Arkansas Razorbacks Basketball

In December of 2008, John Pelphrey looked like a reincarnation of Nolan Richardson. He had driven the Razorbacks of Arkansas to a 12-1 record, a Jim Thorpe Classic title, and wins over No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas.

Arkansas seemed ready to pounce on the SEC like it hadn't in over a decade.

And then, rather inexplicably, the squad took a nose-dive of the likes the league hasn't seen in a very, very long time. Arkansas lost 12 of its next 13 games, and finished with a 14-16 record—including a 2-14 mark in the SEC.

Off-the-court issues also seem to be a recurring theme under Pelphrey. Various legal and school-related instances resulted in the transfer of three Razorbacks this offseason, one player losing his eligibility, another leaving the team completely and yet another with an undetermined suspension.

After an impressive 23-13, 9-7 start in his first year and last year's 12-1 beginning, Pelphrey seemed to have a glorious halo around him. Less than a year later, his job seems to be at risk.

Arkansas is in complete disarray at the moment, although the roster is heavily talented but top-heavy.

The three transfers accounted for 872 minutes last season and all were solid role players. The biggest name was potential-laden Jason Henry who drew two starts a year ago.

Andre Clark and Brandon Moore also transferred out, while impressive but underused forward Marcus Monk was deemed ineligible. Serviceable backup Montrell McDonald opted to leave the team as well.

Stefan Welsh—a star guard who started 24 games and has a big-game potential—is suspended until further notice.

Replacing the many Arkansas defections this year is a set of five newcomers highlighted by four-star recruit Marshawn Powell.

Marshawn Powell 

No. 62 Overall—No. 15 PF—4 stars—6'8", 225 lbs

Powell is an excellent on-the-block big-man, and is solid on both offense and defense. Although he can't step away from the rim very much and has some learning to do, he will be a future star for the 'Backs.

Glenn Bryant 

No. 47 PF—3 stars—6'6", 190 lbs

Bryant is versatile, as his shooting can be impressive for his size. Should be a solid role player this season.

Jemal Farmer 

SF—3 stars

Farmer is a big-time shooter with size, and could make an impact as a backup for Arkansas this season.

Anthony Borden 

C—3 stars—6'10", 205 lbs

Borden can be dominant defensively at times, but struggles offensively both in practice and in attitude. Borden has some work to do before he will contribute for the 'Backs.

Julysess Nobles

PG—2 stars—6', 165 lbs

Nobles will likely never be more than a roleplayer for Arkansas, though his work ethic is solid.

What Arkansas does bring back, however, is thoroughly talented. The group includes as many as four All-SEC caliber players.

Michael Washington

6'9", 239 lb Senior F/C

(15.5ppg - 9.8rpg - 55.1% FG - 39 blk)

Washington is one of the best offensive bigmen in the conference, and perhaps the best all-around.

He ranks third among returning SEC players in field-goal percentage and even attempted 30 threes a year ago. Washington was named to the All-SEC Second-Team last year and should make the First-Team cut this year.

Courtney Fortson

5'11", 180 lb Sophomore G

(14.8ppg - 5.5rpg - 1.34 A/TO - 33 stl)

Fortson has been a dynamic player from the start, showing tons of energy and leadership potential even as a freshman. Although his shooting severely needs improvement, his defense and rebounding were both enough to place him on last year's All-SEC Freshman team.

Rotnei Clarke

6', 184 lb Sophomore SG

(12.2 ppg - 1.9 rpg - 39.3% 3PT - 93.5% FT)

Clarke is one of the very few players that I will, without hesitation, claim has a very real chance at taking SEC Player of the Year honors in his career. And this for a freshman.

Clarke is super-dynamic and is one of the best long-range shooters in the league. If he had attempted enough, he would have led the league in free-throw shooting.

He handles the ball exceptionally well and is almost certainly the best all-around shooter in the league, if not the country.

Clarke stands as the league's top returning three-point shooter at 39.3 percent last year on 211 attempts. That's some incredible shooting. Look out for this kid. He's a serious scorer.

Stefan Welsh

6'3", 185 lb Senior SG

(11.5ppg, 2.9rpg, 31 stl, 36.1% FG)

Welsh has talent and explosiveness, but isn't efficient or consistent. He tends to make poor decisions and can be selfish.

Welsh needs to work on his touch from both the charity stripe and the floor, along with decision-making, before he is a real threat for opposing teams.

Michael Sanchez 

6'8", 236 lb Sophomore PF

(5.9ppg, 4.9rpg, 72.2% FT, 44.8% FG)

Sanchez was a particularly interesting freshman last year, as there were times that he showed flashes of an ability to dominate offensively as well as on the boards.

He is very talented, but not adept defensively. If he can refine his moves around the basket and be more aggressive on defense, Sanchez could make some waves in a couple of years.

Marcus Britt 

6'3", 198lb Junior G

(3.7ppg, 1.8rpg, 2.57 A/TO, 85.0% FT)

Britt is the definition of a diamond in the rough. Although severely under-utilized, Britt brings an all-around improvement to his team.

He started just eight games but sports a 2.57 assist-to-turnover ratio: good enough for first in the conference if he had more playing time.

He also shoots 50 percent from three out of 30 shots. Britt has potential oozing out of his ears and should see a massive increase in playing time this season.

Due to the heavy offseason losses, Arkansas joins Binghamton as the only Division I school that I'm aware of that is holding open tryouts.

That's right, open tryouts at an SEC institution.

Schedule Breakdown

• Cupcakes: Alcorn St. (H), Appalachian St. (H), South Alabama (H), Mississippi Valley St. (H), Delaware St. (H), Alabama St. (H),
  Missouri St. (H)
• Real Games: Morgan St. (H), East Tennessee St. (H),
  Stephen F. Austin (H), UAB (H)
• Marquee Matchups: Lousiville (N), Oklahoma (A), Baylor (N), Texas (H)
• Opposite Division: Florida (H), Kentucky (A), Georgia (A),
  South Carolina (H), Vanderbilt (H), Tennessee (A)
• Predicted Result: (15-16, 6-10), No postseason
• Analysis: Considering the situation in Fayetteville, this should prove to be a difficult schedule.

What's Returning

• Points: 84.63% (4th - SEC Avg: 73.81%)
• Rebounds: 77.66% (5th - SEC Avg: 75.80%)

The Razorbacks are one of the most top-heavy teams in America for 2009-10. The squad's top three players are insanely talented, but the drop-off after man number four or five is massive. Despite the super trio, I see little way Arkansas can pull out a postseason berth in 2009-10.

Unfortunate for both Washington, who hasn't seen much success in his career despite his incredible skill, and for Pelphrey, whose job will be threatened because of it.

If you like what you read here, check out my blog Ballin' s a Habit.

Earlier this week, a female student at the University of Arkansas claimed that she was raped by three members of the basketball team. No charges were filed in the matter because there was not enough evidence to prove the girl was unaware of the sex act. (If you really want the sordid details read them here.)

The bigger issue now is the state of John Pelphrey's Arkansas program. Pelphrey has only been at the helm for two seasons, and they already have had a laundry list of problems:

Aug. 8 Patrick Beverley withheld for season. Beverley left the team and later admitted to academic fraud.
Oct. 24 Courtney Fortson, Jason Henry suspended.
Nov. 3 Courtney Fortson remains suspended.
Nov. 22 Jason Henry suspended.
Nov. 29 Montrell McDonald indefinitely suspended.
Dec. 17 Montrell McDonald quits the team after four-game suspension.
Jan. 24 Marcus Monk withheld from competition because of "eligibility" issue a month after joining the team. He never returns.
Feb. 1 Brandon Moore suspended following DUI arrest.
Feb. 12 Courtney Fortson suspended.
March 10 Jason Henry suspended.
May 6 Basketball program put on notice for 888 Academic Progress Rate. NCAA standard is 925.
June 1 Marcus Britt suspended follwing DUI arrest.
July 8 Jason Henry no longer part of basketball team. He is the fourth member of a six-person recruiting class to leave the program.
July 10 Stefan Welsh reportedly suspended indefinitely.
Sep. 9 Reports linking three UA basketball players, including two newcomers, to an alleged rape surface. No charges were filed.

The most recent allegation?

Courtney Fortson's failed attempt at humor. In a tweet, Fortson posted "Im gettin it at workouts like a dude who doesnt understand the word no from a drunk girl lol." Fortson could be facing his third suspension since he joined the Razorbacks.

Apparently, when your athletics program is dealing with allegations of rape against three of your teammates, they don't appreciate jokes involving sexual assault. Who'd-a-thunk it?

In all seriousness, Pelphrey's job may actually be in jeopardy. Here is a guy who won just two games in the SEC last season, and has seen his team deal with everything from academic fraud (Patrick Beverly said that papers were written for him and his teammates) to allegations of rape, with a couple DUI's and a smattering of suspensions thrown in.

What is going on in Fayetteville?

How long will the athletic department put up with this behavior before they blame the coach? And it sure doesn't help that Pelphrey isn't winning games.

The most frustrating part about it is that Arkansas has a chance to be pretty good this year. They bring back an excellent inside-outside combination in Fortson and 6'9" senior Michael Washington, a potential first rounder.

Both Rotnei Clarke and Stefan Walsh and above-average wings (all four of those returners started and averaged double figures last season), and Pelphrey has added a couple talented newcomers on the interior in freshman Marshawn Powell and JuCo transfer Delvon Johnson.

Remember, this Razorbacks team did beat both Oklahoma and Texas (when the 'Horns were still in the top 10) last season. If Pelphrey can get control of this team, they have enough talent to make a push for the SEC West crown.

But that's a really big IF.

* Chris Low of ESPN.com has a post up about which position groups in the SEC are particularly loaded, Florida’s secondary or Alabama’s defensive line, for example. He also singles out the Razorback receivers as being especially dangerous. (Have I mentioned lately that I’m excited about the football season?)

* Brace yourselves, hold onto your hats, and sit down before you read this, because it’s truly shocking news: the NCAA is alleging major violations in Memphis basketball program under John Calipari. I know none of us saw this coming. Fortunately for Kentucky fans, he’s completely cleaned up his act and nothing like this will be happening as he leads that program to 18 straight national titles. Right?

* As Stephen pointed out yesterday, the level of turnover in the basketball program is head-spinning. Chris Bahn from Arkansas Sports 360 weighs in with an excellent column that tries to make sense of it all.

* Folks, sometimes it does happen: Wally Hall, voice of reason.

* Coming back to Chris Low, he’s been ranking the SEC’s 30 best football players this offseason. According to his calculations, the Hogs have three players in the top 20, which isn’t bad. Brandon Marcello at the Slophouse has the details of who’s been ranked and where.

* What does it take to get kicked off the team at Ole Miss? Apparently not a felony assault charge for using brass knuckles to rob someone of $6 in a McDonald’s drive through, or using a dead friend’s credit card to buy gas. Jamar Hornsby, just don’t do it again!

Dave Telep from Scout.com is reporting that Oak Hill forward Glenn Bryant has signed scholarship papers with the Razorbacks. Bryant told Telep "I feel like I fit in good with them. It's pressing, me being part of the press and being in up tempo and getting out on the fast break."

Bryant is listed as 6-foot-6, 190 pounds according to the recruiting site. He is rated as a three-star athlete on a five-star scale and chose Arkansas over Alabama-Birmingham and South Florida who were also recruiting him.

Bryant is the fifth player to sign with the Razorbacks in this class, which includes point guard Julysses Nobles, who signed with the Razorbacks earlier this month. Bryant's is also the 14th  scholarship athlete to sign with Arkansas. Only 13 are allowed by the NCAA. One scholarship will have to be freed up one way or another and we now know how.

It was just announced about an hour ago that 6-foot-9, 215-pound sophomore forward Brandon Moore is transferring. It is not known where he is headed from Arkansas.

“We appreciate all of Brandon’s efforts and contributions to the Razorback program,” Pelphrey said in a statement released through the university. “We wish him nothing but the best.”

Moore averaged 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game as a freshman last season. He played in 25 games, but never started and saw limited playing time even though the team was particularly thin on in the inside.

In addition, Moore was suspended for two games following his Jan. 19 arrest for driving while intoxicated and other traffic-related charges. He later received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and was ordered to take a defensive driving class as part of his sentence.

For more Arkansas news or news from the SEC visit SECLiveNews.com

If you watch sports long enough, you start to have traditions.

You believe that standing in a certain area or wearing a certain article of clothing can makes things happen on the court or on the field.

It’s okay, you can admit it.

We all know it’s not true…I have absolutely zero impact on the outcome of any sporting game.

Unless I went on the field and tackled somebody my role is to pretty much be an observer and claim that I saw an upset coming.

That’s what I have tried to do for nearly nine months here at the Bleacher Report, report the big news in Virginia and the ACC as well as try to make some predictions along the way. 

Now that I have reached my 100th article here on B/R, I now know the truth.

I am a hack.

I started looking back at all my articles. The ones I liked that no one ever read or ones that were lucky enough to get amazing amounts of reads and comments.

Whether 10 people or 1000 people read it though, every article seemed to have a common theme.

A Ben Gibson article is a jinx you simply cannot ignore.

If athletes believed in superstitions, they probably would not want me writing about them.

So for my 100th article, I thought I would give you a small view at the careers I helped destroy in my short time here as well as the predictions that went horribly wrong.

Well first there was the Virginia’s coaching search for a men’s basketball coach where I did a series of articles examining potential candidates. 

I went through five names, and I could have done 50 before I ever came close to the right answer on that one. 

Sorry Tony Bennett, nothing personal.

I will begin making terrible predictions about you soon enough.

At least I wasn’t the only one way off in the coaching search.

I’m looking at you Jerry Ratcliffe! 

Then there was golf, a sport I love to watch and sometimes I would profile players who I thought had a good chance of winning a particular tournament.

First there was Lorena Ochoa attempting to win her third straight major in 2008, she finished third.

Not bad but definitely not a win.

Then I talked about Paula Creamer being in great position to win the U.S. Women’s Open just one shot off the lead entering the final round. 

She proceeded to shoot 78 and fall to a sixth place finish.

I also openly wondered if Adam Scottwould break through at the 2008 PGA Championship and claim his first major. 

He missed the cut.

Oops.

Then there was my great conspiracy following Billy Gillispie’s removal from the University of Kentucky.

I had it all planned out.  Billy Donovan leaves Florida for Kentucky and he is replaced by his former all-star assistant and Virginia Commonwealth coach Anthony Grant.

Then as soon as the story broke, Florida officially announced Donovan was not leaving.

My story was obsolete in the course of an hour.

Then there was Arkansas basketball.

The Razorbacks were riding high this year after beating both Texas and Oklahoma.

They were nationally ranked and as the poll indicated, many thought they were ready for postseason glory.

Well they were...until I took notice of them.

To be fair, I wrote my article warning people to wait until they captured a road game or two before they jumped on the bandwagon but boy the spoke fell off that wheel faster than anyone could have imagined.

Arkansas went on to lose 15 of its final 17 games of the season.

Sorry Razorback fans, I will lay off next year.

I also predicted that Virginia had officially popped Maryland’s bubble when they beat the Terrapins in the regular season finale for both teams.

Turns out Maryland had to prove me wrong and beat Wake Forest to insure itself a spot in the Big Dance.

Bubble officially restored.

You’re welcome Maryland fans.

Yes, I even jinxed my beloved Cavaliers.

I wrote an article on freshman phenom Sylven Landesberg, calling him the best freshman in the country. Even though he went on to win the ACC Rookie of the Year award, it was a rough finish after I wrote that article. 

Landesberg ended the season shooting 10-of-31 from the field after the article, including a woeful 0-for-6 performance on the road against Clemson.

After averaging over 17 PPG before the article was written Landesberg averaged 10 PPG afterwards.

Granted I don’t think my article nor the less than 200 people who read it exactly added pressure to him or anything, but we all know the numbers do not lie.

I predicted Virginia’s Sean Singletary would be a pleasant surprise in the NBA and although he did see action in 37 games last season as a rookie he ended the year playing in the NBDL with the Sioux Fall Skyforce.

I predicted Virginia Commonwealth would bust some bracketsin the Big Dance and although they made it out of the CAA and came within a point of UCLA they still were not successful.

So you see 100 articles down and so many more chances to be wrong still remain.

I live in hopes that one day I may actually be correct about something sports related.

Hopefully you will be there to see it. 

Thanks for reading!

Well, the college basketball season is officially over (of course, for Razorback fans it’s been over for a few weeks now, if not longer). So, in the absence of any games in reality it’s time to look for alternatives—such as computer simulations between classic teams of the past.

WhatIfSports.com has a pretty amazing feature where you can match up a wide variety of teams against each other to see what would happen, even down to reading the play-by-play. And because it’s done on a computer, the results are absolutely 100% accurate. Ok, maybe not, but it’s still extremely addictive…definitely check it out (and let us know in the comments section if you get any interesting results of your own).

I ran some simulations between the various Hog Final Four teams, plus a few other battles, and got some interesting results. For example:

1994 Razorbacks—85
1978 Razorbacks—77
box score
Scotty Thurman’s 22 points topped Sidney Moncrief’s 21 points (and 12 rebounds!) in that one.

1994 Razorbacks—93
1990 Razorbacks—95
box score
Upset special! Corliss went for 32 points, but that couldn’t quite top double-figure scoring efforts from Mayberry, Day (20), Bowers, Howell and Miller.

1994 Razorbacks—102
1995 Razorbacks—95
box score
A pretty evenly matched effort, as you’d expect. Both sets of stars had strong games, but the difference was 10 points off the bench from the 1994 version of Al Dillard.

1994 Razorbacks—82
2009 Razorbacks—58
box score
This should surprise no one. The less said about it, the better.

1994 Razorbacks—114
2009 UNC Tar Heels—111
box score
Figured I’d see how the classic Hogs stack up against the new national champs. In what has to be one of the greatest (simulated) games ever, Arkansas fought back from a five point halftime deficit to win by three in overtime. I didn’t do a play-by-play for this one, but we all know who hit the winning three-pointer in OT, right? By the way, Corliss outscored Tyler Hansbrough, 35-14.

1994 Razorbacks—103
1995 UCLA Bruins—84
box score
Yep, that sounds about right.

Every Razorback fan over a certain age surely remembers Nolan Richardson’s first season as head coach as being confusing (those polka-dot shirts), transitional (suddenly the players were running a lot more), and ultimately very dispiriting (that 12-16 final record after 11 years of success under Eddie Sutton was pretty shocking).

But, there was a brief period of time before the season started when optimism was running high and experts actually thought the Hogs would be good that year. As proof, we take you back to Nov. 20, 1985…a time when Starship’s “We Built this City” ruled the pop charts, Ronald Reagan was summitting with Mikhail Gorbachev, and Sports Illustrated ranked Arkansas #16 in their college basketball preview issue.

Nolan was quite the quote machine even back then:

* On Andrew Lang: “”In two years he could be the No. 1 pick in the professional draft.”
* On William Mills: “There’s no difference between him and Michael Jordan.”
* On Mike Ratliff: “He could be a first round pick.”
* On Scott Rose: “He could have been the most valuable player in the Missouri Valley Conference.”

SI writer Hank Hersch got in on the act too, describing Stephan Moore as “the school’s first legit power forward” and, my personal favorite, referring to the well-coiffed Eric Poerschke as “do it all.”

Hersch closes by saying, “This season won’t be famine, but with just one senior, Arkansas' real feast is probably a year away.” Of course, we know how that story turned out, but if you’re in the mood for a fun trip down memory lane, definitely go read the full article. Good stuff.

* Spring football practice started this week, and since we laid off our interns recently we can’t possibly keep up with the full stream of info coming out of Fayetteville.

Luckily, there are a bunch of great news sources out there: we recommend checking out Arkansas Sports 360, Whole Hog Sports, the Slophouse, the Hog Blog and, of course, the Razorbloggers, whose site has a very handy list of the most recent posts from all these sites (plus ours) in one convenient place.

Just don’t forget about us while you’re out there browsing around!

* This is almost painfully old news at this point (i.e., from last month), but there’s a new entry in the never-ending series of ways people like to rank the SEC coaches: an Atlanta columnist has rated them on who’s the most irritating.

* Wondering what the awesomely-named former Hog three-point specialist Cannon Whitby is up to these days? Click here to find out (side note: I always forget he was a member of the 1990 Final Four team).

* Speaking of that great 1990 team, here’s a box score from one of my all-time favorite Razorback bball games. If you’re a box score nerd like me, this is a fun one to review. (Side note: Lenzie Howell rules!)

* Last, but certainly not least, we are very pleased to pass along a truly one-of-a-kind opportunity: legendary Razorback footballer (and sometimes basketballer) Marcus Monk has put his customized 2001 Grand Marquis up for sale at eBay.

Definitely check out the full description and batch of photos on the auction page…the highlight is without a doubt the sweet illustration of a snorting Hog airbrushed on the side on the side (which, for our money, gives this one a slight edge over D-Mac’s iconic ride).

(Hat tip to the Hog Blog and Arkansas Sports 360 for the heads up on this.)

It isn’t the most important moment in Hog history, but it’s still one worth noting. On March 16, 1989, with a 120-101 victory over Loyola-Marymount, Nolan Richardson won his first NCAA Tournament game as coach of the Razorbacks.

One year earlier, in Nolan’s third season in Fayetteville, a solid but decidedly unspectacular Arkansas team made the first NCAA Tournament appearance of the Richardson era, falling in the first round to Villanova, 82-74.

Several Eddie Sutton recruits—Andrew Lang, Stephan Moore, and Allie Freeman—were seniors on that '88 squad, which didn’t quite have the depth and firepower to play Nolan’s trademark “40 Minutes of Hell.”

However, the '89 team—which featured a slew of newcomers such as Lee Mayberry, Todd Day, Oliver Miller, Lenzie Howell, and Aryln Bowers, and the remarkable senior leadership of Keith Wilson—did, and the Razorbacks captured their first Southwest Conference regular season and tournament titles in seven years. The win over Loyola-Marymount marked the program’s first NCAA win since 1985.

Heading into that '89 season, such success was far from pre-ordained. First off, as we were painfully reminded this year, relying heavily on youth is often a recipe for frustration.

Secondly, Ron Huery, arguably the best player during the preceding two seasons, had spent the offseason engaged in typical college student hijinks—getting arrested on DUI and weapons charges in Memphis and running afoul of campus police by pointing a gun at a fellow student at a frat party.

For all of this, he received the severe punishment of being suspended from the team’s first-semester games. Later, when he was arrested on another DUI around Christmas, the suspension was extended for the remainder of the season.

However, the talent of the new guys would not be denied. The Hogs lost 93-84 in the second round to Louisville, but the foundation for a phenomenal run of success was in place. Just one year later, the Razorbacks would make the Final Four; five years later, as we all know, Arkansas would capture its first and, so far, only national championship.

It Was 13 Years Ago Today

March 16, 1996, marks something of a bittersweet milestone in Hogs hoop history. It was on this date that a Razorback squad featuring freshmen Kareem Reid, Pat Bradley, and Derek Hood defeated Marquette, 65-56, to secure the program’s sixth trip to the Sweet 16 in seven seasons. The Hogs haven’t made it that far since.

Sometimes 13 years feels longer than 13 years, doesn’t it?

Wally Watch: Where we read Wally Hall so you don’t have to.

Mar. 8, 2009: Angst building, but Pelphrey needs more time.

Primary Theme: A schizophrenic, back & forth column in which Wally both supports and passive-aggressively undermines John Pelphrey. We’re a little confused about it ourselves.

Pelphrey Rules!: “Regardless of what happens today in Nashville, Tenn., it is far too early for anyone to be talking about a coaching change at the University of Arkansas.”

Pelphrey Sucks!: “…the program appears to be at its lowest point since Eddie Sutton came to Arkansas to build a basketball program.” (Note: that’s a lot of ‘programs’.)

Pelphrey Rules!: “John Pelphrey, though, did not create the current problems. He inherited them.”

Pelphrey Sucks!: “Yes, there are reasons for fans to be frustrated about this season and 13 conference losses, the most of any team in the SEC. Far too often there seems to be a player - take your pick - who has a brain freeze at a critical time in a game. It might be a silly foul, a shot taken way too soon, a breakdown on defense or just a bad shot, all of which are things that a head coach has to address.”

Pelphrey Rules!: “Rest assured the Hogs are not being taught to play that way in practice.”

Pelphrey Sucks!: “Everyone associated with the program will publicly deny it, but there is no doubt to the masses that there is an apparent lack of team chemistry that may include the coaching staff.”

Pelphrey Rules!: “Bottom line, he needs more time to fix the problems.”

Pelphrey Sucks!: “If he doesn’t within a reasonable time, that’s a different matter.”

Bottom Line: With its veiled hints, straightforward recounts of events we all knew already and ‘Wally, tell us more’ teases like “there have been issues with some about the excitement created with Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clarke becoming part of the program”, this is in many ways the archetypal Wally Hall column. All it needs is a few folksy metaphors and a Mexican food reference to be complete.

As veteran Wally watchers, our take is that he really wanted to write an anti-Pelphrey column but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it, so he instead went with the passive-aggressive approach detailed above.

But, reading between the lines it’s pretty clear that this is a backhanded slam. Knowing that Wally is a scholar of both Shakespeare and the classics above all else, we’ll assume that this is a sly allusion to the form and intent of Mark Antony’s famous “For Brutus is an honorable man” speech in Julius Caesar…clever!!