Not Smiling, John L, Not Smiling At All

In a moment of perversity, have you ever wondered what it would be like if the coaching staff and Reggie Herring of the horrible 2008 Cotton Bowl had been given a whole season of "temp status" instead of just one game? I think you are looking at it in the form of the 2012 season. This feels like the 2008 Cotton Bowl game after game. We look undisciplined, clueless, and prone to easy turnovers by our star players and can't get any sustained positive momentum going in the other direction. Instead, things just snowball down hill once adversity arrives, with one clownish mishap after another, as they did again yesterday. But with the 2008 Cotton Bowl, that was just one game. And we knew we had Bobby Petrino waiting in the wings. We aren't going to know who is waiting in the wings for another two months now.

In the poll I put up the other day to see what your mood is of the moment, the highest number of you thus far, 43 percent, have voted for "embarrassed." I just wonder how many of the players feel that way? Do any of the coaches feel embarrassed by what they are putting on the field? Is Jeff Long? At the beginning of the year, Jeff Long's "brand," Arkansas, was associated with a top five finish and a Cotton Bowl victory. Now that "brand," it is but the pitiful joke of the SEC.

Did you catch the Gameday crew's take on the situation in Fayetteville? They said the season was a "wash" and would only get worse because the players don't have any respect for the current coaches. Fowler went through a litany of Shakespeare references, all tragedies. Corso thinks we are a bunch of "I's" out there and no "we" at all. Herbie said we need to be on the phone with Charlie Strong. I don't know if Charlie Strong is the answer or not, but I do know his Louisville team had the fire in their bellies to come back in the second half and beat Southern Miss yesterday. Arkansas's bellies after the half looked about as on fire as the soggy turf at Kyle Field.

Was there a turning point yesterday, a point at which if it had gone differently, the outcome might have been different? There was a point in the first half before the bottom fell out where the Hogs were driving and had a good run from Knile Davis, but then he fumbled, but the Hogs got lucky and recovered it, but two plays later Tyler Wilson throws a pick. Not much in the positive category happened after that. What if we had scored on that drive? Instead, we would go on and discover that we couldn't even score a touchdown in garbage time.

Or maybe the turning point was the first offensive snap from A&M when "Johnny Football" deflected a pass off our defender's hands and had it land in the hands of an A&M receiver for positive yards? Would a pick and a possible six points on the first play been enough positive mojo for the Hogs to feed off of for the rest of the game? One wonders.

For they seem to be a very emotionally fragile team right now in desperation for something good to happen to them. But that "good" is not just going to fall out of the sky. They have to make the "good" happen on the field. Guys, you aren't going to win another game this year by sitting around and wondering when the ball is going to bounce your way.

I realized yesterday that Bobby Petrino's old offense, lead by his brother, has now averaged just five points, five points mind you, in two conference games. And I don't think that average is going to go up all that much if throwing it to Cobi in a crossing route and praying that Knile doesn't fumble is the sum total of our offense, which appears to be the case right now!

Some historical perspective: our blind Hogs might find an acorn / a win a time or two again this season. It could happen. However, Ole Miss and Kentucky both showed fight against a superior opponent yesterday. And Tulsa won their game. If our blind Hogs don't find another acorn, we will have had the first one win season since 1932, yeah the last full year of Herbert Hoover's presidency. The last two win season was 1952! And we all know that the last three win season was 1992. Years ending in "two," not good for the Hogs, apparently. And one of the best quarterbacks in Razorback history, Tyler Wilson, will leave the UofA with a disappointing .500 record as a starter, 12-12.

A title that was considered for this post was "Hog Fans Seek A Move Up of the Mayan Calendar." haha. But, no, if the world is going to end, it is going to have us wait until December. But, hey, at least it ending won't damage any January bowl plans we might have had, haha. Hang in there, Hog fans, and though we don't have much to smile about right now with our Hogs and this current depression, there will come a time when we will sing the lyrics below and the 2012 season will be but a bad memory that makes the Happy Days even happier.

So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last

Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on
From now on ...

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again

Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

WOO PIG SOOIE AGAIN!