LSU Wrap and Coaching Search Update

J. Fayetteville: "Oh, God, No!!!!"

The crew returns after the Razorbacks' 20-13 loss to LSU in Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Thanksgiving Friday.  While the Hogs' season and thankfully John L. Smith's tenure as Arkansas coach are now over, there's still lots of drama to be played out on the hill.  Coaching names are all over the inter webs, and the crew discusses most of them in jovial fashion.

Ole Miss Wrap; Tulsa Preview

Site of OU's Historic Wins Gone Missing, Per JimmyG

The crew (sans Johnny) discusses the Ole Miss loss at Historic War Memorial Stadium this past weekend.  Tom Logan handles the mailbag with his usual aplomb, while JimmyG is flummoxed by the mysterious disappearance of the Orange Bowl.  Enjoy this week's show.

Kentucky Wrap; Bye Week Preview

The pod crew looks forward to the bye week after the Razorbacks' 49-7 pasting of the Kentucky Wildcats last Saturday.  The crew discusses the game and the emergence of some of the young players on the team.  Tom Logan is a late arrival, but gets his picks in on time.  Enjoy the show.

A&M Wrap; Auburn Preview

JimmyG and Patrick Williams return from Iowa City on this week's edition of Razorpod, glad to have not witnessed even one play of the Hogs' 58-10 whitewashing at the hands of Johnny Manziell and the Texas A&M Aggies.  The crew, led by Johnny and Tom, details the loss and the crew has a spirited discussion of John L.'s decision to kick a field goal down 38 points.  The picks contest is shaping up to be a good one, with Johnny, Tom, and Jimmy G all tied in first place.  Patrick still well below the Mendoza Line and no amount of double-up-to-catch-ups will help him.

Rutgers Wrap; A&M Preview

This week's show talks about last weekend's Rutgers debacle and the upcoming visit to College Station.  We have more questions than answers at this point, but there are still a couple of diehard crew members that pick the Hogs.  John L's visit to the Touchdown Club is on the agenda as well as Patrick Williams and Jimmy G's upcoming road trip to Historic Kinnick Stadium.  Enjoy the show!

Tennessee Wrap; Miss State Preview

This week's show brings back the dreaded technical difficulties-in many ways.  JimmyG fades in and out, and Jena's revenge has caused the Razorpod email to explode in a shower of spam.  We have a NEW EMAIL:  r a z o r p o d p o d c a s t at gmail.com  (expanded to defeat the spambots), so please change you emails accordingly.  In the show itself, we discuss the Tennessee blowout win and the upcoming game at Historic War Memorial Stadium this Saturday against Mississippi State.  Enjoy Verne and Gary at their finest:

Missouri State Preview

Its finally game week, and the Razorpod crew looks toward this Saturday's Missouri State matchup.  All predict a huge Hogs win; not surprisingly, all expect the defense to play well.  The first week of the picks contest is underway, and Patrick Williams is up to his old tricks.  The crew splits on Oregon-LSU and Georgia-Boise, but the split on the UGA-Boise matchup is more for spite reasons.  Enjoy this week's show, and GO HOGS!

Season 8 Is Underway

Despite the 100 degree temperatures, fall is just around the corner. With it comes Season 8 of Razorpod. Yes, the crew is back for one last shot at glory (or competency, anyway). We get into midseason form right away with a long discussion of the Knile Davis injury and how it changes the prospects for this season. The crew remains bullish on the Hogs, and shows some remarkable unanimity on the projected record: 9-3's all around, with Patrick lodging an 8-4 record because of the Houston Dale special we all know is coming. We run down the rest of the SEC West, and delve into Texas A&M's flirtation with the SEC. We never lost the opportunity for some good old Texas-bashing as well. Johnny has a rant, even though the season hasn't kicked off yet.

Woo Pig SWEEEETT! Hogs Bound For the Sugar Bowl

The Razorbacks are bound for New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl vs Ohio State.   In this week's show, the crew talks about the Sugar Bowl, the matchup with Ohio State, and Petrino's contract extension.  JimmyG takes us rapid-fire through all the bowls, and Johnny has some choice words for the national media.  See ya in the Big Easy!

Ole Miss Victory Despite the Lightning; Vandy's Turkey Baster is Coming to the Land of Chickens

The Razorbacks won last week despite the HDN mojo and the multiple weather delays.  While a good win, the crew is not ecstatic about the Hogs on this week's show.  Johnny states the case for the team's inconsistency; and the crew debates if the delays helped or hurt the Hogs.  This week, Vandy's up, and the crew is pretty even-keeled about the Hogs' chances.  Separation in the picks contest based on PW's 1-5 implosion from last week.  A recap of the National Sleeper Picks comes through as well as the crew's mid-season bowl projections.

Southwest Classic Wrap; Auburn Preview

The Razorbacks prevail against Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic 24-17.  In this week's show, the Razorpod crew is unsettled by the poor offensive performance in the second half, and by the horrendous sunspot in Cowboys Stadium.  This week's opponent is the undefeated Auburn Tigers in a crucial SEC matchup.  Johnny likes the matchup.  Tom Logan doubles up to catch up in the Picks contest, and Patrick unveils the "Patrick Williams Gambit."  Enjoy the show.

Tennessee Tech Preview; Say No To Cell Phone Interference

Short crew on this week's show with Tom Logan absent.  The Razorpod crew has its first Skype experience with JimmyG corresponding remotely from scenic Northwest Arkansas.  Practice notes, national notes including the Ingram injury and the Masoli/Nutt meltdown at Ole Miss.  The first national picks of the year are up, and the first week's sleeper teams are actually not that awful.  Boise State bashing all around, we'll see how that turns out.  The JimmyG rant this week=Thom Brennaman, come on down!

Razorpod 11-17-09: Unhorsing Troy; Mississippi State Comes to Historic War Memorial

Despite Johnny Fayetteville's worst fears, the Troy game turned out to be nothing to worry about. Mallett had another big day, spreading the ball around so that 8 different players scored. Big day for the offense all around. Defense is who we though they were. Porous between the 20's, but stout in the red zone. Next up is Miss. State, coming off a brutal loss to Bama. We'll see whether they decide to let go of the rope at War Memorial Stadium this Saturday. Early kick has been kind to the Hogs this season, so let's keep it going. In the mailbag, we discuss a possible early entrance to the NFL draft for Mallett, and a listener fills us in on the military flyovers before games.

Razorpod 11-17-2009: Troy Wrap; Mississippi State Preview

Razorpod 11-09-2009: Down Goes Carolina; Be Very Worried About Troy

Three-man booth this week with Tom Logan out on assignment. Johnny Fayetteville, Jimmy G, and Patrick Williams discuss the Razorbacks' 33-16 win over South Carolina, along with a game of "Quien es mas Impatient? Petrino or Spurrier?" Petrino wins in a landslide this week, as Twitchy Spurrier made an appearance in Fayetteville and his impatience really hurt the 'Cocks. Up next: Troy (formerly Troy State) the Sun Belt leader and a program known for knocking off the big boys. The crew thinks we better be ready to play this week. Bowl possibilities abound, and we'll see where we land in the pecking order.

Patrick Williams still ahead in the picks contest, but the Hawkeyes hurt (literally). Rest of the national games are about as expected, and JimmyG provides an on-site report from Wholesome Lincoln, NE. Patrick picks the game formerly known as the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk matchup, and much more.

Razorpod 11-09-2009: South Carolina Wrap; Troy Preview

Razorpod 10-14-09: Auburn has skid marks (again); Florida looms

Well, the Hogs put together their most complete performance of the year against the Auburn Tigers last weekend. JimmyG, Patrick Williams, and Johnny Fayetteville discuss in this week's show.  Florida and Dr. Tebow looms, and while the crew is optimistic, realism sets in.

A bonus this week with JimmyG and Johnny opining about the atmosphere (or lack of one) at Hog games.  Break out the dream sequence as JimmyG goes back to the Barnhill Arena days, Jim Robken, and the "Go Hogs" Spellouts of his childhood.

Razorpod 10-14-2009: Auburn Wrap; Florida Preview

More Trophy Madness

ESPN breaks down the Big Ten trophy games that take place this Saturday.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=rivalryweek/bigtentrophygames

National Picks

This week's picks:

PW (44-28): Iowa, LSU, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Oregon State
JF (42-30): Iowa, Ole Miss, Penn State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa State
BT (42-30): Minnesota, LSU, Penn State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wyoming
TL (46-26): Iowa, LSU, Penn State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Northwestern
JG (30-42): Minnesota, LSU, Penn State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Washington State

This Week on Know Your Big 10 Trophies: Sweet Sioux Tomahawk

Tom Logan's sleeper pick this week-the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk game.

There's nothing better than a mediocre Big10 game for a trophy. That's exactly what we have when the Fightin' Ron Zookers (5-6) take on the semi-resurgent Northwestern Wildcats (8-3) on Saturday.

Actually, Northwestern has quietly put together a very nice season, sitting at 4-3 in conference and 8-3 overall. They are tied for 4th place in the Big10 with Iowa, and won the head to head matchup between those two teams in Iowa City earlier this year. Northwestern is headed for a warm-weather bowl, its just a question of which one. Depending on how everything shakes out over the next two weeks, NW could be headed to Florida for the Outback or Champs Sports Bowls. The big issue for bowl placement is whether the Big 10 gets 2 teams into the BCS.

On the other side of the coin, Illinois has been one of the conference's biggest disappointments coming off its Rose Bowl season last year. The team hasn't been able to recapture its magic from the run last year, and there are whispers in Urbana-Champaign that the Zooker may have maxed out last year.

Somehow, Illinois is favored in this game. Go figure. Logan's money's on the Cats...so we'll be rooting for the Illini. Go Zook.

Spotlight on A Sleeper Game-Meet Paul Bunyan's Axe

*Adapted from the University of Minnesota Athetics Site [commentary in red by Razorpod]*

The Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry is one of the most prestigious and anticipated series in the history of athletics. [ok, a bit of hyperbole there....just a bit] It’s the most-played rivalry in college football history [really??? Someone call the Elias Sports Bureau on that], and the annual winner takes home Paul Bunyan’s Axe.

At 117 games and counting, the series between Minnesota and Wisconsin ranks as the longest in Division 1-A football; and "Paul Bunyan’s Axe" has the history of one of college football’s fiercest rivalries emblazoned on its six-foot long handle. The first game in the series, a 63-0 Gopher victory in 1890, is printed on the handle near the axe’s head. The results of every successive game line the handle in red ink. There have been so many games that the scores scroll up and down the width of both sides of the handle, and school officials have now resorted to writing scores on the narrow edges of the six-foot shaft. By 1930, "Paul Bunyan’s Axe" wasn’t even created, although the rivalry had already reached feverish levels. The 1906 game was canceled by President Theodore Roosevelt, who had decided to cool off heated college football rivalries, because of injuries and deaths on the field. [That's TR for you, a cool headed guy if there ever was one...sheesh.] In 1914, Minnesota faced the Badgers for the Gophers’ first Homecoming game; likewise, Wisconsin hosted Minnesota for the Badgers’ first in 1919. Between the years 1923 and 1925, the teams battled to three straight ties. To symbolically capture the amazing atmosphere of the annual match-up, Dr. R.B. Fouch of Minneapolis fashioned a bacon slab out of black walnut to serve as the traveling trophy that he hoped would compare to the well-known "Little Brown Jug," which Minnesota and Michigan played for every year. The "Slab of Bacon," first played for in 1930, had a football carved on top inscribed with an "M" or "W", depending on how you held it. The idea was that the winning team would "bring home the bacon." [Oh, how I wish the "Slab of Bacon" still existed. Best. Trophy. Ever.] But in the early ’40s, the Slab of Bacon became the "Missing Slab of Bacon." Peg Watrous, who was the president of Wisconsin women students at the time, relates that she and her counterpart from Minnesota were to have a symbolic exchange after the game, whereby the trophy would be awarded to the winning team. Minnesota won, but in characteristic fashion, a postgame melee broke out on the field, with students and spectators running crazy over the field. Watrous couldn’t find her counterpart, and was left "holding the bacon," as it were. "I have no memory of what happened after that…The whole thing was a dud, as I feared it would be," Watrous remembered good-humoredly, "and someone in charge probably hid the bacon." But the two teams had to play for something [Big 10 bylaws apparently require it], so in 1948 the Wisconsin W Club instituted "Paul Bunyan’s Axe" as a trophy more befitting the grand rivalry between the two schools. The annual battles have survived so long that in the ’60s the teams started to print the games’ final scores smaller and smaller, scrunching the letters in order to avoid reaching the end of the axe’s shaft. [Will there ever be a replacement axe? Blasphemy!] But the series continued to roll, and the last game to be painted on the broad face of the handle was in 1980. The 25 subsequent games appear on the narrow side of the handle. The Slab of Bacon was back in the news in the summer of 1994, when the long-lost trophy was found after a Camp Randall Stadium storage room was cleaned out. Wisconsin officials estimated that it had been missing since 1945; yet the scores of every Wisconsin-Minnesota game from 1930-70 were printed on the back of the slab. It is one of those Twilight Zone-esque [Twilight Zone-esque? Is the only way to explain the missing Slab of Bacon to resort to the supernatural?] mysteries that remains unexplained, and contributes to the legend of Minnesota’s and Wisconsin’s "Border Battle" rivalry.

National Picks

The crew's national picks for this weekend's games:

PW - Miami, Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota
JF - Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Boston College
BT - Miami, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Washington
TL - Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Duke
JG - Miami, North Carolina, Texas, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State

Season Standings:
1. Tom Logan 43-23
2. Patrick Williams 39-27
3. Johnny Fayetteville 38-28
Buford Tannen 38-28
5. Jimmy G 27-39