Five Things

1. And so Arkansas, it seems, will be at the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2.

This is undoubtedly causing great wailing and gnashing of teeth among Razorback fans. Arkies think the Hogs have a birthright to appear in the Cotton Bowl every season the team is bowl eligible. Thanks to the lingering SWC fixation (and sheer laziness), I'm pretty sure there are a lot of Arkansas fans who'd prefer the Cotton to the Orange, Sugar or Fiesta Bowls.

Part of this year's hoopla about the Cotton Bowl is not being played at the Cotton Bowl, but at Jerray! Jones' boondoggle of a stadium in Arlington. But I wonder if the Arkansas-A&M series, which will be played at Cowboys Stadium for 10 seasons, will damper the interest in going to the Cotton. Not this year, obviously, but after playing in the $1 billion stadium five consecutive seasons, the new should wear off for Arkansas fans.

While Dallas trumps Memphis in most things (Blues and BBQ being Memphis' strong points), there is a major drawback to the Cotton - it is broadcast on FOX.

While FOX does a good job with the NFL, it has done a horrible job with the Cotton. As the only college football game the network does all year, it's an afterthought. That's proven by FOX using Pat Summerall as the play-by-play man. At 79, he's just a shell of his former great self in the TV booth.

2. LSU Rocks

Last Saturday was my first game at Death Valley. The place should be renamed The Rock House, because the stadium felt like a rock concert.

At Razorback home games, during a time out you are bombarded with commercials on the jumbotron and over the PA system. At Tiger Stadium, they let the bands play and then crank up some music on the PA system right as the teams return to the field to fire up the crowd.

During the game, I heard Garth Brooks (Baton Rouge, which fired up the crowd), House of Pain (Jump Around, which oddly didn't cause a jumping frenzy in the student section), U2 (Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, during a video review on a challenge), Springsteen (Born To Run, during the time out following the punt return TD) and Michael Jackson (which, oddly, got the crowd more fired up than Jump Around). In the OT between possessions, they played some rap song that got the crowd dancing. DANCING!

When the game is at Arkansas, we're subjected to the (insert sponsor here) "Tailgater of the Day" and (insert Sponsor Here) "Can you name the Hog?" and (insert sponsor here) "Women's Sports Update." At LSU, that was done at halftime, not during crucial stretches where you needed the fans to be into the game.

Also, the LSU's Golden Band from Tigerland kicked the collective tails of the Marching Razorbacks. The LSU band played some Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline. When's the last time the Arkansas band broke out anything other than something from the 1970s?

Here is what happened during OT in the game in 2007. The LSU band played "Talkin' Out Da Side Of Ya Neck" by Dem Franchise Boyz. (Full discolsure: Being a 41-year-old white male, I had to Google that information.)



Arkansas AD Jeff Long was, naturally, at the game. I doubt he took notice, other than to think "Man, LSU should really be monetizing their time outs."

3. Joe Adams

I was standing on the 10-yard-line on the Arkansas bench when this happened. I can't describe the sound this collision made. Todd Curtis of ARSN or ISP or whatever was standing next to me. He thought Adams was dead.



Who doesn't like Pete Carroll?



4. Recurring Items

The SJ Top 25 is here.

Announcing teams are ready yet. Sorry. But with only a handful of games, it's probably not that important.

5. M8B Prediction

Will Florida beat Alabama in the SEC title game?



(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the M8B is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering ... especially since the Magic 8 Ball is 9-6 this season.)