It's an out of conference game, but to Arkansas Razorback fans, it means a whole lot more than that. The USC Trojans come to Fayetteville on Saturday for what should be a fantastic college football atmosphere all day long. It's the first game of the year and the first meeting between the schools since last year's 70-17 debacle at the Coliseum. That utter embarrassment needs to be avenged for everyone associated with the Arkansas football program and yet the only way to fully do it is to beat the vaunted Trojans in front of 80,000 rabid fans at Razorback Stadium. Is it likely? No. Possible? You better believe it.
As is often the case, the homefield advantage will be huge in this one. I usually give the home team a seven to ten point edge; for this game it could be even greater. It's the end of an offseason filled with hype and hope and anticipation for the resurrection of a once mighty Razorback program. The fans will undoubtedly play a key role in this game.
Another big storyline to follow revolves around star tailback Darren McFadden and his broken left big toe. D-Mac is one of the elite running backs in the country for sure, but he was supposed to miss at least the first two weeks of the season while recovering from a fit of foot rage at a Little Rock nightclub. If he plays---and I think he will---even in a limited role, it will be a major boost emotionally for his teammates.
Then there's the quarterback situation. A lot of folks in Arkansas wanted Mitch Mustain to play right out of the gates, but the coaching staff realized that wasn't the smartest of moves. Instead, the beleaguered Robert Johnson gets a chance to rectify his poor play of a year ago. If Johnson can use his athleticism to make some plays and get key first downs, the Razorbacks very much have a chance to be in this game.
The defense was significantly improved even by the end of last year and there's no reason to think it won't pick up where it left off with so many returning starters. The big thing Arkansas needs from its defense is the shutting down of the big play. Don't let receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith beat you deep. Obviously USC is without Leinart and Bush and White this time around, but you still can't take the talented newcomer Trojans lightly. Seventy points won't happen again (it better not for the coaches' sakes), but that doesn't mean giving up forty would be a whole lot better. Be physical, bring the energy and make the Trojans slug it out with you.
In the end, I see it being a close game in the fourth quarter. The fans, the atmosphere, the vengeance factor---it's all on Arkansas' side. Still, USC is USC, plain and simple. A win over the Trojans would be historic, regardless of the time of year for the victory. Let's not forget, 32 years ago Arkansas avenged a road loss from the previous season by beating USC at home. Sometimes history has a funny way of repeating itself.
Prediction:
Arkansas 31 - USC 28
-JAB
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Headed for October: Tigers, Mets on Cruise Control
As August moves through its final two weeks, the Major League Baseball season slides into the closing forty game stretch of the year. While most teams are clawing and jockeying for a chance at the postseason, two clubs continue to coast their respective ways toward October. In the American Leauge it's the Detroit Tigers, while on the Senior Circuit it's the New York Mets. Neither of these teams has been a familiar presence in postseason discussions in recent years (the Tigers haven't even made the playoffs since the Eighties), but each is the only sure-thing lock in either league to make it to October this year. Here's a look at the down-the-stretch chances for two teams that have played from the front of the pack for most of the season:
The Detroit Tigers
Jim Leyland already has his name etched on this year's A.L. Manager of the Year Award. The veteran skipper instilled a winner's mentality in Motown as soon he got his feet within the city limits. Let's not forget that the Tigers have been a laughingstock for the better part of two consecutive decades now. And all Leyland did was erase that mentality by absolutely not allowing the losing to continue. (In retrospect, Leyland's late April public outburst after a lackluster Tigers' performance was probably the spark that lit the team's season-long fire.)
Undoubtedly it has been the pitching that has carried this Tigers team in the win/loss column though. Young hurlers like Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander and Zach Miner have matured in a hurry, while the volatile Kenny Rogers continues to be an ageless wonder: he's not dominant by any stretch, but he keeps his team in games and eats up plenty of innings. Overall, the starting staff has had tremendous game-to-game consistency this year, while the bullpen has been nothing short of brilliant. To me, it's no surprise that the Tigers have the best bullpen and the best record in baseball. That's just how it usually seems to work in the bigs, isn't it folks? For the Tigers, relievers like Fernando Rodney, Joel Zumaya and Todd Jones have been absolutely fantastic.
With Pudge behind the plate and Guillen at short, the defense has been stellar in Detroit, as you might expect with those elite gloves in the mix. The offense is a bit of a concern, though. While Magglio Ordonez and the aformentioned veterans Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen are putting up solid numbers, no one on the team has been anywhere near spectacular with the bat and there's not a lot of help coming from the rest of the roster. Chris Shelton fizzled so badly after a hot start that he was demoted to the minor leagues, forcing Detroit to trade for first baseman Sean Casey. Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames have put up solid power totals this year, but both are experiencing outages of late.
Prognosis: The Tigers are good, legitimately. Their best record in all of baseball is far from a one-time fluke, but instead the result of great all-around pitching, timely offense and a phenomenal manager. Even with the White Sox and Twins applying pressure in the A.L. Central, it's hard to envision Detroit not staving them off in the final forty games. Still, a run deep into October is far from a given. Pitching wins games, surely, but you need to have enough offensive punch and power to buoy it as well, especially in the playoffs when runs are even harder to come by. Look for the Tigers to capitalize on their tremendous regular season by winning their best-of-five first round set before falling in the American League Championship Series.
The New York Mets
Who said you can't buy your way into the playoffs? Taking a page from George Steinbrenner's book across town in the Bronx, the Mets have made Queens a hot baseball spot once again with a bevy of free agent talent. General Manager Omar Minaya (with owner Fred Wilpon's once-unlikely financial blessing) has been aggressive and savvy in the past couple offseasons and the results are evident on the field.
One-hundred million-dollar centerfielder Carlos Beltran has bounced back supremely from a lousy and greatly disappointing first season in New York. His thirty-five plus home runs, clutch road hitting and standout defense have anchored the Mets all year long. Additionally, Carlos Delgado's thirty plus home run total has justified New York's acquisition of the first baseman's forty-million-dollar salary; he's been a perfect fit as the clean-up hitter. Catcher Paul Loduca has returned to his New York roots with a fine .300 plus average and strong defense as well, but it's the left side of the infield and youngsters David Wright and Jose Reyes---two of the only homegrown Mets on the active roster---who continue to make significant strides. Wright has clearly cooled off since the All-Star break, but his average is still over .300, his power numbers are about to reach career highs and his defense at the hot corner has been very strong. Similarly, shortstop Jose Reyes has displayed even more of his wealth of physical tools this year. Leading the majors in stolen bases with fifty and counting, Reyes is hitting right near .300 with an impressive new power stroke. He's already hit a career high in home runs and actually hit three in a single game last week. Already one of the best defensive infielders in baseball, Reyes is now one of the best all-around infielders in the game, period.
On the mound, big money free agent pitchers Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and Billy Wagner (who cost a combined $140 million between them) have turned in solid years to lead the way. Martinez looks to be cruising toward the postseason with a bit of disinterest in recent regular season starts, but as long as he's healthy, the Mets have themselves as good a big game ace as there is. Glavine has faltered after a phenomenal start, but he'll be the second starter, while the battle for third is anyone's guess: the resurrected El Duque Hernandez? Out-of-nowhere John Maine? Steve Trachsel? At the least, the Mets bullpen has been sturdy all year long, with setup men Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Heilman feeding the closer Wagner nicely. Although Wagner has shown some signs of wear and tear this year, he appears to be reaching maximum velocity more and more of late.
Prognosis: Willie Randolph will need to make some tough decisions about his pitching rotation over the next month. How he sets it up in October could decide just how long the Mets are playing there. Clearly New York has as good an offensive and defensive team as anyone in baseball, but is there enough starting pitching there to seal the deal? Maybe. The Mets are going to win the National League simply because no one else in the league can play with them this year. The Cardinals? The Dodgers? Gimme a break. If Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine can keep on drinking those mouthfuls from the fountain of youth for two more months, the Mets will topple the American League's best and win the whole thing right now in 2006.
-JAB
The Detroit Tigers
Jim Leyland already has his name etched on this year's A.L. Manager of the Year Award. The veteran skipper instilled a winner's mentality in Motown as soon he got his feet within the city limits. Let's not forget that the Tigers have been a laughingstock for the better part of two consecutive decades now. And all Leyland did was erase that mentality by absolutely not allowing the losing to continue. (In retrospect, Leyland's late April public outburst after a lackluster Tigers' performance was probably the spark that lit the team's season-long fire.)
Undoubtedly it has been the pitching that has carried this Tigers team in the win/loss column though. Young hurlers like Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander and Zach Miner have matured in a hurry, while the volatile Kenny Rogers continues to be an ageless wonder: he's not dominant by any stretch, but he keeps his team in games and eats up plenty of innings. Overall, the starting staff has had tremendous game-to-game consistency this year, while the bullpen has been nothing short of brilliant. To me, it's no surprise that the Tigers have the best bullpen and the best record in baseball. That's just how it usually seems to work in the bigs, isn't it folks? For the Tigers, relievers like Fernando Rodney, Joel Zumaya and Todd Jones have been absolutely fantastic.
With Pudge behind the plate and Guillen at short, the defense has been stellar in Detroit, as you might expect with those elite gloves in the mix. The offense is a bit of a concern, though. While Magglio Ordonez and the aformentioned veterans Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen are putting up solid numbers, no one on the team has been anywhere near spectacular with the bat and there's not a lot of help coming from the rest of the roster. Chris Shelton fizzled so badly after a hot start that he was demoted to the minor leagues, forcing Detroit to trade for first baseman Sean Casey. Craig Monroe and Marcus Thames have put up solid power totals this year, but both are experiencing outages of late.
Prognosis: The Tigers are good, legitimately. Their best record in all of baseball is far from a one-time fluke, but instead the result of great all-around pitching, timely offense and a phenomenal manager. Even with the White Sox and Twins applying pressure in the A.L. Central, it's hard to envision Detroit not staving them off in the final forty games. Still, a run deep into October is far from a given. Pitching wins games, surely, but you need to have enough offensive punch and power to buoy it as well, especially in the playoffs when runs are even harder to come by. Look for the Tigers to capitalize on their tremendous regular season by winning their best-of-five first round set before falling in the American League Championship Series.
The New York Mets
Who said you can't buy your way into the playoffs? Taking a page from George Steinbrenner's book across town in the Bronx, the Mets have made Queens a hot baseball spot once again with a bevy of free agent talent. General Manager Omar Minaya (with owner Fred Wilpon's once-unlikely financial blessing) has been aggressive and savvy in the past couple offseasons and the results are evident on the field.
One-hundred million-dollar centerfielder Carlos Beltran has bounced back supremely from a lousy and greatly disappointing first season in New York. His thirty-five plus home runs, clutch road hitting and standout defense have anchored the Mets all year long. Additionally, Carlos Delgado's thirty plus home run total has justified New York's acquisition of the first baseman's forty-million-dollar salary; he's been a perfect fit as the clean-up hitter. Catcher Paul Loduca has returned to his New York roots with a fine .300 plus average and strong defense as well, but it's the left side of the infield and youngsters David Wright and Jose Reyes---two of the only homegrown Mets on the active roster---who continue to make significant strides. Wright has clearly cooled off since the All-Star break, but his average is still over .300, his power numbers are about to reach career highs and his defense at the hot corner has been very strong. Similarly, shortstop Jose Reyes has displayed even more of his wealth of physical tools this year. Leading the majors in stolen bases with fifty and counting, Reyes is hitting right near .300 with an impressive new power stroke. He's already hit a career high in home runs and actually hit three in a single game last week. Already one of the best defensive infielders in baseball, Reyes is now one of the best all-around infielders in the game, period.
On the mound, big money free agent pitchers Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and Billy Wagner (who cost a combined $140 million between them) have turned in solid years to lead the way. Martinez looks to be cruising toward the postseason with a bit of disinterest in recent regular season starts, but as long as he's healthy, the Mets have themselves as good a big game ace as there is. Glavine has faltered after a phenomenal start, but he'll be the second starter, while the battle for third is anyone's guess: the resurrected El Duque Hernandez? Out-of-nowhere John Maine? Steve Trachsel? At the least, the Mets bullpen has been sturdy all year long, with setup men Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Heilman feeding the closer Wagner nicely. Although Wagner has shown some signs of wear and tear this year, he appears to be reaching maximum velocity more and more of late.
Prognosis: Willie Randolph will need to make some tough decisions about his pitching rotation over the next month. How he sets it up in October could decide just how long the Mets are playing there. Clearly New York has as good an offensive and defensive team as anyone in baseball, but is there enough starting pitching there to seal the deal? Maybe. The Mets are going to win the National League simply because no one else in the league can play with them this year. The Cardinals? The Dodgers? Gimme a break. If Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine can keep on drinking those mouthfuls from the fountain of youth for two more months, the Mets will topple the American League's best and win the whole thing right now in 2006.
-JAB
Friday, August 11, 2006
Pennington Giving It All One More Time
As a Jets fan, it's hard not to root for Chad Pennington. Maybe part of my sports brain is stuck in 2002, when Pennington broke onto the scene and emerged as the NFL leader in quarterback efficiency rating, or maybe it's stuck in 2004, when the Marshall grad fought through a fraying right shoulder to lead the Jets within a field goal of the AFC championship game. Whatever the case, I like Chad, and probably always will. He's one of those players who doesn't blow you away with his physical tools so much as he just gets it done with his aptitude for the game, his decision-making, his precision soft touch and, most of all, his leadership. Additionally, he's always handled himself with class in front of the fans and (almost always) in dealing with the media.
Alas, the injury bug has never been kind to Chad. It started with the broken left wrist suffered in a 2003 preseason game against the Giants, got worse when he tore his right rotator cuff in a mid-season game against the Bills in 2004, then got plain ridiculous when he tore the same right shoulder in week three against the Jaguars in 2005. Here's the sad, plain truth: Chad Pennington, the face of the Jets franchise for the past four years, has never played an entire sixteen game schedule. And this past offseason it looked like Pennington wouldn't have another chance to get it done with the Jets: his eleven million dollar salary cap hit had to be restructured for New York to fit it in. The only way to get that done was for Chad to agree to take a pay cut in 2006, something most professional athletes wouldn't even consider. Yet, sure enough, Pennington took an eight million dollar pay cut to come back to the Jets.
You see, Chad Pennington wants to be the starting quarterback for the Jets. He wants to live up to the "face of the franchise" billing he's gotten since bursting onto the scene in 2002. He continues to talk about bringing the Big Apple another professional football championship and returning the Jets' franchise to the top of the heap. Despite all of the injuries and all of the doubters, Chad Pennington continues to believe. And as a diehard fan of Gang Green, you should already know that I continue to believe as well.
Will the Jets make the playoffs this year? No. Will they finish with a winning record? Probably not. But if Chad Pennington can stay healthy for a full year---a humongous if given his history---if he can stay on the field and serve as a leader under center for Eric Mangini's in-progress club, the Jets will be able to call 2006 a success. In all truth, with Patrick Ramsey as the only other ready-to-go starting quarterback option on the roster, the Jets have no choice but to hope for a gutsy bounce-back from Pennington.
I'm pulling for him too. Emotionally, it's not like I really even have a choice anymore. That #10 jersey is still hanging in the closet, a little faded from all the dust and all the time off, but still in there somewhere towards the front. Now please, Chad, please just stay healthy. . . .
-JAB
Alas, the injury bug has never been kind to Chad. It started with the broken left wrist suffered in a 2003 preseason game against the Giants, got worse when he tore his right rotator cuff in a mid-season game against the Bills in 2004, then got plain ridiculous when he tore the same right shoulder in week three against the Jaguars in 2005. Here's the sad, plain truth: Chad Pennington, the face of the Jets franchise for the past four years, has never played an entire sixteen game schedule. And this past offseason it looked like Pennington wouldn't have another chance to get it done with the Jets: his eleven million dollar salary cap hit had to be restructured for New York to fit it in. The only way to get that done was for Chad to agree to take a pay cut in 2006, something most professional athletes wouldn't even consider. Yet, sure enough, Pennington took an eight million dollar pay cut to come back to the Jets.
You see, Chad Pennington wants to be the starting quarterback for the Jets. He wants to live up to the "face of the franchise" billing he's gotten since bursting onto the scene in 2002. He continues to talk about bringing the Big Apple another professional football championship and returning the Jets' franchise to the top of the heap. Despite all of the injuries and all of the doubters, Chad Pennington continues to believe. And as a diehard fan of Gang Green, you should already know that I continue to believe as well.
Will the Jets make the playoffs this year? No. Will they finish with a winning record? Probably not. But if Chad Pennington can stay healthy for a full year---a humongous if given his history---if he can stay on the field and serve as a leader under center for Eric Mangini's in-progress club, the Jets will be able to call 2006 a success. In all truth, with Patrick Ramsey as the only other ready-to-go starting quarterback option on the roster, the Jets have no choice but to hope for a gutsy bounce-back from Pennington.
I'm pulling for him too. Emotionally, it's not like I really even have a choice anymore. That #10 jersey is still hanging in the closet, a little faded from all the dust and all the time off, but still in there somewhere towards the front. Now please, Chad, please just stay healthy. . . .
-JAB
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Loss of Paul Eells a Sudden Blow
I never met the man. I had spoken with him on and off the air during an interview on "Morning Rush" just four days before his passing, but I'd never met Paul Eells in person. Still, speaking with him Thursday morning, I got the feeling like he was as humble and ego-free a sports broadcasting superstar as there was in the business, and make no doubt, Paul Eels was definitely a superstar.
You don't serve for 28 seasons as the play-by-play football voice for a school and a team with as rabid a fanbase as that of the Arkansas Razorbacks and not become a legend and a star. The natural delivery and smoothness of his broadcasts on air, the famous "Touchdown, Arkansas . . . Oh, My!", the steady warmth and enthusiasm coming through---just listen to a few minutes from any of his gamecalls and you're surely to find heaps of it there. The man was great at what he did, without question. But that's only part of the tale.
Eells spoke with me off the air on Thursday morning. He told me he'd heard good things about my talk show already, this after just a few days in the area on ESPN 96.3. He spoke of his desire to be a part of the program, to "come on whenever" we wanted him. He wished me the best of luck and sounded utterly genuine when we said goodbye. "I really look forward to meeting you soon," he said. "Keep up the hard work, get to know the state's history, get to know the fans, and I have no doubt you'll love living and working in Arkansas . . . This is a really great place."
On the air that morning, he spoke of how "blessed" he was to have had the "honor and the privilege of being behind the microphone for the Razorbacks for nearly three decades." He described the story of how he came to be the voice of Arkansas football back in 1978, relating how close he came to not taking the job:
"I had been the play-by-play announcer for Vanderbilt football for eleven years, and I was happy with my position and I liked the life I had there. I really didn't think I'd be leaving it anytime soon. But then the Arkansas job became a real possibility, and I went to go see the school and meet everyone there and, you know, it really just worked out---I can honestly say something about it suddenly felt so right . . . I knew right then that it really was for me, and here I am at seventy years old getting ready for my 29th year with the team."
The light in his voice was a beautiful thing to hear. I mean this was a man who worked hard---Eells was also the Sports Director for Channel 7 television in Little Rock---yet there he was sounding deeply excited and energetic about doing something he'd been doing for a long time. No one could have known then that he would be killed in a car crash on Interstate 40 just four days later, this in a terrible two car accident that left another woman dead and a state full of Razorback fans in mourning. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to happen so sudden, so soon . . . This was Eells' team, too, after all! He was looking forward with great anticipation like all Razorback fans to see just how good the team could be this year, to see just how good the running backs would be, to see just how good golden child Mitch Mustain would be---to see it all, and decribe it all, as he'd done every autumn for the past thirty years. How could he now be gone, just like that?
Harry King, longtime Arkansas newspaper columnist for Stephens Media, was a close personal friend of Eels'. King made an appearance on "Morning Rush" Tuesday when word of the accident was coming out. The talk show quickly evolved into a rumination on the profound loss of the broadcast legend. King revealed, "Paul was probably in the last year or two of doing play-by-play for the Razorbacks as it already was . . . I don't think he was going to be doing it that much longer, but it doesn't change the fact that everyone who knew Paul, everyone he came into contact with and everyone who loved him---we are all feeling the deep loss of someone special today."
And from what I can tell, that's really what it boiled down to with Paul Eells. He was a special talent at what he did: he had the skill, the passion and the excitement for it, and he was a tremendously selfless people person on top of that. He made just about everyone he came into contact with on an everyday basis feel like they mattered, from co-workers to fans to the guy at the gas station . . . And I think that's clearly evident from the outpouring of grief and emotion from people all over the state and all over the country this week. People who'd met Eells many times, just once, or, like me, never at all---we felt like we already knew him. He was that nice and that sincere.
Arkansas football will go on, as it should. That's just what you do in life when you lose something forever. You keep on going. And surely that's how Paul Eells would want it. He'd want the next voice of the Razorbacks to be welcomed in with open arms, just as he was. But surely that's not going to be possible. No one can replace shoes that large. No one should even try. I just hope the person who gets to put on the next pair is half as gracious and half as kind as the last guy.
-JAB
You don't serve for 28 seasons as the play-by-play football voice for a school and a team with as rabid a fanbase as that of the Arkansas Razorbacks and not become a legend and a star. The natural delivery and smoothness of his broadcasts on air, the famous "Touchdown, Arkansas . . . Oh, My!", the steady warmth and enthusiasm coming through---just listen to a few minutes from any of his gamecalls and you're surely to find heaps of it there. The man was great at what he did, without question. But that's only part of the tale.
Eells spoke with me off the air on Thursday morning. He told me he'd heard good things about my talk show already, this after just a few days in the area on ESPN 96.3. He spoke of his desire to be a part of the program, to "come on whenever" we wanted him. He wished me the best of luck and sounded utterly genuine when we said goodbye. "I really look forward to meeting you soon," he said. "Keep up the hard work, get to know the state's history, get to know the fans, and I have no doubt you'll love living and working in Arkansas . . . This is a really great place."
On the air that morning, he spoke of how "blessed" he was to have had the "honor and the privilege of being behind the microphone for the Razorbacks for nearly three decades." He described the story of how he came to be the voice of Arkansas football back in 1978, relating how close he came to not taking the job:
"I had been the play-by-play announcer for Vanderbilt football for eleven years, and I was happy with my position and I liked the life I had there. I really didn't think I'd be leaving it anytime soon. But then the Arkansas job became a real possibility, and I went to go see the school and meet everyone there and, you know, it really just worked out---I can honestly say something about it suddenly felt so right . . . I knew right then that it really was for me, and here I am at seventy years old getting ready for my 29th year with the team."
The light in his voice was a beautiful thing to hear. I mean this was a man who worked hard---Eells was also the Sports Director for Channel 7 television in Little Rock---yet there he was sounding deeply excited and energetic about doing something he'd been doing for a long time. No one could have known then that he would be killed in a car crash on Interstate 40 just four days later, this in a terrible two car accident that left another woman dead and a state full of Razorback fans in mourning. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to happen so sudden, so soon . . . This was Eells' team, too, after all! He was looking forward with great anticipation like all Razorback fans to see just how good the team could be this year, to see just how good the running backs would be, to see just how good golden child Mitch Mustain would be---to see it all, and decribe it all, as he'd done every autumn for the past thirty years. How could he now be gone, just like that?
Harry King, longtime Arkansas newspaper columnist for Stephens Media, was a close personal friend of Eels'. King made an appearance on "Morning Rush" Tuesday when word of the accident was coming out. The talk show quickly evolved into a rumination on the profound loss of the broadcast legend. King revealed, "Paul was probably in the last year or two of doing play-by-play for the Razorbacks as it already was . . . I don't think he was going to be doing it that much longer, but it doesn't change the fact that everyone who knew Paul, everyone he came into contact with and everyone who loved him---we are all feeling the deep loss of someone special today."
And from what I can tell, that's really what it boiled down to with Paul Eells. He was a special talent at what he did: he had the skill, the passion and the excitement for it, and he was a tremendously selfless people person on top of that. He made just about everyone he came into contact with on an everyday basis feel like they mattered, from co-workers to fans to the guy at the gas station . . . And I think that's clearly evident from the outpouring of grief and emotion from people all over the state and all over the country this week. People who'd met Eells many times, just once, or, like me, never at all---we felt like we already knew him. He was that nice and that sincere.
Arkansas football will go on, as it should. That's just what you do in life when you lose something forever. You keep on going. And surely that's how Paul Eells would want it. He'd want the next voice of the Razorbacks to be welcomed in with open arms, just as he was. But surely that's not going to be possible. No one can replace shoes that large. No one should even try. I just hope the person who gets to put on the next pair is half as gracious and half as kind as the last guy.
-JAB
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