Razorback Expats

Believe it or not, the start of the 2008 Hog football season is less than two weeks away. With the first kickoff fast approaching, we decided it was time to give our readers some expert analysis of this year's team. However, we couldn't find anyone in our organization capable of such a task, so we turned to Tom Murphy, a Razorback beat reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was gracious enough to take a few minutes out of his hectic schedule to answer our questions about Bobby Petrino's first Arkansas team as well as a couple about the coach himself. Many thanks, Tom.

Lots of prognosticators say the Hogs are in for a very rough year. You've been around the team for a few weeks now: Do you agree with the predictions, or do you think the Hogs have the tools to surprise?

While I maintain Arkansas doesn't have the weapons, the depth and the immersion into the Petrino system it needs to contend for the SEC West title, I don't think it rules the Razorbacks out from being competitive and from sticking it to a favorite or two along the way. I'm predicting at least two wins, possibly three, from this group of games: at Texas, Alabama, Florida, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at South Carolina, LSU.

Obviously the Hogs lost a lot of key players after last year. Given what you've seen while being around the team, which current players are ready to step into the void and be the new locker room leaders?

This group includes obvious guys like C Jonathan Luigs and QB Casey Dick. I think RB Michael Smith is a decent leader for the running backs. You can see London Crawford taking on that mantle with the receivers, so he just needs to back it up with consistent play.

Defense is a different story. CB Jamar Love and WLB Elston Forte are two of the team captains on that side of the ball -- along with DT Malcolm Sheppard -- and they'd like to lead, but Love is being pushed hard for a starting job by Ramon Broadway, and Forte's injury has dulled his impact in the leadership department. Guys like senior safety Dallas Washington, Sheppard, NG Ernest Mitchell and redshirt freshman MLB Jerry Franklin all have to play a role.

Which new players should we be the most excited about?

I think Jarius Wright will have the most immediate impact, from being the lead punt returner to a guy who could catch 4-5 balls a game. He's catching on a little quicker than Joe Adams in the receiving corps, and the coaches love his toughness. De'Anthony Curtis was taking reps with the starters before his knee injury, so when he returns to health, I'd suspect he'll be snagging a few carries away from Michael Smith in the run game. Curtis and fellow frosh Dennis Johnson will both get snaps and will both be used in the passing game.

On defense, Elton Ford is on the verge of winning a job at free safety, and he might be the most dedicated striker on that side of the ball. His emergence is pushing Matt Harris toward better play. Also, unless Elston Forte comes back with a bang, he might lose his starting job to one of two freshmen: Khiry Battle or Jelani Smith. Also, Lavunce Askew is coming on strong on the defensive interior, Jerico Nelson is No. 2 at the "jack," and Zach Stadther has a shot at playing time up front.

There's reason to be excited about this class, which should fuel Arkansas' return to SEC contention in the coming years.

The Hogs have an absolutely brutal schedule this year. If they're going to pull an upset, against which opponent are they most likely to do so?

My guess: Florida. It's at home and the Gators are starting to look a little vulnerable on defense.

Give us a sense of how Bobby Petrino deals with the media. Do you find him cooperative or does he make your job more difficult than it needs to be? Is he quick to complain about what's in the paper? How does he compare with Houston Nutt?

I won't go into depth here. He's not as accessible at Nutt, but not near as restrictive as Nick Saban at Alabama or as some media members projected he'd be here.

Along those same lines, which SEC coach is thought by you and your fellow scribes to be the most media-friendly and which is thought to be the biggest pill?

I like Rich Brooks, Sylvester Croom, Steve Spurrier for their straightforwardness with the media. Houston was cooperative. Pill? Saban is controlling, domineering and occasionally condescending.

Finally, agree or disagree with the following statement: "In five years, Bobby Petrino will still be the head coach of the Razorbacks."

I'm not going there, but thanks for asking!

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On NBC's "Meet the Press," the late Tim Russert would routinely try to create great theater by presenting interviewees with video clips or quotes that showed them taking contradictory positions.

If he were still around, he could have a field day with (former? current?) Razorback guard Patrick Beverley.

Beverley was declared ineligible for the upcoming season nearly two weeks ago. Citing the Family Rights and Privacy Act, U of A officials have declined to say why he won't be able to suit up, and so what little we know about the situation comes from Beverley. And he hasn't exactly been clear.

Early reports on Web sites such as CBSSportsline.com said that Beverley's ineligibility stems from academic reasons. However, in a subsequent report on Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman's blog, Beverley said, "It had nothing to do with academics. I violated NCAA rules and what happened went over the coaches' heads. A lot of people thought it was because of grades, but I go to class every day." Beverley also told Goodman that he had signed with an agent and intended to play the upcoming season overseas before entering his name in next year's NBA Draft.

However, Beverley later told The Sporting News' Sean Deveney that he's ineligible because of an issue with a class paper, and he also denied that he's hired an agent, saying he's weighing his options and that he hasn't ruled out donning a Razorback uniform again. "My first choice is still to go back to Arkansas," he said. "I love that place. I love the whole state."

"Everything happens for a reason," he added. "Hopefully, what comes out of this is what's best for Patrick Beverley."

Whatever stress Patrick may be feeling about his current predicament, it's good to see that it hasn't impacted his ability to speak in the third person. That's when we would really start worrying about him.

• In some welcome good news for the basketball team, the NCAA has declared that incoming freshman guard Courtney Fortson will be eligible for this upcoming season.

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We were avid readers of the SEC Power Poll last season, so everyone at Expats HQ was extremely honored when Brandon from Garnett & Black Attack asked us to represent Arkansas in this year's edition (we'll try to do you proud, Hog fans).

The power polling will begin in earnest once the season kicks off, but for starters we've all been given the assignment to rank the SEC coaches. So, we applied a bit of random guesswork to our limited knowledge and came up with the completely correct, absolutely unbeatable list below (important note - our rankings reflect the state of affairs right now...they're not a historical overview or all-time list):

1. Urban Meyer, Florida - He has the rampant egomania, steely-eyed glare and national championship ring that you'd expect from the SEC's top coach (come to think of it, so do about half the men on this list). But, what really earns him this spot is the way he somehow molded the oafish Tim Tebow into a Heisman winner over the obviously superior Darren McFadden.

2. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn - Tubby doesn't do it with a lot of flash, but he keeps winning year after year (often with less talent than his celebrated opponents). Plus, he went 13-0 in 2004...we might not see any other SEC teams achieve that for a long while. Winning nine of his last 12 games against Top 10 opponents ain't too shabby, either.

3. Les Miles, LSU - Yeah, Les is super goofy and his baseball cap always looks about two sizes too small, but he's consistently beaten the various "genius" coaches on this list. Bonus points for always going for it on 4th down. Might be ranked even higher if he knew how to correctly pronounce Arkansas.

4. Mark Richt, Georgia - With his team finishing second in last year's final AP poll and a popular pre-season #1 pick this year, Richt has the Bulldogs poised for a return to the glory days of the early 1980s. Expectations in the Peach State are so high he might have to invite the entire student section to dance in the end zone after a TD to keep everyone loose.

5. Nick Saban, Alabama - Everyone talks about what a great coach Saban is, and they might be right. But this is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of list, and the Tide had some pretty ugly losses last year. No way does the best coach in the SEC lose to Louisiana-Monroe.

6. Phil Fulmer, Tennessee - It's kind of crazy that a guy who has been around practically forever and has a national championship (with an undefeated season!) under his (extremely large) belt would only be ranked 6th on this list, but that's the SEC in 2008 for you. It's tough.

7. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas - We're confident that if he sticks around (ok, we know that's a big if) he'll be ranked a lot higher than this in a year or two. But, it's harder to rack up a 41-9 record in the SEC than in whatever lame league Louisville plays in, so he slides into the 7th slot. Bonus points for making everyone at ESPN have a conniption fit at the mere mention of his name.

8. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina - If this were an all-time list, Darth Visor would easily be ranked #1. But, he's been at South Carolina for a few years now and still hasn't made much of an impact. Our guess is that he'd rather be on the golf course at this point, but for whatever reason he's lost his fastball.

9. Houston Nutt, Mississippi - If you need one man to rally the moderate talent on your team to play over their heads (preferably in a multi-overtime game), Nutt is unquestionably your guy. But if you need someone to take a talented team and have them play consistently well, week in and week out, then you should look elsewhere. He'll be fun to watch at Ole Miss, though.

10. Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State - We would really love to rank Croom higher, as just making Mississippi State relevant is a pretty Herculean task. But, we really couldn't figure out a way for him to crack the top 9.

11. Rich Brooks, Kentucky - No offense, Rich, but it's a tough list and somebody had to go 11th. On the plus side, most of your fans stop paying attention as soon as college basketball Midnight Madness starts in October.

12. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt - The good news for Bobby Johnson is that his players would unquestionably win some sort of academic Quiz Bowl if one were held between the SEC football teams. The bad news is, well, everything else.

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Looks like Bobby Petrino has his work cut out for him. Despite a brutally difficult schedule (the 2nd toughest in all the land, say some), the loss of some of the best Razorbacks ever to the NFL after last season, and a defense that has resembled a leaky sieve throughout training camp, fan expectations are running high.

According to a (highly unscientific) poll running today on WholeHogSports.com, 69% of the nearly 5,000 respondees think the Hogs will win 7 games or more this season. Taking it a step further, 37% think we're headed for a 9+ win season, which seems to indicate that at least 1,800 Arkansas fans have an extremely shaky grasp on reality (no news there, of course).

To those die hards who are expecting a 9+ win season, I should go ahead and mention that, as painful as it may be to hear this, Santa Claus isn't real. It was just your parents all along. Also, if you're interested in a great financial opportunity, please email me at razorbackexpats @ yahoo dot com...I'm rounding up investors for a can't miss real estate deal in Florida.

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Stephens Media's Harry King reports that former Hog Mitch Mustain is in line to start USC's season opener against Virginia and speculates that the Springdale native may soon find himself in the midst of another quarterback controversy.

It already seems like a long time ago that Mustain and his stage mother Beck Campbell took their act, appropriately, to Los Angeles (that's not to say that plenty of other people didn't behave foolishly during that whole sorry soap opera).

I felt that it was probably best for everybody involved that Mustain left when he did, but one can't help but wonder what Bobby Petrino could do with the young man. Hopefully, a newly confident Casey Dick and, in the years to come, Ryan Mallet will make it a moot question. I'm confident that at least Mallet will.

Besides, Campbell's presence would probably be one way to guarantee that Petrino's itinerant ways would continue. One season of dealing with her, and Michael Vick's dog-fighting-ring-induced woes might seem like a day at the beach.

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* The murderer's row of SEC coaches this year is pretty historic, and the media is duly fascinated...coaching power rankings have been all the rage this off-season. The latest one, from Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times, lists Bobby Petrino 11th out of 12. Does that sound right to you guys?

* On a similar, but more light-hearted, note, don't miss this breakdown of how the SEC coaches compare to James Bond villains.

* We're a bit behind on mentioning this, but the RazorBloggers are cranking out their usual stellar reports at what's going on in training camp. Those sorts of details are not an Expats speciality, so if you want the scoop on what's happening up in Fayetteville definitely check them out. They have a snazzy new site design, too.

* Attention Razorback Expats completists: our friends at the UK Wildcat Blog asked us to share some words about past Arkansas-Kentucky battles, and we obliged. If you're interested in seeing what we had to say to a bunch of UK fans, you can check out our deathless prose here.

* Continuing our foray into enemy territory, the UK Wildcat Blog also recently provided a very in-depth recap of the 1994 UA-UK battle in the SEC tournament as part of their 'greatest games' series. Obviously we strenuously agree that there was anything great about this game, but it's interesting to see these things from another perspective.

* Brandon Marcello takes a look at which Arkansas records are threatened by a Petrino-led offense this year. According to him, the "most text messages sent by a head coach" mark seems to be safe for now.

* De'Anthony Curtis is going to be good.

* Hey, what happened to those guys who played for us last year? D-Mac is blogging (I really cannot overstate how happy it makes me that he has a blog), Felix is repeatedly being called out as one of the most impressive players in the Cowboys' training camp, Peyton Hillis is hurt but is expected to make the Broncos' roster as a 7th round pick, and Marcus Monk had a rough first preseason game.

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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Warning: this post contains enough rampant speculation and uninformed commentary to make Buzz Bissinger's head explode.

As Stephen noted yesterday, Patrick Beverley is out for the season and that definitely "kinda sucks". That alone is certainly bad enough news (interesting that both the football and basketball teams are now entirely in rebuilding mode), but it seems like there's a larger issue out there going undiscussed: will Beverley ever don a Razorback uniform again?

After a stellar freshman season, Beverley's performance was a bit disappointing last year. Maybe it was a garden variety sophomore slump, but reading between the lines it's easy to speculate that things were never quite right between him and John Pelphrey. I have no idea what they would have clashed about or why, but the fact that Beverley gave serious thought to transferring to South Florida (and Stan Heath) after the season indicates that something was amiss in that relationship.

As for the actual announcement that he won't be playing next year, it seems a little fishy. Totally absent the usual language about academics or the ubiquitous "violation of team rules" it certainly raises more questions than it answers...one would think that if the reason for his not playing were one of those garden-variety issues we'd know more about it.

So, given all the various factors at play, I'll go out on a limb and predict that Patrick Beverley has played his last game as a Hog. You can take some comfort in the fact that I'm often wrong, but that's how I'm seeing it. What do you think? I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

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I think we were all prepared for the upcoming Razorback basketball season to be something of a rebuilding year. Well, the rebuilding just got a little more extensive: The word out of Fayetteville is that junior guard Patrick Beverley won't be suiting up for the Hogs this year.

The U of A's press release didn't say why Beverley won't play this year, but cbssportsline.com says it's because of academic reasons. And as Bob Holt of the Democrat-Gazette points out, "It’s also notable the [U of A press] release didn’t state Beverley had been dismissed from the team or had decided to quit."

John Pelphrey's incoming recruiting class is highly regarded, but you can't like the fact that the player who is now the Hogs' leading returning scorer - that would be junior guard Stefan Welsh - averaged a whopping 5.3 points per game last year. Only a few days before Beverley was ruled ineligible, Pelphrey told the media that “our basketball team is only going to be as good as our three juniors." Oops.

Suffice to say, Mr. Pelphrey may be not be enjoying the most relaxing of weekends.

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The news out of Fayetteville today is that AD Jeff Long is leading a $3 million project to upgrade Bud Walton Arena. Being the power players that we are, Stephen and I have already signed up for a block of eight courtside seats (a bargain at just $12,000 each per season). As the local equivalents to Jack and Spike, we'll be part of a veritable celebrity row that includes luminaries such as Corin Nemec, Gil Gerard and that guy from the Father of the Bride movies. Watch for us on TV with sunglasses on and starlets in tow.

On a slightly less absurd note, I was extremely heartened to note to read that the enormous "salivating Hog" at halfcourt is being replaced by the classic Hog logo from the football helmets. Given that the classic image is one of the coolest sports logos around, and that the salivating one is goofy at best and embarrassing at worst, this seems like an excellent upgrade.

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* As you've probably seen, the Hogs have been picked to finish last in the SEC West by just about every prognosticator out there. Now, the no respect train continues to roll as Sports Illustrated has ranked Arkansas 69th out of the 119 D-I teams. For those of you scoring at home, that's immediately behind noted football powers like Bowling Green, Ball State and, um, Louisville.

* After slandering Dwight Stewart earlier in the week, those sky blue snobs over at Tar Heel Fan have taken aim at another Razorback icon. Reporting on their 1993 team, they write: "...the Heels faced Arkansas and the ever talkative Nolan Richardson. The Razorbacks’ coach took the opportunity to make all sorts of statements in the media which UNC kindly stuffed back in his face by beating Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen." If I may practice a bit of armchair psychology, I'd guess that they know deep down that the Hog teams of that era were better than their UNC counterparts, and are aghast at the thought of finishing behind those non-pedigreed ruffians.

* Remember the names Michael Dyers and Claude Johnson. This article says they're players Petrino has to sign in 2010. Yes, 2010. And yes, he might be at his second post-Razorback job by that point.

* It's nice to see the national media catching on to what we Arkies have known all along: D-Mac can play some football. And he's not quite the thug he was made out to be, either.

* In addition to being a fairly decent football player, D-Mac isn't too shabby as a pitchman, either. Check this out (link courtesy of Arkansas Sports 360).

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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The Hogs unveiled their new uniforms today, and - pardon me while I slip on my Mr. Blackwell hat here - color me unimpressed. A few quick observations:

* What's with the super small "Arkansas" in the front? Where's the pride in the Natural State? I say show off those eight mighty letters proudly and let the rest of the SEC cower in fear.

* Along those same lines, using a different font for the lettering on the front and back seems like bad form.

* No offense to Reggie Fish, really, but you'd think they could have chosen a more typically-sized football player to be the model. Poor Reggie looks like the backup punter's kid brother in this picture...the wrinkled-up shoulders and back aren't doing him any favors.

* The little tusky things on the front sides are kind of neat...not so sure about the weird stripes over the butt in the back, though.

* What do the pants look like? For the love of Reggie Herring, please no red pants!

* The helmets are also key...since the Hogs currently possess one of the coolest helmet designs in all of sports, I'm really hoping they have the wisdom not to mess with it.

That's about it from me...what do you guys think? I know we have some fashion experts among our commenter base, so don't be shy. As for me, I'm returning to my day job reviewing Britney Spears' latest wardrobe blooper as editor of HollywoodFashionFauxPas.com.

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Greetings Expats readers...apologies for my long absence from the blog, but I've been living in a tent outside the Green Bay airport for the past few weeks, waiting patiently for Brett Favre's triumphant return. Now that the biggest event in the history of the universe is behind us, I can resume my regularly scheduled Razorback blogging. So, with that in mind, some links:

* The freshmen football class started their first training camp as Razorbacks today, and Arkansas Sports 360's Chris Bahn has the full report. Kind of crazy to think that the first game is coming up in less than 4 weeks.

* What's the top SEC rushing offense of the past 15 years? Any Hog fan would tell you that it's obviously the recent McFadden/Jones/Hillis attack, but according to one Tennessee blogger that team ranks no higher than third. Check out his full list here, and prepare to be morally outraged.

* If John Pelphrey owes you money, now is a good time to collect: he just got a raise.

* Reader Eastville Holdings passes along an article about former Hog Shawn Andrews' battle with depression. The Expats staff will be keeping a good thought for him...I'm sure he can rely on the rational perspective and cheerful nature of the Philadelphia Eagles' fanbase to help him through this tough time, too.

* Georgia celebrated being ranked #1 in the preseason coaches poll with a fun weekend that saw two players arrested and two hospitalized from a bar fight. Come on guys, is that the best you can do? I'd expect more from the #1 team in the country.

* A Florida fan previews their October 4 tussle with the Razorbacks. His predicted final score is 45-24, although we won't spoil the surprise by telling you who he's thinking will come out on top.

* The word out of Dallas is that Felix Jones might play "a larger role than expected" in the Cowboys' offensive plans. Even famed Hog fan Peter King took a few minutes out of his Favre vigil to write: "Felix Jones is going to be good. Maybe really good. He runs smoothly and with a fluid determination. You aren't going to see many backs cut with the quickness and decisiveness Jones runs with."

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It's no secret that we here at RazorbackExpats consider Dwight Stewart not only a great figure in Razorback history, but possibly one of the finest Americans ever. And we are shocked (shocked!) to discover that there are people out there who don't share this view - namely North Carolina Tar Heel fans.

The blog Tar Heel Fan is ranking the North Carolina basketball teams of the past 27 seasons. Coming in at No. 6 on the list is the 1995 squad, which, you may recall, was defeated by the Razorbacks in the Final Four.

The blogger describes the last few seconds of the first half of that game (click here for a visual reminder) this way: "Arkansas with barely enough time to get the ball upcourt inbounded it to that tub of a human being Dwight Stewart who just chucked it from about 60 feet or so and made the shot at the buzzer."

Tub of a human being!?! Them's fighting words. And believe us, after growing up on the mean streets of The Heights and Pleasant Valley and attending a private liberal arts college, we know a thing or two about throwing our fists around.

The crimes against humanity continue in the comments thread, where one commenter says, "I hate Dwight Stewart to this day."

Honestly, we are speechless ... except to say this: "Go Duke."

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Move over, "Wheel of Fortune." Eat your heart out, "Jeopardy." It's time for another edition of the game that Americans from coast to coast have fallen head over heels in love with. "Name That Obscure Hog" is a straightforward game: We post a photo of a Razorback that most fans have probably forgotten and ask our readers to name him. The first person to do so will receive nothing in return other than our undying respect ... as well as our concern that he or she - like us - may need to get out more.

Here are some clues about today's obscure Hog: Like last week's mystery player, he was a highly touted basketball recruit whose years in Fayetteville were something of a disappointment. One other thing that he and Ricky Norton have in common: they were both suspended for the first half dozen or so games of this player's senior season. Unlike Norton, this Mississippi native spent much of his Razorback career as a back-up to Scott Hastings.

Here's the photo (major props for those bad-ass shades):

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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Razorback fans living in Memphis: be strong.

You'll need to be because ESPN.com has given Tiger fans yet another bragging right over their Hog-loving rivals. In case you haven't heard, the Worldwide Leader in Sports has compiled its list of the most prestigious college basketball programs since the 1984-85 season.

The Hogs slide in at No. 15. Not too bad, you might say, especially considering the all-out crappy play that plagued the program throughout too much of this decade. The good feelings — if you can call them that — won't last long, however. To be exact, they will last as long as the time it takes your eyes to scroll down to No. 14. That's where the Memphis Tigers – at one point perhaps the Razorbacks' biggest rival — reside.

First, Memphis coach John Calipari says Arkansas is not a "national program" and discontinues the annual series between the schools. Next, Memphis has completely and thoroughly outshone the Hogs for the past five years or so. Then, when Frank of the Ozarks calls Calipari to see if he's interested in the Arkansas job, it apparently takes the Tigers coach less than a nanosecond to say, "No." And now, this ESPN ranking.

Oh, the humiliation.

When this rivalry was at its height in the 1990s, there was no team I hated losing to more than Memphis. I don't have that level of animosity any more, thanks to court-ordered counseling and to my befriending a couple of Tigers fans over the years. I even found myself rooting for Memphis during the past few NCAA Tournaments.

Still, when those friends invite me over, I'd like to have something to gloat about for a change.

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It brings me no joy to report this, but the already-stocked Washington County prison all-star team just got a little more talented: former Hog hoopster Elmer Martin was has been sentenced to 15 years in the clink for a variety of drug-dealing charges, apparently involving cocaine and Ecstasy.

It's a sad turn of events for Elmer. In addition to being a role player on the 1994 national championship team, he became a somewhat unlikely starter for the latter part of the 1995 season. After struggling with lineups throughout the year, Nolan found Elmer to be his good luck charm and rode that all the way to the finals (as a general Expats policy, we don't speak of what happened then).

He later played with the Harlem Globetrotters for awhile before we lost track of him...obviously the ensuing years did not go well.

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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Courtesy of reader Eastville Holdings comes this nice Felix Jones profile from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The whole thing is worth a read, but the best anecdote is this one (which was news to me...I don't recall hearing this reported anywhere else after the game, although I could certainly be wrong):

When Arkansas beat LSU last fall in three overtimes, Lee called for a toss sweep with the option to pass on the 2-point conversion.

“Let’s put it in the hands of McFadden and see if they can tackle him,” Lee told then Arkansas coach Houston Nutt.

The huddle broke from the sidelines, and there was McFadden not going anywhere.

“What is Felix doing running out there?” Nutt said into his headset, noting that he had no more timeouts.

“Who cares?” Lee said.

Much like McFadden, no one could tackle Jones either, and he scored on the sweep designed for McFadden for the game-winning points in one of the nation’s biggest upsets of the season.

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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For the Razorback blogosphere, Houston Dale Nutt is truly the gift that keeps on giving, even after he's taken up residence in Oxford, Miss. The hilarious Tre Baker of ArkansasSports360.com is asking his readers to supply captions for the photo below, which surely has to rank among the great moments in the history of photojournalism. The pic shows Nutt and the members of the the Ole Miss Ladies Football Forum about to take the field last Saturday for some sort of pep rally. According to Mr. Baker, the funniest captions may end up featured in an upcoming print edition of ArkansasSports360.com. Even if you don't enter the contest, you need to check out the entries. Funny stuff.

(more at www.razorbackexpats.com)

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Looking to kill a little time at work and read up on the football Hogs? You could do worse than plunging into this in-depth AthlonSports.com preview of Bobby Petrino's first Razorback team. Here's the money quote(s):

"At first glance, Arkansas appears too ravaged by departures on offense and too inexperienced in the back seven on defense to be a factor in the SEC West, much less the conference race. But the Razorbacks’ positions of power lie in the trenches on both sides of the ball — a solid foundation on which to build — and their presumptive starting quarterback, Casey Dick, has loads of experience. Bobby Petrino has been able to identify and accelerate skill-position stars, some previously unheralded, in all of his college stops, so he is very likely to find major contributors to run and catch in his heretofore prolific system ... Given the Razorbacks’ difficult schedule, such as a road date at Texas in addition to the brutal SEC slate, a .500 overall record would seem like a reasonable debut for Petrino."

Athlon also has produced an accompanying video preview, featuring the on-air talents of Willy Daunic and Mitch Light, the latter of whom looks eerily like a young Doug Collins. Light also has the temerity to praise the Petrino-Arkansas marriage and to not make a big deal about the manner in which the new Hog coach left Atlanta, which means that Mr. Light shouldn't be expecting holiday cards from Pat Forde or Peter King anytime soon.

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It's time for another edition of the game that is quickly becoming a national obsession. "Name That Obscure Hog" is a straightforward game: We post a photo of a Razorback that most fans have surely long forgotten about and ask our readers to name him. The first person to do so will receive nothing in return other than our undying respect ... as well as our concern that he or she - like us - may need to get out more.

A few clues about today's obscure Hog. Once again, he was a basketball player. He was highly touted, having been named a McDonald's All-American as a high-school senior. He didn't quite live up to the expectations, though.

In his senior year, he hit a last-second jumper to beat Texas A&M in the SWC Tournament. Our favorite memory of him, though, took place earlier in his career, when he secured a nationally televised road win against Wake Forest by nailing five of six free throws in the game's final minutes.

Here's the photo of today's mystery player:

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