The national media

[TOM "tbw1"]

I'm not sure.  But if it was here, HDN would have had pee running down both legs and been seen running around high-fiving everybody in the building....."we're not 0-for-October just yet!"

We would be ordering "3-3 in the AP poll' rings.

[LZH]

Well it isn't HDN's team, but we have that now.

Yeah, but Nutt would have had a woody because we got 12 votes in the Top 25 and would be constantly talking about "gettin' bedder", but doing little about it.  At least it appears that BB is doing his best to close escrow on these 4th qtr problems.

[urkillnmesmalls]

FWIW, I consider you an asset to this site and think you would be missed if you disappeared.

Thanks for the kind words.  I disappeared over the summer, but I missed the sight for all of the insight that some posters provide, and being able to get information before anywhere else.  However, sometimes it's pretty easy to remember why I took the summer away.  Heck...we all see that our team isn't great don't we?  It's why we're not winning!  But EVERYTHING in life has context behind it, and when taking that into consideration I feel like the positive outweighs the negative by a large margin.  Obviously, not everyone agrees. 

For me it's this simple.  Last year we weren't competitive beyond the first quarter in most of our games against SEC competition.  At least this year, we're competitive for at least 3, and 4 in most cases.  How anyone doesn't view that as improvement is befuddling to me.   

[HogJowler]

I am an Arkansas alumni

I am a Razorback fan

I hurt when they lose but over the years  that hurt has changed. I used to hurt for me.  Now I hurt for the players.

I wish I had been blessed with the talent these young men have. One day they will be Arkansas Alums and all they owe use is that they have respect for their effort. Win or lose. These are young men that are giving their all. I for one am proud of these young men, these coaches and the way and the direction the program is going.

I hope they win, when they do I will celebrate in joy. When they lose with dignity and great effort I will support them and go on. My life and happiness revolve around my family and loved ones not a game.

I am happy with my life and I truly wish some people on here could find something in their worlds to be happy about.

If you can say something positive please go somewhere else to find your pleasures in life.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Yeah, but Nutt would have had a woody because we got 12 votes in the Top 25 and would be constantly talking about "gettin' bedder", but doing little about it.  At least it appears that BB is doing his best to close escrow on these 4th qtr problems.

Exactly...and it's easy for us to see the issues, and feel sorry for the kids.  Can you imagine what it has to be like for BB knowing that he's looking out there seeing our kids completely gassed, watching it slip away, and there's nothing he can do about it?  There's no one on the bench that can come in and respond at a high enough level yet, and he just has to do the best he can with the situation at hand. 

I think that's where the emotion he showed comes from.  He knows how hard the kids are working and it's killing him that he can't find a way to put the team in a position to make enough plays to win the game. 

Yep...BA can be more accurate.  Our WR's can run better routes.  Our tight ends could be blocking better.  Our kicker could be better, and our punt returners could be as well.  We all see that, and so does he.  He's trying to do something about it by getting kids in here who can develop and learn, rather than throwing them right into the fire.  I LOVE the fact that he's red shirting kids even though they could probably contribute, because in a few years, that will pay off BIG TIME in the form of fielding a team with more experience to help overcome the talent deficiencies that we may always have to face. 

As Mike said...he's doing it the right way.  That having been said, we have the main ingredients of the recipe starting to build.  We still need those players that are difference makers, and there's always the chance that BB may not get them here and get the complete cake.  I hope he does, because I really like what he's doing with the kids and the program. 

[urkillnmesmalls]

I am an Arkansas alumni

I am a Razorback fan

I hurt when they lose but over the years  that hurt has changed. I used to hurt for me.  Now I hurt for the players.

I wish I had been blessed with the talent these young men have. One day they will be Arkansas Alums and all they owe use is that they have respect for their effort. Win or lose. These are young men that are giving their all. I for one am proud of these young men, these coaches and the way and the direction the program is going.

I hope they win, when they do I will celebrate in joy. When they lose with dignity and great effort I will support them and go on. My life and happiness revolve around my family and loved ones not a game.

I am happy with my life and I truly wish some people on here could find something in their worlds to be happy about.

If you can say something positive please go somewhere else to find your pleasures in life.

Second post?  Where have you been?  Nice! 

I think a lot of people are feeling that way.  I know some people couldn't care less about anything but checks in the W column, but his concept of having a team that is reliant on one another and has a "family atmosphere" may very well be the niche that we've been missing for a long time at the UA.  That sentiment will immediately impact recruits on their visits and a sense of being more than an individual is exactly what the word "team" embodies. 

Maybe I'm idealistic and naive, but I like the thought that we have a coach who genuinely cares.  There's a reason the players are buying in, and I have a feeling that this Saturday...we're going to see it gel into a convincing win, and they'll get a taste of what winning an SEC game feels like.  No matter how big the fans desires are, they are nothing compared to the desire for the kids to win.   

[TeedupHigh]

Don't be fooled..LSU will be allot better team by the time we play them...they have talent, just young. No breaks in this conference.

and the HOGS are OLD?  And how many "BREAKS" has the HOGS got so far?  The HOGS have talent and they are young BUT they are damn sure growing up

[LZH]

Exactly...and it's easy for us to see the issues, and feel sorry for the kids.  Can you imagine what it has to be like for BB knowing that he's looking out there seeing our kids completely gassed, watching it slip away, and there's nothing he can do about it?  There's no one on the bench that can come in and respond at a high enough level yet, and he just has to do the best he can with the situation at hand. 

I think that's where the emotion he showed comes from.  He knows how hard the kids are working and it's killing him that he can't find a way to put the team in a position to make enough plays to win the game. 

Yep...BA can be more accurate.  Our WR's can run better routes.  Our tight ends could be blocking better.  Our kicker could be better, and our punt returners could be as well.  We all see that, and so does he.  He's trying to do something about it by getting kids in here who can develop and learn, rather than throwing them right into the fire.  I LOVE the fact that he's red shirting kids even though they could probably contribute, because in a few years, that will pay off BIG TIME in the form of fielding a team with more experience to help overcome the talent deficiencies that we may always have to face. 

As Mike said...he's doing it the right way.  That having been said, we have the main ingredients of the recipe starting to build.  We still need those players that are difference makers, and there's always the chance that BB may not get them here and get the complete cake.  I hope he does, because I really like what he's doing with the kids and the program. 

It's up to him to get these kids to fire the kill shot in the 4th qtr when they have the opportunity.  But when I had mentioned 'coaching them up' back a couple months ago, everyone was "oh great, LZ is complaining again".  Well guess what, he is finally 'coaching these kids up'.  They're most likely not any better athletes than they were in March, but they look like a completely different team.  Why?......coaching.

That's all I wanted to see from BB and his staff  - improvement.  I saw none last year.  I saw a lot of grab-ass in the spring scrimmage.  But I've seen it (improvement) over the past few weeks.  Even though we haven't turned the corner, we're not far off (yeah, I just said that out loud).  BB just has to convince these boys that you must stay focused and confident for 60 minutes, not 45-50.

And I still say it's no accident that we've had so many players 'transfer'.  It is pretty clear to me that at some point BB quit patting butts and started chewing some ass.  The ones that responded are playing harder, and the ones who got their feelings hurt aren't with the team any longer.

I may still have plenty to gripe about, but at least it's clear that he's not just here to draw a big paycheck.

[Steef]

I have no (good) opinion about media in general. Most of them, present company excepted, are ambulance chasers.

But I love this staff. And these Hogs.

I said during the summer, I liked Bret's style and values, but the jury was still out on his football.

The jury is in.

He's GOING to win here.

Those who keep complaining that "he hasn't won yet"....imagine this time next year...when "first conference win" is last year's news and now we're wondering if we really can get get to Atlanta.

We WILL win. A lot. Relax. It's coming

Meantime, the good press can't hurt recruiting.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

The downfall of Hogville is that it is FREE, because that requires board traffic to pay the bills.  The PTB are way too interested in traffic and it comes from controversy...that is allowed to happen.   Why would all these negative posters be allowed to clog up bandwidth if board traffic did not matter?   

This is why I am willing to pay for a premium board and I will find one and pay gladly.  Hogville is one of the things damaging the program.

ThreeHogSmite, im not negative towards the football program. Sitting in Grandma's basement as you are currently doing with your keyboard. Most of us know we are a growing and developing team.

[Augustus]

I've been around eight different coaching staffs in the 40 years I've covered this team. The reason I'm so optimistic is that this is the most impressive collection of coaches I've seen at this school since Broyles staff in 75.

1. They recruit against everybody. No more backing off a player because Alabama or LSU wants him.

2. The head coach actually cares about his players instead of just talking a good game. Consider the fact that Frank Ragnow was withheld from the Bama game because he'd suffered a mild concussion earlier in the week. The doctors cleared him but Bielema wanted to be extra cautious. Compare that to Petrino who often shamed players with legitimate injuries into playing anyway. The guy I do a radio show with every day once played with a torn hamstring. Petrino called him a [CENSORED] anyway.

3.There is a clearly spelled out code of discipline on this team. Alex Collins missed a Friday morning meeting in the bye week before Alabama. He sat out the 1st quarter. How many coaches would do that? And yet what is the message that is being sent? Live up to your responsibilities. If we all learn to do that we will win in football and in life.

4. After the game Bielema was in tears trying to explain how hard it is for him to watch these guys work so hard and not get the reward of a win. The players told us he was like that in front of them. They are ready to run through a brick wall for him.

5. Jim Harris asked Bielema a very tough question in the post game presser. Basically if there was a lack of discipline on the offensive side of the ball because of all the killer mistakes that are being made. I've known coaches who would have exploded at a question like that yet Bielema understood that it was a question he needed to answer. He accepted personal responsiblity for the screw ups and promised they'd be corrected.

Bielema's coaches are like him. They are the kind of men you'd want your own kids to play for.

I had a chance to retire this past summer at age 66 but being around Bielema and his staff has energized me. They are doing things the right way. It's the kind of football that I believe in. I want to see this process through.

Terrific post.  Thanks for this, and all your work, Mike.

[Albert Einswine]

The downfall of Hogville is that it is FREE, because that requires board traffic to pay the bills.  The PTB are way too interested in traffic and it comes from controversy...that is allowed to happen.   Why would all these negative posters be allowed to clog up bandwidth if board traffic did not matter?   

This is why I am willing to pay for a premium board and I will find one and pay gladly.  Hogville is one of the things damaging the program.

My experience with the one pay board I was a member of before Hogville was that you weren't allowed to have a dissenting opinion, no matter how respectfully you offered it. It was sycophantic group think only. I'm not interested in that, but I hate the d*ck measuring contests and internet slap fights that consume this place. I just want to talk football.

[fakebobholt]

The downfall of Hogville is that it is FREE, because that requires board traffic to pay the bills.  The PTB are way too interested in traffic and it comes from controversy...that is allowed to happen.   Why would all these negative posters be allowed to clog up bandwidth if board traffic did not matter?   

This is why I am willing to pay for a premium board and I will find one and pay gladly.  Hogville is one of the things damaging the program.

hogville is damaging the program, I have read it all now. You do realize that this place represents a tiny section of the fans. The average fan does not think like the posters here do. Some have to much time and emotion invested in a message board. The ones complaining about posters are the ones actually posting things off topic during discussions. Recruits, parents,  or coaches dont read this or care whatbis said. You look for things to gripe about rather than add to the conversation. I guess since hogville is ruining the program, if we shut it down we would win the final 4.

[Augustus]

Agreed on this "no  respect" thing...

Herbstreit said today on Finebaum "Arkansas is going to ruin someone's hopes at the playoff's"

Mike & Mike said today "Arkansas outplayed them, they should have won this game"

Finebaum himself, over the last 3 weeks, is showing respect to Arkansas.  Ari, Tessitore, Kanell are also showing respect.

Gregg Doyel (who I can't stand) picked us to upset Bama.  As did others.

The Ntn'l Media has to fill their time talking about the teams who are ranked in the top-10. Especially the teams who no one saw coming and are now ranked #1 and #3.  Nature of the business.

But, when they speak of Arkansas? And, they have with increased frequency as of late, they speak well.

Guess who we have to thank for that? Yep. Jeff Long and Bret Bielema.

[HF#1]

Agreed on this "no  respect" thing...

Herbstreit said today on Finebaum "Arkansas is going to ruin someone's hopes at the playoff's"

Mike & Mike said today "Arkansas outplayed them, they should have won this game"

Finebaum himself, over the last 3 weeks, is showing respect to Arkansas.  Ari, Tessitore, Kanell are also showing respect.

Gregg Doyel (who I can't stand) picked us to upset Bama.  As did others.

The Ntn'l Media has to fill their time talking about the teams who are ranked in the top-10. Especially the teams who no one saw coming and are now ranked #1 and #3.  Nature of the business.

But, when they speak of Arkansas? And, they have with increased frequency as of late, they speak well.

Guess who we have to thank for that? Yep. Jeff Long and Bret Bielema.

Fuggin carpetbaggin summabeeches.

[LZH]

We would be ordering "3-3 in the AP poll' rings.

Ha!  Yeah, "get 'em in fast before we have to play Kentucky!"

[jkstock04]

Beyond comical to think Hogville is damaging to the football program. Or positive for that matter....1,000,000 Hogs for DGB anyone? Things said on here have zero influence on anything noteworthy.

Anyone who thinks what they say on here has any bearing or influence on the direction of the football program, or university...thinks way to highly of themselves.

I can think of once where Hogville was an influence, and that would be the plane banner incident with HDN.

[HogJowler]

I have been here a long time. I come for insight and information from those know a lot more than and those with inside information. It is getting difficult to continue to come.

There is nothing wrong with differences of opinion. Honest debate is fun and can be educational.

I have just had it with immaturity of a number of posters who are ruining it for the true hog fans.

I also find fault with the moderators who allow this to continue. Personal attacks against players and coaches should not be allowed. These posters should be banned.

I don't agree with every call and I can second guess with the best of you but i don't have to make the calls in real time with the clock running. Our coaches do.

Players and coaches make mistakes. They are not perfect but then neither are the rest of us.

Dissent and debate if you will but please be civil and polite. Look at what you are complaining about. Do any of you really believe that any of our coaches or players are not putting in the effort and trying to do their best.

None of us are going to make or force any changes in the program. It is what it is.

If you don't like it I suggest you make constructive criticism or respectfully request you go find something else to do. Your blood pressure and our lives will be much better for it.

[ChicoHog]

MSU SECE teams on the schedule this year....

Vandy & Kentucky

OMU SECE teams on the schedule this year....

Vandy & Tenn.

The hogs would be favored against all 3 of those SECE teams home or away.

Vandy is Mississippi's permanent rival.  How lucky are they?  And I guess Miss st got lucky with them this year.  And UK is their permanent rival.  Yes, they are improved, but still they are a much easier program than UGA, SCarolina, UF (usually), and Mizzou. 

[LZH]

Personal attacks against players and coaches should not be allowed. These posters should be banned.

Ever criticize a politician?  Coaches are fair game, cuz.  They are well paid and fully understand that when something goes wrong, they're gonna have to take the heat....which they can handle.  Don't be so sensitive.

[WilsonHog]

The benefit of the board to me all boils down to one simple thing: my avilify to log on and read posts such as those in this thread from Mike Irwin.

A place to "talk Razorback football with other Hog fans?" darn.

[bphi11ips]

My experience with the one pay board I was a member of before Hogville was that you weren't allowed to have a dissenting opinion, no matter how respectfully you offered it. It was sycophantic group think only. I'm not interested in that, but I hate the d*ck measuring contests and internet slap fights that consume this place. I just want to talk football.

Excellent post.

[urkillnmesmalls]

It's up to him to get these kids to fire the kill shot in the 4th qtr when they have the opportunity.  But when I had mentioned 'coaching them up' back a couple months ago, everyone was "oh great, LZ is complaining again".  Well guess what, he is finally 'coaching these kids up'.  They're most likely not any better athletes than they were in March, but they look like a completely different team.  Why?......coaching.

That's all I wanted to see from BB and his staff  - improvement.  I saw none last year.  I saw a lot of grab-ass in the spring scrimmage.  But I've seen it (improvement) over the past few weeks.  Even though we haven't turned the corner, we're not far off (yeah, I just said that out loud).  BB just has to convince these boys that you must stay focused and confident for 60 minutes, not 45-50.

And I still say it's no accident that we've had so many players 'transfer'.  It is pretty clear to me that at some point BB quit patting butts and started chewing some ass.  The ones that responded are playing harder, and the ones who got their feelings hurt aren't with the team any longer.

I may still have plenty to gripe about, but at least it's clear that he's not just here to draw a big paycheck.

I totally agree.  And I don't know how they turn that corner.  I know BB employed some special tactics to try to focus the team on effort in the 4th quarter over the week off, but that didn't seem to make the difference.  I know he sees the issue, but I'm not sure he knows the answer. 

Our run game is good, but it's not good enough to run on 9-10 in the box in the SEC yet.  It may be next year...who knows, but right now the thought that we can line up and knock SEC teams off the ball in the 4th quarter is absolutely not working.  We can't throw it well enough to keep them honest up to this point. 

Just for poops and giggles, I would love to see us come out with 4 WR sets in the 4th quarter and see what we can do by forcing them to allocate at least 4 defenders to defend the pass.  Fire a couple of WR screens out there and at least threaten to stretch them horizontally, and see if maybe that would open up the middle some so they couldn't stack the box like they do with our standard double TE sets. 

They have to try something, because what they're doing is failing badly in the 4th qtr.  We can't ask the defense to shut people out that late in the game to win games...the depth isn't there yet.  We have to find a way to move the ball and score points, and that's proving to be difficult. 

[HognitiveDissonance]

I've been around eight different coaching staffs in the 40 years I've covered this team. The reason I'm so optimistic is that this is the most impressive collection of coaches I've seen at this school since Broyles staff in 75.

1. They recruit against everybody. No more backing off a player because Alabama or LSU wants him.

2. The head coach actually cares about his players instead of just talking a good game. Consider the fact that Frank Ragnow was withheld from the Bama game because he'd suffered a mild concussion earlier in the week. The doctors cleared him but Bielema wanted to be extra cautious. Compare that to Petrino who often shamed players with legitimate injuries into playing anyway. The guy I do a radio show with every day once played with a torn hamstring. Petrino called him a [CENSORED] anyway.

3.There is a clearly spelled out code of discipline on this team. Alex Collins missed a Friday morning meeting in the bye week before Alabama. He sat out the 1st quarter. How many coaches would do that? And yet what is the message that is being sent? Live up to your responsibilities. If we all learn to do that we will win in football and in life.

4. After the game Bielema was in tears trying to explain how hard it is for him to watch these guys work so hard and not get the reward of a win. The players told us he was like that in front of them. They are ready to run through a brick wall for him.

5. Jim Harris asked Bielema a very tough question in the post game presser. Basically if there was a lack of discipline on the offensive side of the ball because of all the killer mistakes that are being made. I've known coaches who would have exploded at a question like that yet Bielema understood that it was a question he needed to answer. He accepted personal responsiblity for the screw ups and promised they'd be corrected.

Bielema's coaches are like him. They are the kind of men you'd want your own kids to play for.

I had a chance to retire this past summer at age 66 but being around Bielema and his staff has energized me. They are doing things the right way. It's the kind of football that I believe in. I want to see this process through.

Mike, I think you are definitely a guy who's an 'out with the old, in with the new' type of guy. I've heard these things before, from you. To your first point, I'm listening to a radio show one night in 2009 when you came on singing Petrino's praises for his recruiting effort, that he was actually out working and recruiting new territories(implying Nutt wasn't working that hard recruiting). I remember it well. That's point #1. To point #2, I hardly think BB is the first coach to care about his players. I remember well the 2007 Alabama game when DMac got his bell rung and Nutt wouldn't let him go back in because the docs said he had concussion-like symptoms. Dmac was running wild that night over 200 yards and we probably could have run out the clock and won the game with him back in there. But the coach held him out.
I like the direction. And not to pick on you, I watch you guys on Razorback Nation every weekend and I actually enjoy hearing your take more than most of the media members(your takes just seem a little more seasoned to me). But I think there is a Hog-colored glasses approach a lot of people have that just because this guy and staff is new that's it's going to be a Shagri-la...you see that over and over here. Old guy=bad, new guy=good. It just seems like more often than not the more things change, the more they stay the same.
We'll know in a few years what level BB takes the program. Personally I've always thought it will be hard to surpass what Petrino did and we're probably headed to a repeat of the Nutt era(which wouldn't be bad at all, I liked the Nutt era more than most here). We're definitely headed upwards, how high is the question.

[HognitiveDissonance]

Excellent post.

You're probably referring to Clay Henry's pay board on HawgsIllustrated where, yes, much negative commentary was censored.
The flip side is here where negativity tends to run wild, and sometimes positive commentary is censored(ex. pro-Nutt commentary back in that time).
There never will be a perfect forum, I don't guess.
I lean towards all censorship being bad and as long as people keep it clean, let 'em say what they want as far as their message goes. I do think it should be kept clean.

[EastexHawg]

The downfall of Hogville is that it is FREE, because that requires board traffic to pay the bills.  The PTB are way too interested in traffic and it comes from controversy...that is allowed to happen.   Why would all these negative posters be allowed to clog up bandwidth if board traffic did not matter?   

This is why I am willing to pay for a premium board and I will find one and pay gladly.  Hogville is one of the things damaging the program.

Then why do you keep wasting your precious time here?

How about making some fact filled or insightful posts instead of constantly complaining about complaining?

[hellwonthaveme]

The downfall of Hogville is that it is FREE, because that requires board traffic to pay the bills.  The PTB are way too interested in traffic and it comes from controversy...that is allowed to happen.   Why would all these negative posters be allowed to clog up bandwidth if board traffic did not matter?   

This is why I am willing to pay for a premium board and I will find one and pay gladly.  Hogville is one of the things damaging the program.

Ha..Haha....hahahahahahahahahaha

PRJ

[Razorbax]

Then why do you keep wasting your precious time here?

How about making some fact filled or insightful posts instead of constantly complaining about complaining?

Fact filled and insightful posts? Might as well ask for the discovery of cold fusion or at the very least, a perpetual motion machine.

[Joshua Michael Irwin]

I've been around eight different coaching staffs in the 40 years I've covered this team. The reason I'm so optimistic is that this is the most impressive collection of coaches I've seen at this school since Broyles staff in 75.

1. They recruit against everybody. No more backing off a player because Alabama or LSU wants him.

2. The head coach actually cares about his players instead of just talking a good game. Consider the fact that Frank Ragnow was withheld from the Bama game because he'd suffered a mild concussion earlier in the week. The doctors cleared him but Bielema wanted to be extra cautious. Compare that to Petrino who often shamed players with legitimate injuries into playing anyway. The guy I do a radio show with every day once played with a torn hamstring. Petrino called him a [CENSORED] anyway.

3.There is a clearly spelled out code of discipline on this team. Alex Collins missed a Friday morning meeting in the bye week before Alabama. He sat out the 1st quarter. How many coaches would do that? And yet what is the message that is being sent? Live up to your responsibilities. If we all learn to do that we will win in football and in life.

4. After the game Bielema was in tears trying to explain how hard it is for him to watch these guys work so hard and not get the reward of a win. The players told us he was like that in front of them. They are ready to run through a brick wall for him.

5. Jim Harris asked Bielema a very tough question in the post game presser. Basically if there was a lack of discipline on the offensive side of the ball because of all the killer mistakes that are being made. I've known coaches who would have exploded at a question like that yet Bielema understood that it was a question he needed to answer. He accepted personal responsiblity for the screw ups and promised they'd be corrected.

Bielema's coaches are like him. They are the kind of men you'd want your own kids to play for.

I had a chance to retire this past summer at age 66 but being around Bielema and his staff has energized me. They are doing things the right way. It's the kind of football that I believe in. I want to see this process through.

Just a quick note. This guy doesn't say something positive, unless there is really something positive to say. He is probably the most pessimistic person I know.

He has always looked at Razorback Football from a brutally honest perspective.

If he's this positive, there is something to it.... and there is, trust me.