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By request ... The unofficial Arkansas Meltdown thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Football_Bat, Apr 6, 2007.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    To prime the pump: Here's a good read from Doogie's board:

    Bacon Bits – We Are No Longer Mediocre…We Are Broken
    Volume LVIII
    April 2, 2007

    The sports gods have been playing jokes on us. A dramatic plot has unfolded over the last few months that even Tom Clancy would be proud of.

    And it climaxed today, at least one hopes, in the sudden resignation of new coach Dana Altman. This happened just hours after he called the Hogs, albeit poorly, at the press conference announcing his hire.

    I really don’t know what to say. There is no way to ease the embarrassment that this year has been, much less the spotlight on our rejection from a coach who likely was in double digits on the list of targets.

    Make no mistake Razorback Nation, this is a very deep problem. Despite what Dana Altman may say over the coming days, the real reason he had a “change of heart” has less to do with his fondness for Creighton than the upset stomach our program gave him as he began digging into his future team here at Arkansas.

    Lavish praise on Frank Broyles if you would like for our fantastic facilities, but whatever you do don’t fail for one minute to recognize that he was absent at one of the most critical junctions of a coaching transition. It was apparent to all involved that Altman would have a difficult time making the transition from Omaha, Nebraska to Fayetteville, Arkansas. And despite the fact that he held a press conference yesterday - this hire, like all coaching hires, isn’t completed until the ink dries on a new contract.

    So where was our illustrious leader today when Altman sat down to review the contract? Why in Augusta, of course. His little pastime of golf was more important to him than a seamless transition for Coach Altman into the program.

    In the class “Closings 101” everyone learns that you hold hands and cuddle all the way to the end. But alas, bent grass fairways were a priority for Frank, not the University of Arkansas.

    Can you imagine Chancellor White’s disdain at taking Altman through these precarious final steps without the salesman by his side? If you don’t think he’s chapped at Frank look no further than his abrupt announcement that a search firm would be hired in lieu of Frank’s expertise in the wake of this debacle. In the immortal words of Donald Trump…Frank – YOU’RE FIRED!

    Friends, something is wrong in Fayetteville. Frank and his posse can keep telling us to look the other way but when a coach commits career suicide by backing out of a move after accepting the job there’s only one thing that should be obvious to us all. Our basketball program has some serious problems. Problems that should have been evident enough to our AD that he disclosed them during the sales pitch.

    My guess is Altman found some things out that had he known on the front end would have kept him from ever accepting the position. We’ll likely never know what these issues were. Maybe he’s protecting players by not divulging what he found. Maybe he has enough integrity to leave and not publicly blame. I wasn’t crazy about his coaching record, but I was enamored by his obvious honesty and character.

    So where does that leave us? We’re now about to re-embark on a coaching search that will no way include “grand-slam” candidates. We will be very lucky to get a decent mid-major coach to come here. In addition to the basketball issues our football program is on the precipice of being exposed for the sham we know it to be. And all the while, Nero fiddles on lush courses a thousand miles away.

    Sometimes in order to fix things, they have to completely break first. And sometimes this breaking has to be painful on a grand scale. Unfortunately, that is where we are at. National media is touting Creighton’s superiority to the U of A. And if you aren’t embarrassed and shocked by this, well you’re not breathing.

    The time has come for a reckoning. We will be given penance for years of gross mismanagement and cover-ups on the hill. This penance will include hiring lesser coaches and bringing in lesser talent…in both the football and basketball programs. Our Board of Trustees has a simple choice. We can either embrace the continuance of good-ole-boy governance, of ignoring elephants in the corners of our rooms, or we can make a clean sweep of our athletic department by outright firing the people who have gotten us in this mess and moving on.

    To the Trustees I submit the following. I am at the end of my rope as a Razorback fan. The noose around this fan’s neck has been tightened by constant lies, vendettas and unprofessionalism. I have been cheated on and abused. The program I have long supported has been mocking me for years now. I am wise to it and nothing short of wholesale change will ever bring me back. I think I speak for thousands who feel the same.

    The dawn of a new age is coming. In this new age my passions will be directed somewhere. You choose where they go.

    Bacon out…
     
  2. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    Indeed, another fanboy thread is just what a supposed journalists board needs.

    Must be time for a hiatus
     
  3. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Au contraire, spnmeister ... I am Sooner fanboy, not Piggie fanboy. Just getting a little Schadenfreude out of the system as well as presenting the opportunity for the PTB to consolidate all the Nutt-y goings-on up on the Hill.
     
  4. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    I love ya Bat... but I had to bust your balls on this one.
     
  5. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    This is fun! Headbutt moved it at 2:33, J_D moved it back at 3:04...it's like they're fighting over who has to keep it!
     
  6. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Shall we take bets, IJAG?
     
  7. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    Oops.

    I didn't see it had been moved. My duties on Anything Goes keep me from visiting the other boards as often as I used to. I suppose if Headbutt wants to move it back, I'll take it. Of course, a turf war could be fun too.
     
  8. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    Delete your post, J_D! I want to see Headbutt and you fight over this thing!
     
  9. dreunc1542

    dreunc1542 Active Member

    because i've never done it before...this will not end well, the arkansas situation...or a possible turf war
     
  10. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Are y'all gonna dance/fight like in Westside Story?
     
  11. Hammer Pants

    Hammer Pants Active Member

    In fairness, I have asked at least twice for an official running University of Arkansas debacle thread.

    Thank you, sir. I was probably going to start one in a few days.

    I would say it’s a great time to be a Hog, but when is it not?
     
  12. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    J_D's group of vandals is definitely the Jets.
     
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