Tuesday, April 03, 2007
As the Hog Turns
I quit watching soap operas a few years ago and right about that time, my interest in sports heightened. Fortunately, I no longer have to choose one over the other. The University of Arkansas athletic department's two major sports, football and basketball are making lots of headlines, but not for the reasons most fans would prefer.
Football has players and coaches leaving, rumours of unrest amoung the staying. Stories about salacious cell phone calls between a coach and a supporter--a cell phone owned by the University. Stories of parents lied to in recruiting, coaches recruited on beliefs they should have looked at more closely. Granted, this season was impressive....as long as you don't look at who AR beat. Lost by a smaller margin to USC, a school we have no business playing. Lost to LSU, a team we should have beaten and had many chances to, but just couldn't seal the deal.
Basketball was the stable sport and started out strong. Then the real teams started showing up and we started losing. Two SEC road wins. Two. The SEC tournament was key. Lose early in it and coach hits the hot seat. Win or do well.....Hopes were high that if the Razorbacks made it to the NCAA tournament, the coach would keep his job. No such luck. I'm sure few are crying over the $900,000 check he got on the way out the door (as an aside, if Big Faceless Corp wants to hand me nearly a million dollars, I will leave quietly and not raise ANY fuss whatsoever). So the search is on for a new coach. A new coach who will get a new boss come Dec 31, 2007 when the Yoda of the UA Athletic Dept retires.
As rumours fly that Billy Donovan of Florida is being courted by big money in Kentucky, Arkansas goes after a coach at a major school. He flirts with the idea for a few days, then decides that a raise is really all he needs and his school is only too glad to comply. New day, new candidate for Arkansas. Another call to a big name coach and this time, no flirting. Now a mid-major coach looks like "The Man". True, he's from a school many Arkansans have never heard of, but hey....he's a coach. Well, he was a coach. Less than 24 hours after the press conference where he beamed to the cameras and hugged Yoda, he changed his mind.
I would never say that one shouldn't thoughtfully and carefully ponder a job opportunity and not having a coach will hurt recruiting for a bit. A blog entry in NW AR suggests that we have a reality show with the winner getting the coaching job "Who Is Smarter than a 5th Grader and Still Wants to Be the Arkansas Basketball Coach?" Kinda has a nice ring to it.
Football has players and coaches leaving, rumours of unrest amoung the staying. Stories about salacious cell phone calls between a coach and a supporter--a cell phone owned by the University. Stories of parents lied to in recruiting, coaches recruited on beliefs they should have looked at more closely. Granted, this season was impressive....as long as you don't look at who AR beat. Lost by a smaller margin to USC, a school we have no business playing. Lost to LSU, a team we should have beaten and had many chances to, but just couldn't seal the deal.
Basketball was the stable sport and started out strong. Then the real teams started showing up and we started losing. Two SEC road wins. Two. The SEC tournament was key. Lose early in it and coach hits the hot seat. Win or do well.....Hopes were high that if the Razorbacks made it to the NCAA tournament, the coach would keep his job. No such luck. I'm sure few are crying over the $900,000 check he got on the way out the door (as an aside, if Big Faceless Corp wants to hand me nearly a million dollars, I will leave quietly and not raise ANY fuss whatsoever). So the search is on for a new coach. A new coach who will get a new boss come Dec 31, 2007 when the Yoda of the UA Athletic Dept retires.
As rumours fly that Billy Donovan of Florida is being courted by big money in Kentucky, Arkansas goes after a coach at a major school. He flirts with the idea for a few days, then decides that a raise is really all he needs and his school is only too glad to comply. New day, new candidate for Arkansas. Another call to a big name coach and this time, no flirting. Now a mid-major coach looks like "The Man". True, he's from a school many Arkansans have never heard of, but hey....he's a coach. Well, he was a coach. Less than 24 hours after the press conference where he beamed to the cameras and hugged Yoda, he changed his mind.
I would never say that one shouldn't thoughtfully and carefully ponder a job opportunity and not having a coach will hurt recruiting for a bit. A blog entry in NW AR suggests that we have a reality show with the winner getting the coaching job "Who Is Smarter than a 5th Grader and Still Wants to Be the Arkansas Basketball Coach?" Kinda has a nice ring to it.
