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This Ones For You Paul

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 1:04:30 EST

For those of you who dont know who Paul Eells is let me give a quick background. In 1978, he moved to central Arkansas to become sports director at KATV in Little Rock; radio play-by-play announcer for the Razorbacks football team; TV play-by-play announcer for the Razorbacks basketball team; and host of the TV football and basketball Razorbacks coaches shows. He was known and beloved statewide for his fantastic broadcasting voice and his trademark "Oh My" and "Touchdown Arkansas" radio calls. During his time as "Voice of the Razorbacks," Eells became an iconic figure in the state of Arkansas, as is evidenced by the fact that Eells was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. He was also named Arkansas Sportscaster of the Year 11 times. While returning home from a golf tournament on July 31, 2006, Eells died in an auto accident nearly 2 months before his 71st birthday. This was a sad day for Razorback fans. When I was growing up as a teenager I played basketball all the time at the community center in Jacksonville Arkansas, and Paul Eells would come in almost weekly during basketball season interviewing, and talking with members of the Rollin Razorback team. I always struck up a conversation with him everytime I saw him, and before he left I would always say...do it for me one time Mr Eells, then he would look at me, and smile and say...TOUCHDOWN ARKANSAS! He was a great individual, and the nicest person you would ever meet. The one thing he always wanted was for our Razorbacks to succeed, and be amoung the best in the nation, and this year having made the Sugar Bowl in our first BCS appearance, and playing one of the better teams in OSU we have done just that under coach Bobby Petrino. So with that said..From the coaches to the players, and all of Razorback nation....this game is for you Paul Eells voice of our beloved Razorbacks...We miss you.

SEC Recap Oct, 23rd 2010

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:19:06 EDT

The battle of the unbeatens both from the SEC Western division was the headlines coming into SEC play Saturday. The LSU Tigers against the War Eagles that is Auburn. Would Newton continue his beastly ground attack? Or would LSU's #1 SEC defense put a stop to all the madness that is Newton? Not a chance! Not only did Newton run for the same amount of yards on the #1 SEC defense that he had against the Razorbacks, he SURPASSED last weeks mark running for 217 yards. So they go from putting a record 65 points on a SEC defense last week to a school record of rushing for over 400 yards against an SEC defense. Though even with all these stats the game was still well in reach for LSU, but on a fourth down and 6 to go with 3:27 left on the clock on their own 30 down 7 the mad hatter decided to go for it, and his magical touch was all but gone when they failed to pick up the first down with Lee trying to scramble for it and ultimately lose to the only remaining SEC undefeated team. At times it seemed like LSU's offense was very confused as what to do. Even after a timeout in the game they looked as if they were unprepared of the call that they were given. Should be noted to that Nick Fairly the 6'5 314 pound Jr DB for Auburn, gave LSU's offensive line fits all day. Even with double teams it almost seemed effortless for him to get pressure on the QB. LSU's offense could only muster up 243 of total offensive yards while Auburn collected a massive 526 (440 rushing) of total offense. Final score Auburn 24 LSU 17. LSU drops to 7-1 4-1 SEC while Auburn improves to 8-0 5-0 SEC.

SEC Recap Oct,16th 2010

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 0:06:18 EDT

Recap of SEC teams for October 16th, 2010.....

Arkansas @ Auburn. Well well can you say fireworks? Cause thats what this game was displaying with the high powered offense's that these two teams posses. They started out virtually the same. Arkansas scores, Auburn scores. Arkansas gets stopped, Auburn gets stopped. But there wasnt too much of the stopping part as the game progressed. Just to give you an idea, when this game was all said, and done Arkansas wound up with a ridiculous 566 yards of total offense with 428 of that coming through the air. Auburn finished with 470 total yards with 330 of that coming on the ground. Cam Newton had 188 of those rushing yards. Thats not all. In kick off returns Auburn netted 221 return yards which included a 99 return by Onterio McCalebb. The Razorbacks had 179 return yards. After swapping the lead back, and forth Auburn finally pulled away towards the end with a couple of interceptions from Arkansas back up QB, and a fumble recovery that was returned for a td. Ryan Mallett left the game with a concussion in the second quarter, but the Hogs backup came in without missing a beat passing for 332 yards, and tossing 4 tds. Final score is the third most points scored in SEC history in a game at 108 points...65-43. A heartbreaking loss with some controversial calls going against the Razorbacks. However Auburn remains undefeated, and will square off against the only other undefeated team in the SEC (LSU) this weekend. Auburn improves to 7-0 4-0 SEC, and the Hogs fall to 4-2 1-2 SEC.

SEC Recap Oct, 9th 2010

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:58:55 EDT

Great games in the SEC to go over today. Bama is finally taken down by a SEC team for the first time in 19 games. LSU continues to play dominant defense, and had an offensive explosion (for them anywayz) to lift them past the Gators. Auburn also continues their winning ways taking down the wildcats. In the southwest classic Arkansas prevails against their old rival Texas A&M. Georgia showed Tennessee whos boss in their first SEC win of the season, and Miss St, and Vandy took care of their lowly opponents Houston, and Eastern Michigan.

First things first though. #1 Alabama @ #19 USC....Coming into this game the GameCocks had never beaten a #1 team, but looked to change that in this game. Spurrier had his team ready to play, and knew they had to almost have a flawless game to win. Garcia who had only 5 td passes all year woke up offensively. He was 17 of 20 for 201 passing yards and threw three tds in todays contest. 127 of those 201 passing yards was to Alshon Jeffery who also hauled in 2 of Garcia's 3 td passes. Marcus Lattimore the standout freshmen for USC put his stamp on the game as well scoring three times. One 9 yard td pass, and two short yard td runs. He finished the game with 93 rushing yards. This is the most points put up on this Bama defense since 2007. Bama roared back in the second half after once trailing 21-3. They found themselves only down 7 in the fourth quarter 21-28 before USC's running back widened the lead once again to two scores on a 2 yard td run, and they never looked back. They defeated the #1 team in the nation 35-21. Should be noted though that McElroy for Alabama had a career passing day with 315 passing yards through the air, but suffered his first loss as a starting QB since 8th grade.

Taylor Martinez

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:52:30 EDT

Aka T-Magic had a monster game thursday night while Nebraska continues to dazzle us with their offensive threats, and dynamic defense. The soon to be big ten team treated K-State like they stole something, and didnt just want to recover it, but teach them a lesson in the process. It seemed like the red sea parting everytime Martinez ran the ball. Running into the school record books with 242 rushing yards, and 4 rushing tds the red-shirt freshmen Martinez made K-States defense look no better than my old high schools. Oh yea, and did I mention that he also had a 79 yard td pass? If he continues to put up numbers like these watch out big ten cause this kid has a few more years to put under his belt. This game towards the end was a joke. I mean they were using K-State as a practice partner when they went into the no huddle with the game well in hand preparing for a faster pace against a more worthy opponent. We'll see just how talented this team is in the coming two weeks when they have to play some of the better schools in their conference in Texas, and Oklahoma St. Nebraska is 5-0 1-0 atop of the big 12 north division.

To Everyone Bashing Lebron

Thu, 05 May 2011 18:32:32 EDT

Are you serious? Cav fans burning his jersey, calling him a traitor, the owner trashing Lebron as well. Did this guy not put out 110 percent everynight he went out on the floor for the cavs? Did this guy not lead the Cavs to the NBA finals almost single handily? And what was his reward? An old broke down Shaq, a washed up Jamison, and an arrogant Mo Williams?

Maybe if the ownership put in players of some value to where James felt he could win, and contend for the title year in, and year out, JUST MAYBE he would have stayed. Lets face it, he wants to win, and he wants to win now, and teaming up with Bosh, and Wade gives him a better chance of doing that NOW rather than waiting for an organization who's been running around, and making decisions like a chicken with its head cut off trying to pull something together which never seemed like it was going to happen.

Is Tim Duncans Greatness Overshadowed?

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 10:32:39 EDT

When you think of Tim Duncan what do you think of? Hall of Famer? Champion? MVP? No doubt he is all of these things. But when the younger generation (25 and under) is asked this question the majority answers--boring. Boring? Has it come to this that fundamentals, and playing team ball, and not show boating, and just plain winning has become boring? So the question remains. Is Tim Duncans greatness over shadowed by the high flying play of "King James", "Super Man" (Dwight Howard), Carmelo, D-Wade, etc?

These certainly are more acceptable to our younger generation than Duncan because the new generation of NBA fans (the majority atleast) are drawn to flashy play, killer cross overs, and ridiculous dunks. Tim is, simply put, a winner. He is a two-time MVP (2002, 2003), four-time NBA champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) and three-time NBA Finals MVP (1999, 2003, 2005).

L.T. A Class Act..

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:53:19 EST

The San Diego Chargers selected Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft, as the fifth overall pick. He was elected to the Pro Bowl team in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Tomlinson also tied Lenny Moore's all-time record for consecutive games scoring a TD (18). He holds, or is tied for over 20 NFL records including one where he joins Emmitt Smith, Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander, and Marshall Faulk as the only running backs to record consecutive seasons of 20 or more touchdowns. L.T. rushed for more than 1,100 yards 8 straight seasons proving his worth as a star in the NFL, and a top pick in fantasy football.

I'll tell you what i remember best about LaDainian as a charger, and thats his attitude. He has the most classy personality you could find for a young multi millionaire from the start of his career till now. He give's his opponents respect, and never threw any of his teammates under the bus. The only time i've seen him really get upset is when he felt his team was disrespected when some Patriots were dancing on the Chargers' logo at midfield after they had beaten the Chargers in an AFC divisional playoff game. In fact his exact words were.."When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach." Of course later L.T. made up with the Patriots head coach.

Fans of Tiger...YOU Want an Apology?

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:14:08 EST

Let me ask you guys something. What did you know most about Tiger before all this craziness started? Yes thats right, everyone knows him for his skill in the game of golf. I mean after all he is percieved by many as the greatest golfer to ever play (old school guys have a difference of opinion) the game of golf. I understand why he did the whole apology thing, because of saving endorsements, and trying to keep some of his christian fans, but honestly people why did you need it? Why do most of you want him to come out, and own what he has done, and why in the world have many fans cried for an apology to come from Tiger?

Last time i checked he is a mere human, imperfect like the rest of us. Has he wronged you? Has he hurt you in any way? To be perfectly honest with ya, when i heard the speech he gave you know what i was thinking? Ok ok Tiger when are you gonna come back to play, thats all i want to know. There is two PGA tour's during the year as far as im concerned...The tournys with Tiger, and the ones without Tiger. The only ones who deserve a heartfelt apology would be his wife, his beautiful kids, and his, and her families. I dont condone what he has done. It was wrong, and he should not have done it, but my relationship with Tiger begins, and ends with Golf.

College Baseball Begins. A Look at My Razorbacks

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:12:52 EST

After a great season last year being ranked in the top ten for most the year, and even taking the top stop for a short period of time, the Razorbacks starts this season ranked 15th, and is predicted to finish 2nd in the SEC western division, and third in the SEC behind pre-season favorites LSU, and Florida.

The last time the Hogs won the SEC regular season title was in 2004, and the western division in 2007. Razorbacks return 19 letterwinners for the upcoming season, including preseason All-Americans Zack Cox, Brett Eibner and Andy Wilkins. The 2010 roster includes 13 newcomers with eight true freshman and five junior college transfers.

The Hogs are looking for some continued success after a great world series run eventually falling to the National Champions LSU Tigers. The Razorbacks baseball team will open its 2010 season tomorrow against Ball State. This is the two teams first meeting between each other. Under Van Horn Arkansas is 7-0 in season openers.

Has the Slam Dunk Contest Lost its Luster?

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 1:20:25 EST

Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving. What do these guys have in common? They were all super stars of their time. What else? They all were contestants in the dunk contest at the all-star weekend event. Today it seems that the superstars of their calibur dont care to participate in this event anymore. Which leaves us stuck with the nate robinsons, and the Gerald Greens, and the DeMar DeRozans of the NBA.

Last couple of years we had a spectacle of the proclaimed "superman" Dwight Howard, but a big 7 footer just is'nt the same dunking as opposed to a jordan built player like Lebron, or Mello, or Wade. These big name players for some reason today just dont participate in this event anymore.

I mean think of the epic battles those dunk contest's could be. Lebron going against Kobe, or Wade, or Carmelo. It seems that all they want to do is chill, and be a fan the whole weekend, and hang out with their friends during all of the extra stuff that comes with all-star weekend, besides the game itself. Are they afraid of injury? Too much of a risk for them in their minds? Or they just want to party till game time sunday night?

Drew Brees Elite QB Yes, but All Time Great?

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 0:21:14 EST

Too early to talk about this subject? Na, not really. Its always good to talk a little football especially in the off-season. Drew Brees is coming off an amazing season with the New Orlean Saints leading them to their first Super Bowl, and Super Bowl victory. How fitting that it comes against one of New Orleans greatest QB's baby boy in Peyton Manning. Drew Brees is no doubt an elite QB in the NFL today, but the question remains, is he up there with the greats of past Super Bowl Champions? Theres a big difference between elite, and all-time great. Example: Some would consider Philip Rivers an elite QB today, but in no way would he be considered an all-time great. I know that Brees still has a good 5-6 years left in him, and even more if his body holds up well like the old man Brett Favre's. So every year he can add to his argument of being a "great" QB. Lets just take a look at his time with the saints, and see where he stacks up with the big boys.

Life of a Razorback...Personal note

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:04:35 EDT

Ok, so going into the 2008 college football season, as Hog fans we had absolutely no idea what to expect. We had a new coach in Bobby Petrino, no more Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, or Peyton Hillis, and yes the only offensive player who would return WOULD be that horrible, horrific, QB casey dick. Also not only did Houston Nutt land a new coaching job, but he landed it in the SEC, and IN OUR DIVISION!! Needless to say, we had to forget all that he has done for our program (which to alot of Hog fans was'nt too much) and treat him like an enemy on game day against Ole Miss. Anywayz, when the first game of the season came along it was exciting, obviously, IT WAS FOOTBALL SEASON FINALLY. Well that excitment quickly faded when we almost lost our first two games to Western Illinois, and La-Monroe. Then we had that stretch of Alabama, Texas, and Florida, GEEZZ did we do something wrong? Did we violate some NCAA rule or something? That was brutal. Our season pretty much ended up the way I expected after watching those first two games. However, I did not expect us to beat LSU, especially with casey dick throwing the winning TD, and no i did not praise him for that. I praised him for throwing his last Pass as a Razorback, and I must admit a tear came to my eye at that very moment. Now that Football season was over (for us atleast) we could focus more on our basketball team, and boy were they getting us excited with their ooc play. They are just putting W's up left, and right, and we finally had something to cheer about. We beat two top ten BIG 12 teams in one week, and every "expert" out there was predicting us to to finish 1st, or 2nd in the SEC. Then the conference play started, and man was it rough. We lost our first game, then our second game, then our third game, and Razorback fans were left scratching their heads as to what happened to us. We were losing our shirts in a conference that only produced 3 NCAA tournament teams this year, and Miss State had to win the SEC tourny to get in. Coming off of that horrible football season, this is definitely not what we needed, but we dealt with it, and we will continue to deal with it until we have something to cheer about again. Now we have our baseball team. The Arkansas Razorback Baseball team started the season ranked 21 in the polls, and are currently the #1 team in the nation. We are 23-6, 10-2 in SEC play, our best conference start in school history, and yes, once again we have something to cheer about, and we are very proud of what these guys are doing. Will it last? Will they choke like our basketball team? Really, it does'nt matter, because we will be there cheering, and rooting for them, like all of our teams, regardless of what happens. Rightnow, they are the team to beat, and I'm looking forward to see where this season takes us. Back to football. We had our best recruiting class ever (or atleast from the past 10 or so years)and coach P. will have some weapons that he did'nt have last year that will fit this new style of offense he is bringing to our team. I'm still not sure what to expect from these new guys, how they will handle playing in the SEC, but at the same time I am excited about this up coming season, and if these guys are as good as they are hyped to be I think we can sneak up on some teams in the SEC. Oh yea, and thats another thing. If you know me, and have read some of my post you already know that our schedule consist of Playing Georgia, @Alabama, @ Florida, @ Ole Miss, and @ LSU. Now you wanna talk about brutal. Man thats just not right if you ask me. Oh well, we'll get through it hopefully with some upsets in there. Even though we have'nt made our mark in todays BCS era, its thrilling to know we have a chance every single year being in the SEC, and we did have a couple of shots at it, but just came up a little short in our CCGs we have played in, but hey, theres always next year, and we will keep trying year after year after year until eventually, maybe, we will have a break through. Right now Razorback baseball has us pumped, and i hope that continues once Football season rolls around.

Tiger vs Nicklaus

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:13:38 EDT

I've seen people comparing Nicklaus whole career, to what Tiger has done, and says Nicklaus is better. I dont think you can compare a whole career to a career thats far from over. So the only Logical thing to do is compare their career from year to year. Lets do their first ten years, and see how they compare to one another.

Year 1

Nicklaus - Three victories, including the upset playoff win over Palmer at Oakmont for the US Open. Nicklaus didn’t just beat a dead-in-his-prime Palmer at Oakmont. He beat the fans in the King’s backyard. I can’t think of a better way to announce one’s presence. This would be the beginning of the end for Palmer who, only 32 at the time, would only win two more majors.

CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM? WHYWHY!!!!

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:32:15 EST

Ok, Pitt lost. My championship team lost. Am I depressed, or distraught, or upset? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BROTHA!!! OMG are you freaking serious. My whole bracket screwed by one team. What on this green earth is wrong with you PITT. You were my ace, my champ, my savior, and you let me down. You let me down, and now I can just drink my bracket away into the sunset. Why, why even watch the rest of the games, when my bracket is debackled, and ruined. Im so freaking upset, sad, and disappointed rightnow. How many silver bullets does this one make? OMG is that 30 pack gone already? Lord have mercy. I am not worthy. Please, please help me see what is going on here. I probably will delete this tomorrow when I see what an idiot i was in writing this, but until then IM SO CRAZLY MAD RIGHT NOW!! Crazly? Is that a word? Oh well, it is tonight. My championship team is gone. Whats next? My baseball Razorback team actually lose a conference game? NO NO NO!!! Ok i'm ending it with this. LORD HAVE MERCY, MY CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM IS GONE!!!!!!!!!

A Look at The Up Coming SEC Season

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:45:44 EDT

Should be a great season coming up. You have your National Champions UF bringing back most of their weapons, and the most important player on their team Mr. Tim Tebow, so they will be major contenders once again. Alabama, and LSU have QB issues, but with the talent they have, I'm certain once the season comes to a start those QB issues will fade fast. They have the best recruiting classes, and thats the last thing the west wants to hear with what Bama did last year going undefeated in the regular season. Its gonna be a dog fight in the western division with LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss leading the way, and Arkansas, Auburn, and Miss State hoping to steal a game or two agaisnt some of the better teams in the SEC, in their quest to compete in the west. The east looks like a battle for second. I just dont see any contenders that can challenge Florida. I see alot of rebuilding in the east. Don't get me wrong, I would love for a team to step up, and challenge the Gators for that eastern title. Tenn has a new coach in Lane Kiffin who has proved to be quite the character making his presence known, not only through the media frenzy that has gone on, but also landing the top recruit this year. He said he was going to get the best, and by george he was'nt kidding around. Is it enough to challenge Tebow, and company? Only time will tell. Georgia should play like, well Georgia. They seem to muster up a 10 win season with consistency. Can they finally get over the hump, and have a SEC championship game appearance? South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky are flying under the radar in the east, and honestly, IMO, i think thats the best place you can be. Its so much easier when no one (besides yourself, and fellow fan base) is really expecting much from you, because your not trying to live up to some expectation that someone has placed upon you, and you can just go out, and play your style football without any added pressure. This is going to be a great season in the SEC, and an all out war in the western division.