El Dorado, Hooten's Football Town of the Week

When Chad Hooten contacted me to interview for his television show on El Dorado football, I hesitantly agreed. I'm not hesitant to discuss the Wildcats and their success, I'm just not much of a public speaker. I nearly passed out when I had to give a presentation in college. I haven't gotten much better since. But, El Dorado football is a subject I can probably talk about in my sleep. Plus, Chad asked several times and has been more than gracious with us at the News-Times over the past few seasons. So ... I stepped in front of the camera. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the subject fully. It wasn't about El Dorado football. Hooten is doing a story on El Dorado being one of the top football towns in the state. Uh oh! Okay, it's not that I don't think El Dorado is a good football town. I just think it's a typical football town. Wildcat fans have shown to be fairly fair-weather when it comes to football. When the team is No. 1 in the state, the fans probably rank that high as well. I was amazed at the showing of purple a few years back when El Dorado played at Springdale Har Ber. The fans traveled in droves to Jonesboro and Fort Smith and even to Greenwood last year. Very few communities would make those trips the way El Dorado did. However, if the team isn't as good, the fan support can dip faster than the temperature in October. Even I was surprised last week, though, when the Wildcats drew one of their weaker crowds in recent memory. Chad Hooten had his camera ready to show the state one of the best football crowds around. Instead, he got a sparse contingent for a key conference matchup against rival Texarkana. It was embarrassing but only a little surprising. Even when the Wildcats were in the middle of their three-year run of championships, people would ask me, "are they going to win this week?" I'd say, "Probably. You coming to the game?" "No," they'd answer. "I'll wait until they play a good team." Perhaps spoiled is the word I'm looking for to describe the fans. It's not enough to have a good team. It has to be a championship team. Then, it's not enough to have a championship team, they have to be playing a great opponent. For the most part, that's typical of most communities in this state, especially at large schools. Fans are only as passionate as the team's record. Had I been better prepared, I would have said something like that to Hooten when he had the camera rolling. Actually, I probably would've declined the interview had I known it was about the fans instead of the team. Instead, I talked my way around it as best as I could with my limited public speaking skills. And, I didn't lie. El Dorado's fans are as good as most of the larger communities in the state. But as last week's crowd at Memorial Stadium showed, that's really not saying that much.

My son, Jadeveon

If South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney was my son, what would I tell him? I would ask him one question. Son, if you shattered your leg and could never walk again, would Coach Steve Spurrier take you into his home and take care of you? If the answer is, "no" then I suggest you take care of yourself now, while you still can. Clowney told his coaches last Saturday that he was injured and couldn't play in the team's game against Kentucky. His timing, a few minutes before kickoff, was bad. Other than that, I don't see what all the fuss is about. If not for some archaic NCAA rules that force athletes to stay in college, Clowney would already be a millionaire in the NFL. Instead, he's forced to play a dangerous game for free, while others around him reap the rewards for his sweat. I don't blame him one bit for refusing to play through an injury. If he was my son, I'd tell him to not get back on the field until he's a hundred percent healthy. All those coaches and fans and media-folks criticizing him for his selfishness? Where will they be when he tears his knee up and can't play anymore? College football isn't about amateur competition. It hasn't been for a long time. It's a business. It's big business with millions of dollars exchanging hands. Those dollars aren't supposed to touch the hands of the athletes. That's fine, I suppose. They are getting a college education, if they want it. But, for the few who can actually use their God-given talents to actually make a lot of money, they should think about themselves first and their team second. Spurrier was rich before he ever met Clowney. He'll be rich long after he parts ways with Clowney. But, Clowney's window to make money will open and shut once and it won't be open for long. Football is big business. The athletes play for their respective teams. But, I would never advise any athlete to put his own future in jeopardy for the sake of the university. Whether you play or not, South Carolina will be alright, son.

Hogs' loss is disappointing

Disappointing is the nicest way to describe Arkansas' 30-10 loss at Florida. It's not the first word that comes to mind but ... it's the nicest thing I can say. I'll preface the rest of this by saying, Bret Bielema is a great coach for the Razorbacks. He's my kind of coach and I'd rather lose playing his style than lose playing a different style. But, Saturday's game ... that was ... disappointing. Florida is better than Arkansas. The Gators' defense is big-time. Offensively, however, Florida is seriously flawed. The Gators don't blow out many opponents because they don't score a lot of points. The Razorbacks, with a team made for ground-and-pound, had the blueprint for the upset. Run the ball. Shorten the game. Use the punt as a weapon. Keep it close and see which way the ball bounces late in the fourth quarter. It was working, too. By the way, moving freshmen Kirkland and Skipper to guards was a stroke of genius by Bielema. Along with Swanson at center, the Razorbacks are solid up the middle. That's the strength of this offense. I guess that's why it was so disappointing to watch Arkansas abandon the run on Saturday. Brandon Allen completed 17-of-41 passes for 164 yards. As a team, the Hogs were 17-of-43 throwing the ball. Too many of those passes came when it was a one-possession game. The drive that put Arkansas up 7-3 started with an incomplete pass. It then went, Collins for 10, Hackett for 9, Collins for 3, Williams for 12, Collins for no gain, Allen pass to Henry for 31 and Williams for a 4-yard touchdown. I'll do the math - eight plays, 6 rushing, 2 passes. The formula worked and was never used again. Pass. Pass. Pass. The only thing worse than the quick three-and-outs that helped sap Arkansas' defense was the predictable Pick-6 Allen threw to the Gators. So disappointing to give a team that can't score a defensive touchdown. Let's get this straight. The Razorbacks needed a near-perfect performance to beat Florida. The loss isn't disappointing. Losing in the manner they lost is disappointing. Arkansas didn't give itself a chance. Allen is, at best, a middle-of-the-road SEC quarterback. Any game plan where he's asked to throw 40 times should be re-thought. Not that it was all on him. Arkansas has no big-play receivers. They can't get open and when they do get open, odds are about 50-50 on whether they'll catch the ball if it hits them in their hands. So, couple an average to below-average quarterback with subpar receivers, multiply it by two outstanding backs and a good, young run-blocking offensive line and what do you get? It ain't 43 passes. That's for darned sure. Bielema is going to improve the talent level at Arkansas. Until he does, however, the coaches have to devise a game plan that gives the out-manned talent the best chance at success. Losing because you're outgunned is understandable. Asking a piss-poor passing attack to consistently convert third-and-longs after incomplete passes to open a drive is not understandable. In fact, it's ... disappointing.

Thank you, Brad Slatton

Thank you, Brad Slatton. How long has it been, now? About ten years since you introduced me to the college football video game? I was perfectly content in my own little world of watching TV and surfing the internet. But, you had to broaden my entertainment horizons. You had to show me what was all the rage. You had to stick that plastic controller in my hand, slip a DVD into your game console and expose my eyes and mind to a world I never knew existed. You watched and grinned as I was immediately sucked into that world. You knew I would never escape it. There was no way I would ever find my way out of that maze's magical mixture of fantasy, reality and football. You knew I was hooked. Now, I sit here a decade later, wasting another hour of my rapidly evaporating puddle of life, recruiting two-star athletes to join my pitiful Arkansas State program. Oh, it'll take awhile but I'll turn the Red Wolves into national champions. The same way I built Hawaii and Army and Arizona State (love those black uniforms). And when I do and the game asks me if I want to save the National Championship trophy, I'll click "yes." I always save the first one. And, I'll feel a smidgen of accomplishment even though I know it's a game. It's not real. It isn't bettering me or the world around me. That's when the guilt sets in and I turn the game off, set the controller to the side and vow to grow the hell up and stop wasting time. A few weeks later, sometimes even a couple months will pass but, at some point, a storm will knock out my satellite dish or I'll forget to pay my internet bill. And, I'll hear my controller whispering to me. "All I need is electricity and your attention," it says. It summons me back and I obey it's call. I always come back to that dark world. I have Brad Slatton to thank for showing me that dark side. And, if I ever have the opportunity to see him again in a one-on-one, man-on-man confrontation, I'm going to do to him what I should've done ten years ago. I'm going to put a controller in his hand, sit him down on the couch and then we're going to play two games. I'm going to take my team and beat him. Then, I'll take his team and beat him. In the real world, playing games, especially at our ages, are a waste of time. But, in that dark world, games are only a waste of time if you lose. And, thanks to Brad Slatton and EA Sports, all I need is an hour and electricity, and I'm a winner.

Gut Check Picks - the second week

My debut of Gut Check picks was more like a sucker punch to my gut. I went 6-4 in the Camden News Pigskin Picks and my other prognostications weren't much better. I guess this proves you really should do some research before predicting the outcomes of football games. Let's try it again. In local high school, I have El Dorado over LR Central; Fairview over Warren; Magnolia over Hamburg; Harmony Grove over Arkansas Baptist; Junction City over Bearden and Fordyce over Monticello. In college: Arkansas over Rutgers; Florida over Tennessee; LSU over Auburn; Stanford over Arizona State and Arkansas State over Memphis. Just for fun, Harvard and Philip Hay opens its season at San Diego. San Diego has played twice, although is a 38-35 win over Western New Mexico really a game? Who knows? I'll pick San Diego. In the NFL: Oakland over Denver; Philly over KC; Green Bay over Cincinnati; Dallas over St. Louis; San Diego over Tennessee; Minnesota over Cleveland; New England over Tampa Bay; New Orleans over Arizona; Detroit over Washington; Carolina over NY Giants; Houston over Baltimore; Atlanta over Miami; Buffalo over NY Jets; San Francisco over Indy; Seattle over Jacksonville and Chicago over Pittsburgh. *** Oh and the WNBA Playoffs are finally here. The Sky over the Fever and the Dream over the Mystics in the East. In the West, I'll take the Sparks over the Mercury and the Lynx over the Storm. I'll buy a Diet Dr. Pepper to anyone who knows the city of these teams without looking it up.

A 'real' coach can win at Grambling

Grambling just fired Doug Williams as head coach two games into the 2013 season. I find it outrageous that it took two games for the school to see what was fairly clear to most. Williams, a Grambling legend and NFL trailblazer, wasn't getting the job done. Grambling sits right in the middle of a hotbed of football talent. Surrounded by South Arkansas, East Texas and North Louisiana, you can't tell me a coach that's serious about his job can't find players in Shreveport, Monroe, Haynesville, Junction City, El Dorado, Strong, Camden, Texarkana, etc. Coach Williams let that program drop to never-seen-before depths and that's a shame. But, Grambling is still Grambling. Any coach who is serious about being a football coach can win there. It will take some work but it won't take a whole lot of gas money. The talent is sitting all around the campus.

It's Gut Check time

It seems every sports writer is an expert on football these days. Every time I turn on the TV, some dude or dudette is telling me who is going to win a particular game or explaining why a team lost. Explaining why a team lost is easy. It's called hindsight and even Stevie Wonder is blessed with it. El Dorado lost at Camden Fairview last week because of, first, the Cardinals' speed and skill, second, the Wildcats' own miscues. El Dorado came out jittery, which is understandable with so many new faces. A mistake here, a bobble there and it's 14-0. The Wildcats never recovered because Fairview never let up. How's that for hindsight? Well, here's a little foresight. This week, I'm going to start predicting the winners of games at the high school, college and NFL level. I'm calling it Gut Check because I'm not doing any research. I'm just looking at the teams and going with my gut. Here are my predictions for the Camden News Pigskin Picks, in which I participate each week: Fairview over Hamburg; El Dorado over Southside; Monticello over Magnolia; Star City over Harmony Grove; Bearden over Hampton; Junction City over Rison; Strong over Smackover in an upset; Alabama over Texas A&M; Ole Miss over Texas and Dallas over Kansas City. My other college picks are: LA Tech over Tulane on Thursday; ASU over Troy; Arkansas over Southern Miss; Oregon over Tennessee; South Carolina over Vandy; Auburn over Mississippi State and Wake Forest over Louisiana-Monroe. My NFL picks are: Patriots over Jets; Raiders over Jaguars; Falcons over Rams, Panthers over Bills; Bears over Vikings; Packers over Redskins; Dolphins over Colts; Eagles over Chargers; Ravens over Browns; Texans over Titans; Saints over Bucs; Lions over Cardinals; Broncos over Giants; 49ers over Seahawks and Bengals over Steelers.