Perspective Matters

[hogsanity]

I am excited about every Razorback season.excited about this one.and yea i my  enjoyment of Razorback football is tied to wins and losses.winning matters to the Hogs players and coaches.and it matters to me as a fan. it makes me sick when they lose. I admit it.when Auburn beat the Hogs 56 to 3,last year. it made me throw up!

Why? Could you do anything to change it? Did it somehow define YOU? That is what the OP was getting at.

[311Hog]

We are talking about different things. The Op was not about standards for the program, or a set # of wins that people find "acceptable". It was about not being such a jerk when watching games that others can not stand to be around you. It was about enjoying the moment, either at the games or watching wherever, and not letting the outcome of a game THAT YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER impact how you behave, not just during but afterwards as well.

I've enjoyed countless games watching at home with my kids. Often times we dvr it, spend time outside playing catch for a while, go watch the 1st half, back out for some backyard football, then back in to watch the rest. The way some here talk, if the Hogs were losing, I should be screaming about how the coach sucks, or the AD does not want to win, or some other such nonsense, instead of enjoying the day. I should put, and be physically sick over a loss for days on end afterwards. Why?

This is something i can totally relate to.  When i was young, i would almost stroke out i would get so intense about Hog sports (mainly football and basketball, and to some degree baseball).  When i was in my 20's going to school on The Hill and actually attending games in person it gave me a bit off a forum to express all the pent up fandom/energy etc. and now that i am older with a family i have had to learn a great deal about perspective especially when it comes to the Hogs.  It does or will get to a point where people even your own kids will not want to be around you if you express so clearly your anger/frustration etc. at the life of being a Hog.  You may want nothing more than for your son or daughter to love the hogs as you do, but your behavior will drive them from that dream i can promise you.

I have to admit i am so much more mellow now when watching the hogs, i have to be or else i would be watching them alone.

[forrest city joe]

Why? Could you do anything to change it? Did it somehow define YOU? That is what the OP was getting at.

Because i love the Hogs,and hate to see them get embarrassed,that's why it made me sick! i do not apologize for feeling this way.it's God,family and Razorback athletics. being around me when the Hogs are getting destroyed,is not going to be good.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Why? Could you do anything to change it? Did it somehow define YOU? That is what the OP was getting at.

I just hope he has an Obamacare Cadillac plan. I have a strange feeling this season is gonna be rough.

[hogsanity]

This is something i can totally relate to.  When i was young, i would almost stroke out i would get so intense about Hog sports (mainly football and basketball, and to some degree baseball).  When i was in my 20's going to school on The Hill and actually attending games in person it gave me a bit off a forum to express all the pent up fandom/energy etc. and now that i am older with a family i have had to learn a great deal about perspective especially when it comes to the Hogs.  It does or will get to a point where people even your own kids will not want to be around you if you express so clearly your anger/frustration etc. at the life of being a Hog.  You may want nothing more than for your son or daughter to love the hogs as you do, but your behavior will drive them from that dream i can promise you.

I have to admit i am so much more mellow now when watching the hogs, i have to be or else i would be watching them alone.

I love my dad, but one thing I remember was how miserable it was watching games with him. It was just incessant negativity about the coach, the players, the refs, the announcers, the commercials and anything else he could complain about. I loved watching games with my grandma because she never said a word unless it was to cheer a td or a big basket.

being around me when the Hogs are getting destroyed,is not going to be good.

So a game has the power to make you behave in a way that drives people away from you? Awesome.

[hogsanity]

Are you really asking another fan why they would be upset with the bad end of 56-3?

This is rhetorical... of course you are. 

...and now I think we begin to understand why you take this stance every time someone puts some dissatisfaction on display here. 

Some of you just refuse to see what the OP was about here. No one, not one person, has said anything about not caring if the Hogs lose. No one has said fans should not want the team to win. No one is saying that dissatisfaction with a loss is bad. This is about how people behave. The Op was very clear, he was acting in a way watching a game that drove his daughter to another room.

IMO, some of you wont acknowledge what the OP was about because you think the only way to really be a fan is to act like a raving lunatic. FCJ said if the Hogs are losing no one would want to be around him. I just do not get that type of behavior. Life is too freaking short.

And yea, I do not want my kids to look back on watching games with me and think about how miserable it made them. Why would anyone want to act that way so that anyone would think that? Why would anyone allow themselves to get to a state where they get physically ill over what a group of people do on a game field?

[hogsanity]

99% of fans do not define fandom as acting like a raving lunatic. 

If someone gets even close to that type of behavior after a hard-fought 14-13 loss to Bama as in 2014 then perspective has gone out the window.

Being pissed because your team totally checks out 56-3 style against Auburn, or puts an utter collapse on display in back to back games as we did at the end of the season...
No - it's not 'burning couches, beating the wife' type of idiotic, but if you think people won't exhibit feelings after something like that where time/money/passions are invested... then you've lost perspective on what it means to be a fan. 

You instead seek entertainment in throwing disdain towards others communicating their disappointment with what they've witnessed.

You still do not get it, or you do but choose to ignore it. IT is in the HOW you communicate that disdain, that disappointment. Do you do so in a way that drives people away from you? Makes you unable to enjoy the rest of the day or weekend? That is what the Op is talking about.

I thought the Auburn game last year was perhaps the worst display ever put on by a hog team, and that includes the twp USC games because USC was just loaded with talent. But what good would ranting and raving do? What good would it have done for me or anyone else to sit all Saturday night and all day Sunday grumbling about the game? Was it going to change the outcome? Was FCJ puking going to make the score any different, or make the db's not get sucked in on every play action?

[hogsanity]

Raving... Puking... how many people do you think actually do that after watching an embarrassing loss?

Hyperbole is bothering you.

No, actually I think the raving is quite common, not sure on the puking. But it is not just the raving. It is those who let a loss ruing their day or weekend or the entire next week. It is people who would rather sulk about the Hogs losing, than go out and have a good time, or spend time with family or friends. It does not have to be ranting and raving, it can be stone silence as you replay the game over and over and lament internally that your coworker that is a fan of _________ is going to rib you come Monday.

[GuvHog]

Raving... Puking... how many people do you think actually do that after watching an embarrassing loss?

Hyperbole is bothering you.

I doubt many people go to that extent. For me seeing the Hogs lose really hurts and I carry it with me for a while but I don't let it ruin my day or anyone else's day.

[HF#1]

It ruins my Saturday but my pain stops there. Sunday is a new day.  I'm always excited about the season, just not that optimistic this year.

[ricepig]

It ruins my Saturday but my pain stops there. Sunday is a new day.

That's right, you can't say "we'll get em next Saturday if you're still crying about last week"!

[GuvHog]

That's right, you can't say "we'll get em next Saturday if you're still crying about last week"!

Well said RicePig.

[HF#1]

That's right, you can't say "we'll get em next Saturday if you're still crying about last week"!

It's a waste of mental energy. I try not to sweat the things I cannot control.

[little pigee]

I killed myself when we lost last year.  6 times.

But I'm over it now.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I killed myself when we lost last year.  6 times.

But I'm over it now.

"You shouldn't treat every game as if it were life or death. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot."----Dean Smith

[oldhawg]

Have had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time in South Bend, IN, the last three years.  Store owners, merchants, waitresses, and other employees in retail sales have told me that the week after a Notre Dame loss (in football), business and behaviors are abysmal, whereas the week following a Notre Dame victory is usually more profitable and folks seem generally in better moods.

IMO It's all about perspective and the effect that Notre Dame football has on the community's perspective.  I have to believe that a similar climate exists around Fayetteville following  Razorback wins and losses.

[bythelake]

Has it helped dame to be more successful?  Think not.

But I agree as I know I'm kinda like that too.

[orvillesghost]

I have been following Razorback football for a long time. Bill Montgomery was my boyhood idol if that tells you anything.

For a lot of years, I did invest too much into it. When we lost I would be miserable for days and a lot of times made my wife and other family members miserable.

A couple of things changed that, one in the past and the other just in the past few years.

I attended the 1987 Miami game in LR. That year there were a lot of high expectations for the Hogs and I had grown up accustomed to being in the top 20 every year and thinking most years we could be in the hunt for a national title if things broke right.

Well, if you are old enough you remember it, 51-7 and it could have been 100-7. I saw clearly that day how large the gap was between Arkansas football and a team that was national championship caliber. Arkansas came back to have good years in 1988 and 1989 and played Miami close in 1988 but since that day, I have realized the difference between Arkansas and the Miami's, Alabama's USC's of the college football world.

Getting older and 25 years of being in the SEC has just hammered it home more and more. We all know the limits we have here, the lack of a recruiting base foremost among them.

I don't like to lose, it disappoints me when Arkansas does lose but I am realistic about things more now. I enjoy the games period, its great when we win, it doesn't kill me when we don't.

I doubt I ever live to see Arkansas win a NC in football, and probably will never see them win the SEC title. I can still support the program and enjoy the games and I do...

At age 57, life is too short to let any athletic contest depress you too much...

[EastexHawg]

I don't remember so many "I don't care if the Hogs win or not" posts before Bielema.  Pretty weird.

^^^^ born yesterday^^^^^

I've been watching for 50 years and I don't remember it, either. 

[Cinco de Hogo]

I have been following Razorback football for a long time. Bill Montgomery was my boyhood idol if that tells you anything.

For a lot of years, I did invest too much into it. When we lost I would be miserable for days and a lot of times made my wife and other family members miserable.

A couple of things changed that, one in the past and the other just in the past few years.

I attended the 1987 Miami game in LR. That year there were a lot of high expectations for the Hogs and I had grown up accustomed to being in the top 20 every year and thinking most years we could be in the hunt for a national title if things broke right.

Well, if you are old enough you remember it, 51-7 and it could have been 100-7. I saw clearly that day how large the gap was between Arkansas football and a team that was national championship caliber. Arkansas came back to have good years in 1988 and 1989 and played Miami close in 1988 but since that day, I have realized the difference between Arkansas and the Miami's, Alabama's USC's of the college football world.

Getting older and 25 years of being in the SEC has just hammered it home more and more. We all know the limits we have here, the lack of a recruiting base foremost among them.

I don't like to lose, it disappoints me when Arkansas does lose but I am realistic about things more now. I enjoy the games period, its great when we win, it doesn't kill me when we don't.

I doubt I ever live to see Arkansas win a NC in football, and probably will never see them win the SEC title. I can still support the program and enjoy the games and I do...

At age 57, life is too short to let any athletic contest depress you too much...

I think that just about sums up people's spirit after the dust bowl years!

[ChitownHawg]

That isn't what I was talking about at all.

My bad then and apologies.

[ChitownHawg]

Says who? I'm guessing  the stadium will be full just like the past.

Wondering where the excitement is in June/July is laughable.

Wait a minute... I'm excited. Been that way since CPR and the 3-4 were announced. September cannot get here fast enough. Now in November I may not be as excited. 

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Wait a minute... I'm excited. Been that way since CPR and the 3-4 were announced. September cannot get here fast enough. Now in November I may not be as excited. 

November has me a little scared.

I'm not trying to drag anyone into my paranoia, but I got a bad feeling about this season. Hopefully I'm 180 degrees off.

[ChitownHawg]

November has me a little scared.

I'm not trying to drag anyone into my paranoia, but I got a bad feeling about this season. Hopefully I'm 180 degrees off.

I hope you are too. 

[TheGrove68]

At least, it has made a difference for me.

I love Razorback football, and I have for 40 years. However, someone much wiser than me once wrote to me, "The Razorbacks will never win enough games to make you happy."

At one time, that was correct; no matter our record, no matter the circumstance, I would scream, cuss, and rant. I would be inconsolable. Then something happened (cue the really appropriate response from most normal people, "You turned 13," because that is some childish behavior).

No, what happened was the Missouri game in 2014. My daughter, who I rarely get to see, was home for Thanksgiving. We watched the first half together, then she disappeared. I found her in another room early in the second half, still watching the game. When I asked her to come watch with me, her response was "I can't watch the game with you." After the game, she and her mom wanted us all to go out for a late movie. I was physically present, but mentally I was still stewing over a damn football game. I screwed up quality time with my family because I didn't have the right perspective.

No more. I had a great time at the NCAA Regional last month, but when our baseball team lost to Missouri State to end the season, I was over it by the time I made it to my truck.

That's not "apathy." That's putting games played and coached by others in proper perspective. The joy comes in the process (which I can control), not in the outcome (which I cannot control). I will do the same this football season. I'm going to follow the Hogs religiously, as I have since I was 14 years old. I'll attend five or six games in RRS and watch any game I miss in person on TV. Still spend the same money, still invest in the program as I always have. In fact, I will enjoy it more than I ever have.

I agree I had a similar turn about 5 years ago. I would lose sleep over both High school and College games mulling over the mistakes and misques by the players and the staff. It would drive me nuts. Finally I put the College games into perspective and came to the conclusion that I had zero control over the outcome of those games. And that I should just enjoy the games for what they are. I still get a bit upset over some of the High school games and the misques that happen, but I can't play the game for the players and at the end of the day there is always another game and another season.

[WilsonHog]

I am excited about every Razorback season.excited about this one.and yea i my  enjoyment of Razorback football is tied to wins and losses.winning matters to the Hogs players and coaches.and it matters to me as a fan. it makes me sick when they lose. I admit it.when Auburn beat the Hogs 56 to 3,last year. it made me throw up!

I refuse to believe that after a loss a grown-ass man actually goes to his bathroom and vomits.

Hyperbole.

[jkstock04]

^^^^ born yesterday^^^^^


I've been watching for 50 years and I don't remember it, either. 

I've been thinking about this topic some more...and the more I think about it, I've come to the absolute conclusion that when the day comes that I don't care if the Hogs lose...it'll also be the day that I won't care when they win either.

Essentially, I wouldnt be a fan anymore.

[ChitownHawg]

I refuse to believe that after a loss a grown-ass man actually goes to his bathroom and vomits.

Hyperbole.

He didn't say he went to the bathroom. 

[LZH]

He didn't say he went to the bathroom. 

Really......who throws up in the bathroom anymore? What the hell do ya think the kitchen sink is for?

[WilsonHog]

Just to be clear, I never said I don't "care" if the Hogs win or lose.

I certainly do.

However, it seems incredibly selfish of me to project my frustration over the outcome of a football game (which I do not have any control over) onto family members who pretty much follow Razorback football to begin with just because they love me.

Not the kind of man I want to be.

[McKdaddy]

I refuse to believe that after a loss a grown-ass man actually goes to his bathroom and vomits.

Hyperbole.

[ricepig]

Just to be clear, I never said I don't "care" if the Hogs win or lose.

I certainly do.

However, it seems incredibly selfish of me to project my frustration over the outcome of a football game (which I do not have any control over) onto family members who pretty much follow Razorback football to begin with just because they love me.

Not the kind of man I want to be.

They know that, but it doesn't fit their narrative.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Some people really have an uphill battle reading english words and understanding them.

Apparently.

[NoogaHog]

Just to be clear, I never said I don't "care" if the Hogs win or lose.

I certainly do.

However, it seems incredibly selfish of me to project my frustration over the outcome of a football game (which I do not have any control over) onto family members who pretty much follow Razorback football to begin with just because they love me.

Not the kind of man I want to be.

Apparently, Wilson, you, me, Rice, and O'sGhost and some others here aren't fans enough for some people. We need to make sure we are a burden to those around us, and make very public displays of our fanhood.

My daughter starts playing college soccer in the fall. She will have games on Saturdays. I guess I'm going to have to sit down with her and explain that I am not going to be able to go to her games because there is a game on TV involving people I don't know and who don't know me. And if I do go, I will make sure that if she looks in the stands she sees me with my face buried in my phone watching somebody else's kids. Then maybe I can hope to be "fan enough". 

Yet, I'm sure there are some FANS on here who read my last paragraph and are thinking "Yeah, what's the big deal?"

[HognitiveDissonance]

I have been following Razorback football for a long time. Bill Montgomery was my boyhood idol if that tells you anything.

For a lot of years, I did invest too much into it. When we lost I would be miserable for days and a lot of times made my wife and other family members miserable.

A couple of things changed that, one in the past and the other just in the past few years.

I attended the 1987 Miami game in LR. That year there were a lot of high expectations for the Hogs and I had grown up accustomed to being in the top 20 every year and thinking most years we could be in the hunt for a national title if things broke right.

Well, if you are old enough you remember it, 51-7 and it could have been 100-7. I saw clearly that day how large the gap was between Arkansas football and a team that was national championship caliber. Arkansas came back to have good years in 1988 and 1989 and played Miami close in 1988 but since that day, I have realized the difference between Arkansas and the Miami's, Alabama's USC's of the college football world.

Getting older and 25 years of being in the SEC has just hammered it home more and more. We all know the limits we have here, the lack of a recruiting base foremost among them.

I don't like to lose, it disappoints me when Arkansas does lose but I am realistic about things more now. I enjoy the games period, its great when we win, it doesn't kill me when we don't.

I doubt I ever live to see Arkansas win a NC in football, and probably will never see them win the SEC title. I can still support the program and enjoy the games and I do...

At age 57, life is too short to let any athletic contest depress you too much...

Yea, I remember that day in 1987. Beano Cook actually picked us to win.
We had a nice opening drive...Thomas pitches to Rouse on an option for a big gain into Miami territory and the crowd is electric. But we had to punt down to the Miami 1-yard line.
Three plays later, Miami scored 7-0. THREE PLAYS, 99 yards. Game over.

I sat through every play of that game. Does that make me a glutton for punishment or a real fan?
I never leave games early and not starting anytime soon.

[Biggus Piggus]

We are, as a group, displeased with the way Arkansas finished last season.

I am opening myself to the possibility that the 2016 team did about what it was supposed to do. That running up big leads against Missouri and Virginia Tech was overachievement that was unsustainable.

The coaches might have needed a bunch of smoke and mirrors to do even that well, because the running game was incomplete, pass protection awful, and defense dysfunctional.

The root problem was the offensive line, which slipped because of Sam Pittman's departure -- which compounded problems with the OL depth chart (gutting a recruiting class), which began with the ill-advised early departure of a starter.

If last year's offense had been able to sustain more drives and run in power situations, it would have relieved much pressure from the defense. Field position suffered, ball control suffered, turnovers mounted. In more than a few games, the Hogs came apart at the seams.

Arkansas's coaches were able to game-plan their way to big halftime leads in the final two games, but they could not hide the team's shortcomings from mid-game adjustments. All opponents had to do was get more aggressive, test our blocking and our one-on-one tackling and our coverages, and we disintegrated.

What the Razorbacks must recapture is the ability to rush for 15- to 20-yard chunks, giving the offense the ability to turn virtually any possession into a potential scoring drive without running higher-risk plays. When the running game is that dangerous, setting up big pass plays is far easier, too.

I wonder how much our running game can progress this season. The offensive line is much closer to being ready, but is it ready? Without RWIII, does Arkansas have backs who can handle all situations? Does the backfield have the kind of explosiveness and strength necessary to turn a short gain into a longer one?

I am hopeful about the available running backs. They have a nice blend of speed, quickness and power, though each different from one another.

Many other things must improve, if Arkansas hopes to ascend this season. Our quarterback Austin Allen must take his game higher, relying less on favored receivers and finding the best open option more often. Allen must be able to handle pressure, which will have a lot to do with the effectiveness of his protectors. And some younger receivers must rise up and play with the efficiency that starters are supposed to bring.

Paul Rhoads has discarded the "fear of everything" philosophy into which Robb Smith had sunk. The first question is how good are the players? We can see potentially good to great players at noseguard and end. The linebackers and defensive backs are a wide-ranging blend of seasoned pluggers and young, raw talents. Are the Hogs going to reach midseason with the need to replace failed starters with freshmen who at least have the athletic ability to not get torched?

Finally, there's special teams, where the Razorbacks seem to be stuck with kicking, returning and coverage teams that are inferior to most competition. Can Arkansas keep special teams from being the crippling flaw?

This is going to be an interesting season to me, because I can see a wide range of possibilities. The true range isn't as wide as it seems from here. If I knew more about all the above questions, our destiny probably would be clearer. But up front, I go into this season acknowledging that the range of possibilities is wide + the season ought to be enjoyable even if the team proves to be flawed.

[Cinco de Hogo]

Apparently, Wilson, you, me, Rice, and O'sGhost and some others here aren't fans enough for some people. We need to make sure we are a burden to those around us, and make very public displays of our fanhood.

My daughter starts playing college soccer in the fall. She will have games on Saturdays. I guess I'm going to have to sit down with her and explain that I am not going to be able to go to her games because there is a game on TV involving people I don't know and who don't know me. And if I do go, I will make sure that if she looks in the stands she sees me with my face buried in my phone watching somebody else's kids. Then maybe I can hope to be "fan enough". 

Yet, I'm sure there are some FANS on here who read my last paragraph and are thinking "Yeah, what's the big deal?"

Major epic failure from both sides to acknowledge the true meaning of opposing post.  We are all fans or we wouldn't be here.   #toeatyourown

[Cinco de Hogo]

We are, as a group, displeased with the way Arkansas finished last season.

I am opening myself to the possibility that the 2016 team did about what it was supposed to do. That running up big leads against Missouri and Virginia Tech was overachievement that was unsustainable.

The coaches might have needed a bunch of smoke and mirrors to do even that well, because the running game was incomplete, pass protection awful, and defense dysfunctional.

The root problem was the offensive line, which slipped because of Sam Pittman's departure -- which compounded problems with the OL depth chart (gutting a recruiting class), which began with the ill-advised early departure of a starter.

If last year's offense had been able to sustain more drives and run in power situations, it would have relieved much pressure from the defense. Field position suffered, ball control suffered, turnovers mounted. In more than a few games, the Hogs came apart at the seams.

Arkansas's coaches were able to game-plan their way to big halftime leads in the final two games, but they could not hide the team's shortcomings from mid-game adjustments. All opponents had to do was get more aggressive, test our blocking and our one-on-one tackling and our coverages, and we disintegrated.

What the Razorbacks must recapture is the ability to rush for 15- to 20-yard chunks, giving the offense the ability to turn virtually any possession into a potential scoring drive without running higher-risk plays. When the running game is that dangerous, setting up big pass plays is far easier, too.

I wonder how much our running game can progress this season. The offensive line is much closer to being ready, but is it ready? Without RWIII, does Arkansas have backs who can handle all situations? Does the backfield have the kind of explosiveness and strength necessary to turn a short gain into a longer one?

I am hopeful about the available running backs. They have a nice blend of speed, quickness and power, though each different from one another.

Many other things must improve, if Arkansas hopes to ascend this season. Our quarterback Austin Allen must take his game higher, relying less on favored receivers and finding the best open option more often. Allen must be able to handle pressure, which will have a lot to do with the effectiveness of his protectors. And some younger receivers must rise up and play with the efficiency that starters are supposed to bring.

Paul Rhoads has discarded the "fear of everything" philosophy into which Robb Smith had sunk. The first question is how good are the players? We can see potentially good to great players at noseguard and end. The linebackers and defensive backs are a wide-ranging blend of seasoned pluggers and young, raw talents. Are the Hogs going to reach midseason with the need to replace failed starters with freshmen who at least have the athletic ability to not get torched?

Finally, there's special teams, where the Razorbacks seem to be stuck with kicking, returning and coverage teams that are inferior to most competition. Can Arkansas keep special teams from being the crippling flaw?

This is going to be an interesting season to me, because I can see a wide range of possibilities. The true range isn't as wide as it seems from here. If I knew more about all the above questions, our destiny probably would be clearer. But up front, I go into this season acknowledging that the range of possibilities is wide + the season ought to be enjoyable even if the team proves to be flawed.

Good to hear from you again Biggus!

Last year I started the season with about the same attitude and pretty much said the same thing(I don't know about this team)after each game as the season progressed.  The team never gave me anything else as the season progressed to hang hopes on for this year.  It will be a different team in many ways and once again I enter the season not knowing anything in particular to have hopes of a great season.  I hope it's not a bad season!!!   

Here is what I do hope happens, that unlike last season the team shows a greater tendency towards improvement as the season progresses.  I hope we see better coaching throughout the course of games and onward throughout the season.  I hope the defense transitions into the 3-4 smoothly and that the offense HELP by sustaining drives that end in scores.  In short I want to see improvement that is measurable over where we start from to the point I can carry something over into 2018.

[ArkansasI]

I believe Bret is gradually building this thing.  The recruiting classes are getting better every year.  Although I'm not certain that the top talent is improving, the Hogs seem to take few, if any, risks on fliers.  I find myself more surprised when guys don't pan out.

That stated, I am concerned that we remain frustratingly thin at key positions in Bret's system - running back, offensive line, linebacker and safety.  Bret has enjoyed a lot of success coaching players at these positions in the league - so it makes little sense that kids are not lining up to play for us at these positions.

I realize RWIII is a surprise loss, but the fact that we went to South Carolina to find a veteran to run the football shows that we ought to have more guys on the roster at RB.  We've had some good ones leave the state recently... it seems we could have stacked a couple of these players.

More than anything, we need guys that are 220-250 pounds that are aggressive and can run to the football with purpose.  I realize that everyone is after these guys, but at some point playing time should sell.

The fact that this year's recruiting class is likely to be small is one of the most positive messages we could hope to receive.  Now, if Paul Rhoads can make playing defense aggressive and fun again, I like our chances for having a successful year.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I believe Bret is gradually building this thing.  The recruiting classes are getting better every year.  Although I'm not certain that the top talent is improving, the Hogs seem to take few, if any, risks on fliers.  I find myself more surprised when guys don't pan out.

That stated, I am concerned that we remain frustratingly thin at key positions in Bret's system - running back, offensive line, linebacker and safety.  Bret has enjoyed a lot of success coaching players at these positions in the league - so it makes little sense that kids are not lining up to play for us at these positions.

I realize RWIII is a surprise loss, but the fact that we went to South Carolina to find a veteran to run the football shows that we ought to have more guys on the roster at RB.  We've had some good ones leave the state recently... it seems we could have stacked a couple of these players.

More than anything, we need guys that are 220-250 pounds that are aggressive and can run to the football with purpose.  I realize that everyone is after these guys, but at some point playing time should sell.

The fact that this year's recruiting class is likely to be small is one of the most positive messages we could hope to receive.  Now, if Paul Rhoads can make playing defense aggressive and fun again, I like our chances for having a successful year.

I agree mostly, although I'm not sure they had to go get the SC back. To me, Whaley is the guy and Chase Hayden or Maleek Williams and also TJ Hammonds were enough to provide depth. I think those guys have real ability. But glad to have the SC back.

Age-old Ark thing: not enough athletes on defense, plenty of skill players on offense. Rinse/lather/repeat most years. I've been a fan since late 70s.