Ho. Hogs.
Never thought I’d question Eric Musselman’s approach to basketball. But after closely watching his team lay eggs the past seven games, I actually do have a few queries for the man. Like, what happened to his enthusiasm and energy? It has been oddly absent during SEC play. And where is the team that beat Duke and Purdue? How do you go from top of the heap to bottom of the barrel in such a short amount of time? Just what in the world is going on over there?
Thankfully, there is much to be grateful for these daze as a Razorbacks fan.
So before getting too far ahead of ourselves and ranting about the underachieving, 2-ton gorilla in Bud Walton Arena, let us all pause and take a deep breath, and take another one and now ponder the potentially-bright future of Razorback Football.
With the return of everyone’s favorite, prodigal-son-of-a-gun, Bobby Petrino, the possibilities are boundless. So hard to believe that Shark Eyes will be back masterminding the Hogs’ offense, dialing up touchdowns at a dizzying pace, wreaking havoc on SEC defenses, and all the while, depleting the firework stash at DWR, the football stadium.
So unbelievable that it surely must be a dream.
The details of his dismissal are brutally nightmarish on that fateful spring day when he fell off his Harley Davidson out on Hwy. 16, and thusly his throne. ‘Til then, April Fools’ Day had never dealt a crueler hand.
The Athletic Director at the time, Jeff Long, is the only AD in the world who woulda fired Petrino (or insert any D1 coach sporting a two-year record of 21-5 in the SEC no less) over non-football-related deviations.
Long, who was hired after 50+ years of Rip van Broyles’ reign as King of the Hill, came in hot, as his first hire was Petrino, and the angels sang. Then Hog fans waited with abated breath for more big-brained decisions that never came. Who knew that Long’s first hire would also be his final decent one? Wow!
Long, that carpetbagger, coulda forgiven Petrino. I mean, come on, both the Petrinos and Longs are practicing Catholics and attended mass together. So it coulda been as easy as 10 Hail Marys, five Our Fathers and bada bing, bada boom – absolution.
Instead, Long pulled a Broyles and canned a top-drawer coach without any forethought.
Considering Petrino was only the best Razorback football coach, ever. He single-handedly resurrected Arkansas’ lowly gridiron status from whipping boy to legit in a mere three seasons, racking up points by the boatload, and then, poof, he was gone.
Now please don’t confuse my prose as praise for Coach Petrino’s marital misdeeds, for it most certainly is not. Just know that his wife, Becky Petrino, forgave him, and they remain married to this day. If she can stand by her man and choose the higher path of forgiveness, who are we to question that?
Alas, forgiveness, a tenet of faith I seldom see practiced these daze (by Christians or Heathens for that matter). Despite the undeniable fact that an enormous dose of compassion is precisely what this world needs right now, more than ever. We rarely hear about much of it being administered, whether here in Eureka Springs, at the U of A or anywhere.
But I digress.
Fortunately, Long finally ran off to the University of Kansas.
Now, we can all praise the Easter Duck that Hunter Yurachek was hired to clean up the mess at the Razorback athletic department, cuz he has managed to do just that. He is a different kinda AD, one with smarts and savvy and a program before ego attitude. He also isn’t overwhelmed by the mighty, mighty SEC. he hires quality head coaches (Musselman, Pittman, Petrino, etc), keeps outta their hair, keeps ‘em content and keeps ‘em around – a far cry from previous administrations.
The rehiring of Petrino is the only time the athletic department at the U of A ever righted any of its decades fulla wrongdoings, ‘specially those that occurred during J. Frank Broyles’ reign as King of the Hill. He and his decisions were always 100% beyond reproach, regardless whether they were sensible or won any games. That cracker left more closets fulla skeletons and more buried bodies over there, than I care to ponder. He’s been cold and dead for a long time, yet his curse still comes back from time to time to haunt the Razorbacks and their fans.
But it’s now 2024 and time to bury that shizzle, as the future of Razorback athletics looks brighter than ever.
Scot Halsell