Rivalry: The Remedy for Razorback Rut As March Madness approaches, the Hogs are again a bubble team and must most likely win the SEC tourney to punch a ticket to the Dance. They have a little momentum, having beat Mississippi State and Vandy on the road to end the regular season and start their "streak." During the road to the tourneys, we fans in Hog Nation have had to endure a 'soap opera like' atmosphere with all of the uneasiness lately on the hill. Football coaches and players leaving with and without comment, derogatory e-mails circulating from coaches families slandering players performances, and talk of Stan Heath loosing his job if he doesn't make the NCAA tourney. Heck, even our womens basketball coach resigned. None of this is what I want to read in my daily sports section. I have an answer to help us get past the papparazzi's we've become; and its not just winning because we won the SEC West in football with a 10 win season. We need a Rival. You know, like Alabama-Auburn, N.C-Duke, Ohio St.-Michigan. The Razorbacks have no one. Its us against the world. We currently have nano within the confines of our state's borders with whom we can arm wrestle and trash talk year round for bragging rights. Thus our water cooler talk gets boiled down to "who's calling the plays" and "when will F.B. ever retire." We only have 2 other schools in the state that would qualify as a D-1 rival; ASU and UCA. UCA is not even playing true D-1 status yet. On one hand its good to be the premier school in the state that everyone can rally around and support. On the other hand, a rival school would make the coaches recruit harder and smarter and the players practice and play harder in anticipation of the "big game." ASU would be our immediate rival, although their teams have historically been known as the whipping child of many big name schools. I say, schedule it for a 4 year home and away series and see what happens. If the Hogs have the program they think they have, they shouldn't be worried about being embarrassed. I would rather read print leading up to that game than read about what the Springdale recruits may be doing on Spring Break! How fun would it be to be part of an "Ironbowl", or "Tobacco Road" or "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." It works everywhere else in the country. Why are we any different? Maybe the new A.D. can help us with that one.  ¶ 7:01 PM 0 comments

  Headed To The Hill I will get to see the Hogs play in Bud Walton Arena tonight for the first time this season. They take on the Auburn Tigers in what is becoming the Wacky Western division of the SEC. Its wide open for the taking and still, no one in the West has a winning conference record. I'm taking a long time friend and customer and we'll get to sit in our luxurious bank box and eat bar-b-que. Except for the 3 1/2 hour trip both ways it should be a fun evening. The Tigers have some impressive wins under their belt but the Hogs play pretty good at home. (excluding the Kentucky game last Saturday where we blew a 14 point lead and have lost 7 straight times to them) Stephen Hill will be the difference in tonight's game. I sure hope he comes back next year. Is there a 7 footer in the country that hustles any harder than Mr. Hill? I don't think so.
Signing Day
Today is an exciting day for the elite high school football players of the country. These kids have the once in a lifetime opportunity to ink with a school that has recruited them and agreed to pay their entire college tuition in exchange for strapping on some pads and moving the ball up and down the field. Pretty good gig, huh. Its amazing how many family members, friends, neighbors, and townsfolk who have supported these kids are bonded together by their accomplishments and keep up with their progress religiously. Congratulations to all the 1-star barely got ins, all the way to the 5-star recruits who had several options before settling on what school thought best fit them. The Hogs are ranked somewhere between 8 & 9 in the SEC in recruiting this year which on paper looks disappointing but there are a lot of diamonds in the rough with this group. Speedy backs and big ole lineman seem to make up the cream of the crop. Time will tell how good they will be. One thing is for sure. Arkansas has the finest facilities in the country so if you want to work hard and invest in yourself its yours for the taking. Boys will become men if they will buy into what the coaches, conditioning staff, and tutors tell them to. I still don't know why I didn't get a look out of high school. Would you have turned down a 4'11", 125#, 4.8 in the 40, with juking skills that would rival Barry Sanders? How did those coaches sleep at night?  ¶ 11:31 AM 4 comments

  The UN-known Have you cringed when witnessing the latest marketing tool that movie makers and some book companies are resorting to when pitching their products? It goes like this. "Coming out on DVD next week, The Return of Chuckie V, the directors UN-cut, Un-censored, and UN-rated version." This is a "no holds barred" effort to tweak our dark side and temp us into watching something that should otherwise throw up all sorts of red flags; at least for moral minded christian folk. First of all, isn't the regular "R" rated version of most horror flicks and the like, where blood flows like water, and guts and innards are spilled like hot soup, not enough to make us vomit? How much more gory and stimulating would the uncut, uncensored, unrated version of that be? I mean, once you've seen a decapitation in living color on the regular film, what's there to be added that would make us delight in it even more? I watched the movie "SAW" with my son-n-law last year and even though the creativity of the sicko was intriguing, I have no desire to see SAW II and now SAW III or the un-cut directors take of that movie. I like to sleep at night with my eyes shut. What's scary about this technique is that it works, and we need to guard ourselves from the temptation to fall under the spell of getting an "insiders look" at something never before seen; especially when it involves movies we really shouldn't be watching frequently that contain themes such as violence, nudity, profane language,...you know the drill. For some reason, we get an adrenalin rush when faced with the possibility of doing something even slightly "over the top." Movie makers and promoters know this and attack this weakness we have. I suggest we try to remind ourselves that if it is marketed with an UN-something on the box then its most likely UN-suitable for viewing. Don't fall into this dangerous trap of the UN-known. God discloses the dangers of traps like this all through His Word. The temptation won't go away so sharpen your sword and make ready the armor for your family and battle this UN-acceptable practice of movie marketing mayhem. I have some new adjectives I may forward to Hollywood to see if they'll consider them for their next racy flick campaign...words like UN-healthy, UN-fit, UN-settling. I'm guessing they won't be taking them under advisement.  ¶ 1:57 PM 6 comments