Despite the loss, it was great to see the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball program hit the hardwood Wednesday night for a game against Akron. Based on some fans' reaction to an earlier news development in the sports world, it was a little surprising the University of Arkansas hadn't canceled all its games and closed down the program.
Bentonville's Malik Monk opted for John Calipari's semi-pro Kentucky Wildcats, making the announcement Wednesday morning. For the rest of the day across the Natural State, it sounded like the sky was falling.
What’s the point?
Malik Monk’s decision to play for Kentucky exposed an ugly side to collegiate sports.
For those who don't often turn to the sports pages, Malik Monk is entering his senior season playing basketball for the Bentonville Tigers. His play over the last few years has been out of this world, attracting attention from top-tier collegiate basketball programs across the country. ESPN puts him as the No. 5 recruit in its ESPN 100 list of top prospects for NCAA basketball.
"Malik Monk spurns home-state team Arkansas, commits to Kentucky," Sports Illustrated's headline read.
And some Arkansas fans felt the spurn.
Social media lit up and talk radio became rant radio. Had Monk selected Arkansas, these residents of Hog Nation would have been singing a chorus about him walking on water. But Monk's choice became the sourest of notes, and it didn't go down easy.
A local sportscaster went on a 10-minute radio rant about Monk's decision, making it sound as if the young man had committed treason. Many made it clear Monk, if they had their druthers, would face an exile lonelier than Kwai Chang Caine (See Shaolin monk, David Carradine, "Kung Fu").
Who knew so many had built their hopes for the future on this teenager's decision? Monk's brother, Marcus, played football and basketball at the UA from 2004-2009 and his cousin, Ky Madden, was a Razorback basketball player until last year. Arkansas certainly laid out the red carpet, or hardwood, whatever. These facts led many fans to believe Arkansas had the upper hand despite Monk's insistence months ago that either school had a 50/50 shot.
Bobby Portis, the former Hog who made it to the NBA this season after leaving college early, sent a comment on Twitter about how he didn't need Kentucky to make it to the NBA "but that's none of my business." Demonstrating some Kentucky fans are every bit as emotionally mature about their favorite team as some of Arkansas' vocal critics, his perspective unleashed a torrent of nasty comments out of the Bluegrass State.
That adult men and women could allow themselves to invest so much of their emotional health on the selection of a high school kid says something. Not about Monk, but about those fans.
This nastiness is one of the disturbing aspects of college sports. The Razorbacks, naturally, are our team. We cheer for them on this page. It's disappointing when things don't go well. Investing oneself in a team is fun and, in Arkansas, binds us with a lot of other people who wear the cardinal and white. But the fun is lost when people let a player's decision -- one that affects his own life far more than it will ever effect any fan's -- wreak havoc on their emotional state.
"Well, he wasn't that good anyway," one retort came, finding comfort in revisionist history.
"I'm physically ill over this," another commenter says.
And the mean-spirited nature of other comments sink beyond low.
All this makes up an ugly side of collegiate sports, amplified by social and other media. It is an unfortunate side effect of any fan base, one that ought to be resisted. Thankfully, most fans can be disappointed about losing an amazing prospect without turning to character assassination, childish blathering about how unfair the decision is or a mistaken notion that a high school senior owes the University of Arkansas anything.
As for Malik Monk, well, good luck. Play hard, succeed. Lose when you play Arkansas. Thanks for bringing some excitement to the court for the Bentonville Tigers.
As with any recruit, Arkansas fans should just move on the moment a letter of intent is signed. Celebrate the players who want to be Razorbacks. Cheer for them in wins and losses.
As coaches and players tell us all the time, we often find out most about ourselves in losses and in adversity. Some Arkansas fans faced an unbearable level of difficult in handling the collegiate choice of a teenager. And, yes, we learned a lot about who they are in the face of that overblown adversity.
Commentary on 11/20/2015