The overlap between football and basketball has me even more confused than usual, especially with the new blended conferences for high schools teams.
That's why I'm tossing it around today instead of sticking with a singular topic.
DO AS I SAY
"Get off your butts and get to the game," he said, pointedly, while steering from the usual coachspeak.
It was a directive to Arkansas basketball fans from Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson, whose team lost 90-65 to the Razorbacks before a meager crowd of 4,270 Monday at Bud Walton Arena.
"This is not the Arkansas crowd I know," Hinson said. "You have to get your butts back in this gym. That team deserves it. This university deserves it. Buy your tickets and get your butts in here."
It's long been my view that anyone who gets into a game for free, eats for free, and parks in front of the facility should not criticize paying customers who have to fight traffic, park, and walk. That also goes to members of the media, including a radio talk-show host who I heard say that Arkansas fans should be embarrassed.
Embarrassed? Really?
If anything, Arkansas fans should be embarrassed by the way its football team got whipped 38-10 by LSU on Senior Night with over 70,000 paying customers in the stadium. So, 24 hours later, those disappointed fans are supposed to dish out even more money to watch an Arkansas basketball team that lost half its games last year play a weak opponent?
I don't think so.
Arkansas fans don't deserve to be lectured by anyone, especially a Saluki from a directional school. Attendance will increase as football fades and the competition for basketball improves.
INSTANT STARDOM
There's little doubt the crowd for the Arkansas vs. SIU game would've much much larger had Malik Monk been in uniform with the Razorbacks.
But no tears here. I'll only provide a reminder on why Monk chose Kentucky instead of Arkansas as many of us had hoped.
Kentucky leads all college teams with 24 former players on NBA rosters this season. Florida has 10, LSU eight, and Arkansas three, which is tied for 31st on the list.
One day after Arkansas drew 4,270 for its game with SIU, Monk played on national TV before a near sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City. That's where he hit seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points to lead the Wildcats to a 69-48 victory over Michigan State.
Two weeks into the season, Monk is already a household name in college basketball and on the fast track to the NBA.
TRAVELING MAN
Former Fayetteville High and Arkansas player Blake Parker has seen a lot of the country in his long career as a professional baseball player.
He's about to see even more.
Parker will be back on the west coast after being claimed off waivers last month by the Los Angeles Angels. Parker began last spring at Triple-A Tacoma (Wash.) and pitched in one game with the Seattle Mariners before being released. He was claimed by the New York Yankees, where he earned a win and a save.
Parker, 31, has spent most of his career in the minors since leaving Arkansas in 2007. But he's also had a taste of the big time with 91 appearances in the major league games, where he's 3-3 with a 3.87 ERA.
CULTURE SHOCK?
Speaking of distance, there's over 1,600 miles between New Orleans, La., and Burlington, Vt.
That's the path former Siloam Springs basketball standout Payton Henson decided to take when he transferred from Tulane University to the University of Vermont. Henson is back on the court again and over any culture shock after sitting out for a year per NCAA transfer rule.
Henson is the leading scorer (19.3) for the Catamounts, which were predator cats much like a mountain lion or panther before becoming extinct. Basketball fans in Northwest Arkansas may catch Henson and Vermont (2-1) on TV this season, possibly against South Carolina on Dec. 1 or Butler on Dec. 21.
Henson played two years at Tulane and contributed off the bench before deciding to make the leap to the northeast.
Sports on 11/20/2016