio State never should have been in the game. They stole some other team’s place as they should have forfeited all their games from last season making them ineligible for the bowl. Ohio State allowing those players to play stole from anyone a truly fair game and any rightful winner of the game from everyone. It should have sat the players just as the Hogs did for the 1978 Orange Bowl.
I would admit it would be nice to see the Hogs play them without those players, but that’s not possible and that’s Ohio State’s fault. Ultimately that was a decision made by Ohio State that bamboozled everyone into letting those players play in the game.
Ohio State should remove thirteen victories from its all time win column and put in place thirteen losses impacting the schools overall win percentage and overall wins. It’s a punishment that fits.
I disagree with the assertion that it’s too late. It’s the same thinking that “well the bank robbery happened; it’s too late to go get them.” Bull. I also disagree with the analogy that I heard on the radio that it’s like telling a kid after they got to eat some stolen candy telling them that they did not enjoy it. No. The proper action is too no let the kid get away with improper behavior and you put soap in their mouth. The forfeit is the soap.
The Razorbacks were forced to play a game against cheaters. It should not be penalized and the offending party should be.
Arkansas 2010 season record 11-2. Series record against Ohio State 1-0.
You can follow me on twitter @rsfromthebench
end
Monday, June 06, 2011
From the Bench
Time for NCAA to Award Sugar Bowl to Arkansas
Robert Shields
I thought that I had written the last of my installments on Ohio State’s cheating ways and why it should forfeit the Allstate Sugar Bowl to Arkansas. But the wheel keeps turning on the Program that resides in Columbus, Ohio.
This past week their coach, Jim Tressel, became no longer the coach of the Buckeyes. It’s hard to imagine anyone getting to keep their job after lying to their employer and covering it up. He also seems to have deceived the NCAA when making that devilish pact with the governing body to let the cheating players compete in the Sugar Bowl. Ohio State may not have been forthcoming enough with other potential violations that should have kept players out of the BCS bowl game.
The hits keep coming. Sports Illustrated published a hit piece last week on Tressel and painted a very sordid picture of the coach as being slimy even going back to his days as head coach at Youngstown State. And ESPN seems to run something daily on this situation, even mentioning the fact Terrelle Pryor should not even be driving those vehicles in Ohio because his driver’s license is expired.
As more and more comes to light, Ohio State looks like a rogue football program that had problems that were systemic. The coach knew about it and did nothing. We all like to at least pretend that when something bad happens that the coach has some plausible deniability that he knew anything. This is not the case at Ohio State.
There appears to be so much more coming to light than what the NCAA initially knew when allowing Ohio State to play its full team. The NCAA allowed the players to play based on the fact that the players were not properly educated on the rules. I call complete BS, but they have an argument when the coach knew about violations and hid them. One could reach the conclusion the coach condoned the practice.
Speaking of rules, the Razorback football coach this past week was quoted again as saying, “I think they changed the rules for that game” – “that game” being the Sugar Bowl because historically you never delay punishment. When infractions are found, players must sit. They don’t get to pick which games you get to play and not play.
But the NCAA is nearly as guilty as the players and coach because it smelled a big pile of money and decided to go for the green rather than do what was right even if it would impact television ratings for one of its biggest postseason games.
When Kevin Trainor, UA associate athletic director for public relations, was asked how the USC game from the 2005 season will be treated in the Razorback football media guide since the NCAA penalties are now final and the NCAA ordered that game vacated, he said, “We will likely note that the game was later vacated per NCAA sanction.” He also acknowledged the fact the 1993 Alabama game is in the books as a win because it was forfeited. Make no mistake, Ohio State should be in the same category in the next UA football media guide.
The NCAA is great at punishing a college’s future teams. But this is a case where the offending set of players and actors in the situation definitely needs to be punished. One way is to make them forfeit. I know recently the NCAA is more on a kick to make teams vacate wins. But in this case, it’s not enough.
The coach knew. He purposefully cheated and deceived. The NCAA should not give you the opportunity to win in that situation. The only eligible team to win that day was Arkansas – even if that means by forfeit months later.
Ohio State’s program should not only have to remove the wins from its win column in the record book but add to its loss column hurting its overall winning percentage as a school. It’s the punishment that fits the crime. It does not deserve to be noted before its games as one of the winningest programs of the last decade.
I still get responses every time I write one of these columns on Ohio State from some fans who don’t want the win that way because it was not earned. My response is get over it.
One analogy that I used on one fan who expressed he did not want the win that way was in track if you step outside your lane you lose. It does not matter if you are faster. It’s the rule and it exists to protect the stagger all runners are subjected to in the race. They all know the rule – don’t step over the lane line. Ohio State violated the rule upsetting the stagger with its actions. It was disqualified and everyone moves up in ranking.
This scenario played out in the 2008 Olympics in the 200-meter race when a U.S. runner was the beneficiary of moving up in the ranking to catch the bronze medal after two runners were disqualified for lane infractions. He did not want it that way, but it’s in the Olympics’ books that way. He finished fifth, but was awarded third.
The rules exist for a reason to create fair competition and an even playing field. Ohio State gained an advantage in its actions. It cut the track short. And if you can’t see that fact, your coach does.
Send your best 200-meter time to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
You can follow me at www.twitter.com/rsfromthebench
end
Robert Shields
I thought that I had written the last of my installments on Ohio State’s cheating ways and why it should forfeit the Allstate Sugar Bowl to Arkansas. But the wheel keeps turning on the Program that resides in Columbus, Ohio.
This past week their coach, Jim Tressel, became no longer the coach of the Buckeyes. It’s hard to imagine anyone getting to keep their job after lying to their employer and covering it up. He also seems to have deceived the NCAA when making that devilish pact with the governing body to let the cheating players compete in the Sugar Bowl. Ohio State may not have been forthcoming enough with other potential violations that should have kept players out of the BCS bowl game.
The hits keep coming. Sports Illustrated published a hit piece last week on Tressel and painted a very sordid picture of the coach as being slimy even going back to his days as head coach at Youngstown State. And ESPN seems to run something daily on this situation, even mentioning the fact Terrelle Pryor should not even be driving those vehicles in Ohio because his driver’s license is expired.
As more and more comes to light, Ohio State looks like a rogue football program that had problems that were systemic. The coach knew about it and did nothing. We all like to at least pretend that when something bad happens that the coach has some plausible deniability that he knew anything. This is not the case at Ohio State.
There appears to be so much more coming to light than what the NCAA initially knew when allowing Ohio State to play its full team. The NCAA allowed the players to play based on the fact that the players were not properly educated on the rules. I call complete BS, but they have an argument when the coach knew about violations and hid them. One could reach the conclusion the coach condoned the practice.
Speaking of rules, the Razorback football coach this past week was quoted again as saying, “I think they changed the rules for that game” – “that game” being the Sugar Bowl because historically you never delay punishment. When infractions are found, players must sit. They don’t get to pick which games you get to play and not play.
But the NCAA is nearly as guilty as the players and coach because it smelled a big pile of money and decided to go for the green rather than do what was right even if it would impact television ratings for one of its biggest postseason games.
When Kevin Trainor, UA associate athletic director for public relations, was asked how the USC game from the 2005 season will be treated in the Razorback football media guide since the NCAA penalties are now final and the NCAA ordered that game vacated, he said, “We will likely note that the game was later vacated per NCAA sanction.” He also acknowledged the fact the 1993 Alabama game is in the books as a win because it was forfeited. Make no mistake, Ohio State should be in the same category in the next UA football media guide.
The NCAA is great at punishing a college’s future teams. But this is a case where the offending set of players and actors in the situation definitely needs to be punished. One way is to make them forfeit. I know recently the NCAA is more on a kick to make teams vacate wins. But in this case, it’s not enough.
The coach knew. He purposefully cheated and deceived. The NCAA should not give you the opportunity to win in that situation. The only eligible team to win that day was Arkansas – even if that means by forfeit months later.
Ohio State’s program should not only have to remove the wins from its win column in the record book but add to its loss column hurting its overall winning percentage as a school. It’s the punishment that fits the crime. It does not deserve to be noted before its games as one of the winningest programs of the last decade.
I still get responses every time I write one of these columns on Ohio State from some fans who don’t want the win that way because it was not earned. My response is get over it.
One analogy that I used on one fan who expressed he did not want the win that way was in track if you step outside your lane you lose. It does not matter if you are faster. It’s the rule and it exists to protect the stagger all runners are subjected to in the race. They all know the rule – don’t step over the lane line. Ohio State violated the rule upsetting the stagger with its actions. It was disqualified and everyone moves up in ranking.
This scenario played out in the 2008 Olympics in the 200-meter race when a U.S. runner was the beneficiary of moving up in the ranking to catch the bronze medal after two runners were disqualified for lane infractions. He did not want it that way, but it’s in the Olympics’ books that way. He finished fifth, but was awarded third.
The rules exist for a reason to create fair competition and an even playing field. Ohio State gained an advantage in its actions. It cut the track short. And if you can’t see that fact, your coach does.
Send your best 200-meter time to fromthebench@yahoo.com.
You can follow me at www.twitter.com/rsfromthebench
end
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