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Thirty Days, Arkansas Trolls Its Fans, Being an Ark-ASU Fan, and Mumford & Sons


(Skip this part if you don’t care about my life:) Recently I finished a project that I’ve been working on for the last year. In the last few months, I’ve moved a couple of times and been busy readjusting to not being a student and attempting to settle on a career. Now that my mind has had sufficient time to recuperate (i.e. I’ve been lazy), it’s time to start writing again. Or, more precisely, writing on a daily basis. I have written some sports-related pieces and edited some fiction the last month or so, but it’s all been spontaneous. Despite what many people may think, writing has little to do with being inspired or those fleeting moments of genius—good writing is created through dedication, perseverance, and the constant revision of junk (all those times you aren’t inspired). Therefore, for the next thirty days, I’m going to write a blog a day. Most of it will be junk no doubt. However, I’m sure I’ll have fun and hopefully you’ll enjoy yourself a few times.

(I got interrupted at this point by a badger. I’ve seen more animals in my front yard since I moved to Little Rock than I did living on a farm, I swear. More about the badger some other time.)



 Every week I get emails from the Hog Heaven Online Store. I usually glance at the subject line and immediately delete the email. Today I accidently clicked the link, which was fortunate because I saw this:



Really, Arkansas? Epic bout? An epic bout between teams with a combined 2-7 record, 0-4 in SEC play? The University of Arkansas isn’t serious, right? I feel like I’m asking a lot of questions and giving no answers, but there is only one explanation: the Hogs are so bad that the university is now trolling its own fans. Welcome to Arkansas football 2012.

Oh, the Kentucky game is EPIC too. Ticket prices reflect the EPICness.



Speaking of Arkansas and football, what about those Red Wolves? Originally I was going to discuss the specifics of Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn’s contract, which I saw today via Chris Bahn on Twitter. Essentially ASU owes Gus a lot of money, he doesn’t have to pay much to leave, and the Red Wolves have to pay him a lot to fire him. A completely coach-friendly contract.  Nothing wrong with that: you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

However, as I kept thinking of things to write about, I continued coming back to the arguments I see on Facebook between Razorback and Red Wolves fans. What is it with you guys? Let me make this simple: Arkansas has nothing to gain from playing ASU. An even simpler solution for ASU: give Arkansas a reason to play the game. That is, win something, win a bowl, get ranked, keep a good coach for more than a year, fill up half the stadium when you’re team is decent (because it doesn’t happen very often), etc.

Before you say I’m an ASU hater—which is funny because if you read my articles here and here, most Arkansas fans call me a Razorback hater—let me clarify for you. I graduated with a BA in English from ASU; I have never attended the U of A (my wife currently does, if that counts). Yes, that’s right. I can’t be an Arkansas fan, by golly! It’s my birthright to be an ASU fan! Actually I’m a fan of both. Yes, it’s possible.

Why am I an Arkansas fan? Because I grew up watching Arkansas Razorback basketball games with my dad. He loved watching Nolan Richardson and the Hogs. My father attended a high school that didn’t offer football, so he’s always been partial to basketball. I’ll never forget watching those basketball games and my love for the Razorbacks continued and grew from then. It’s an emotional attachment that will never be broken.

Why am I an Arkansas State fan? Because I grew up in Northeast Arkansas, I attended school there, and I’ll probably move back to the area someday. Trust me, I want ASU to be competitive in football and basketball because it’s a lot easier and cheaper to attend ASU games when you live in Paragould or Jonesboro. I openly root for both programs, see no reason for the two teams to play as of now, and hope ASU continues to improve its athletics.

(This is carrying on a lot longer than I planned…)

Finally, the new Mumford & Sons’ album—Babel—was released last week. At midnight I bought the deluxe edition on iTunes. If you liked their first album, Sigh No More, you won’t be disappointed. Babel offers more of the same: a banjo-playing, foot-stomping, rip-roaring good time. It’s well worth the money, and I recommend it to all.

I read a lot of reviews that criticized Mumford & Sons for releasing Sigh No More 2.0 essentially, which always brings up an interesting question about artists and the growth of their music. I say this because I also was anticipating the release of Muse’s sixth album, The 2nd Law. However, after reading some of the reviews about the experimental nature of the album, which Muse is always experimenting from what I can tell, I’ve had some reservations. Then again, most critics hated Muse’s last album, The Resistance, and it was probably my favorite Muse album. Go figure.

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