Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

OLD OLD (2004) picture of me... and an OLD (late 2006) picture of my tattoo (has been touched up since)

      

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

I've usually got the gift of gab, and when I have an opinion on a situation that I want to write/speak about, I have no issues with my big fat fingers flying across the keyboard at over 70 words a minute.

After Jeff Long's announcement about not retaining Bobby Petrino as my beloved Razorbacks Football Coach, I've had this little window open for damn near an hour, trying to decode and decipher all the damn synapse that are firing across my brain.

There's so many things I want to say (most of 'em absolutely not appropriate... not even for my own personal site). To steal a phrase from Hank Hill...

DAMMIT, BOBBY!

As a true student and aspiring/budding Historian of the Collegiate football game, I commend Jeff Long for the incredibly difficult decision he had to make today.

As a diehard Razorback fan and webmaster for Hogville.net (one of the largest sports fan sites in the world), I'm pissed as hell that it had to come to this. How does a a school replace a TOP TEN (and probably one of the Nation's best five) coach?

I was and am a Hog Fan, first. At the end of the day, I want what's best for our program, the University of Arkansas, ALL of our Razorback Athletes and most importantly, my fellow fans.

No one but Jeff Long and Bobby Petrino knows the entire story. There's rumormongers out there (myself included) that have speculated on so many different things. But just like a game of darts... eventually one of those rumors would hit the bulls eye.

There is SO much more that I want to ramble on about, however, I just need to get this focus and do some open letters here.

To Jeff Long, AD, Arkansas Razorbacks,
I applaud you for weighing all of the facts as you have them. Today's decision had to be an absolutely agonizing one. I cannot even fathom the trials and tribulations that you've had to weigh over the last 120+ hours.

That being said, many eyes across the entire Collegiate Football Nation will be watching you to see who you bring to the table. You have one chance to bring in a Coach that is worthy of leading a Top Ten program. With last year's nearly 25% churn rate in the Coaching Ranks, this is an extremely tall order for you to be able to achieve.

I don't know about you, but I would wholly support bringing Coach McGee back home.

At the end of a day, Mr. Long, you have a very daunting and challenging task ahead, and very few people would be envious of you right now.

To any prospective Hogs Football Coach,
Much like the eyes of the Collegiate Football World will be watching who AD Long ultimately brings in to be our Head Hog, those same eyes will be on you. Let me forewarn you, though, Coach: You had better have a squeaky clean background while still having the drive, the passion, the commitment and the fire that a Top Tier program demands.

After going through 10 years of mediocrity, and a resurgence of our beloved program with back to back double digit seasons, including our first BCS appearance and with a group of guys positioned to make National waves, once again, and with an extremely talented group of players chomping at the bit, you had better be aware that Razorback Nation's sights are set on an SEC Championship Game appearance/win and a BCS bid.

Razorback Nation have taken far too many lumps in this century already. We're not going to put up with much more.

That being said, you can also count on Razorback Nation to stand behind you, as long as you continue our rise back up to respectability.

Don't get stupid on us. We will not stand for it.

To our 2012-13 Razorback Players,
Razorback Nation stands with you during this tumultuous time. Your pain is not yours alone; it is also ours. You will absolutely have our support, regardless of who our coach is.

You have all busted your butts over the past few years to get where you are, and the Hog fans truly are appreciative of it.

We ARE the Arkansas Razorbacks. Together, we will continue to be a team. All of us.

To 2013 and 2014 Recruits,
I have already seen several prospective Recruits saying that Arkansas is now off their list. I urge you to not shut any doors right now, and to have trust in the process. For as many questions as you may have about what the future of Razorback Football holds, I can guarantee you that the rest of Razorback Nation has just that many more.

To make any decisions as of this very moment would be based off an emotional response with out the benefit of logically thinking your decision through. Let the dust settle to see where we go from here.

Have faith that AD Jeff Long will bring in the right person to be our Leader. We do have several advantages over most other potential openings: We have nearly 8 months to find a solid Coach, and we've got a program that is returning back to its rightful prominent place.

To Razorback Nation,
We stand divided right now. We must reunite to become ONE voice. Remember one things: No one single person is bigger than the entire Razorback family, yet when one person performs actions that are contrary to what our Core Values are, it is representative to our entire program and fan base.

We've struggled being a mid tier program for so long that when we finally got a taste of what it means to be a top tier program, we want more.

I'll be the first to admit that I stood behind wanting to retain Petrino. I also stand behind Jeff Long's decision, as it would be better for the program to not have to deal with the continuing negative PR work that would have continued to plague Coach Petrino throughout this season.

We all owe it to our beloved Razorback Athletes to stand with THEM, and to stand behind the University of Arkansas.

Together we stand, United we shall rise up even higher.

I'm proud to be a Razorback fan; are you?

---

1 CommentsJoin the Discussion!

Latest Comment
Posted on: 2012-Apr-13Comment by: cathy

thank you, thank you, thank you!!! after the apologetic texts came out this week, even people who's opinion i respect have posted how much they want cbp back and how jeff long could and should do so immediately. i was in the 'hope we can find a way to keep him camp' but i trust that after the review jl made the very best decision he could. none of us knows what he found out or what else may or may not be out there but i believe a decision was made to protect the 'family' as much as possible. no matter what happens this year or what the future holds....this house supports the razorbacks always!!!!

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

Original Publish Date: Thursday, November 11th, 1916
Publisher: The Evening News, San Jose, CA

Original Headline: Football and Baseball Coach of University of California has Tendered Resignation

San Francisco, Nov 11 - James Garfield Schaeffer, familiarly known as "Jimmie" Schaeffer, for seven years football and baseball coach of the University of California, has tendered his resignation to the executive committee of the Associated Students of the university. It was accepted at a meeting of the committee.

Schaeffer asked that the resignation take effect immediately, but in its acceptance the committee stipulated that he serve until the end of the present season.

Schaeffer will accompany the football team to Seattle today, where the team will play a return game with the University of Washington, which defeated California on the Berkeley field last Saturday by the score of 72 to 0.

It is emphatically denied by the members of the executive committee that Schaeffer's resignation was forced in any way; but dissatisfaction with his services has been rumored about the campus since the poor showing of the California team last Saturday.

SOURCE: Google News Archives

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

The image above shows you how to take

5 + 5 + 5 = 550

and make it a true statement.

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

Talk about a heck of a shot!

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

I CAN HAS REJECTED SHOT!

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

Ref rejects your score and substitutes his own!

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

OUCH!

Posted by Douglas, @BearlyDougTweet

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

If you're on a Windows system, the above line is in EVERY font library, because it contains every letter of the alphabet at least one time.

Well, now you get to actually SEE the above phrase happening (Cue Visual NOW)