Courtesy of Brandon Marcello and The Slophouse blog, we came across this compilation of some of Paul Eells’ memorable radio calls from the last seven years. Good stuff. Fall afternoons just aren’t the same without Eells’ trademark celebration of the Hogs entering the end zone.

According to Marcello, KATV’s Web site will post additional compilations as the week progresses. This weekend, a golf tournament and celebrity softball game will be held in Cabot to commemorate Eells and raise money for broadcast journalism majors.

For our money, Eells’ most memorable on-air moment was his radio call of U.S. Reed’s half-court buzzer-beater in the NCAA Tournament, which you can hear by clicking here. Hard to believe that was more than 27 years ago.

Let’s check in on the ex-Hogs who have recently joined the work force:

* The Raiders held their rookie minicamp last weekend, and naturally D-Mac was the star of the show. Initial reviews were very positive, and the Bay Area media is getting their first taste of his versatility: “McFadden does too much, too well to stick him in an I-formation box. In two days of practice, he has sprinted around the edge, powered inside the middle, run routes as a wideout and caught passes out of the backfield. He even lined up at quarterback.”

* What did Mr. McFadden think about his first taste of life in the NFL? Be sure to read the full transcript of his press conference, but here’s a sample quote on one of the differences between college and the pros: “They hand you a playbook with pens and highlighters with a notebook to take notes, that’s something you don’t get in college, if you want to take notes you have to come with your own stuff, so I knew it was serious once they handed the playbook like that.”

* Raiders’ coach Lane Kiffin gives McFadden a very positive initial review.

* On the flip side, here’s an example of the disfunction I was referring to when I was ranting about why I didn’t want D-Mac to be a Raider. Expect plenty more stories like this one.

* Jerry Jones likes Felix Jones’ “bubble butt”. No further comment needed.

* In Dallas, the debate still rages as to whether or not Felix was the right choice. Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning-News weighs in with the opinion that he “should be the ideal complement to Marion Barber”. So that’s good…

* The Cowboys’ training camp will be looked at, up close and personal, on this year’s edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” reality show. Of course, don’t expect to see much of Felix on there…not only will he be overshadowed by notorious camera hogs like Terrell Owens (and Jessica Simpson?), he’s only the third most famous Jones on the team (behind Jerry and Pacman).

* The Huddle Report predicts that Peyton Hillis is going to be “a big-time RB” for the Broncos.

* A breakdown of the Chicago Bears’ draft that wound up with Marcuses Harrison and Monk.

* Speaking of Monk, it’s tough to make the team as a 7th rounder, but Chris Bahn of Arkansas Sports 360 reports that he’s making the most of his opportunity.

* The Chicago Sun-Times looks at the Marcus Harrison draft pick, and notes that although there are character-related concerns over his arrest last fall, he was “too good to pass up.”

Wally Watch: Where we read Wally Hall so you don’t have to.

May 8, 2008: Hitting to all fields as summer draws near.

Primary Theme: Wally decides to write about baseball.

Irony Alert: While taking half of his column to meander to his baseball observations, Wally spends a little time detailing how much e-mail he receives this time of year and a lot of time describing one of his regular e-mailers. Included among the detours is this bit of praise for some of those who write him frequently: “They understand brevity and getting to the point.”

Ward Cleaver, Eat Your Heart Out: Wally’s need to make the people he admires sound like they stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting or a 1950s sitcom is on full display in the following passage, which describes Doug, an “e-mail pal” of Wally’s: “He’s married to his childhood sweetheart, and they are as much in love today as the day they met. They attend church regularly. He’s very, very proud of his children and grandchildren. Doug leads an uncomplicated life that includes breakfasts with his friends, lunches too, generally at the North Little Rock Corky’s, where he almost always gets the ribs.”

Godliness, food - it’s all there. Seriously, does it get any more Wally than that?

Wally Comes Not to Bury Caesar, but to Praise Himself: “This time of year, as the dog days of summer approach, the e-mails start to slow down, dropping from around 275-300 per day to 85-100. Almost all are answered.”

Jarring Closing: “Now, that may not be enough baseball news to cause my friend Doug a stroke, and hopefully it won’t, because your scribe has been there and done that, and it’s not fun.”

Our Analysis: Being Razorback bloggers, we can empathize with Wally’s difficulty in finding something to write about during this time of year. However, as we stated a while back, we don’t write about baseball. Wally shouldn’t either.

May 11, 2008: Plenty to love about Hillis despite strange fall.

Primary Theme: Peyton Hillis was drafted lower than expected, and the reason why will probably always be a mystery.

Interesting Fact: “Josh Melton, a four-year letterman on the Razorbacks’ offensive line, called Sports Animals on Arkansas Radio Network last week, unsolicited, to say he believed [Houston] Nutt had told scouts there were character and injury issues and that Hillis is tough to have in the locker room.”

God Watch: Wally seems to like Peyton, so, per an obscure federal statute, Hillis must be described as a man of faith: “Yet, while he could be outspoken at times and almost critical of some coaching decisions after tough, emotional losses, he’s a young man who now always talks about God and how important he is in his life.”

And no, we didn’t lowercase the “h” in “he.” Wally did, and he’ll have to answer to the man upstairs for that one.

Choice Analogy: “Hillis is tougher than a claw hammer on a pecan.”

Our Analysis: To be fair, this isn’t a bad column. It’s blessedly free of descriptions of Wally’s recent meals and contains only one groaner of an analogy. And Hillis’ apparent fall from scouting grace is an interesting subject. It doesn’t sound like Wally has the sources to provide anything more than speculation and second-hand information, but - grading on the Wally curve - this is an above-average effort.

There’s no more optimistic time for a football fan than the spring, when a few good scrimmages can raise expectations to the point where every halfway-decent player seems like the second coming of Peyton Manning or, well, Darren McFadden. So maybe I’m guilty of that right off the bat, but what if we’re really witnessing the emergence of a brand new Casey Dick?

Your friends here at Razorback Expats are certainly as guilty as anyone else of taking a few potshots at C. Dick over the years, but given Bobby Petrino’s well-earned reputation as a quarterback guru (and Houston Nutt’s reputation as the opposite) it certainly seems within the realm of possibility that Dick could have us all eating our words.

With Ryan Mallett’s long-shot bid to be eligible for the 2008 having been denied by the NCAA, Dick has a clear shot at retaining the starter’s job and should benefit from the coaching staff’s extra attention. Plus, when we last saw Casey on the field he was blowing up would-be tacklers and hitting clutch passes in OT against LSU, so that’s something to build on (editor’s note: the Cotton Bowl has officially been purged from our memories).

At any rate, there’s definitely a buzz building around Casey…here’s a quick look at what some people who know more than we do about these things are saying:

* Sports Illustrated’s Cory McCartney kindly notes that Casey “has been called the worst quarterback in college football”, but also notes that this perception could change quickly and has him listed as one of his “Spring Winners” in a recent column.

* In spring football roundup, USA Today says: “In his first spring under new coach Bobby Petrino, Dick didn’t look anything like the quarterback who struggled with consistency and confidence throughout the 2007 season. He benefited significantly from a new offensive approach and new quarterback drills.”

* What does Bobby Petrino think? First of all, he’s probably happy that Dick isn’t masterminding a dogfighting ring in his spare time. But besides that, he says “He grew tremendously in the spring. He had a good understanding of what we’re doing offensively, he has a lot better understanding of what defenses are doing, in coverages and blitzes. I thought he made great strides in the last scrimmage before the spring game. He needs to be disciplined with his footwork and his technique. When he does that, he can be an accurate passer. He can get the ball out on time.”

* Lastly, the best breakdown might be this Rivals.com article, which gives an excellent overview of the current situation and includes quotes from Dick, Petrino, London Crawford and Dick’s high school coach. Definitely worth a read.

So what does all this really mean? It’s only May, so at the moment, not much. But if nothing else, it seems like the QB situation is light years ahead of where it was at this point 12 months ago, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Wally Watch: Where we read Wally Hall so you don’t have to.

May 1, 2008: Kentucky Derby memories are forever vivid

Primary Theme: The Kentucky Derby sure is fun. But, things ain’t like they used to be.

Key Elements: A virtuosic combination of name-dropping and nostalgia that only the sports editor of the state’s largest newspaper could pull off.

The Odd Couple?: When Wally writes “A couple of years were spent crashing in Randy Moss’ room”, we know he’s not referring to THAT Randy Moss, but you have to admit it’s a pretty amazing image. In fact, we’d pay a substantial sum to be a fly on the wall watching the antics caused by those two rooming together.

Grammar Alert #1: “My financially favorite race was 1987.”

Names Dropped: Rex Nelson, Randy Moss, Kane Webb, Spider Webb (!), Jeff Krupsaw, Kim Brazzel, Angel Cordero, Ray Lincoln.

Aspiring Journalists, Take Note: In true Wally fashion, this super-brief paragraph appears out of the blue with no apparent connection to the words immediately before or after it: “Once I got a call from an old friend; he was there on his honeymoon. Now Jeff Krupsaw is the deputy sports editor at the Democrat-Gazette.” After reading it through several times, our only conclusion is that Mr. Krupsaw’s current career path owes a lot to that timely phone call.

Grammar Alert #2: “Wednesday, three couples, personal friends, left for the Derby.” (that’s a full paragraph, by the way)

Our Analysis: There’s probably a worthwhile point buried somewhere in there about how corporate influences have changed our most beloved sporting events, but of course Wally takes about six personal detours too many to make any of that really hit home.

However, as far as Wally columns go, this one is pretty innocuous. Although the random name-dropping (at this point, if you’re even a casual acquaintance of Wally and haven’t been referenced in his column, you’re probably doing something very wrong) gets a little old, he manages to stay away from the tendencies towards innuendo and preachiness for which he’s so beloved.

In the end, though, we were a little disappointed that he couldn’t fit at least one reference to a lavish meal (preferably Mexican food) he enjoyed during his Derby travels. And most of all, we’re finding ourselves wishing we lived in a world where Wally Hall was buddy-buddy with the football playing Randy Moss rather than the sportswriting version. One can dream…

What’s everyone’s favorite ex-Razorback coach up to these days over in Oxford? Well, according to this glowing profile in the Laurel (MS) Leader-Call, he’s certainly taking the locals by storm. Here’s the money quote:

If you meet Nutt, you will be impressed even if you are not a Rebel fan. He is an excellent people person who is a great communicator. His passion for what he does comes out very quickly. He has that look in his eye that draws you in. The look speaks outwardly that he cares about what he is selling. In this case, Ole Miss football was the sales pitch to these eager takers. When he spoke to the Rebels fans in attendance in a one-on-one meeting during the night, they all came away with these thoughts: Nutt is a genuine and a very likeable down-to-earth person with a special passion for what he does.

Also, it’s nice to see that he was able to stay true to his unique fashion sense by finding a goofy straw hat with the Ole Miss logo on it:

As America’s favorite non-sporting sporting event, the NFL Draft certainly receives a lot of coverage. And, with six players drafted the Hogs were a major factor this year. Here are some links I’ve been saving up:

* Probably the best thing I read after the draft was this interview with Felix Jones. He landed in a great situation and sounds incredibly excited about it…he refers to it as “a dream come true” three times in a short span. Here’s a good quote on how he happy he is to be a Cowboy:
It will be an honor. I know that for sure. That star represents a lot. That is something I am going to wear and play my best and I am just happy now that I am getting a chance to put it on. This is a dream come true for me. 

* Of course, there are always naysayers and Arkansas Sports 360 reminds us that some folks in Dallas aren’t too happy about Felix being their first round draft pick. (editor’s note: Why??)

* On the flip side of that argument, SI’s Don Banks has the full story on why Jerry Jones went with Felix and ESPN’s John Clayton praises the choice.

* Surely you’ve been wondering what Warren Sapp thinks about D-Mac going to the Raiders. Well, wonder no more…according to this interview with Michael Silver, he wholeheartedly approves, calling the match “a perfect fit”.

* More from Don Banks: he pegs the McFadden vs Bush vs Fargas running back situation in Oakland as one of the top training camp battles to watch.

* Several undrafted Razorbacks were invited to various training camps. Tom Murphy has the latest on Robert Felton, Michael Grant, Matteral Richardson, Weston Dacus and more.

* What does Wally think about all this? Here’s his breakdown of the draft.

In the days leading up to the NFL draft, I posted a couple of rants about why I didn’t think Oakland was the best place for Darren McFadden to wind up…I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 12 years now and have seen numerous good players get swallowed up by the disfunction that surrounds every aspect of the Raiders, never to be heard from again. As great as D-Dawg undoubtedly is, he’s not immune to that possibility.

But, after the pick was made, I have to admit that I started feeling pretty excited that he’ll be playing for my local team. After all, I live roughly 1,837 miles from Fayetteville (according to Google Maps), so I’ve never seen him play in person…I expect that to change this fall. And, it will be certainly easier to follow his progress in the pros when his every move is covered by the paper I read every day anyway.

So that’s what I think. What about McFadden himself? Well, in a conference call with local media, he said pretty much all the right things, including this:

It’s going to be very important for me to carry on a tradition. You never want to ruin a tradition, you always want to carry it on. I love the Raider Nation, they’re very passionate about the Raiders so I’m looking forward to getting out and playing for them.

The full transcript is also worth a read if you want more details. I’m sure you’re also wondering if D-Mac will be able to afford living in the notoriously expensive Bay Area. The good news is that I think he’ll be be able to scrape by and get a place with enough guest rooms for all his brothers and sisters:

Arkansas running back Darren McFadden is by far the most dynamic offensive player coming out of college. As such, he will command a six-year deal worth at least $50 million with no less than $20 million in guarantees.

In other words, if Darren and I ever cross paths at a local piano bar, he’s buying. More thoughts on the draft coming soon…

I expect the Rapture to begin any second now. Or a meteor to smash into Earth. Or maybe the Cubs will finally win the World Series.

What has me feeling this way? The Atlanta Hawks — sporting the worst record of any of this year’s NBA playoff teams and arguably the most pitiful professional sports franchise over the last decade — beat top-seeded Boston last night, 97-92, to even their first-round series against the Celtics at two games apiece. Boston won 66 games during the regular season, the Hawks 37.

What does this have to do with a Razorback blog? Well, former Hog and current Hawk Joe Johnson had the game of his life last night, scoring 35 points — including 20 in the fourth quarter, when he looked virtually unstoppable and uncorked several Jordanesque drives to the basket.

I live in Atlanta, and the sports-talk-radio rap on Joe is that he is an immensely talented player who doesn’t have enough alpha male in him to be The Man in crunch time. For one night, at least, it was nice to see him prove his critics wrong.

We’re very excited to announce a new addition to our team of expert correspondents: the Hog Blogger. After more than a year of writing pretty much our favorite Razorback blog out there, the sorely missed thehogblogger.com, he abruptly dropped out of the public eye. Rumors abounded that he had moved to Oxford to become Houston Nutt’s personal biographer, but we were able to lure him back into the fold with a generous benefits package, including stock options and a full health plan. At any rate, the Razorback blogosphere has sorely missed his sharp wit, so without further ado, here’s his eyewitness report on Saturday’s Red-White game:

The guys at the Expats are terrible, lazy Razorback fans, so for your Spring Game coverage, they’ve foolishly outsourced, employing me — the now-defunct Hog Blogger — to give my take on what I witnessed at Razorback Stadium Saturday night.

I had been unable to see much of the Hogs’ new offense before Saturday, but after the first two series, I realized something.

I’m pretty sure I could have thrown for 300 yards in that game.

That’s not a knock on Casey Dick. I mean no disrespect to the mustachioed Willy Robinson’s defense, either.

That statement is a testament to the offensive genius that is Bobby Petrino. All the highlights, all the hype — believe what you’ve seen and heard. It’s going to happen in Fayetteville for as long as he’s here. Sure, this team will lose it’s fair share of games this year, maybe next year, and who knows after that.

For all of his past failures, I noticed something different about Dick on Saturday. He was having fun, perhaps for the first time since high school. He was making playing quarterback look easy. Tight window over the middle? Dick hit it. Quick nine-yard out? Dick hit it. Streaking receiver over the top? Dick hit him. Running back in the flat? Dick hit him too, in stride, no less.

The thing is, playing quarterback for Bobby Petrino maybe is just that easy. Something tells me Stefan LeFors might agree. (You may have to look that one up.)

Could the Hogs turn into a signature Big East, “Score 40, give up 50” team? It’s possible. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather watch the Hogs lose like that than do it by scoring three points at home against Auburn (twice in four years, I might add.)

I don’t know if these Hogs will be terrible, mediocre, or dominant this year. It’s too early to think about guessing. There’s one thing I’m sure of, though. Whatever they do, it’s going to be fun to watch.

Of course winning is “important,” but honestly, that’s all I really want when I watch the Hogs.