The Top Ten Sports Stories of 2007

JOSH'S TOP TEN SPORTS STORIES OF 2007

1- April-December. Michael Vick busted for dogfighting.

The fall of an American superstar. From the initial denials to the subsequent confessions, all the way through to his guilty plea and 23 month jail sentence, Michael Vick was unquestionably the biggest sports story of the calendar year 2007. A star quarterback sent to prison at (or near) the height of his career for cruelty towards animals, Michael Vick's saga connected with people from all walks of life, sports fans or not. The Atlanta Falcons' quarterback was a man of two different faces: one public, one private, and the private face clearly wasn't anything pretty. Eligible for parole in May of 2009, it's hard to see Michael Vick playing football again before fall of that year at the earliest. If you've got a heart, and there's room for forgiveness somewhere inside of it, you're hoping that this story ends with some sort of redemption at the end. Hoping, at least.

2- April-August. Barry Bonds takes down Hank Aaron's HR mark.

This was the biggest story from the start of the 2007 baseball season through to mid-August. Barry Balco now has 762 home runs, seven more than Hank Aaron's career mark of 755. The fact of the matter is, Barry Bonds was a Hall of Famer before the HGH, so he has to be a Hall of Famer after it, right? It's not like he did anything that violated MLB's rules at the time. Bud Selig is the real man to blame here. Easily the worst commissioner in baseball history. Not only did he allow the steroids' environment to exist, he more than facilitated it. The home run record is probably the most hallowed mark in all of American sports. Barry Bonds now owns it. Huge story, whether you believe it was earned fairly or not.

3- September-December. New England's perfect season.

Tom Brady throws 50 touchdown passes, Randy Moss makes 23 touchdown catches and the Patriots cruise to the first 16-0 mark in NFL history. A tremendous feat in any NFL campaign, let alone nowadays in the current landscape of parity. Clearly New England needs to win the Super Bowl in 2008 to ensure that the season goes down as the all-time greatest, but it's already been a magical ride for Bill Belichik's crew. Spygate was all the motivation he needed. You think he was coaching angry this year? You think?

4- December. George Mitchell steroids report released.

It took way too long for this thing to come out. And when it finally did, you had to have major questions about the actual "evidence" listed within. But clearly, a lot of it was true, because you haven't heard many denials from the guys who were named. Roger Clemens has maintained his innocence the most vehemently, but then, he has the most to lose. Clemens is to pitchers now what Bonds is to hitters. A guy who took performance enhancers (when it wasn't against the rules) to take his physique into the next stratosphere. How Cooperstown handles all of this will be fascinating to see.

5- January. Peyton Manning finally wins the big one.

He was supposed to be the guy who couldn't win the big game. Well, not anymore. Mr. Commercial himself stepped up and carried the Colts on his back to a Super Bowl Championship in February of 2007. Taking out Brady and the Patriots in the AFC Championship was a thing of beauty for football fans who wanted Manning to just get to the final game. Dominating a very strong Chicago Bears' defense in the title tilt sealed the deal. Choker no more.

6- April. Florida Gators win men's hoops championship for 2nd straight year.

It's simple: no team had ever done this before. The same starting five goes back-to-back for the national championship, and really does cruise through the NCAA Tournament in March. Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey played with complete selflessness that head coach Billy Donovan has to take credit for. Given the current landscape of college basketball, we'll probably never see anything like this again.

7- September-December. College football season is year of the upset.

USC, Ohio State, West Virginia, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas, Missouri, Florida. Just a sampling of the top contenders in the country who lost games while at or near the top of the polls. This was without question the craziest season in college football history and proof positive that an eight-team playoff is the only way to rightfully decide the national champion.

8- September/December. Boxing delivers two great fights.

Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik fought a highly enjoyable seven-round middleweight championship on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, in late September. Taylor knocked Pavlik down (and almost out) in round two, then Youngstown's Finest somehow climbed to his feet, and finished off Taylor in round seven. The rematch is set for February in Las Vegas and should be fantastic. Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton turned in a tremendous USA vs. UK 138 pound bout in early December. Mayweather is the best pound for pound fighter in the world today. Boxing will never be the most popular sport in America again, but it's definitely not dead.

9- October. Boston Red Sox win 2nd World Title in 4 years.

The Curse of the Bambino? Never heard of it. After going 86 years without a World Championship, the BoSox have now won two in four seasons. Anchored by the dominant pitching of Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jonathan Papelbon, Boston steamrolled through the postseason, sweeping Colorado four games to none in the Fall Classic. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are one of the greatest 3-4 punches in baseball history. Manager Terry Francona is the new Rodney Dangerfield: he gets no respect.

10- October. Marion Jones busted for steroids, loses track titles.

The tip of the iceberg, really. Marion Jones, the star of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney had long denied, adamantly, that she ever used performance enhancing drugs. Then the feds found the evidence they needed to make a strong case against her, and Jones folded like a house of cards. Pleading guility to perjury and obstruction, Jones apologized for lying to everyone and setting a bad example for the youth of America. What she was really apologizing for was getting caught.
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Honorable Mention:

-Sean Taylor killed (Darrent Williams earlier in year)
-Virginia Tech bounces back from massacre
-Roger Federer and Tiger Woods continue domination of tennis and golf
-San Antonio Spurs win fourth NBA title
-Anaheim Ducks win first Stanley Cup
-Brett Favre finds the fountain of youth
-Adrian Peterson's monster rookie year
-New England's spygate scandal
-Colorado Rockies win 21 of 22, surge to first World Series
-New York Mets' historic collapse in NL East
-ARod's opts out of record contract for new record contract
-LeBron James' coming out party in NBA East Finals against Detroit
-Jimmie Johnson wins NASCAR crown for 2nd straight year
-Arkansas Razorback athletics: DMac, coaching drama, hoops and football

-JAB

Josh's Top 10 Movies of 2007

Here we go:

1- 300

It says a lot that a digitally-enhanced film gets my vote as the top movie of 2007. But this wasn't a great year for cinema, particularly in the first six months of the calendar, so I'm giving my top nod to the story of the Spartans in Ancient Greece. A group of noble, high energy warriors fight to the death to keep their city alive against barbarous intruders. The visuals in this one are stunning, the plot is easy to follow and I have no qualms about calling it the most well-done film of the year.

2- American Gangster

Ridley Scott gets the director's dream cast and keeps it punchy. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe square off on opposite sides of the law: Denzel plays longtime drug dealer Frank Lucas while Crowe is the ethical cop on the heat of his trail. The two actors share only a brief scene near the end of the movie, but watching them take their turns in method is good enough for me. Strong soundtrack, historical basis, and a job well done by a big money team in making this one.

3- Darjeeling Limited

Ultra-talented director Wes Anderson returns with this tale of three brothers on a spirtual odyssey in India. Owen Wilson (in easily the best performance of his career), Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman play the siblings who ride the train Darjeeling through the hills and valleys of India. It's the death of their father that brings them together initially, while the tragedy that unites them on a treacherous riverbend solidifies the bond. The film has hilarious dialogue that keeps it together despite some slight structural flaws. Brody's resigned "I'm just gonna hold this one in for a while" is the best line in American cinema this year.

4- Knocked Up

The only film I saw this year that had me laughing all the way through. A slacker (played by Seth Rogen) impregnates a high-achieving entertainment reporter. Most of the jokes come from the circle of friends the slacker hangs around with, but Catherine Heigl is both funny and believeable as the leading lady. As with all of director Judd Apatow's flicks, this movie does a deft job of balancing great humor and the heartfelt nature of decent drama. Probably the most fun of any movie this year.

5- Superbad

A knockoff of Knocked Up, this comedy still stands on its own. Written by Seth Rogen, a couple of "loser" high schoolers do their best to get booze, get laid, and keep their friendship while running from the clueless cops. Chistopher Mintz's Mclovin is already one of the great film geeks of all time, and his performance in this one steals the show. Judd Apatow's crew is offically dominating Hollywood.

6- No Country for Old Men

Cormac McCarthy's novel is brought to the big screen by the Coen brothers. The book is fantastic (most of McCarthy's stuff is), while the Coens get themselves out of the hibernation forced by duds like Intolerable Cruelty. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones give strong performances as the man who stumbles on $2 million and the sherriff who's trying to help him, while Javier Bardem should win an Oscar for his demonic interpretation of badass killer Anton Chigurh. The shootout in the middle of the book is wasted on film, but the story is so good that the move can't help but hold your attention all the way through.

7- Reign Over Me

Am I the only one who really liked this movie? Don Cheadle---a tremendous talent---is the dentist friend of Adam Sandler, a man who's entire family perished in the tragedy of 9/11. Sandler can only relate to the world through his IPod and video game system, while Cheadle tries to break down his walls. An emotional film that hits hard. The use of "Drive All Night" by Bruce Springsteen might be the best placement of a song in a movie this year.

8- The Lives of Others

A foreign language film (German with subtitles) that shows life in East Germany under the watchful eye of the secret police. A famed writer tries to sort out the details of his existence while everything he says or does is known in advance. A warning against Big Brother is a warning for citizens everywhere, regardless of country of origin.

9- Rescue Dawn

Most folks probably didn't take the time to see this Werner Herzog effort, and while it's not on par with a Herzog film like Wrath of God, it's still definitely a quality production. Christian Bale is a Vietnamese POW who leads a group of hostages on their way out of a camp in the middle of a jungle. Bale has emerged as a superstar.

10- Borat

Sacha Baron Cohen takes his Ali G character to the big screen, with largely funny results. I'm still not sure what exactly Cohen is trying to achieve---with all of his anti-semitic and straight racist language. He's Jewish himself, but that doesn't justify keeping your own people down. Or is he just poking fun at the ignorance of others? This movie made a big splash. You decide.

-JAB

Josh's Top 10 Albums of 2007

A couple of late in the year holiday releases---Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood and Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters---have forced me to stave off on the Top 10 Movies of the year, but I'll get my list of best flicks out to you fine folks soon enough. Also, look for the Top 10 Sports Stories of 2007 before the New Year's ball drops. I realize it's probably a bit strange that I like Top Ten lists so much. Maybe it's just all the Letterman I watched growing up.

Anyway, and more importantly, happy holidays to everyone! If you need some music to bob your head to right about now, the following list of albums would be worth a little of your money and a lot of your time. Here are my picks for the Top 10 Albums of 2007:

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1- Arcade Fire, Neon Bible

"Every night my dream's the same/The same old city with a different name."

Far from a perfect album, Neon Bible is, in many ways, a tremendous achievement because of its flaws. Striving for greatness, Win Butler, wife Regine Chassagne and the rest of their Canadian crew recorded most of this disc over twelve months inside of a giant old church. The creaks and groans of the building did nothing to hurt this album's spectacular acoustics, ranging from the guitar-driven urgency in Springsteenfest "Keep the Car Running" to the soft prayer of organ-laden "Intervention" to the quiet anger simmering on ivory throughout "Ocean of Noise." Released in March, not every song on Neon Bible stands on its own, but that's part of what makes the whole so strong. Apocalypse, war, poverty, self-loathing and love are just several of the many themes the group tackles here. Arcade Fire's debut album, Funeral, probably had a bit more of a "wow" factor to it. But this is still a great effort by a young band just learning how to use everything at its disposal while at the peak of its powers. My album of the year.

2- Kanye West, Graduation

"Can I talk my shit again?"

Please do, Mr. West. Career album number three continues the rocket ride Kanye's been on over the last four years. Face it: most of the tracks on this one just make you want to get up and shake your booty. "Champion", "Good Life", "The Glory" and "Homecoming" are all grooving floor rompers. "Stronger"---with its bizarre Daft Punk sample---not only works, but would absolutely be on most music fans' mix CD for the soundtrack to 2007. It might even be the lead single. Clearly, Kanye West is as good a producer as there is in the music game today. Is he an elite MC? Absolutely not. But with age may come a little more ego checking at the door, and a la "Big Brother" Jigga, he may just get there yet.

3- Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

"Nothing more important than to know someone's listening."

You could argue that this was the best "album" of the year. Which is to say, almost none of the tracks on this disc jump out at you on their own. But taken as a whole, from the twangy rumbles of "Impossile Germany" to the dream world of "Leave Me (Like You Found Me)", there may not have been a better vision of cohesiveness on a record this year, and there most certainly hasn't been in Wilco's career. Lead man Jeff Tweedy is older and wiser now, but still as mournful as ever for the lost youth of his past. Truly one of those albums you just throw on the CD player and let play from beginning to end. And again. And again...

4- Jay-Z, American Gangster

"Pray for me."

Inspired by Ridley Scott's movie of the same title, Jay-Z bounces back from the lameness of Kindgom Come to release his most relevant music in four years. It's a pseudo autobiography for Mr. Hove. Musically, at least. "Pray" and "Fallin" are dynamite as the opener and closer (how funky is that hook on "Fallin"!?!), but "Roc Boys" is the best song on the album, and may be the coolest hip hop song this year. Why'd Jigga retire in the first place again? Uh, you got me on that one.

5- Radiohead, In Rainbows

"How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?"

The greatest living band in the world today is in prime form on its seventh album. All the fanfare and headlines surrounding the self-release of this one via the Internet overshadowed how good the music actually sounds. Ten tracks that flow seamlessly into one another, starting with the rock drop of "15 Step" and "Bodysnatchers", floating through slow burners like "Arpeggi" and "All I Need" before closing with the dramatics of "Videotape." Even with the pay-what-you-want distribution system, Thom Yorke and company prove that, in pop music, the album still matters more than anything else.

6- Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

"Blow out your cherry bomb for me."

Austin's finest are it again, with maybe their most polished effort to date. This one has Beatles overtones written all over, especially in ditties like "You've Got Your Cherry Bomb" and "Underdog." Gotta love the horns sprinkled around, even if some of the lyrics sound like they fell out of a major acid trip. Strong opener "Don't Make Me a Target" is both political and direct. This album proves that a terrible title doesn't necessarily mean anything about what it holds inside.

7- Bruce Springsteen, Magic

"Is there anybody alive out there?"

A deep album really, about America and the perilous times in which we live. But it's got the beautiful facade of E Street's jangly sound too. This is as old school as Bruce gets with his homeboys anymore. "Radio Nowhere", "Livin' in the Future" and "Long Walk Home" are all instant classics. "Terry's Song" is the best song about friendship the Boss has written since "Backstreets." Besides how good it all sounds, any excuse to get the E Street Band back on tour is good enough for me.

8- Seal, System

"Rolling out of my bed/I still can't find the truth I've been searching for."

Some people are probably laughing at this selection. But Seal is an artist who's been underrated for a long time. Such is the plight of anyone with a smooth voice and smash singles coming out the wazoo for most of the '90s. Yesterday's news, right? I guess not. Every track on this one is grooving, most with techno beats but some with simple acoustic guitar a la Seal's greatest album, Human Being. The duet with wife/supermodel Heidi Klum is too much, but songs like "Amazing" and "Rolling" get stuck in your brain and won't come out any time soon.

9- Common, Finding Forever

"The karma of the streets is needs and takes."

Chicago's finest MC keeps the momentum of Be rolling throughout this disc. Kanye is back to lend a hand on the beats and production side of things, but it's the engaging lyrics that keep me coming back for more. "Drivin' Me Wild" and "The Game" are both gems, while "So Far to Go" makes me want a D'Angelo comeback album really, really badly. Common's first ever #1 release, and justified.

10- The White Stripes, Icky Thump

"Well, America, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too!"

Jack and Meg White drop another straight-forward stompfest. The title track single had, in my opinion, the best guitar riff of the year. The cover of "Conquest" is cool and "You Don't Know What Love Is" comes across as downright funny---in a good way. Jack's side work with The Raconteurs isn't half bad, but it's not the same kind of magic rock he creates with Meg.

-JAB

Baseball's All Chemical Team: The Mitchell Report Released

7 MVPs. 31 All-Stars. 86 names in total. And nothing all that surprising in George Mitchell's finally released steroids report yesterday. Big names reside on the list, for sure, but it wasn't all that hard to figure most of them out. Surely, Roger Clemens has seen his Hall of Fame career take a major hit, but it's only poetic justice, don't you think? I mean, if you thought Clemens was mowing hitters down into his mid-40s without the aid of something extra, you were living in a baseball fantasy world. Now the Rocket and Barry Balco can stand next to one another as the greatest pitcher and hitter of the "Roids Era."

You've still got to question a lot of the information in the 400 plus page report though, but at least it's out there. ($20 million in baseball funds alloted to the investigation . . . for a short novel's worth of circumstantial pages? Hmmm.)

Honestly, most of the evidence in the report was hearsay and conjecture. So-and-so asked so-and-so if he knew how to find some human growth hormone, and so-and-so called so-and-so about getting a shipment sent to him. This is the smoking gun? I think not.

Now Commissioner Bud Selig (still somehow employed) says he will dole out punishment on a case-by-case basis. Punishment for what, Bud? There weren't even rules against this stuff five years ago!

But most of the names on the list are plausible. Below are my picks for the cream of this crop.

JOSH'S 40 MAN ROSTER FOR BASEBALL'S ALL-CHEMICALLY ENHANCED TEAM

LF-Barry Bonds/Gary Sheffield/Jack Cust
CF-Lenny Dykstra/Gary Mathews, Jr./Jose Guillen
RF-Sammy Sosa/David Justice/Jose Canseco
1B-Mark McGwire/Rafael Palmeiro/Wally Joyner
2B-Chuck Knoblauch/Brian Roberts/Fernando Vina
SS-Miguel Tejada/Randy Velarde/Mike Lansing
3B-Ken Caminiti/Matt Williams/Troy Glaus
C-Todd Hundley/Paul LoDuca/Benito Santiago
DH-Jason Giambi/Mo Vaughn/Hal Morris

SP-Roger Clemens/Andy Pettite/Kevin Brown/Denny Neagle/
Paul Byrd/Kent Mercker
RP-Brendan Donnelly/Matt Herges/Darren Holmes/
Jason Grimsley
CL-Eric Gagne/Derrick Turnbow/Mike Stanton

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Wow. I could've managed this team and we still would have won multiple world championships. But the Roid Rage fights in the clubhouse might have been a little too violent too ignore.

Thanks for facilitating the culture that killed the game of baseball, Mr. Selig.

-JAB

Straight Shocker: Bobby Petrino Gets Arkansas Job

In a strange way, it was probably the only option all along that could have pulled it off. The splashy hiring of Bobby Petrino has achieved what once seemed impossible for brand new Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long. It has mended and unified the once-fractured Land of Pig Sooie football.

And so maybe now the ache and pain of the Houston Nutt era can finally be buried. It's time for the glitzy new offense. At long last, it's time for the spread attack Razorback fans have long wanted.

But didn't something about this whole deal seem just a little bit off last night. I mean, so much for the phrase "a man of his word" then, huh? In this day and age of big business sports, it appears the saying has rung as hollow as the men who like to use it so much. Bobby Petrino---the new Man of the Moment here in the Natural State---was on public record yesterday morning as "having no interest in leaving the position (he was) committed to with the Atlanta Falcons." Of course, this statement came just hours before Petrino reversed course in a hurry, telling his agent to contact Arkansas about its coaching vacancy. By 10:30 PM last night, Petrino was Calling the Hogs at an introductory press conference on the Hill.

All that aside, from the moment Petrino expressed serious interest yesterday afternoon, it was a no brainer for the Hogs. Already spurned by the likes of Tommy Tuberville, Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe in the past ten days, athletic director Jeff Long was peering at a list of names that had dwindled significantly. Rumors swirled around Arkansas's interest in Auburn's Will Muschamp and Oklahoma's Brent Venables, but even Reggie Herring (UA's interim coach) was starting to look like a realistic fit. Gus Malzahn got an interview, for goodness sake. And yet, while every one of those names would have had its band of supporters, none would have made everyone as happy to jump on board the bandwagon as Bobby Petrino. Once he reconsidered coming to Arkansas, Jeff Long must have been licking his chops. In Petrino he had several key criteria he'd been looking for all along: a proven winner (41-9 at Louisville, 3-10 this year with Vick-less Atlanta notwithstanding), a guy with serious head coaching experience, somebody who had been to (and won) a BCS game and who was widely known as a tremendous recruiter. Given all that, can you really blame Long for rushing to the podium with his new coaching bride last night? I mean, sure, it all felt a bit rushed, but after the Bowden and Grobe fiascos, there was no way Arkansas could let Petrino get a night of sleep in to think about this one.

Now I'll admit the idea of leaving a $5 million-per-year job for one that pays less than $3 million a season doesn't sound all that appetizing, though I think it would be a nice problem to have. But Petrino's heart clearly wasn't all that invested in his NFL gig anymore. Realistically, head coach of the Falcons probably stopped being the "dream job" Petrino once called it as soon as Michael Vick fessed up to his involvement in a dogfighting ring. Losing your superstar quarterback for something completely unrelated to injury---as well as for something you had nothing to do with---well, let's just say it sucked the air out of the balloon for both Petrino and his organization. The road back was going to be difficult and long for the Falcons' franchise (two years? three?) and a look in the mirror after Atlanta's 34-14 Monday Night Football thrashing at the hands of New Orleans was apparently all that it took for Petrino to assess his options and then renege on a $24 million contract agreement with team owner Arthur Blank. No check of conscience at the door. Just see you later, to the A-T-L.

But back to the matter at hand for Razorback fans. The hiring of Bobby Petrino is a slam dunk for them. Talk to pretty much anyone in Arkansas today and I'll bet they tell you how excited they are by this hiring. A quick survey of listeners on my talk show today revealed the general reaction to Petrino as a 9 out of a possible 10 in terms of support for the new Head Hog. That's about right, because Petrino will bring a fresh offensive look to Arkansas football---finally---and he's just the kind of elite recruiter who should be able to bring a viable playmaking quarterback to Fayetteville at long last as well. To put it plainly, for the next few years, he's the perfect fit for the Razorback fan base. He's got pizzazz and flavor, something that potential coordinator candidates Will Muschamp of Auburn and Brent Venables of Oklahoma did not. He knows how to balance a spread passing attack with a grinding run game. And collegiately speaking, he just wins. A 41-9 mark in four years is impressive at any school this side of USC, but achieving that at Louisville? My goodness, just go ask Petrino's Cardinal successor Steve Kragthorpe how difficult that is to do. Petrino literally put Louisville football on the map, a place that basketball school had never been before. To think he won't be able to take Arkansas to another level competitively is nothing short of foolish.

Amongst other things said last night, Petrino claimed that "the opportunity to coach in the SEC was something (he) just couldn't pass up." It's obvious that the Southeastern Conference is the preeminent college football league in America---I view it as the baseball equivalent of Triple 'A'---but you've got to wonder whether or not Petrino will come to regret those words at any point. In a division loaded with power teams (LSU, Auburn, Alabama) and big name coaches (Les Miles, Tommy Tuberville, Nick Saban, Houston Nutt), Razorback fans will still expect plenty of wins out of their major coaching investment. And Petrino should deliver---in a year or two. But the cupboard will be all but bare in 2008, with All-World tailback Darren McFadden in the NFL, along with the departures of Peyton Hillis, Marcus Monk, Robert Felton, Felix Jones and Jonathan Luigs (in all likelihood).

With Petrino in place, the glow for the Razorback nation is a beautiful maroon right now. But will it last through five wins and seven losses next year? And ultimately, will it stay fixed in the memory banks of a passionate fan base if Petrino does as his history says he will, and leaves after three or four years for greener pastures elsewhere? Those are strong practical questions for another day down the road. For today, the point of it all is that the Razorback football ship has its main sail righted again.



-JAB

Spurned Again! The Razorback's Search for a Football Coach Continues

Completely unbelievable. That's the only way in which you can begin to describe the University of Arkansas's search for a new head football coach. Tommy Tuberville, Tommy Bowden and now Jim Grobe have all in the span of a week publicly turned down the opportunity to coach the Natural State's Finest. All three will go back to their universities (Auburn, Clemson and Wake Forest, respectively) with a lot of additional cash money to show for it. With multiple media outlets declaring in previous days that Tuberville and Bowden were each already signed, sealed and delivered, only to have the whole thing dissipate within hours both times, it's been easy to stay skeptical of any rumored hiring announcements. But clearly, Grobe's about face this morning proved to be the most stunning of all. What exactly transpired in the hours between 11 PM last night (when the local newspapers went to press with "Grobe is hired" as their front page headlines!) and 8 AM this morning (when Grobe told UA Athletic Director Jeff Long that he was having doubts) may never be revealed. But it's certainly a juicy thought for speculation . . . Was it a guilty conscience that jumped up when he had to address his team? Did his family say it would miss the smell of the spruce pines of North Carolina too much? Or maybe, and most likely, the whole thing was just another man's ploy for a pay raise? To me, there are several huge ironies in this whole thing. The first is the obvious one: the similarity to the Dana Altman situation back in April is downright scary. At that time it was Creighton's Altman, like a delirious deer, stumbling into the flashlights of a packed Bud Walton Arena to be introduced as the new men's basketball coach. Altman got himself near run over when they asked him to Call the Hogs too. Remember how strange he looked? Like a bride making up her mind to run away. Well at least with Grobe you can say he had the foresight not to come to Fayetteville for an introductory press conference. Still, what's with the Razorbacks and wanting to hire people who aren't sure if they want to be here? Surely, you would think you'd be able to read some of the signs of uncertainty in a person while you were interviewing him for the job right? The second irony has got fall on the label of "integrity." As in the saying, he's a man with great integrity. That's all we heard about Grobe (Altman too, for that matter). How he had such belief in what he was doing with his football program. Which begs the question, if this man was so filled with integrity, how come he seemed so close to casting aside his life's work at Wake Forest? An ACC Championship and BCS appearance last year was undoubtedly a strong feat with the Demon Deacons, but Grobe himself must've known how tough it was going to be to do it again there. Wow, that integrity and belief sure did seem to waver in the face of a 1.1 million dollar raise, huh? And yet the biggest irony of them all may be the poetic justice of the whole thing. I won't kill Jeff Long yet because he hasn't publicly said anything his search process. But you have to have questions about how this whole thing is being conducted. There have been far too many leaks from far too many moles on the Board of Trustees and in the Razorback athletic hierarchy who have publicized Long's moves darn nearly every step of the way. How can you expect a guy to do a legitimate, full-fledged search for the right person when he's surrounded by people who feel the need to approve his every move. I don't want to name names here. This isn't about that. But Long is unconsciously setting himself up for a really hard first year on the job. Replacing Frank Broyles was hard enough. Now he likely has to reprove himself all over again in front of a fan base that has demonstrated it will fly planes over stadiums with protest banners flying behind them if it doesn't like you. Real easy environment to work in right? No wonder they pay him the big bucks. -JAB

Who's the Best? Some NFL Top Ten Lists

I've been getting a lot of emails lately from my Morning Rush and Extra Point listeners about end of the year lists. What's the best sports story of 2007? Who's the best NFL coach this year? How many of those early season predictions of mine actually came true? I'll do the yearly tradition thing and give you my top ten sports stories of the year in just a couple weeks, and there's plenty of time yet to see if any of those predictions will actually come true! (I wouldn't hold my breath about the Saints though. Yuck.) Here are a few of my year-end Top 10 lists for you NFL diehards: Top 10 NFL Quarterbacks of 2007 1- Tom Brady, New England. 41 TDs and a 70% completion percentage. Ridiculous. 2- Tony Romo, Dallas. Mobile, with a great deep ball. A tremendous breakthrough season. 3- Brett Favre, Green Bay. Interceptions way down. Where'd he find the fountain of youth? 4- Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh. Let's just pretend that motorcycle thing never happened. 5- Peyton Manning, Indianapolis. A great year considering Harrison's missed most of it. 6- Derek Anderson, Cleveland. He's played so well, Brady Quinn may be traded. 7- Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle. Quiet and steady, bound for the playoffs again. 8- David Garrard, Jacksonville. Another huge success story. Byron who? 9- Philip Rivers, San Diego. Up and down at times, but still hugely talented. 10- Jeff Garcia, Tampa Bay. Another ageless wonder. Top 5 NFL Wide Receivers of 2007 1- Randy Moss, New England. The freak is nasty again, just more athletic than everyone else. 2- Terrell Owens, Dallas. Phillips has calmed him down. Near impossible to cover 1-on-1. 3- Steve Smith, Carolina. Best pound for pound wideout in the league. If only he had a QB. 4- Braylon Edwards, Cleveland. Huge bounceback from injury, monster year. 5- Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis. Showing he can be the #1 we all thought he was. 6- Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona. Another physical freak, has done it with rotating QBs. 7- Antonio Gates, San Diego. Listed at TE, really just a spectacular over-the-middle WR. 8- Plaxico Burress, NY Giants. Slowing down, great numbers without practicing all year. 9- Santonio Holmes, Pittsburgh. This is what Steelers thought they were getting last year. 10- Wes Welker, New England. Best possesion receiver in the game right now. Top 10 NFL Running Backs of 2007 1- Adrian Peterson, Minnesota. Despite knee injury, career is off to a rocket start. 2- Joseph Addai, Indianapolis. Phenomenal progress from year one to year two. 3- Bryan Westbrook, Philadelphia. Has carried a huge load with McNabb's troubles. 4- LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego. Statistical fall-off from last year no surprise. 5- Willie Parker, Pittsburgh. Great speed around the edges, still maturing. 6- Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo. Any other season, he's the rookie of the year. 7- Reggie Bush, New Orleans. Now featured back is a tremendous pass catcher. 8- Clinton Portis, Washington. Smaller chunks of yardage than in the past, still strong. 9- Jamaal Lewis, Cleveland. When he runs well, the Browns' offense is unstoppable. 10- Edgerrin James, Arizona. Another veteran who's bounced back with solid numbers.

-JAB