IF THE SHOE FITS

It's not midnight yet and the Razorbacks are still wearing the glass slippers going on 11 weeks. Tomorrow they will hopefully be refitted for new shoes as they take on the Tigers of LSU in The Rock for the "Battle of the Boot." For those of you who didn't pay attention in geography glass, the shape of Arkansas and Louisiana together resembles a boot and thus the official name of the rivalry which had its conception in 1996. Many are saying this is the biggest game every played by the Hogs in Little Rock because technically, we still have an outside shot at playing in the national championship game if we get some help from Notre Dame and USC. And of course, if we take care of business and beat LSU and Florida next week in the SEC championship game. This has been some ride since the USC debacle in week one. I don't want it to end. Winning is a lot of fun, and its been a long time coming for Razorback players, staff, and fans. I don't remember a football season where the Hogs have gotten as much national TV exposure as this one. Its great to finally recieve regular mentions on ESPN, CBS Sports, and many other national media venues. Winning brings these media types out of the woodwork. Winning also means opportunities for successful staff to be courted by other programs for their winning formulas. I don't see Gus being an assistant coach much longer and rumblings are that some major programs have recognized his talents and will come calling at seasons end. So here's the deal Tyson, Lindsey, Walton and Broyles. Lock him in quick and we can all enjoy these glass slippers for several years to come. I want to stay at the ball long after midnight.
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Thanks Mom, for the wonderful spread of turkey, dressing, ham, sweet potatoes, rolls, sweet tea, casseroles, and pies that were delicious and downright sinful. No one even comes close to matching your tastey cornbread dressing. Love ya.
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Kudos to Coach Heath and the roundballers who beat SIU in the first round of the Old Spice Classic basketball tourney in Orlando, FL. The Salukies were playing like the tournament team they will be come March with defensive pressure creating havoc for the new look Hogs. The national exposure on ESPN will also help recruiting and winning means more visibility Friday when they take on Marist. Who is Marist? I might want to call the folks in Minnesota. I bet they know...Actually they are a little college in Poughkeepsie, NY. Without googling it, take a guess at what their mascot is......????
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Answer- the "Red Foxes" Store that one away for Trivia Night.
My prediction- Hogs 28, LSU 17
B-ball- Hogs beat Marist by 12
All you shoppers, enjoy the Retail Rat Race today. Highlights at 10:00.  ¶ 10:25 PM 5 comments

  ROADHOGS



In my quest to travel and visit each away venue that the Hogs play in the SEC, I can now scratch Starkville, MS off my list. Several friends warned me earlier in the week about this being a dead end trip and I was prepared for the worst. But as usual, I was pleasantly surprised. For starters, we got there in record time; 4 hours flat. That's almost as quick as a trip to Fayetteville from Searcy. (Jay was driving and reliving his old Dallas cop days chase experiences I do believe). Secondly, it was a gorgeous day with temps in the low 60's and the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. I was warned that the facilities were less than stellar, and there was nothing to do there. Well, we traveled there ONLY to watch football so I wasn't concerned about typical "after-game" celebration hot spots. Yes, the stadium is old and small and there was no hot water in the Razorbacks dressing room, but the campus was neatly landscaped and access to the stadium was fan friendly. Like our Auburn trip, we got there early enough to walk down to within a step of the field and enjoy seeing the players and coaches go through pre-game warm-ups as if we were on the staff. The Bulldog faithful were very hospitable and engaging and seemed to appreciate the 8,000 or so Hog fans who joined them for the game. As we waited outside the stadium to greet the Hogs an older gentlemen came up and asked us about our trip and our team and where in Arkansas we were from. After a short visit, we knew he was probably SOMEBODY and I asked him were he was sitting. His seats were in one of the boxes in the exclusive "M" club. I asked if we could come sit with him and he simply winked at me and said "yall enjoy the game." Oh well, didn't hurt to ask! The five of us, Gary, Jim, Jay, James, and I had a great time. The game was closer than we wanted with Coach Croom's bunch holding us to our lowest offensive outing of the year. We found out we were a complete football team Saturday with the first two scores coming off of special teams efforts. Defense only gave up one big running play and allowed a TD pass but was stingy otherwise. I will always remember the Starkville trip for several reasons. We won the SEC West outright that day, James was sick the whole trip but managed to even call the hogs a couple of times, and being with friends trumps a championship every time. I can't go to Atlanta this year, but I plan on watching the SEC championship with a friend or two as well...after we take care of the Bayou Bengals friday! I wonder if Hawaii will ever try and join the SEC.....ROADTRIP!  ¶ 5:27 PM 3 comments

  ONE WIN AND WE'RE IN; ROAD TRIP II The weekend's game with Mississippi State presents the biggest opportunity for advancement than any game of the season for the Hogs. A victory means the SEC West championship and spot in the SEC championship game on December 2 against the Gators of Florida. A win also takes away a little of the pressure of having to beat LSU to clench the SEC West crown the day after Thanksgiving. With all this on the line, it didn't take much persuasion for several of my banker buddies and I to put together a spur of the moment road trip to Starkville. Its only 4.5 hours from Searcy and its a 1:30 kickoff so it just made sense. Besides, there is no television broadcast of the game this weekend so we had to go. It also a goal of mine to try and visit every conference venue that the Hogs play against in the next few years, so I was an easy sell when approached about going. We called the Bulldog ticket office and purchased our tickets in section U, row 56 and will join several thousand Hog fans that have scarfed up tickets in the last few days. If this road trip is anything like our trip to Auburn on October 7, it will be a great weekend of football. The Bulldogs scare me because this will be an opportunity for them to play the role of spoiler; or at least make it more difficult for us to get to Atlanta. Coach Croom doesn't care about spoiling our day. He simply wants to win a football game. His program needs more victories than the one he stole from Shula 2 weeks ago. A win against the Hogs and then against Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl would give his team a much needed boost going into the offseason. The Hogs are focused and have approached practice and this week's all important game in a very businesslike manner. Their quiet leader on defense, Sam Olajubutu called a player only meeting Tuesday and stressed to the team the need to stay focused and play one game at a time. When Butu talks, the players listen. My prediction is the Hogs win by 3 TD's, 35-14. We leave at 6:00 am Saturday. I'm not ready for this magical season to end.

HOUSE SOLD
Just an update since many of you knew I have been trying to sell the house for most of the year. My 6 month sales contract was to end with Remax on November 30 and I had been telling myself that if the Hoggard team couldn't sell it, it wouldn't be sold. They are terrific at what they do but the truth is, the real estate market is a little soft right now in Searcy. As the deadline approached, I had prayed hard, and others as well, that God would find me a buyer. A couple of weeks ago, after being encouraged by the preachers at DT church to stretch in the area of personal contributions, I decided to double my weekly giving. I confessed to God my lack of faith in him being in control of the situation and asked him to forgive me. The next week, I got my first offer in nearly 2 years with 3 different realtors. A blessing from God? You better believe it. We close next week. Be careful what you ask for.  ¶ 9:35 PM 7 comments

  An OT Template for a NT Church Before I relate my comments on this post you must link over to Patrick Meads blog, www.patrickmead.blogspot.com and read his latest on "Shall We Plant." The church in Rochester is embracing culture and have determined to reach up, reach in, and reach out to their neighbors in some radical ways. Its an awsome read. Have your church leaders read it as well and challenge them to try some of these methods of reaching the lost and un-churched of your communities.
At DT where I attend, the focus for the month has been on giving. We are studying a book series entitled "Expect a Harvest" by Dr. Kregg Hood that encourages us to stretch in relation to our giving and allow God to prove that he can bless you beyond your wildest dreams. This theme brings me to the thoughts for this particular post. I was reading in Exodus about Moses and his communication with God and the instructions God gave him to implement for the Israelites as they began to construct the tabernacle.
"They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. (and we always tighten up when a baptist brother mentions that word) And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, "The people are bringing MORE THAN ENOUGH for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done."
Read on, it gets better.....
Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp; "No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary." And so the people were RESTRAINED from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work." Exodus 36:3-7
When was the last time an elder got up in your fellowship and said,"OK folks, this constant giving is gonna have to stop! There is nowhere else to store all that you have so freely given, and the craftsment can't even turn around without stepping on your gifts. This is your official Restraining Order on giving. What will it take for our churches to have an attitude of giving like these good Israelites did when the challenge was given them? What will motivate us to "sell our possessions and goods and give to anyone as he had need," as the first century christians did in Acts chapter 2? I would love for a brother to get up in the next few weeks and write these 4 words on a dry erase board..."No More Giving Necessary."
I believe that the key to a group giving in this manner is found in several verses in Exodus 35..."and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the Lord." Its a heart issue. Something tells me these people became a community of believers and giving then became second nature. It was a natural outpouring of the bond that was developing among them. It was a snowball effect in the Israelites case; so much that Moses had to put out a proclaimation for them to quit before someone gets hurt. I want to be a part of a community, so involved in outreach and sharing that one day my Lord may say to me,"You've done more than enough to do the work that I commanded."  ¶ 9:32 PM 4 comments

  WHY I LOVE THE HOGS
I made a trip to Paragould Saturday to watch the Razorbacks play the Gamecocks of South Carolina with my mom. Waiting on me was some homemade taco soup, banana pudding and of course, mom's famous sweet tea. Mom is the reason I am such a fan of the Hogs. For as long as I can remember, I have always known how to "call the Hogs" and cheer them on thanks to the influence of my wonderful mom. The earliest game we watched together was of course the classic of '69 when the Hogs fell to the Longhorns in the Shootout of the Century. Growing up, we would go outside at halftime and toss the football around, reinacting the highlights of the first half. I get my competitive nature from my mom, who was a pretty good basketball player in her day and will give you all you want in a game of ping pong or any board game. Thanks for another great Razorback experience Saturday, mom. You are the greatest. See you at the Tennessee game...  ¶ 8:30 PM 6 comments

  EIGHT YEARS LATER...
On November 14, 1998, almost exactly 8 years ago, the Arkansas Razorbacks carried a national ranking and an 8-0 record into Neyland Stadium hoping to knock off the Vols and continue their run for a national championship in Houston Nutt's rookie year. I was coaching my son's U-10 soccer team in a big tournament in Little Rock. The parents and spectator's typical loyalty to cheering their son's performances were split that fall afternoon with one eye half-heartedly on their kids and the other on one of many portable color T.V.'s scattered throughout the gallery on tailgates. Every now and then a cheer would explode from the spectator's sideline and it wasn't because one of the soccer players had headed in a goal; it was because the Hogs had just scored. My loyalty was divided as well. I was missing the biggest game of the year so I could "coach" fifteen 10 year old boys and hand out banana's and juice at the end. It was worth it though. But, it was the shortest post game talk in junior soccer history as we high-fived each other and scampered over to join the parents to watch the "real game." Well, Tennessee comes to Fayetteville this year for a very similar rematch, along with the biggest frenzy that ESPN has produced for college football; ESPN Gameday. This will be their first ever appearance on the campus of the U of A. Students, fans, and players will have an opportunity to showcase one of the best kept secrets in college athletics; the outstanding facilities of the Arkansas athletic program nestled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. Like 1998, the Hogs come into the game on a 8 game winning streak and a chance to win the SEC West like they did then. Back then, a national championship was within reach for the winner. The boys won their soccer game 1-0 but the Vols beat the Hogs 28-24 in a nailbiter on a strange quarterback fluke fumble and went on to win their sixth national title in January. This week's game and the ESPN exposure will be an important catalyst in getting the national respect back that the Hogs enjoyed in the glory days of the 60's and 70's. That much needed catalyst is recruiting. Winning programs, first class facilities, and TV cameras are the things that the blue chippers are looking for when deciding where to attend school. Hopefully eight years from now, I can refer back to this post, and highlight it as the turning point in a string of upcoming championships for the Hogs. Hopefully this will also become an annual stop for ESPN commentators Chris, Lee, Kirk, and Desmond.  ¶ 6:45 PM 3 comments

  NEW TERRITORY
After back to back loosing seasons as well as no bowl appearances, the Hogs find themselves in new territory. Not unchartered territory, mind you; its more like coming back home from a loooong journey. Its almost a joke to be bowl eligible anymore with just 6 wins, especially when many teams play a 12 game schedule. It waters down the whole bowl system. The bowl situation is a whole different blog so I digress. Anyway, the Hogs are bowl eligible, but they have bigger fish to fry this year. Currently they are on a 7 game win streak after getting humbled in game 1 by USC. They are the only undefeated SEC team, the toughest conference in America, and yet the BCS can't seem to find a place for them in the top 10. How Auburn remains at #6 after the shellacking we gave them at their place and their squeaky wins against LSU and Florida is still a mystery to me. Again I digress. The Hogs square off against the "Ole Ball Coach" and his South Carolina Gamecocks Saturday in Columbia. It will be hostile territory but familiar; remember the road win at Auburn in front of 80K people. Spurrier will be unpredictible, especially in this game, because he has to. S.C. does not match up well with the Hogs on either side of the ball, so expect the unexpected. It will be fun to witness our playcaller, Gus Malzhan match wits with the heisman trophy winner of the early 60's. The Hogs appear mostly one dimensional with their potent running game, but the passing game is simply hibernating, waiting for an opportunity to unveil itself. It could come out this week or next season, depending on the whether opponents find a way to stop the run. If D-Mac and Felix continue to roll up impressive ground game numbers, and the Hogs win, I don't care if they ever toss the ball past the line of scrimmage. But, the insurance premium of the passing game has been paid and is there just in case of an emergency in the form of Monk, Crawford, Williams, and of course the slinger, M16. Everyone is healthy and that's a trememdous advantage being on the road. Butu is back in the linebacker corp and the captain will lead us to victory. The Gamecocks will remain winless in conference games at home this year and M16 will remain undefeated as the quarterback of the Hogs. Final score...27-17, Hogs. One step closer to a BCS bowl, which indeed is unfamiliar territory.  ¶ 7:59 PM 5 comments