Former Hawg Coach Loses Lawsuit Appeal
2006-05-29
Posted by: badanov
Arkansas Athletics is like Chistianity.
In order to really understand a Hawg fan, you have to be a Hawg fan.
Arkansas is a state with a small population. There's no Dallas equivilent, theres no other Division IA school in all of Arkansas. There is only Arkansas Fayetteville, and when you get there you are the focus of the media as intense as anywhere in the country. And in athletics it's twice as intense.
So, when Hawg mens basketball teams wind up 14-15 on a season and the only thing the head coach can say is to pontficate on "slave ships" and not his crappy coaching and recruiting, UA officials are bound to react.
So Nolan Richardson gets fired and the Hawgs have to shell out $500,000 a year to 2008 and suffer a lawsuit claiming he was discriminated against because he was black.
We like to think we undersand Hawg fans. After all we sup with one once a week a music trivia, so, if Arkansas doesn't win their home games and split on the road, we get to hear about it and the criticism is directed at the coach, where it should be.
We like to think that race relations in this country have advanced to the point where a 14-15 record after several stellar seasons won't get you fired because you are black, but a 14-15 record plus publically feeling sorry for yourself will, black or white.
Racism in collegiate basketball?
Puleez!
Kelvin Sampson got a kiss and a hug from the NCAA for what we consider to be egregious violations of NCAA rules, for example. Did they go easy on Sampson because he's black?
No, they did it because they are a buncha of Indian hating morons who would rather scrub every reference to Indians or tribes from the national memory rather than enforce the rules the same on everyone.
Fortunaely for Hawg fans, that is what officials at Arkansas did, enforce the rules, and the program has survived and what I understand now, this year's squad will be a very, very good team.
As a side note, they still have to deal with LSU.
Our advice to Nolan after losing this appeal: Move on. Find a coaching job and make your right moves. Arkansas and you deserve better of each other.
If you have something to add, Fire Away!
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