How do you explain the optimism and hope of our long time core fans after two dismal seasons?

[wholehog92]

I'd rather read posts from anonymous posters on here that are able to take advantage of their anonymity to post their true opinions/observations in real time on what they think is going on with the team and players, positive and negative.  Coming from true fans it's more truthful, even if its not always accurate.

When someone uses their real identity you get comments like "all JLS did was sit around and tell jokes" two years after the guy left.  An opinion you probably won't find from the same poster in his post history during the time JLS was here.

What good is that?

Brilliant observation.  I was trying to think of something similar myself.  I was stuck on people just commenting on what the guy in the closet was saying rather than actually state an opinion on the matter.

[TOM "tbw1"]

There could not be a bigger contrast between two interim head coaches than those two.

Kines worked himself to exhaustion. He'd be directing the defense in practice, then he'd put one of his coaches in charge and he'd run down the field to watch the offense.

He would arrive at the BAC before sun up. He'd go home close to midnight.

When he brought Danny Ford in to fix the kicking game problems he was warned that he was opening the door for Ford to get his job. Kines said he didn't care. He was trying to win games and Ford could help.

A week after the embarrassing Citadel loss at home under Jack Crowe, Kines had Arkansas beating South Carolina at South Carolina. They also upset Tennessee (when Tennessee was good) at Tennessee and managed to beat LSU.

When he told us that Broyles was not going to consider him for the job permanently he said, Guys I know you have a job to do but I can't talk. I need some sleep. I'll be back in a couple of days to answer your questions but for now I have to go home.

He had nothing left. He had, as they say, left everything on the field.

By contrast JLS sat on his butt and cracked jokes. That's all you need to know about him.

As a friend of Joe Kines, thank you, Mike.

[JIHawg]

Good summary JT.  Everyone is going to be looking back to 1964 this 50th anniversary year, with good reason of course but if you want the best example of history repeating itself I suggest looking back a decade earlier.

In 1953 John Barnhill brought Bowden Wyatt to Arkansas to pick up the pieces after Otis Douglass' high flying pro style offense crashed and burned.  Wyatt's first season was a struggle to reach 3-9 and expectations the following year were non-existent.  However Wyatt got them turned around enough in 1954 to surprise a SWC that was down that year and legendary back-to-back-to-back upset wins over Texas, Ole Miss, and Bear Bryant's Junction City Boys proved to be one of the most important 3 weeks in school history and paved the way for all the success that followed.

If the 2014 Razorbacks don't already know the story then CBB should invite the survivors to tell them of the adventures of 1954's 25 Little Pigs and how they changed Arkansas football history.

Thanks for filling in a significant segment of our history.  It's nice to know the pattern goes back before Frank.

[TOM "tbw1"]

I'd rather read posts from anonymous posters on here that are able to take advantage of their anonymity to post their true opinions/observations in real time on what they think is going on with the team and players, positive and negative.  Coming from true fans it's more truthful, even if its not always accurate.

When someone uses their real identity you get comments like "all JLS did was sit around and tell jokes" two years after the guy left.  An opinion you probably won't find from the same poster in his post history during the time JLS was here.

What good is that?

Wrong by a long shot.  Mike and others reported it at the time. 

[Inhogswetrust]

Contrived pessimism and feigned optimism are twins separated at birth. What we as non-participants say or think, positive or negative, is totally insignificant in terms of affecting outcomes.

Assess all available information and form an honest opinion, be it positive, negative, or neutral.  I don't know any other way to look at things. It's not a matter of trying to be right or wrong, just honest. 

None of us KNOW what is going to happen before a football game or season begins.

Very good. But it regards to those that are negative the only thing I might add is nobody likes a chronic complainer (except another chronic complainer). There are some on here that even if we went undefeated they would find something to complain about.

[Inhogswetrust]

Funny how ppl forget how salty Auburn was under CTT and LSU under Saban. Oh, and Miss St under CJS.

CJS was not that successful at Miss. State. He was 75/75/2 overall for a 50% win percentage. In the SEC he was much worse at 43/59/1 for a 42% win percentage. I wouldn't call that salty.............................

[RedSkiesAtNightHog]

Good summary JT.  Everyone is going to be looking back to 1964 this 50th anniversary year, with good reason of course but if you want the best example of history repeating itself I suggest looking back a decade earlier.

In 1953 John Barnhill brought Bowden Wyatt to Arkansas to pick up the pieces after Otis Douglass' high flying pro style offense crashed and burned.  Wyatt's first season was a struggle to reach 3-9 and expectations the following year were non-existent.  However Wyatt got them turned around enough in 1954 to surprise a SWC that was down that year and legendary back-to-back-to-back upset wins over Texas, Ole Miss, and Bear Bryant's Junction City Boys proved to be one of the most important 3 weeks in school history and paved the way for all the success that followed.

If the 2014 Razorbacks don't already know the story then CBB should invite the survivors to tell them of the adventures of 1954's 25 Little Pigs and how they changed Arkansas football history.

Great post!  Historical posts that shed light on the future of the program are some of my favorites!  +1

[weresoclose]

Very good. But it regards to those that are negative the only thing I might add is nobody likes a chronic complainer (except another chronic complainer). There are some on here that even if we went undefeated they would find something to complain about.

Gus won the NC, and his wife, in a valium-cosmo rant, complained to Armani Ronnie about them only scoring 22 points.  It can happen, but might require a pharma-cocktail...

[Inhogswetrust]

The same can be said of people who predict crazy positive records like 9 or 10 wins and beating Bama this year. If you ask people away from this board, the real average fan, most feel 5-6 wins is to be expected, which is reasonable.

The point people are trying to make is it doesn't matter if you predict a crazy positive high number of wins. What matters is it is better to be optimistic than pessimistic and that holds true in all of life's aspects. It's not about predictions, it's about attitude!

[PygmalionEffect]

Wrong by a long shot.  Mike and others reported it at the time.

Yes, you're right.  Mike did say as early as Sept 28th 2012 that JLS was "in over his head". 

Another comment he made after the bama game was that he couldn't believe he was still trying to tell jokes and be funny in his press conferences.

You had to look hard for them amongst a lot of posts but they were there, I was wrong in choosing that example.

I still stand by my contention though that people that post on here as themselves have to be concerned how their posts come across to the power brokers that run the hill. (unless they are retired)

It's good to have a mix of real reporters along with anonymous posters.



But just to even it out a bit for Mike who occasionally enjoys making light of the commoners that he thinks post stupid opinions on here:

A November 2012 post concerning a coaching replacement for JLS where Mike makes this perceptive gem,

"Gus Malzahn is not ready for an SEC head coaching gig and I think Gus is smart enough to know that".

Evidently Mike, he wasn't smart enough to know that.

Let's all be a little less quick to judge our posting brothers on here this fall, I'll try to take my own advice.

[weresoclose]

The point people are trying to make is it doesn't matter if you predict a crazy positive high number of wins. What matters is it is better to be optimistic than pessimistic and that hold true in all of life's aspects. It's not about predictions, it's about attitude!

Unless you're trying to make lemonade out of lemons by sports gambling.

[Inhogswetrust]

I still stand by my contention though that people that post on here as themselves have to be concerned how their posts come across to the power brokers that run the hill. (unless they are retired)

I don't understand why anyone on here would have to be concerned how their posts comes across to the power brokers. Are you saying you or others that post and are not concerned because they are anonymous and that they can do so because they know the power brokers might do something if they knew who they were?

[Inhogswetrust]

Gus won the NC, and his wife, in a valium-cosmo rant, complained to Armani Ronnie about them only scoring 22 points.  It can happen, but might require a pharma-cocktail...

Haha! I rarely agree with your posts and views very often but sometimes you are funny.

[PygmalionEffect]

I don't understand why anyone on here would have to be concerned how their posts comes across to the power brokers. Are you saying you or others that post and are not concerned because they are anonymous and that they can do so because they know the power brokers might do something if they knew who they were?

I'm talking about media members or university employees that post in here as themselves.  They certainly make an effort to tell it like it is as long as that doesn't negatively impact their job security.

I don't know of any in-state media member since maybe Orville Henry that thought they had carte blanche to say whatever they wanted to about the UofA and not have it affect their job security..... so they don't say just anything.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I don't think I am.

[oldbooniehog]

But back to the original question of the thread.

Here's how I explain it. Arkansas fans are not exactly like other fan bases

Arkansas fans do not have an in-state major league or pro franchise to glom onto, like Texas does or Missouri does.

Arkansas fans are more likely to have NOT gone to the University of Arkansas.

Lots of Texas Aggie fans, for example, complain and gripe about what they call "T-shirt fans," who are "fans" of a program and the only connection they have is the t-shirt they bought. Aggie fans, as an example, have this strong notion that to be an Aggie fan, you MUST have personal connection to Texas A&M University.

Arkansas fans, as a whole, are more likely to be Hog fans because being a fan is all mixed up with notions about state pride and roots, not because they went to a particular university.

That's why you see all sorts of folks who went to college at places like UCA or Ouachita Baptist, or UALR who consider themselves Razorbacks. Because that's the home state team that represents their home dirt. It represents them, even if they never went to school at the U of A.

Also because historically, especially in football, Arkansas has been a "disrespected" program, and because of that "disrespect" Arkansas fans have a chip on their shoulder.

Here's what I mean. Even Arkansas' 1964 National Championship is sort of the consolation championship. Arkansas got the Football Writer's trophy, not the AP or the Coaches' award. Ask an Alabama fan who was national champs in 1964.

The image of the un-yielding underdog that nobody respects resonates with lots of Arkansans because Arkansas itself has been disrespected since before it was a state.

That's why Arkansas fans emotional highs are so high, and emotional lows are so low....because it's about more than just wins and losses and a football team. Every time the Hogs take the field, state pride is on the line.

It also has to do with the dominant culture of Arkansas, which has a strong Scots-Irish flavor to it.

The Scots-Irish have a long, proud tradition of being disrespected underdogs who will cut your throat and dance in your blood, if they get a chance. Read the book "Born Fighting" by James Webb for more understanding of this culture that not even the Roman Empire knew what to do with, except build a big old wall to keep out those violent savages who painted themselves blue. Look up Hadrian's Wall.

When the Scots-Irish (kicked out of every country they've ever been in, starting with Scotland, and then to Ireland, and then packed off to the New World) moved to North America, they sought out the rugged, rocky wild places on purpose, to stay away from those dastardly English, who had been their overlords for centuries.

In those rugged, rocky wild places (like the Ozarks and Ouachitas in Arkansas) the people of this culture defied authority, and went right on ahead making moonshine, letting their livestock run loose (the original Razorbacks, anyone?) and doing what they darned well pleased, and any "proper" ruling authorities be darned.

That deep cultural distrust for "established elites" and the "proper authorities" helps explain Hog fans deep-seated hate and mistrust of college football's "established elites" and "proper authorities," like Texas (spit) and Alabama and Oklahoma and Notre Dame, USC, etc. etc.

We know in our bones, in our cultural DNA that we are NOT them, and never will be them, so we exult when we take them down because it satisfies deep-seated cultural longings of ours. We are like William Wallace's blue-painted guerillas taking out the King's finest. And we exult in their downfall almost as much as we exult in our victory.

Once, when Arkansas beat Texas in basketball (I believe it was to get to the Final Four in 1990) I watched Athletic Director Frank Broyles give the "hook 'em" sign and then bend over and stick "the horns" into the dirt at his feet. On live TV.  He was exulting in overcoming the aristocratic enemy. Do you remember Houston Nutt doing the same "down with the horns" sign when Arkansas beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl? We LOVE taking down the favored team, and sticking it to those who consider themselves to be our betters. We love it almost more than we love breathing and eating and drinking.

It's why so many Arkansans exulted when good-ole boy Jerry Jones bought the Dallas freakin' Cowboys. It's why so many Arkansans who didn't even like his politics exulted when Bubba Clinton was elected President. One of ours is top dog, so choke on that, you snobby bastages!

It's why Arkansas fans loved Nolan Richardson so much. He, too, had always been the disrespected underdog, and he coached an aggressive, in-your-face style that angered the "established elites" because it was too rough, too physical, and wasn't nice and pretty with all sorts of elegant X's and O's. That's why Billy Packer hated Hawgball, because it wasn't pretty. Nolan didn't belong. Arkansas didn't belong. That's why it was so sweet when Arkansas beat the elites down.

It's also why Arkansas fans typically don't handle success very well, either. We know we're the disrespected underdogs and they nobody expects us to stay on top. So we holler and scream and get frantic because we know it will all fall apart sooner or later.

But that's why Hog fans, no matter what the past records are, will be optimistic about a season, because we have to be, because a lot more than just a college football team's wins and losses are riding on it. It's also why, when the team loses, or fails to achieve what we think it should, we will come unglued and go crazy and get emotionally lower than we should, too.

[WilsonHog]

Damn fine post, OBH.

[RedSkiesAtNightHog]

But back to the original question of the thread.

Here's how I explain it. Arkansas fans are not exactly like other fan bases

Arkansas fans do not have an in-state major league or pro franchise to glom onto, like Texas does or Missouri does.

Arkansas fans are more likely to have NOT gone to the University of Arkansas.

Lots of Texas Aggie fans, for example, complain and gripe about what they call "T-shirt fans," who are "fans" of a program and the only connection they have is the t-shirt they bought. Aggie fans, as an example, have this strong notion that to be an Aggie fan, you MUST have personal connection to Texas A&M University.

Arkansas fans, as a whole, are more likely to be Hog fans because being a fan is all mixed up with notions about state pride and roots, not because they went to a particular university.

That's why you see all sorts of folks who went to college at places like UCA or Ouachita Baptist, or UALR who consider themselves Razorbacks. Because that's the home state team that represents their home dirt. It represents them, even if they never went to school at the U of A.

Also because historically, especially in football, Arkansas has been a "disrespected" program, and because of that "disrespect" Arkansas fans have a chip on their shoulder.

Here's what I mean. Even Arkansas' 1964 National Championship is sort of the consolation championship. Arkansas got the Football Writer's trophy, not the AP or the Coaches' award. Ask an Alabama fan who was national champs in 1964.

The image of the un-yielding underdog that nobody respects resonates with lots of Arkansans because Arkansas itself has been disrespected since before it was a state.

That's why Arkansas fans emotional highs are so high, and emotional lows are so low....because it's about more than just wins and losses and a football team. Every time the Hogs take the field, state pride is on the line.

It also has to do with the dominant culture of Arkansas, which has a strong Scots-Irish flavor to it.

The Scots-Irish have a long, proud tradition of being disrespected underdogs who will cut your throat and dance in your blood, if they get a chance. Read the book "Born Fighting" by James Webb for more understanding of this culture that not even the Roman Empire knew what to do with, except build a big old wall to keep out those violent savages who painted themselves blue. Look up Hadrian's Wall.

When the Scots-Irish (kicked out of every country they've ever been in, starting with Scotland, and then to Ireland, and then packed off to the New World) moved to North America, they sought out the rugged, rocky wild places on purpose, to stay away from those dastardly English, who had been their overlords for centuries.

In those rugged, rocky wild places (like the Ozarks and Ouachitas in Arkansas) the people of this culture defied authority, and went right on ahead making moonshine, letting their livestock run loose (the original Razorbacks, anyone?) and doing what they darned well pleased, and any "proper" ruling authorities be darned.

That deep cultural distrust for "established elites" and the "proper authorities" helps explain Hog fans deep-seated hate and mistrust of college football's "established elites" and "proper authorities," like Texas (spit) and Alabama and Oklahoma and Notre Dame, USC, etc. etc.

We know in our bones, in our cultural DNA that we are NOT them, and never will be them, so we exult when we take them down because it satisfies deep-seated cultural longings of ours. We are like William Wallace's blue-painted guerillas taking out the King's finest. And we exult in their downfall almost as much as we exult in our victory.

Once, when Arkansas beat Texas in basketball (I believe it was to get to the Final Four in 1990) I watched Athletic Director Frank Broyles give the "hook 'em" sign and then bend over and stick "the horns" into the dirt at his feet. On live TV.  He was exulting in overcoming the aristocratic enemy. Do you remember Houston Nutt doing the same "down with the horns" sign when Arkansas beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl? We LOVE taking down the favored team, and sticking it to those who consider themselves to be our betters. We love it almost more than we love breathing and eating and drinking.

It's why so many Arkansans exulted when good-ole boy Jerry Jones bought the Dallas freakin' Cowboys. It's why so many Arkansans who didn't even like his politics exulted when Bubba Clinton was elected President. One of ours is top dog, so choke on that, you snobby bastages!

It's why Arkansas fans loved Nolan Richardson so much. He, too, had always been the disrespected underdog, and he coached an aggressive, in-your-face style that angered the "established elites" because it was too rough, too physical, and wasn't nice and pretty with all sorts of elegant X's and O's. That's why Billy Packer hated Hawgball, because it wasn't pretty. Nolan didn't belong. Arkansas didn't belong. That's why it was so sweet when Arkansas beat the elites down.

It's also why Arkansas fans typically don't handle success very well, either. We know we're the disrespected underdogs and they nobody expects us to stay on top. So we holler and scream and get frantic because we know it will all fall apart sooner or later.

But that's why Hog fans, no matter what the past records are, will be optimistic about a season, because we have to be, because a lot more than just a college football team's wins and losses are riding on it. It's also why, when the team loses, or fails to achieve what we think it should, we will come unglued and go crazy and get emotionally lower than we should, too.

"We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free. Let your masters come and attack us: we are ready to meet them beard to beard."  William Wallace

Statement before the Battle of Stirling Bridge (September 11, 1297), as quoted in History of Scotland (1841) by Patrick Fraser Tytler, p. 121

[oldbooniehog]

Damn fine post, OBH.

Thanky kindly.

[1HourToHogville]

There could not be a bigger contrast between two interim head coaches than those two.

Kines worked himself to exhaustion. He'd be directing the defense in practice, then he'd put one of his coaches in charge and he'd run down the field to watch the offense.

He would arrive at the BAC before sun up. He'd go home close to midnight.

When he brought Danny Ford in to fix the kicking game problems he was warned that he was opening the door for Ford to get his job. Kines said he didn't care. He was trying to win games and Ford could help.

A week after the embarrassing Citadel loss at home under Jack Crowe, Kines had Arkansas beating South Carolina at South Carolina. They also upset Tennessee (when Tennessee was good) at Tennessee and managed to beat LSU.

When he told us that Broyles was not going to consider him for the job permanently he said, Guys I know you have a job to do but I can't talk. I need some sleep. I'll be back in a couple of days to answer your questions but for now I have to go home.

He had nothing left. He had, as they say, left everything on the field.

By contrast JLS sat on his butt and cracked jokes. That's all you need to know about him.

Walked into a big Ok State boosters office one day as he was finishing an intense conversation. The fax machine in the office was spitting out a huge roll of paper. This booster had played pro ball with Lindsey.
Jim Lindsey was lobbying Terry Don Phillips to hire Joe Kines as Oklahoma State head coach and wanted the booster to help with the lobbying effort. The booster told Lindsey to kiss off saying " if he isn't good enough to be head coach at Arkansas why in the hell should he be at OSU?"  The paper on the fax machine was a petition signed by boosters and former players demanding a role in hiring the next head coach at OSU.  They got their way. This led to the hiring of Bob Simmons who the booster came to hate. Still tease him to this day that they should have hired Kines

[hawgsalot]

But back to the original question of the thread.

Here's how I explain it. Arkansas fans are not exactly like other fan bases

Arkansas fans do not have an in-state major league or pro franchise to glom onto, like Texas does or Missouri does.

Arkansas fans are more likely to have NOT gone to the University of Arkansas.

Lots of Texas Aggie fans, for example, complain and gripe about what they call "T-shirt fans," who are "fans" of a program and the only connection they have is the t-shirt they bought. Aggie fans, as an example, have this strong notion that to be an Aggie fan, you MUST have personal connection to Texas A&M University.

Arkansas fans, as a whole, are more likely to be Hog fans because being a fan is all mixed up with notions about state pride and roots, not because they went to a particular university.

That's why you see all sorts of folks who went to college at places like UCA or Ouachita Baptist, or UALR who consider themselves Razorbacks. Because that's the home state team that represents their home dirt. It represents them, even if they never went to school at the U of A.

Also because historically, especially in football, Arkansas has been a "disrespected" program, and because of that "disrespect" Arkansas fans have a chip on their shoulder.

Here's what I mean. Even Arkansas' 1964 National Championship is sort of the consolation championship. Arkansas got the Football Writer's trophy, not the AP or the Coaches' award. Ask an Alabama fan who was national champs in 1964.

The image of the un-yielding underdog that nobody respects resonates with lots of Arkansans because Arkansas itself has been disrespected since before it was a state.

That's why Arkansas fans emotional highs are so high, and emotional lows are so low....because it's about more than just wins and losses and a football team. Every time the Hogs take the field, state pride is on the line.

It also has to do with the dominant culture of Arkansas, which has a strong Scots-Irish flavor to it.

The Scots-Irish have a long, proud tradition of being disrespected underdogs who will cut your throat and dance in your blood, if they get a chance. Read the book "Born Fighting" by James Webb for more understanding of this culture that not even the Roman Empire knew what to do with, except build a big old wall to keep out those violent savages who painted themselves blue. Look up Hadrian's Wall.

When the Scots-Irish (kicked out of every country they've ever been in, starting with Scotland, and then to Ireland, and then packed off to the New World) moved to North America, they sought out the rugged, rocky wild places on purpose, to stay away from those dastardly English, who had been their overlords for centuries.

In those rugged, rocky wild places (like the Ozarks and Ouachitas in Arkansas) the people of this culture defied authority, and went right on ahead making moonshine, letting their livestock run loose (the original Razorbacks, anyone?) and doing what they darned well pleased, and any "proper" ruling authorities be darned.

That deep cultural distrust for "established elites" and the "proper authorities" helps explain Hog fans deep-seated hate and mistrust of college football's "established elites" and "proper authorities," like Texas (spit) and Alabama and Oklahoma and Notre Dame, USC, etc. etc.

We know in our bones, in our cultural DNA that we are NOT them, and never will be them, so we exult when we take them down because it satisfies deep-seated cultural longings of ours. We are like William Wallace's blue-painted guerillas taking out the King's finest. And we exult in their downfall almost as much as we exult in our victory.

Once, when Arkansas beat Texas in basketball (I believe it was to get to the Final Four in 1990) I watched Athletic Director Frank Broyles give the "hook 'em" sign and then bend over and stick "the horns" into the dirt at his feet. On live TV.  He was exulting in overcoming the aristocratic enemy. Do you remember Houston Nutt doing the same "down with the horns" sign when Arkansas beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl? We LOVE taking down the favored team, and sticking it to those who consider themselves to be our betters. We love it almost more than we love breathing and eating and drinking.

It's why so many Arkansans exulted when good-ole boy Jerry Jones bought the Dallas freakin' Cowboys. It's why so many Arkansans who didn't even like his politics exulted when Bubba Clinton was elected President. One of ours is top dog, so choke on that, you snobby bastages!

It's why Arkansas fans loved Nolan Richardson so much. He, too, had always been the disrespected underdog, and he coached an aggressive, in-your-face style that angered the "established elites" because it was too rough, too physical, and wasn't nice and pretty with all sorts of elegant X's and O's. That's why Billy Packer hated Hawgball, because it wasn't pretty. Nolan didn't belong. Arkansas didn't belong. That's why it was so sweet when Arkansas beat the elites down.

It's also why Arkansas fans typically don't handle success very well, either. We know we're the disrespected underdogs and they nobody expects us to stay on top. So we holler and scream and get frantic because we know it will all fall apart sooner or later.

But that's why Hog fans, no matter what the past records are, will be optimistic about a season, because we have to be, because a lot more than just a college football team's wins and losses are riding on it. It's also why, when the team loses, or fails to achieve what we think it should, we will come unglued and go crazy and get emotionally lower than we should, too.

One of the best post I've read in a while.  CBB is like Nolan in the sense that he doesn't give a crap who he pisses of in the establishment he knows he's going to win here and 99% of the AR fans will love him when he does.  It's refreshing.

[oldbooniehog]

And just one more follow-up point.

Because of all the reasons I wrote above, Hog fans tend to get too high during the good times, and way too low during the bad times.

The older I get, the more tired I become of the roller coaster. When I was a kid and into my late 20s, even early 30s, I was one of the most rabid, loud crazy Hog fans out there. I was ready to take on anybody, anywhere, any time.

I've gotten older. I can see 50 coming up soon now. And I've just gotten tired of the roller coaster. So I refuse to get really excited any more, because I don't like the bottom-out lows when it inevitably falls apart.

You'll see me post statements like that. Last year, I allowed myself to get excited once more about the basketball team after they beat Kentucky on the road. It's back, I thought. Hawgball is back. This team is for real!

Of course, the team totally collapsed after that, and failed to win what should have been gimme games to make the NCAA tournament. Back down into the pits once again.

I still love the Hogs. I just can't do the roller coaster any more, because I've been to the bottom too many times in the last 20 years.

As such, I refuse to get excited about potential or what might happen, or what could happen. I have to see actual, real results, with actual real wins when it matters before I allow myself to get excited about any Razorback team. Ever.

[McKdaddy]

And just one more follow-up point.

Because of all the reasons I wrote above, Hog fans tend to get too high during the good times, and way too low during the bad times.

The older I get, the more tired I become of the roller coaster. When I was a kid and into my late 20s, even early 30s, I was one of the most rabid, loud crazy Hog fans out there. I was ready to take on anybody, anywhere, any time.

I've gotten older. I can see 50 coming up soon now. And I've just gotten tired of the roller coaster. So I refuse to get really excited any more, because I don't like the bottom-out lows when it inevitably falls apart.

You'll see me post statements like that. Last year, I allowed myself to get excited once more about the basketball team after they beat Kentucky on the road. It's back, I thought. Hawgball is back. This team is for real!

Of course, the team totally collapsed after that, and failed to win what should have been gimme games to make the NCAA tournament. Back down into the pits once again.

I still love the Hogs. I just can't do the roller coaster any more, because I've been to the bottom too many times in the last 20 years.

As such, I refuse to get excited about potential or what might happen, or what could happen. I have to see actual, real results, with actual real wins when it matters before I allow myself to get excited about any Razorback team. Ever.

Agreed

[Ramtough]

I have us at 5-7 and think it is possible we could get into a bowl at 6-6. I think after what I've watched the last 2 years that is really being optimistic as a fan. Good thing is things won't get worse.

[JIHawg]

But back to the original question of the thread.

Here's how I explain it. Arkansas fans are not exactly like other fan bases

Arkansas fans do not have an in-state major league or pro franchise to glom onto, like Texas does or Missouri does.

Arkansas fans are more likely to have NOT gone to the University of Arkansas.

Lots of Texas Aggie fans, for example, complain and gripe about what they call "T-shirt fans," who are "fans" of a program and the only connection they have is the t-shirt they bought. Aggie fans, as an example, have this strong notion that to be an Aggie fan, you MUST have personal connection to Texas A&M University.

Arkansas fans, as a whole, are more likely to be Hog fans because being a fan is all mixed up with notions about state pride and roots, not because they went to a particular university.

That's why you see all sorts of folks who went to college at places like UCA or Ouachita Baptist, or UALR who consider themselves Razorbacks. Because that's the home state team that represents their home dirt. It represents them, even if they never went to school at the U of A.

Also because historically, especially in football, Arkansas has been a "disrespected" program, and because of that "disrespect" Arkansas fans have a chip on their shoulder.

Here's what I mean. Even Arkansas' 1964 National Championship is sort of the consolation championship. Arkansas got the Football Writer's trophy, not the AP or the Coaches' award. Ask an Alabama fan who was national champs in 1964.

The image of the un-yielding underdog that nobody respects resonates with lots of Arkansans because Arkansas itself has been disrespected since before it was a state.

That's why Arkansas fans emotional highs are so high, and emotional lows are so low....because it's about more than just wins and losses and a football team. Every time the Hogs take the field, state pride is on the line.

It also has to do with the dominant culture of Arkansas, which has a strong Scots-Irish flavor to it.

The Scots-Irish have a long, proud tradition of being disrespected underdogs who will cut your throat and dance in your blood, if they get a chance. Read the book "Born Fighting" by James Webb for more understanding of this culture that not even the Roman Empire knew what to do with, except build a big old wall to keep out those violent savages who painted themselves blue. Look up Hadrian's Wall.

When the Scots-Irish (kicked out of every country they've ever been in, starting with Scotland, and then to Ireland, and then packed off to the New World) moved to North America, they sought out the rugged, rocky wild places on purpose, to stay away from those dastardly English, who had been their overlords for centuries.

In those rugged, rocky wild places (like the Ozarks and Ouachitas in Arkansas) the people of this culture defied authority, and went right on ahead making moonshine, letting their livestock run loose (the original Razorbacks, anyone?) and doing what they darned well pleased, and any "proper" ruling authorities be darned.

That deep cultural distrust for "established elites" and the "proper authorities" helps explain Hog fans deep-seated hate and mistrust of college football's "established elites" and "proper authorities," like Texas (spit) and Alabama and Oklahoma and Notre Dame, USC, etc. etc.

We know in our bones, in our cultural DNA that we are NOT them, and never will be them, so we exult when we take them down because it satisfies deep-seated cultural longings of ours. We are like William Wallace's blue-painted guerillas taking out the King's finest. And we exult in their downfall almost as much as we exult in our victory.

Once, when Arkansas beat Texas in basketball (I believe it was to get to the Final Four in 1990) I watched Athletic Director Frank Broyles give the "hook 'em" sign and then bend over and stick "the horns" into the dirt at his feet. On live TV.  He was exulting in overcoming the aristocratic enemy. Do you remember Houston Nutt doing the same "down with the horns" sign when Arkansas beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl? We LOVE taking down the favored team, and sticking it to those who consider themselves to be our betters. We love it almost more than we love breathing and eating and drinking.

It's why so many Arkansans exulted when good-ole boy Jerry Jones bought the Dallas freakin' Cowboys. It's why so many Arkansans who didn't even like his politics exulted when Bubba Clinton was elected President. One of ours is top dog, so choke on that, you snobby bastages!

It's why Arkansas fans loved Nolan Richardson so much. He, too, had always been the disrespected underdog, and he coached an aggressive, in-your-face style that angered the "established elites" because it was too rough, too physical, and wasn't nice and pretty with all sorts of elegant X's and O's. That's why Billy Packer hated Hawgball, because it wasn't pretty. Nolan didn't belong. Arkansas didn't belong. That's why it was so sweet when Arkansas beat the elites down.

It's also why Arkansas fans typically don't handle success very well, either. We know we're the disrespected underdogs and they nobody expects us to stay on top. So we holler and scream and get frantic because we know it will all fall apart sooner or later.

But that's why Hog fans, no matter what the past records are, will be optimistic about a season, because we have to be, because a lot more than just a college football team's wins and losses are riding on it. It's also why, when the team loses, or fails to achieve what we think it should, we will come unglued and go crazy and get emotionally lower than we should, too.

Great piece of work OBH.  Lots of insight.

[McKdaddy]

I have us at 5-7 and think it is possible we could get into a bowl at 6-6. I think after what I've watched the last 2 years that is really being optimistic as a fan. Good thing is things won't get worse.

Agreed

[HoopS]

I am optimistic that we will improve and maybe by quite a bit.  I understand the need to suppress the optimism because we've been let down so many times.  But I love football season so much.  I simply refuse to shun my optimism when it starts coming back around just because I don't want to be disappointed.  I get it, but why even be a fan of the sport if you don't allow yourself to dream a little?  I don't lie in bed and dream of national titles, so from that standpoint I have tempered my expectations as I've gotten older.  But I definitely still believe that on any given day, against any opponent, if we play up to our potential, we've got a chance.   

[Mike Irwin]

Yes, you're right.  Mike did say as early as Sept 28th 2012 that JLS was "in over his head". 

Another comment he made after the bama game was that he couldn't believe he was still trying to tell jokes and be funny in his press conferences.

You had to look hard for them amongst a lot of posts but they were there, I was wrong in choosing that example.

I still stand by my contention though that people that post on here as themselves have to be concerned how their posts come across to the power brokers that run the hill. (unless they are retired)

It's good to have a mix of real reporters along with anonymous posters.



But just to even it out a bit for Mike who occasionally enjoys making light of the commoners that he thinks post stupid opinions on here:

A November 2012 post concerning a coaching replacement for JLS where Mike makes this perceptive gem,

"Gus Malzahn is not ready for an SEC head coaching gig and I think Gus is smart enough to know that".

Evidently Mike, he wasn't smart enough to know that.

Let's all be a little less quick to judge our posting brothers on here this fall, I'll try to take my own advice.

[hogcard1964]

And just one more follow-up point.

Because of all the reasons I wrote above, Hog fans tend to get too high during the good times, and way too low during the bad times.

The older I get, the more tired I become of the roller coaster. When I was a kid and into my late 20s, even early 30s, I was one of the most rabid, loud crazy Hog fans out there. I was ready to take on anybody, anywhere, any time.

I've gotten older. I can see 50 coming up soon now. And I've just gotten tired of the roller coaster. So I refuse to get really excited any more, because I don't like the bottom-out lows when it inevitably falls apart.

You'll see me post statements like that. Last year, I allowed myself to get excited once more about the basketball team after they beat Kentucky on the road. It's back, I thought. Hawgball is back. This team is for real!

Of course, the team totally collapsed after that, and failed to win what should have been gimme games to make the NCAA tournament. Back down into the pits once again.

I still love the Hogs. I just can't do the roller coaster any more, because I've been to the bottom too many times in the last 20 years.

As such, I refuse to get excited about potential or what might happen, or what could happen. I have to see actual, real results, with actual real wins when it matters before I allow myself to get excited about any Razorback team. Ever.

+100000

Post of the year.

[Mike Irwin]

But just to even it out a bit for Mike who occasionally enjoys making light of the commoners that he thinks post stupid opinions on here:

A November 2012 post concerning a coaching replacement for JLS where Mike makes this perceptive gem,

"Gus Malzahn is not ready for an SEC head coaching gig and I think Gus is smart enough to know that".

Evidently Mike, he wasn't smart enough to know that.

Yeah, I guess I read him wrong when he said more than once that he was going to be at Arkansas State for a while. I had not talked directly to him about that subject but some of his friends had. They certainly felt he wasn't going to jump to the SEC in a year or two.

If you want to comb though my post history to find something I said that turned out to be wrong let me save you the trouble. Over the course of time I've been wrong a lot of times but as much as possible I do base what I post here on actual conversations I've had with the people I'm talking about or people I know to be close to them.

However, I seriously have to question how much knowledge you have about the subject of reporters being pressured for expressing their opinions under their own names.

Nate Allen (who many here don't like) has written tons of stuff criticizing Jeff Long. Has anybody shut him up? Does he write under his own name? Some fans, some coaches, some administrators and some players may not like Nate's opinions but he writes what he believes and nobody has ever scared him into holding back.

I was under constant pressure for over a year to stop reporting what I knew about  Houston Nutt's running of the Hog football program in 06-07. I never held back because I was scared.

You say people are more free to reveal the truth when they post their opinions under fake names. I say they are more likely to get mean and nasty and exaggerate to express frustration when they don't reveal who they are.

When I was a kid the East Side Cafe was my hometown's version of Hogville. People went in there to discuss the most important thing going on around town. The local HS football team.

Nobody went in there with a bag on their head. When you walked in that place you had your big boys pants on. Because if you started ripping into the head coach or the QB or whoever there might me somebody in there who was friends with the head coach or that QB or his parents. They might just decide to punch you in the nose.

I only saw that happen a few times.

Most people used common sense. If they weren't happy with the coach or the QB they discussed the situation based on the facts. They didn't hurl insults or exaggerate the problems they saw.

There was plenty of debate in the East Side Cafe. But it was the kind of debate that takes place when you're face to face with people.

I wonder how many people here would tell Brett Bielema to his face that he doesn't know what he's doing. Would they tell Brandon Allen that Rafe Peavey is better and he needs give up his job to the kid?

More than likely what they would do is discuss certain issues they have with Bielema or Allen in a respectful way. They'd ask questions. They'd try to get the answers to those questions. They might question whatever answers they got but they wouldn't likely tell Brandon Allen, You've had your chance, bud. You stare down receivers. You need to go way and let Rafe be the man.

That's what happens when you back your opinons with who you are.

Years ago somebody on this board was complaning that the media never asked Houston Nutt tough questions. I responded by asking him to give me give me an example of a tough question to ask Nutt.

If I was there I ask him why he was such a liar, the guy responded.

Really?

Nutt wasn't a recluse surrounded by bodyguards. That person, whoever he was, could have easily found Nutt and asked him why he was a liar. We all know he never did.

Rather than asking Nutt why he was such a liar why not find examples of where he lied and ask him to explain why he said what he said? That's what you do when you're having an adult face-to-face conversation.

Expressing themselves under fake names may give some people the freedom to rip into those they want to criticize but to me there's a better way to do it and you don't even have to do it under your real name.

Before you start pounding on your keyboard picture yourself actually standing in front of the person you're about to rip. You can still get your point across without acting like they just shot your dog or set fire to your house.

 

[Braden Jefferson]

I'm optimistic because razorback football at this point reminds me of the stock market in march of '09.

It's fallen so far you really don't have a choice but to start buying.

Haha. Well said.

Great post though!

[EastexHawg]

What matters is it is better to be optimistic than pessimistic and that holds true in all of life's aspects. It's not about predictions, it's about attitude!

I'm guessing if most people were trying to decide how to invest their money and plan their retirements they might think honest and logical is a better way of looking at things than preconceived optimism.  Maybe I didn't get a gene that a lot of people have, because I don't even know how you go about telling yourself to be optimistic (or pessimistic, for that matter).  How does a person try to fool himself when he looks at a situation or fact pattern?  To use the most worn out cliche of the last five years...it is what it is.

BTW..hope?  That's different.  I hope for things even when I don't believe they are likely to happen.  Hope and belief are two entirely different animals.

[razorbackkid]

Yeah, I guess I read him wrong when he said more than once that he was going to be at Arkansas State for a while. I had not talked directly to him about that subject but some of his friends had. They certainly felt he wasn't going to jump to the SEC in a year or two.

If you want to comb though my post history to find something I said that turned out to be wrong let me save you the trouble. Over the course of time I've been wrong a lot of times but as much as possible I do base what I post here on actual conversations I've had with the people I'm talking about or people I know to be close to them.

However, I seriously have to question how much knowledge you have about the subject of reporters being pressured for expressing their opinions under their own names.

Nate Allen (who many here don't like) has written tons of stuff criticizing Jeff Long. Has anybody shut him up? Does he write under his own name? Some fans, some coaches, some administrators and some players may not like Nate's opinions but he writes what he believes and nobody has ever scared him into holding back.

I was under constant pressure for over a year to stop reporting what I knew about  Houston Nutt's running of the Hog football program in 06-07. I never held back because I was scared.

You say people are more free to reveal the truth when they post their opinions under fake names. I say they are more likely to get mean and nasty and exaggerate to express frustration when they don't reveal who they are.

When I was a kid the East Side Cafe was my hometown's version of Hogville. People went in there to discuss the most important thing going on around town. The local HS football team.

Nobody went in there with a bag on their head. When you walked in that place you had your big boys pants on. Because if you started ripping into the head coach or the QB or whoever there might me somebody in there who was friends with the head coach or that QB or his parents. They might just decide to punch you in the nose.

I only saw that happen a few times.

Most people used common sense. If they weren't happy with the coach or the QB they discussed the situation based on the facts. They didn't hurl insults or exaggerate the problems they saw.

There was plenty of debate in the East Side Cafe. But it was the kind of debate that takes place when you're face to face with people.

I wonder how many people here would tell Brett Bielema to his face that he doesn't know what he's doing. Would they tell Brandon Allen that Rafe Peavey is better and he needs give up his job to the kid?

More than likely what they would do is discuss certain issues they have with Bielema or Allen in a respectful way. They'd ask questions. They'd try to get the answers to those questions. They might question whatever answers they got but they wouldn't likely tell Brandon Allen, You've had your chance, bud. You stare down receivers. You need to go way and let Rafe be the man.

That's what happens when you back your opinons with who you are.

Years ago somebody on this board was complaning that the media never asked Houston Nutt tough questions. I responded by asking him to give me give me an example of a tough question to ask Nutt.

If I was there I ask him why he was such a liar, the guy responded.

Really?

Nutt wasn't a recluse surrounded by bodyguards. That person, whoever he was, could have easily found Nutt and asked him why he was a liar. We all know he never did.

Rather than asking Nutt why he was such a liar why not find examples of where he lied and ask him to explain why he said what he said? That's what you do when you're having an adult face-to-face conversation.

Expressing themselves under fake names may give some people the freedom to rip into those they want to criticize but to me there's a better way to do it and you don't even have to do it under your real name.

Before you start pounding on your keyboard picture yourself actually standing in front of the person you're about to rip. You can still get your point across without acting like they just shot your dog or set fire to your house.

 

Well done Mike.  :razorback:

[Inhogswetrust]

+100000

Post of the year.

Wrong. Below is the post that is more likely the post of the year:

I am optimistic that we will improve and maybe by quite a bit.  I understand the need to suppress the optimism because we've been let down so many times.  But I love football season so much.  I simply refuse to shun my optimism when it starts coming back around just because I don't want to be disappointed.  I get it, but why even be a fan of the sport if you don't allow yourself to dream a little?  I don't lie in bed and dream of national titles, so from that standpoint I have tempered my expectations as I've gotten older.  But I definitely still believe that on any given day, against any opponent, if we play up to our potential, we've got a chance.   

[SamBuckhart]

The optimism  on my part comes from the fact that the Hogs are undefeated. I love the game of football. I love fall. I love the cooler temperatures. I love that there are people who are optimists about Arkansas this year.

[Inhogswetrust]

I'm guessing if most people were trying to decide how to invest their money and plan their retirements they might think honest and logical is a better way of looking at things than preconceived optimism.  Maybe I didn't get a gene that a lot of people have, because I don't even know how you go about telling yourself to be optimistic (or pessimistic, for that matter).  How does a person try to fool himself when he looks at a situation or fact pattern?  To use the most worn out cliche of the last five years...it is what it is.

BTW..hope?  That's different.  I hope for things even when I don't believe they are likely to happen.  Hope and belief are two entirely different animals.

That "honestly and logically" thought out should apply to the longterm investment strategy and not emotionally short-term. Therefore it would generate optimism. It's not "it is what it is". You are describing "it was what it was". Apparently you don't realize that things can change. One year or two does not make a fact "pattern". Even logically thought out investments don't always turn out good. Investments can fluctuate wildly. Therefore it is best to have an investment adviser that has a good Resume'. That doesn't mean that from time to time that adviser will always do well. Coach Bielema's Resume as a coach was damn good when he was hired. He is our adviser for football. He is the one we have logically hired to run our investment in the Hogs and his prior investment strategy worked. That being said we aren't talking about you and I making money and retiring. We are talking about a game. BIG difference.

If you have a kid playing youth sports I wonder if you would tell them you weren't optimistic about their team winning. Go ahead and instill in your child the thought they don't have much chance. I would tell my child "I'm optimistic that if you play hard you have a good chance of winning." I bet my kids team would win more often than yours.   

[PonderinHog]

It's pretty easy to explain for me.  I'm Irish and I'm a Razorback fan!  Get ready! :razorback:

[EastexHawg]

If you have a kid playing youth sports I wonder if you would tell them you weren't optimistic about their team winning. Go ahead and instill in your child the thought they don't have much chance. I would tell my child "I'm optimistic that if you play hard you have a good chance of winning." I bet my kids team would win more often than yours.   

Why do you assume anyone who isn't eternally optimistic is always pessimistic?  For me optimism and pessimism come and go depending on circumstances, recent events and results, etc.

BTW, you can be either optimistic, pessimistic, or neutral without telling the coaches and players what you think.  I don't think anyone would tell his kid he has no chance of winning regardless of whether he believes that or not.  And, as a player, you have a chance to affect the outcome on the field so it's natural to believe you and your teammates can make something good happen.

[Inhogswetrust]

Why do you assume anyone who isn't eternally optimistic is always pessimistic?  For me optimism and pessimism come and go depending on circumstances, recent events and results, etc.

BTW, you can be either optimistic, pessimistic, or neutral without telling the coaches and players what you think.  I don't think anyone would tell his kid he has no chance of winning regardless of whether he believes that or not.  And, as a player, you have a chance to affect the outcome on the field so it's natural to believe you and your teammates can make something good happen.

Optimism or pessimism in my mind is simply a state of of mind. It has nothing to do with the circumstances, recent events and results, which are known already since they are in the past. Besides what did you not understand about my saying this on a post "One year or two does not make a fact "pattern". I wasn't referring to college age players with my player being told to be optimistic statement. I was referring to a youth sports player that is very young and will possibly need a parents/adults influence to get in the right frame of mind.

[GuvHog]

Back when you could win the SECW with an 8-5 record, it was a little easier to swallow 8 years of hovering between cellar and mediocrity.  That was an awfully long valley. 

Kines in 1 year sounds like JLS.  Brett will be given 3 for sure, not 2, but it could be Crowe 2.0, followed by an 8-5 best record over the next 5 years???

When people say we could likely be set back 10 years, they're referring to that time-span I just mentioned.  Considering the way Bama, LSU, Auburn, TAMU... hell, every one of the SECW teams but us is better than they were back then...

Man, I just think setting hopes on a bowl game this year is setting up for disappointment.  2015, do or die.   

Don't insult Joe Kines that way. His Hogs traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee and upset a ranked Volunteer team, JLS didn't come close to anything like that as Hog interim HC. IMHO, Joe should have been given the job rather than Ford.

[EastexHawg]

Optimism or pessimism in my mind is simply a state of of mind.

I understand.  If always being optimistic works for some people that's great.  Personally I don't decide what I think is likely to happen on a football field, or in any other scenario in which I am not a participant, based on my own state of mind.  Alex Collins isn't going to break one more tackle or Brandon Allen throw one more TD pass because I have told/convinced myself to believe they will...or won't, whichever the case may be.

I hope for things I don't necessarily believe, but in the end neither mindset causes anything to happen or not happen.

[Inhogswetrust]

Don't insult Joe Kines that way. His Hogs traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee and upset a ranked Volunteer team, JLS didn't come close to anything like that as Hog interim HC. IMHO, Joe should have been given the job rather than Ford.

I will always be grateful for what Kines did for us. That being said I don't believe you should hire someone that had only been an interim head coach for one year over one that had the Resume' that Ford did.

[Inhogswetrust]

I hope for things I don't necessarily believe, but in the end neither mindset causes anything to happen or not happen.

100% true. However that doesn't mean believing that the past two seasons will mean that the future will also happen like them. WAY to many variables to extrapolate that as a reason to be overly pessimistic or optimistic. I do know that I'd much rather be optimistic in the Hogs and life in general than the other way around. We all have to die sometime but that doesn't mean we have to be pessimistic about what we do as we live life knowing it doesn't matter and won't keep us from dying. Nobody likes someone that is pessimistic.

[Seminole Indian]

It seems to me that some people always want to be able to say, I told you so. They predict doom beforehand so they can look like experts when it happens.

The vast majority of people posting here don't use their own names. Who cares if you end up being right about your negative posts. We don't know who you are.

You might as well be standing in a dark closet yelling from behind the door, BRET BIELEMA CAN'T COACH. BRANDON ALLEN IS A TERRIBLE QB.

Meanwhile people are walking by asking themselves, Who the hell is that and what's he doing yelling to himself in a closet?

Open the door. Come into the light. Take a deep breath. Enjoy the view.

If this team does ends up sucking canal water there will still be plenty of time to go ape over it.

I think you are being a little harsh on some of the posters.

Maybe they just saw where he coaches that play you picked you dead  last in the SEC West.

Maybe the fact the most in media out side of Arkansas, and all those football magazines give you no respect, and  have the Razorbacks at or near  the bottom of the SEC West, again.

Or maybe the fact the Razorback have only won one SEC game in the last two years has dampened their spirit.

Maybe they saw your spring game.

Maybe some are still trying to recover from the fallout from the motorcycle accident.

Who knows, but just saying there could be other reasons for their negativity than what you suggest.

Need to pick them up, not put them down.

[cosmodrum]

Reply #64 is the best post I've read on this site in a long, long time. Well done, obh.

[Boardon Hamsay]

I find there are 4 basic college football fan personalities:

1- "Glass half full"
2- "Glass half empty"
3- "Glass is a vehicle for an agenda"
4- "What is this glass for? I ordered a cheeseburger. Where's the manager?"

[PygmalionEffect]

If you want to comb though my post history to find something I said that turned out to be wrong let me save you the trouble. Over the course of time I've been wrong a lot of times but as much as possible I do base what I post here on actual conversations I've had with the people I'm talking about or people I know to be close to them.

However, I seriously have to question how much knowledge you have about the subject of reporters being pressured for expressing their opinions under their own names.

Nate Allen (who many here don't like) has written tons of stuff criticizing Jeff Long. Has anybody shut him up? Does he write under his own name? Some fans, some coaches, some administrators and some players may not like Nate's opinions but he writes what he believes and nobody has ever scared him into holding back.

I was under constant pressure for over a year to stop reporting what I knew about  Houston Nutt's running of the Hog football program in 06-07. I never held back because I was scared.

You say people are more free to reveal the truth when they post their opinions under fake names. I say they are more likely to get mean and nasty and exaggerate to express frustration when they don't reveal who they are.

I wonder how many people here would tell Brett Bielema to his face that he doesn't know what he's doing. Would they tell Brandon Allen that Rafe Peavey is better and he needs give up his job to the kid?

Expressing themselves under fake names may give some people the freedom to rip into those they want to criticize but to me there's a better way to do it and you don't even have to do it under your real name.

Before you start pounding on your keyboard picture yourself actually standing in front of the person you're about to rip. You can still get your point across without acting like they just shot your dog or set fire to your house.

Cut that post down a bit to some of what I wanted to respond to. 

I scanned back at post history during the JLS season to see if I was off the mark regarding your criticism of JLS while he was here and to admit my mistake if need be, which I did, not to look for bad predictions from you.  The Malzahn post I saw just fit well into other points I've made in other threads, which is that you don't have to make your living from sports by having played it at a high level or by working in the industry to be able to talk intelligently and informatively about the team that you are a fan of.

You did a TV spot just lately where you started it by saying the fans posting on internet boards want a change at QB but CBB is not concerned with their opinion, he's going with B.A.

Just another example of your fascination with pushing this agenda that most people that post on sports message boards are ignorant and irrational most of the time. 

I read on here all the time and that is not my takeaway of this particular board.  The overwhelming majority on this board are supportive of BA and think he has the chance to be the best option, while recognizing the results of an injury plagued last season and knowing he hasn't proven it yet.  I don't know if you get taken in by the handful of trolls from other teams that post in here or if you just needed to misrepresent the majority in order to come up with a good storyline, but either way you were factually WRONG in saying that.

In general, public criticism of Arkansas coaching staffs/administrations from instate media sources is much more severe and frequent AFTER that staff has left or been fired than DURING their tenure.   Some, like your Nate Allen example and maybe even yourself may be less susceptible to that than say Razorback mouthpiece Wally Hall or Rick Schaffer, but it's an accurate generalization. 

Since oldbooniehog chided us for getting off topic, let me tie it all in by referring to his post and stating that I'm Scottish and I probably am not a big fan of authority.  When anybody comes into these threads with a dismissive attitude, I do tend to challenge them, kind of a Texas-Arkansas thing I guess.

[Biggus Piggus]

As such, I refuse to get excited about potential or what might happen, or what could happen. I have to see actual, real results, with actual real wins when it matters before I allow myself to get excited about any Razorback team. Ever.

Yes. We even got to see our football program fall apart when it seemed like winning was going to be a regular pattern. Basketball has been freakin nuts, epitomized by Pel beating OU and Texas, then leading the team to disaster. I go into every season now with rising curiosity about what completely unexpected thing could happen next. When we're downtrodden, maybe the unexpected thing will be winning. Or we could suddenly move to the Big 12.

[PonderinHog]

Murphy had to have been a Razorback fan.

[Inhogswetrust]

Murphy had to have been a Razorback fan.

Up until a few years ago I would have said a Red Sox fan. Not now. That proves how things can turn around.

[Mike Irwin]

Cut that post down a bit to some of what I wanted to respond to. 
You did a TV spot just lately where you started it by saying the fans posting on internet boards want a change at QB but CBB is not concerned with their opinion, he's going with B.A.

Just another example of your fascination with pushing this agenda that most people that post on sports message boards are ignorant and irrational most of the time. 

First of all I've never said or posted here that most people on sports message boards are ignorant and irrational. Actually I've never used those words at all.

But you just made my point about exaggeration which I see from some people posting on this board.

I do believe that some people on message boards throw stuff against the wall just to see if it sticks.

At it's best this board is good to read. I appreciate the people who back up their posts with facts and have rational discussions without name calling and who don't approach every discussion like it's a game of whose right and whose wrong or whose cool and whose not.

I've got good Karma, you've got bad karma. You lose.

Or, I've got 4,233 posts and you have 100. You are uninformed.

These types of games are played on this board by a select few who simply want to argue and win points.

If I am dismissive toward them, so be it.