Thought that this was an appropriate highlight reel look at how Arkansas plays football.... enjoy.
No, I don't care if I offend people from Arkansas with the title of this post, mainly because no one reads this blog.
Eight days until kickoff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgcsLyByO9A
Monday, December 27, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thoughts on the NCAA Suspensions
It has been a day now, and we have all had time to at least start to digest everything that has happened with Ohio State football.
In the event that you have been living under a rock or are just an ass who wants to keep bringing it up to embarrassed OSU fans, yesterday the NCAA suspended the following players for the first five games of the 2011 season due to receiving "improper benefits" dating back to 2009: QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Boom Herron, WR DeVier Posey (should I keep going?), LT Mike Adams and reserve DE Solomon Thomas. Backup LB Jordan Whiting will serve a one-game suspension to begin the 2011 season against Akron.
The transgressions for the players serving five game suspensions include selling various items such as Big Ten championship rings, gold pants and game-worn apparel for values ranging from 1,000-2,500 dollars, along with exchanging autographs for tattoos.
The NCAA is allowing the players to participate in the Sugar Bowl mainly because they determined that Ohio State did not educate the players well enough that it was not acceptable to sell things of that nature for profit, but lets be honest for a moment here. The real reason in my opinion, which has come to my attention after reading and hearing many different opinions the past few days, is because the NCAA doesn't want to lose the money that would come from having OSU and Arkansas feature all of its stars on one of college football's biggest stages in New Orleans. Players such as Pryor and Posey represent dollar signs for bowl sponsors, advertisers, etc. and no organization wants to see an investment lose money or interest. It is simple business.
How do I feel about all of this? Not that it matters, but there is a lot that needs to be said here and I really do not have the energy to express every little thing that I think. I do have the time to try and sum up some of the major points, though.
First of all, whether or not it explicitly says in the NCAA's overly augmented and hypocritical rule book that you cannot sell ANYTHING that belongs to you is a debate that I'll leave to the people that are supposed to make those rules abundantly clear. The issue is how does one determine if something that an athlete receives is truly his/hers to sell? The argument that you shouldn't want to sell something like a trophy at all to begin with is beside the point, because if you are like me then you would cherish something like that for the rest of your life. I believe that it needs to be made crystal clear that the NCAA and school still technically own things such as trophies, awards, etc. until the student is no longer an amateur. If I earn something for my achievements on the field, regardless if I would actually sell it or not, I am under the impression that is is mine. Not partially the universities or the NCAA's, but MINE. To quote Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers, "The painting was a gift, Todd. I'm taking it with me".
Do I condone what these players did? No. Do I believe that there were circumstances that lead me to believe that in the long run what these players did is forgivable? Yes. Do they deserve to be suspended? HELL YES. They should be suspended for the bowl game and have a lesser suspension next season in a perfect world, but it isn't a perfect world and they are allowed to play in it. You have a problem with that? Talk to the NCAA about that. Don't bash OSU for this, but the NCAA. It was their ruling, and OSU is abiding by it (by the way, I have a gut feeling that the suspensions will be reduced).
I know plenty of people that have done things that they are not especially proud of (myself included) in order to accomplish a goal at hand. Families that struggle around the world do things to put food on the table, put their kids through college, etc. People rob, steal and kill in the name of love. And sometimes people with the means do things to help those that are less fortunate. Whether it is true or not that a lot of these players sold their gold pants and rings in order to help their families pay the bills and put food on the table is not exactly clear considering I do not know any of them personally. If they did it, although it was definitely handled in a very bad way, I can understand why.
Those are my thoughts, and there is still a game to play. Almost a week until game time.
Let's shut the SEC, ESPN, and the world up.
GO BUCKS!!!!!
In the event that you have been living under a rock or are just an ass who wants to keep bringing it up to embarrassed OSU fans, yesterday the NCAA suspended the following players for the first five games of the 2011 season due to receiving "improper benefits" dating back to 2009: QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Boom Herron, WR DeVier Posey (should I keep going?), LT Mike Adams and reserve DE Solomon Thomas. Backup LB Jordan Whiting will serve a one-game suspension to begin the 2011 season against Akron.
The transgressions for the players serving five game suspensions include selling various items such as Big Ten championship rings, gold pants and game-worn apparel for values ranging from 1,000-2,500 dollars, along with exchanging autographs for tattoos.
The NCAA is allowing the players to participate in the Sugar Bowl mainly because they determined that Ohio State did not educate the players well enough that it was not acceptable to sell things of that nature for profit, but lets be honest for a moment here. The real reason in my opinion, which has come to my attention after reading and hearing many different opinions the past few days, is because the NCAA doesn't want to lose the money that would come from having OSU and Arkansas feature all of its stars on one of college football's biggest stages in New Orleans. Players such as Pryor and Posey represent dollar signs for bowl sponsors, advertisers, etc. and no organization wants to see an investment lose money or interest. It is simple business.
How do I feel about all of this? Not that it matters, but there is a lot that needs to be said here and I really do not have the energy to express every little thing that I think. I do have the time to try and sum up some of the major points, though.
First of all, whether or not it explicitly says in the NCAA's overly augmented and hypocritical rule book that you cannot sell ANYTHING that belongs to you is a debate that I'll leave to the people that are supposed to make those rules abundantly clear. The issue is how does one determine if something that an athlete receives is truly his/hers to sell? The argument that you shouldn't want to sell something like a trophy at all to begin with is beside the point, because if you are like me then you would cherish something like that for the rest of your life. I believe that it needs to be made crystal clear that the NCAA and school still technically own things such as trophies, awards, etc. until the student is no longer an amateur. If I earn something for my achievements on the field, regardless if I would actually sell it or not, I am under the impression that is is mine. Not partially the universities or the NCAA's, but MINE. To quote Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers, "The painting was a gift, Todd. I'm taking it with me".
Do I condone what these players did? No. Do I believe that there were circumstances that lead me to believe that in the long run what these players did is forgivable? Yes. Do they deserve to be suspended? HELL YES. They should be suspended for the bowl game and have a lesser suspension next season in a perfect world, but it isn't a perfect world and they are allowed to play in it. You have a problem with that? Talk to the NCAA about that. Don't bash OSU for this, but the NCAA. It was their ruling, and OSU is abiding by it (by the way, I have a gut feeling that the suspensions will be reduced).
I know plenty of people that have done things that they are not especially proud of (myself included) in order to accomplish a goal at hand. Families that struggle around the world do things to put food on the table, put their kids through college, etc. People rob, steal and kill in the name of love. And sometimes people with the means do things to help those that are less fortunate. Whether it is true or not that a lot of these players sold their gold pants and rings in order to help their families pay the bills and put food on the table is not exactly clear considering I do not know any of them personally. If they did it, although it was definitely handled in a very bad way, I can understand why.
Those are my thoughts, and there is still a game to play. Almost a week until game time.
Let's shut the SEC, ESPN, and the world up.
GO BUCKS!!!!!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Arkansas- Quick Breakdown
#7 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2, 6-2; SEC #2)
QB- Ryan Mallett (3,592 pass yards, 30 TD, 11 INT)
RB- Knile Davis (1,183 rush yards, 14 Total TD)
WR- Greg Childs (46 rec. for 659 yards, 6 TD)
WR- Jarius Wright (38 rec. for 718 yards, 4 TD)
TE- D.J. Williams (49 rec. for 589 yards, 4 TD)
National Ranks
3rd in the Nation in Passing Yards per Game (338)
17th in the Nation in Points per Game (37)
6th Toughest Schedule in the Nation
Key Wins in 2010
Texas A&M, in Arlington (9-3 record)
@ South Carolina (9-4 record) SEC East Champs
@ Mississippi State (8-4 record)
LSU (10-2 record)
The Arkansas Razorbacks, who finished the season at 10-2 and in second place in the SEC, put together one of the best statistical seasons in school history en route to their first Sugar Bowl appearance since 1979 and their first as a member of the SEC. QB Ryan Mallett, a sure-fire first round NFL draft pick, leads a team that features one of the most feared passing attacks in America to complement RB Knile Davis, who has had himself quite a breakout sophomore season with nearly 1,200 yards and a 6.6 yards per carry average. While the defense gives up 23 points per game, they have four wins over ranked opponents and won those contests by an average score of 33 to 22. Arkansas is a very talented and well coached SEC football team.Pour Some Sugar on the Buckeyes
Congratulations to Ohio State on an 11-1 season and a berth to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 4th, 2011 in the Superdome against the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2).It will be a hell of a match up and a very exciting game to watch. Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett leads one of the best offenses in the country into their first BCS bowl in school history. This will be the 10th meeting with an SEC opponent in a bowl game situation for Ohio State (they have gone 0-9 all-time).
I'll be previewing the game along with the other bowl games throughout the month.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Final BCS Bowl Predictions (12/4)
2011 BCS National Championship Game (1/10)
#2 Oregon Ducks (12-0)
vs.
#1 Auburn Tigers (13-0)
Rose Bowl Presented by VIZIO (1/1)-
Wisconsin Badgers (11-1) Big Ten Champs
vs.
TCU Horned Frogs (12-0) At-Large
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (1/1)-
Oklahoma Sooners (11-2) Big 12 Champs
vs.
Stanford Cardinal (11-1) At-Large
Discover Orange Bowl (1/3)-
Connecticut Huskies (8-4) Big East Champs
vs.
Virginia Tech Hokies (11-2) ACC Champs
Allstate Sugar Bowl (1/4)-
Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2) At-Large
vs.
Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) At-Large
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