Watching Razorbacks’ Little Rock game with Hall of Fame ‘super fan’
As soon as I started heading up the steps of section 34, I saw him.
He was sitting on the end of the row with a knit cap that looked like a Razorback with tusks and ear flaps. He was also wearing a Razorbacks leather coat and sweatshirt to evade the chill of the day along with the head gear.
It took him a moment to see me and my 10-year-old son, J.D., and me, but as we approached his row, he said, “I missed you,” and threw his arms around both of us almost like we were in a burrito.
Then, he pushed his mom and me together to make us hug. As we both stumbled forward by the force of his enthusiasm, we caught each other and politely embraced.
J.D. began asking if we would see Arkansas Super Fan Canaan Sandy and his mom, Ginger, weeks before the Missouri-Arkansas game at War Memorial Stadium.
J.D., 10, and Luke, 8, are big fans in their own right and are already realists. They knew Arkansas didn’t have much of a chance to beat Mizzou, but J.D. was more apt to attend if he could see his “friend.”
Like many media types, I got to know Canaan and Ginger from being around different events, the Little Rock Touchdown Club, the Landers Award and other high school and college games I covered.
I then introduced them to my boys at a couple of Hogs games. J.D. especially took to him and looks forward to rare meetings.
So, when we took our assigned seats at WMS, I texted Ginger to see where they were sitting. It was 30 minutes to kickoff, and we weren’t far from the North end zone, where they sat, so I told J.D. we could pop over and say “hi.”
After our warm greeting and discussions about the game, it wasn’t long and J.D. was asking if we could sit there. It was apparent Canaan wanted us to, so I obliged.
The sparse crowd nearly guaranteed no one would sit in those seats, so we stayed.
I noticed a couple of things immediately. Canaan is a very astute. He watches each play intently, cheers and he and Ginger discuss what went right/wrong on the play. He cheers more for players that he has gotten to know such as freshman receiver Treylon Burks.
On the first third down of Mizzou’s first possession, Canaan grabbed J.D. I from behind and pulled us up. He insisted we stand on those plays and other Razorback red zone situations.
He encouraged us and others to yell. J.D. ore than happy to oblige. Each time he grabbed JD, he was a bit surprised but smiled.
A semi-obnoxious Mizzou fan, which had half dozen beers in the time we saw him, started a friendly feud with Canaan before kickoff and took a few pictures.
Canaan was less tolerant of the Mizzou fan once he ran down the aisle and threw his hands forward signaling first downs and touchdowns.
“That’s why you don’t drink alcohol,” Ginger said to J.D. as he nodded.
Later Canaan said something in frustration to the guy, which Ginger didn’t approve of and said, “Be nice, Canaan.”
When the guy left, presumably to buy more beers, I waved at him in disgust. Canaan shook his head “no” and put his finger to his lips, as a warning so I wouldn’t get in trouble with Ginger.
J.D. wanted to get in on the act, so I told him if Arkansas scored again he could run up the aisle. When the Hogs took a 14-10 lead in the third quarter, he did and laid it on thick and earned applause from all of those around.
He got a high five and big smile from Canaan who was beside himself.
When the game pushed into the fourth quarter, and times were desperate for the Hogs, Canaan was not too disappointed or unrealistically optimistic.
He just cheered and called out encouragement to specific players who made a particular play.
I don’t think he got upset once, maybe booed once or twice on a questionable call. That takes a special person to sit though as many games as he does and watch your team stumbled to a 4-20 record.
I thought to myself I need to think of him when I get frustrated by my teams when I yell at the TV or scatter items about the living room. He doesn’t get frustrated; he just loves his team and gets ready for the next game.
The other thing that gives him clarity is he gets to know the players and coaches as people. He started attending Burks’ games at Warren High School as he was being recruited.
He’s made relationships with other players that way, too.
Former Hogs coach Bret Bielema took to him, and they remain friends. When you care about someone as a person it changes how you root for them. That’s the difference between Canaan and other fans.
J.D. had already noticed our proximity to the players exit ramp to the locker room and was plotting a strategy to get autographs by the third quarter.
He knew if Canaan accompanied him to the gate that separated fans from the players; some Hogs would stop and sign autographs. So with about five minutes left in the game, he invited Canaan to join us. He happily agreed, and the pair stationed themselves close to the gate.
Soon the likes of freshman receiver Trey Knox and former Pulaski Academy receiver John David White were stopping to see Canaan and sign autographs for JD and a group other kids who had assembled.
Several of the players hugged Canaan, probably for the second time that day since he hugs many of them as they make their way to the stadium before the game.
I couldn’t help but smile as I saw both of them enjoy each other’s company as they got to see their heroes.
Meeting athletes is one of J.D.’s favorite pursuits. From former Cubs manager Joe Maddon, to the entire Iowa State basketball team to Sidney Moncrief and Darren McFadden, he’s got an impressive list.
Somehow I think he will manage to hook up with Canaan again for more pictures and autographs. It was a cool way to end the day.
I’ve been to hundreds of games. Some are etched in my memory forever and others have faded away.
I am not sure I would remember this meaningless game at the end of a hapless Arkansas season 20 years from now. Sure, I’ll display the picture we took as a family outside of War Memorial Stadium.
It’s always special to go together, so that may stick with me.
However, I will always remember this game as particularly awesome because I was the guest of a very special Hog fan and young man and his mom.
We saw first-hand what it means to be a true fan.
Yurachek keeping coach search a mystery, which is why we know nothing
If nothing else, Arkansas’ search for a new football coach has publicly shown that, well, the circle that knows anything is small and doesn’t tell anyone anything.
Which, of course, leads to wild speculation among a fan base used to more leaks more from a search than a rusted boat. It appears if any big booster says anything, it’s either a wishlist or an outright wild guess.
And, we’re told by people who won’t give any names or locations, the planes being used for all this are owned by individual boosters who do not even live in Arkansas, which means the planes aren’t registered here.
Our own John Nabors may have to tweak his plane-tracking algorithm with this info.
There were people telling me Tuesday the Razorback Foundation was visiting with some higher-dollar donors and, while they weren’t disclosing any names, they were assuring them that paying the coach was not going to be a problem.
Yes, that could put the Hogs into the $6 million range for a coach.
And, no, Mike Leach may not have turned down anything … yet, anyway. One of the hot rumors going around was Leach had wanted in the $5-6 million range, which it was speculated as being out of the budget.
According to some folks Tuesday, that is not accurate. There were some reports that Hunter Yurachek and his band of merry interviewers have recently interviewed Leach.
One old-school type of logic says if a coach is not coaching a conference title game, why not announce it immediately and everybody get to work, but I’ve believed all along there wouldn’t be any sort of announcement until right around the SEC Championship Game this weekend.
Teams do that, by the way, to maximize the publicity, although in today’s world you have to wonder if that’s not a little out-dated.
Following my theory, we have a window from Wednesday-Sunday for the announcement of a coach with a press conference coming next week.
Recruiting for the early signing period got shot down the drain when the last coach was fired. But that doesn’t mean it’s that big of a deal because the new coach will have to recruit the 17 redshirt freshmen already on campus.
Most people tend to miss that. There are 17 freshmen that will still be freshmen next season that are currently in school and available for spring practice with a year of practicing with a college team.
It almost reminds me of when Jimmy Johnson basically got a truckload of draft picks from the Minnesota Vikings and used it to build a team that won three Super Bowls in four years.
No, I’m not saying the Hogs will win national championships with those freshmen, but it gives you one heckuva jumpstart on recruiting without counting against the 25 you can sign.
They’ll still have four years of eligibility, so what is the difference at this point? The new coach will still be able to sign some players, get some transfers and the usual merry-go-round of today’s college athletics.
But I’m hearing the UA is willing to spend the type money necessary to meet todays ridiculous market with a pool for assistants to get some big names.
Now, don’t ask me for the names without churning up a bunch that everybody else is throwing out there. I don’t know and haven’t heard from anyone in a position to know.
The truth is we’ll probably get an indication from the school the coach is leaving because they tend to not be particularly concerned abount covering for Arkansas once they find out their coach is leaving.
With the most recent hiring (men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman), the leaks came from Nevada, not anybody in Fayetteville.
The guess here is the same thing happens with the football search.
Whitt paces Razorbacks to 8-0 with 69-61 win over Austin Peay
FAYETTEVIILE — Jimmy Whitt, Jr., scored 17 points while Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones each added 16 to lead Arkansas to a 69-61 victory over Austin Peay Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena.
With the win, the Razorbacks improved to 8-0 for just the 12th time in 97 years of basketball and the first time since 1997-98.
Both teams shot the ball well. Arkansas made 47.8 percent of its field goals, shot 39.1 percent from 3-point range — its best since the season opener — and made 16-of-18 at the free throw line.
Austin Peay shot 41.5 percent from the field, 31.6 from 3-point range and was 11-of-13 at the line.
The Razorbacks forced 21 turnovers but committed 20. Arkansas entered the game seventh in the NCAA in forcing turnovers and led the SEC in committing the fewest turnovers.
The difference in the game came down to a 9-0 Arkansas run late in the first half (4:47) to give the Hogs a lead it would keep the rest of the game. Ethan Henderson helped spark that run by throwing down a dunk
Terry Taylor led the Governors with 20 points. Antwuan Butler added 11 and Jordyn Adams 10. Eli Abaev pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to help Austin Peay out-rebounds the Razorbacks 30-27.
Arkansas hits the road for the second time this year to face Western Kentucky on Saturday (Dec. 7). Tip-off is set for 6:30 pm and the game will be telecast on CBS Sports Network.
FIRST HALF: Arkansas 34-Austin Peay 30
• The game was tied 7-7 before Jalen Harris hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key at 14:29.
• Arkansas went on a scoring drought after that. Harris then broke another tie (13-13) with a 3-pointer at 8:02.
• The game was tied, 18-18, until Mason Jones made an acrobatic layup with 5:47 to give Arkansas a lead it would not relinquish.
• Ethan Henderson came off the bench with Austin Peay on the free throw line. The Govs made two and Arkansas went down one (17-16). Henderson provided a spark during a 9-0 run — putting the Hogs up 25-18 — with a dunk, three blocks and three rebounds.
• Arkansas made 4-of-its-last-5 shots from the field, but Austin Peay made its last three as the Razorbacks took a 34-30 into the locker room.
• Mason Jones led the Hogs with 10 first-half points. Isaiah Joe finished with nine, including a 4-point play late in the half.
• Arkansas shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first half – the best percentage of any half by the Hogs this season – and made 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from 3-point range.
SECOND HALF: Like the first half … Arkansas won the period by four points
• Austin Peay struck first in the second half, to make it a two-point game, but that is as close as the Governors would get.
• Arkansas got a dunk by Jimmy Whitt at 4:37 for the Razorbacks’ first double-digit lead (59-49).
• Arkansas led by as many as 13 in the second half – thanks to a 7-0 run – after a Desi Sills 3-pointer at 2:08.
• Arkansas was 12-of-13 at the charity stripe in the second half, compared to 3-of-4 by Austin Peay.
Game notes
• Arkansas’ starting lineup was Jimmy Whitt (G) – Isaiah Joe (G) – Desi Sills (G) – Mason Jones (G) – Adrio Bailey (F) for the seventh time this season.
• Arkansas lost the tip for the third time this season.
• For just the second time this season, Arkansas did not score first.
• Arkansas has led at the half in all eight games and has only trailed once in the second half this season – once for 20 seconds at Georgia Tech.
• For the fifth time this season, Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored Arkansas; first points (17:57). Arkansas is 5-0 when Whitt scores the Razorbacks’ first points. Arkansas is 3-0 when Whitt is the team’s leading scorer.
• Arkansas is 5-0 all-time versus Austin Peay.
• Isaiah Joe finished with six rebounds. He has had at least five boards five times this season. He only had 5+ rebounds in 34 games last season.
Musselman says team will have to play better in road game Saturday
Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said after Tuesday night’s 69-61 win over Austin Peay that they will have to play a lot better Saturday against Western Kentucky.
Joe, Jones on too many turnovers and improving Henderson in win
Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe (16 points, 6 rebounds) and Mason Jones (16 points, 6 turnovers) on giving ball away too much, energy sophomore Ethan Henderson showed in beating Austin Peay.
???? Halftime Pod presented by Jeff’s Clubhouse — w/ Nikki Chavanelle & Kevin McPherson
Phil & Tye on John Daly’s comments concerning Lane Kiffin, Nikki on the coaching search, plus Kevin on the basketball team!
Alabama’s potential slide another reason this hire has to be right
We may have started to see the first cracks in Alabama football since Nick Saban finally got to his second season in 2008 and it’s just one more reason Hunter Yurachek has to get his hire right.
No, that doesn’t mean the Hogs are ready to challenge for the top spot but it might see some shuffling in the power structure and the Tide may be more reachable … soon.
With a sad fall into the pit of hell the Razorbacks find themselves now, Yurachek has to find somebody to just (as Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones said about his team) “win a damn football game.”
After falling to Auburn last Saturday in a game where Saban was completely, hilariously, out-coached in embarrassing fashion, several people (including former Saban assistants) say Alabama is falling.
“They aren’t going to be as good next year,” that assistant said Sunday evening.
When you are 7-29 for the last three seasons and one of the worst programs in the country, you have to wonder just how attractive the Hogs’ job is right now. If you think you’re going hit a sitting coach at a title contender, well, you’re just wrong.
If Yurachek gets this wrong, you may be looking at another decade where being 6-6 a December trip to Shreveport would be cause for a celebration.
The only two coaches that have popped on the list that have ever won a game in the SEC are Lane Kiffin and Hugh Freeze.
Baggage is something Arkansas is probably going to have to deal with regardless who the final choice is. Fans don’t like it hearing it, but that’s what you get when you have a 1-23 league record over the last three seasons.
Freeze’s baggage is pretty clear and I’m not entirely sure the SEC wouldn’t block Arkansas from hiring him. Kiffin’s “baggage” is something I’m still trying to figure out what everybody is talking about.
Most of the stuff I’ve seen or heard about regarding Kiffin is ridiculous. Don’t throw stuff out about him being a party animal and that stuff. I don’t care.
Yes, Saban more or less kicked him out of Tuscaloosa between college football playoff games. You can bet your bottom dollar Saban wasn’t worried about the Crimson Tide’s offense or Kiffin would have been there.
Alabama’s loss to Clemson in the title game wasn’t due to a lack of offensive production. It was more what Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson did.
Kiffin had a head coaching position. Yes, he was going to have to do some things to get ready for that job and Saban knew that from the start. He and Kiffin had a strange relationship anyway.
Some have tried to point out that USC athletics director Pat Haden, a pompous jerk on his best day, fired Kiffin after USC lost to Arizona State, their second league loss of the 2013 season.
The truth is that was an ego contest and Haden won. Kiffin had dealt with the NCAA issues, a loss of 30 scholarships, and still won games … including a 10-win season when the Trojans were banned from postseason play.
It was especially rich to hear whining from one media member who was highly critical of Arkansas for firing Bret Bielema at the end of the Missouri game in 2017.
Besides, exactly what do any of those things have to do with whether he can coach or not?
Kiffin has proven he can coach … at the SEC level.
While some are holding out hope for Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, apparently some are having selective amnesia remembering a Big 10 coach that came to Fayetteville with what some considered an impressive resume. The Cyclones are in the Big 12 … located smack in the middle of Big 10 country and resemble that conference more. Maybe he’s the answer. Maybe not.
It just means more in the SEC and the coach better know how to coach in this league or that losing streak is going to continue. Maybe Mike Norvell can handle it. Maybe not.
Norvell has never built anything, but has done quite well not letting Memphis drop after Justin Fuente built a program from the ruins.
Hog fans tend to think because a coach has success in another league that will automatically carry over to the situation in Fayetteville. Maybe it will … maybe it won’t.
By the way, the same argument carries over to Mike Leach, who reportedly has said he has an interest in the Arkansas opening. I’ll have to see his act work in the SEC before I buy into him.
I’m not sure in today’s world and as far down the rabbit hole Razorback football finds itself these days if there’s anybody who would be a slam dunk.
Fans won’t be completely united behind whoever the final choice is. That’s been the case with every hiring for the Hogs in the last 60 years.
Don’t believe it?
When Lou Holtz was hired in 1976, some wanted Barry Switzer or Fred Akers. Neither were interested, but that didn’t seem to register with some folks.
Ken Hatfield had a faction of people that wanted Jimmy Johnson to be hired in 1984. Tommy Tuberville had a large number of folks pushing him for the job in 1998.
Nothing has changed.
Except that whoever is chosen better be able to win some games … quickly.
It’s only the entire football program teetering on the decision.
