Arkansas Razorbacks: Road to Redemption

arkansassports360.com

Last weeks 52-0 loss in Fayetteville was the first shut out there since the 60's. Tyler Wilson did not play because he was still recovering from concussion like symptoms. But Tyler did make a splash not because of his play but because of his talk after the game. As you can tell from the picture it was not a happy talk. Tyler said "It wasn't pretty to me to sit on the sideline and watch as a player. Sucks I can't be out there and do anything about it. Do I feel that we, at times, gave up out there? Yeah. Absolutely," He also said "As a leader it sucks to see people not do their jobs and things go wrong." Tyler was fired up and upset at the way the players played. He wasn't the only one as Razorback Nation was also very upset. Midway through the second quarter the game was only 7-0 Alabama. But everything went south after that. The Hogs did have a chance to score but missed on field goal that banged off the upright. Just when Hog fans thought things couldn't get any worse, John L Smith did what he does best and said something stupid that the media is now running with and making the entire Razorback Nation look dumb. JLS said in his press conference to get your chin up and SMILE. That press conference video has now gone viral and plenty of parody videos are already popping up.

This afternoon ESPN's Outside the Lines did their show on Arkansas. They called it #ArkansasMess . They basically talked about who was responsible and what could be done to fix the situation. There are plenty of opinions on who and what do to. Most people agree that Bobby Petrino has some type of blame in all this. The one thing that could get this train back on track is winning.

Razorback Nation got some great news today when Tyler Wilson was cleared to return. Tyler is by far the leader of this team and I dare say the organization right now. His return has already breathed some life into the fan base. Rutgers is a winnable game especially with Tyler at the helm. Tyler is the conductor of the train that is the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Razorbacks are arguably the laughing stock of college football. From top 10 program week one to a program in shambles now. The remaining games on the schedule besides LSU and maybe South Carolina are fairly winnable games. It all starts this weekend with Rutgers. The Hogs must take the rest of the season week to week in hopes of building up some wins and momentum to build the Road to Redemption.

My Fantasy Team: D' WareHouse

Its that time of year again. Football season is just a few short weeks away. I have decided to do 4 teams. This is one of those teams. This team is in a 12 team only IDP which is Individual Defensive Players league. Thoughts on how I might do this year based on this team? 


Update (12/20/12): I did horrible in this league. I finished close to the bottom. Only a couple of players managed to last the whole season. This was my worst performance in a fantasy league in a long time. I also changed the team name to @rzrbckmaniac which is my twitter handle. 

DT	DE	LB	CB	S
Cullen Jenkins, Philadelphia Eagles	Charles Johnson, Carolina Panthers	DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys	Brent Grimes, Atlanta Falcons	George Wilson, Buffalo Bills
Vince Wilfork, New England Patriots	Robert Quinn, St. Louis Rams	Brian Cushing, Houston Texans	Jabari Greer, New Orleans Saints	Roman Harper, New Orleans Saints
Kevin Williams, Minnesota Vikings	Dave Ball, Tennessee Titans	James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers	Chris Houston, Detroit Lions	Dashon Goldson San Francisco 49ers
		LeMarr Woodley, Pittsburgh Steelers	Morris Claiborne, Dallas Cowboys
		Lance Briggs, Chicago Bears

Bobby Petrino No Longer Head Hog

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

ImagesRumors were flying today as they have been the last few days. Around 6pm this evening it was announced that Jeff Long the Athletic Director for the University of Arkansas was going to hold a press conference at 715pm. Rumors got even wilder upon this news. It wasn't long after this that news of Petrino's firing was coming out. Joe Schad of ESPN was one of the first that I saw breaking the news on Twitter. Shortly before 7pm the AP and other credible news sources had confirmed the firing. Jeff Long didn't start the presser till closer to 730pm. He then stated that Coach Petrino would not be returning to the team. He also reveled some new details like the relationship has gone on for "some" time. There is also this new detail of a $20,000 gift to Jessica Dorrell the mistress/co-worker. My feelings have changed some on Coach. With the right provisions I would still like to have seen Petrino remain the Coach but I respect Jeff's decision. With the new details I lost a little respect for Petrino, but with the way Jeff Long handled the press conference I gained a lot for him. Long gave me the encouragement that he will get the program back on track to accomplishing the goals of winning the SEC and National Championship titles. Long said he will start the coaching search immediately following the press conference. He also named Taver Johnson as the acting head coach till Spring Football is over in late April and then will make a decision going forward after that.

 Not long after the press confrence Bobby Petrino released a statement through his agent. You can read the statement here. He basically says he is sorry and hopes the school has success. The big question now is who will be the new Head Hog. There is a short list already started by fans and national pundits alike. That list includes: Former Assistants Garrick McGee(Current Head Coach at UAB) and Gus Malzahn(Current Head Coach at A-State), Former UNC Coach Butch Davis, Current USF Coach Skip Holtz, Current Baylor Coach Art Briles, and others. I for one want a coach that has already proven what he can do. I feel like the team the Hogs have now is primed and ready for greatness. Why mess that up with a brand new system. I would be fine with Coach Johnson or any current coach on staff continuing being the interim coach through the upcoming season. After the season then make a choice to either keep the current coach or get a guy that will get the Hogs to the promised land. There are just a few guys that could be brought in now that could change my thinking. These guys are major long shots but Bill Cowher and John Gurden are just two off the top of my head that I would be ok with coming in and seeing what they could do with the talent up on the hill right now. How do you feel about Petrino, Long and the University now?

My thoughts on Rotnei Clarke

Its perfectly clear now, Rotnei Clarke doesn't and may never have wanted to be a Razorback. He and his family have tried to leave for a while now according to reports. If Rotnei doesn't want to be a legend in the state and finish off his career as a record holder then that's fine. He is entitled to play where ever he feels comfortable. If he had just come out and said that he didn't like Coach Anderson's system then everything would be fine and most people would wish him luck as long as he wasn't playing for another SEC team. I feel like he made multiple mistakes in leaving the Razorbacks. His first mistake in leaving is thinking he wouldn't fit in the system. Rotnei worked hard to get the shots he did last year. In Anderson's offense he wouldn't have had to work so hard to get open shots. He would have continued to rain threes and would have caught Pat Bradley in the record books. Another mistake that he made in leaving is doing it with just one year left. If Rotnei wants to play for a Division One team then he will have to sit out a year just to play one year. The last big mistake Rotnei made is the way the whole thing has been handled. He went to the National Media to get the attention of the Powers at be for his release. The story as I understand it is Rotnei asked for his release and was told that he had to wait for AD Jeff Long to come back. Whoever is advising Rotnei didn't really like that idea so they had Rotnei go to CBS Sports and tell about his situation. Now that Rotnei has received his conditional release meaning he can't go to another SEC school,  he only talking to National Media. He recently did an interview with ESPN's Andy Katz. Rotnei could have been remembered for all the right reasons like records but now he will just be an afterthought of a player that could have been a great Arkansas Razorback.