As you attempt to wipe away your UT-induced football funk (John and I are looking for any helpful tips) and get ready for Pelphrey & Co.'s appearance in Puerto Rico this weekend, gaze upon these items of interest:
• Move over, Atkins. Eat your heart out, South Beach Diet (brilliant play on words firmly intended) and make way for the Charles Thomas Fitness Plan.
• Richard Davenport of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has a nice primer on the four basketball recruits expected to sign national letters of intent with the Hogs today. The list includes Courtney Fortson, a 5-11 point guard from The Patterson School in North Carolina; Brandon Moore, a 6-9 forward from New Orleans; Terrance Joyner, a 6-2 point guard from Genesis One Prep in Mississippi; and Andre Clark, a 6-10 forward who is also from Genesis One. After these guys sign, Pelphrey will have two more scholarships to hand out.
It will be interesting to see where the basketball gurus place Pelphrey's signees, although I learned in 1995 not to put a whole lot of stock in the hype surrounding a recruiting class. That was the year Nolan brought in Jesse Pate, Kareem Reid, Sunday Adebayo, Pat Bradley, Derek Hood, et al., to try and continue the success established over the preceding decade. There were some nice players in that group, but, by and large, I think it's abundantly fair to say that class failed to meet expectations.
• Tip of the Day: If you haven't checked out the new Basketball Prospectus Web site, you should. It's the companion site to Baseball Prospectus, which started about 10 years ago and uses all sorts of fun, geeky statistical tools to analyze the game and blow away much of the long-standing conventional wisdom surrounding it. Click here to read the site's preview of the SEC West. Teaser quote: "the Arkansas D ain't broke but the new coach has promised to fix it. And that is what might be called a gamble."
• For the "Where are They Now File?": Former Hog QB Ron Calcagni will coach Arkansas' All-American Football League team.
That's it for now. Here's hoping Patrick Beverley is not late for the team bus to tomorrow's game.