2008 Woodie Awards
Hope lies on the hardwood
Swinging for the fences
Matt Watson
Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Sports
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There's a common phrase in sports: 'Wait 'til next year.'
In college football's Division I Bowl Subdivision, there are 120 schools vying for one top spot (and sometimes two, thanks to the BCS), and each year 119 teams have to wait for better luck next year.
Sports can be a cruel mistress.
Losing all of your conference games and only pulling off a .500 record thanks to mediocre performances against worse-than-mediocre teams doesn't exactly look good on your bowl résumé.
Sometimes it's not hard at all to be humble when you're an Arkansas Razorback fan.
But the good thing about being a Razorback is next year is always right around the corner.
While head coach Houston Nutt and the gang try to right the ship at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the Hardwood Hogs are getting ready for what could be a special season.
John Pelphrey's tenure with Arkansas basketball is now, as the Hogs have already played hoops at a tournament in Cancun and kicked off practices for the regular season last Friday with an open scrimmage.
When the powers-that-be sent Stan Heath to the unemployment line, unjustly or not, they made a commitment to winning now.
It would have been easy to give Heath one last chance to win with the guys he brought here, especially after he received a bid to March Madness after being told he'd be fired otherwise. He got a pink slip anyway.
There's too much at stake this season, too much potential, to be one-and-done in the postseason again. Heath was always a great recruiter, but was criticized for not motivating the guys on the court. Heath's recruits are still here and Pelphrey's bringing back his own "40 minutes of Pel."
The Razorbacks have nine returning lettermen including all five starters from an NCAA Tournament team. The same guys that won 21 games a year ago thanks to a late push through the Southeastern Conference Tournament are back in tact.
Bringing in a big-name coach to rally the troops for a run at postseason glory didn't exactly go as planned, but it seems Pelphrey was right for the job all along.
In college football's Division I Bowl Subdivision, there are 120 schools vying for one top spot (and sometimes two, thanks to the BCS), and each year 119 teams have to wait for better luck next year.
Sports can be a cruel mistress.
Losing all of your conference games and only pulling off a .500 record thanks to mediocre performances against worse-than-mediocre teams doesn't exactly look good on your bowl résumé.
Sometimes it's not hard at all to be humble when you're an Arkansas Razorback fan.
But the good thing about being a Razorback is next year is always right around the corner.
While head coach Houston Nutt and the gang try to right the ship at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the Hardwood Hogs are getting ready for what could be a special season.
John Pelphrey's tenure with Arkansas basketball is now, as the Hogs have already played hoops at a tournament in Cancun and kicked off practices for the regular season last Friday with an open scrimmage.
When the powers-that-be sent Stan Heath to the unemployment line, unjustly or not, they made a commitment to winning now.
It would have been easy to give Heath one last chance to win with the guys he brought here, especially after he received a bid to March Madness after being told he'd be fired otherwise. He got a pink slip anyway.
There's too much at stake this season, too much potential, to be one-and-done in the postseason again. Heath was always a great recruiter, but was criticized for not motivating the guys on the court. Heath's recruits are still here and Pelphrey's bringing back his own "40 minutes of Pel."
The Razorbacks have nine returning lettermen including all five starters from an NCAA Tournament team. The same guys that won 21 games a year ago thanks to a late push through the Southeastern Conference Tournament are back in tact.
Bringing in a big-name coach to rally the troops for a run at postseason glory didn't exactly go as planned, but it seems Pelphrey was right for the job all along.
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