‘I’m goin’ out west where the wind blows tall’ Tom Waits
Well, I knew it. Muss is gone, bound for saltier waters, warmer weather and all those tasty SoCal taco trucks he loves so. His time here flew by, and he’ll be missed. Four outta the five years he was at the helm were fulla nothing but success. Not to mention that he, singlehandedly, drug the Razorback basketball program outta the muck it had mired in for far too long and returned it back to relevance – like Houdini. SNAP!
Am I happy he’s leaving? Or the way he went about it? The short answer is no, the long answer is heck no. It was obvious something was afoul months ago. Muss lost most of his swagger and enthusiasm once January rolled around and suddenly became a terribly whiny coach. He often looked distracted and called very few timeouts and even fewer inbounds plays.
Sometimes on the road in the NCAA, a visiting coach needs time to call a timeout or two to relax and/or ream his team, but not Muss. And as to the lack of inbounds plays called – with all the hoops he’s coached, he oughta have a vault full of ‘em. Shoot, I still know a coupla good ones.
I believe he knew for certain he was leaving months ago; and apparently, it is tough to be a successful coach with a guilty conscience, knowing that you are bound for LaLa Land once the season’s over. This team was so talented, but it’s as if Muss mailed in the second half of the season. One Fayettenam radio station reported that Hunter Yurachek presented him with a contract extension months ago that remains unsigned. So there’s that.
I also heard he was appalled with the paltry amount of NIL money offered up to his team.
And then there’s Mrs. Muss, or rather the lack of her. The former sportscaster had been a fixture behind the Razorbacks bench the first four years, and the cameras landed on her more often than not during timeouts. But once SEC play rolled around, she was oddly AWOL from her permanent perch. To me, her absence was the biggest Razorback-red flag of all. She always stood by her man, righteously repped the U of A and frequently practiced altruism – the lady is a straight up G and will be missed, maybe more than her husband.
Actually, I am gonna miss the l’il fella, but definitely not all those grand mal temper tantrums he threw weekly.
Oddly, he is only the second basketball coach in the history of the program to voluntarily leave it. It was nearly 50 years ago, when Eddie Sutton said he’d “crawl on his hands and knees to coach at Kentucky,” and as much as he liked to drank back then – mighta done just that.
Whatever the story is – one thang for certain and for sure, the U of A needs to come up with a quality coach, ASAP. No monkeying around…
But wait – WOW!
Former Kentucky Wildcat coach, John Calipari, will be named U of A skipper this week, and I am beside myself. This is the best hire, ever. He has succeeded at every college that employed him, won multiple Nattys, is familiar with SEC turf, can recruit his tail off and is highly respected around the country.
I still can’t believe it. Talk about something coming outta the left field bleachers.
Meanwhile, DVH and his top-ranked Razorbacks hosted and swept #7 ranked Ole Miss last week, defeating the Rebels, 5-2, 8-3 and 7-4. Wehiwa Aloy and Nolan Souza, the islanders from Hawaii, powered the Hogs by stroking two homers apiece, despite battling gale-force winds most of the weekend, while the Razorback pitching staff rang up a whopping 41 Rebels over the weeKend to add to their record-smashing seasonal pace.
They host San Jose St. on Tuesday and Wednesday, before traveling to Tuscaloosa for a weekend series against the Crimson Tide.
WSP!