Sunday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that former Razorbacks Clint Stoerner, J. J. Jones, Chrys Chukwuma and Anthony Brown have received invitations to the newly formed All American Football League’s training camp in Tampa, Fla. The players received the invites after working out, along with more than 200 other hopefuls, for league officials on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Should any of the four make the grade at training camp, he will then be assigned to the roster of Arkansas’ yet-to-be named AAFL team, which will play in Little Rock. The season is scheduled to begin next spring.

The AAFL sounds like an interesting concept, and we certainly wish it well. But, I must admit that I often find it depressing to read about former Razorback football and basketball stars toiling in minor pro leagues years after their collegiate glory. I have to wonder if they are still chasing their dreams of playing in the NFL or the NBA - or if they just don’t know what to do with the rest of their lives.

I sort of hate to pile on to a situation that has already been thoroughly critiqued and criticized, but absolutely nothing about Tom Murphy’s article about Casey Dick in yesterday’s Democrat-Gazette gave me any confidence that the Hogs will even have a semblance of a passing game this year.

Of course, given the high talent level on defense, last year was probably the best window of opportunity to make a big splash with this current team. Not to bring up too many painful memories, but those last three losses were each easily winnable with a few key completions here and there (and this isn’t meant to single out Dick…I think blame should be shared between him, Mitch Mustain, Houston Nutt and Gus Malzahn, but that’s a different post).

So all this got me to thinking…what if we’d had a great QB from years past leading the team last year? Would anybody have been able to stop a dream backfield of Quinn Grovey plus McFadden and Jones? (next question: would they have needed to throw a single pass all season?)

My guess is probably not…in fact, I’ll be so bold as to say that the Hogs probably would have been national champs last year if Grovey had been quarterback. We probably would have done pretty damn well with Clint Stoerner, too. What do you think? If you had a time machine, which ex-Razorback would you bring back to play QB?

It’s official: the Hogs get no respect from AP voters (preseason ones, at least). A recent ESPN.com analysis has shown that the Hogs are the 4th most underrated team of the past decade in terms of the preseason poll not accurately reflecting the final standings. In the overrated column, it was pretty sweet to see Tennessee (#2) and Florida (#7) towards the top of the list.

Of course, if ESPN is publicly pointing out that we don’t get respect, does that mean we now are getting respect? I’m officially confused…

Razorback-related news to read while putting off those weekend chores:

* One lawsuit is dismissed, another begins. The circle of life.

* Former Razorback basketball star and current Denver Nuggets broadcaster Scott Hastings recently had an epiphany during a helicopter ride. He also says it may be time to point the white-hot glare of the media spotlight firmly on NBA officials.

* Click here and here for a look at how Arkansas and LSU are dragging two-a-days into the modern era.

* The Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 poll is out. USC is No. 1, the Hogs No. 21. I realize that by posing this question on a new blog with a limited audience, I may be inviting the massive sound of crickets chirping, but what’s your take on the Hogs’ ranking? Too high, too low, or just right?

A co-worker who happens to be a Stanford alum/big fan sent me a link to a really good ESPN.com article by Pat Forde that, although ostensibly about the fact that the SEC is the best football conference in the US (I hadn’t realized there was even a debate…I mean, really now), was mostly a look at the entirely different football cultures of the South and the West.

As a very happy Northern California resident of 11 years now, I can state wholeheartedly that his observations are true. There are many great things about where I live, but it’s hard not to miss the intensity of fall Saturdays in the South.

Lincoln-Douglas. Kennedy-Nixon. And now … Switzer-Johnson.

In case you haven’t heard, Fox has hired former Razorback Barry Switzer to appear on its Sunday morning NFL pre-game show. The broadcast will feature a “Coaches Corner” segment in which the ex-Dallas Cowboys coach will “debate” both pro and college football with his long-time rival, another former Razorback and ex-Cowboys coach: Jimmy Johnson.

“They’re like an old, bickering married couple,” Fox Sports President Ed Goren tells USA Today’s Michael McCarthy. “Any fan will be able to relate.”

Terry Bradshaw is slated to be the moderator. Bradshaw’s opening question? Strangely enough, our source tells us it will be this: “If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?”

away from Little Rock?

In a Q&A that appears in today’s Arkansas-Democrat Gazette, outgoing Athletic Director Frank Broyles addresses the rumor that the day-after-Thanksgiving game against LSU may one day move from Little Rock to Fayetteville. “I’ve told people that if I were to remain as athletic director I would not move the LSU game out of Little Rock,” he says. “I just told that to the stadium commission down there. I told them the rumor was out there, and I said that is not in my plans at all. If the new athletic director would ask me, I would tell him I think that would be a mistake.”

Many may accuse Broyles of growing senile, but I think he’s definitely got his wits about him on this issue. Little Rock deserves this game. Plus, I’m worried that all of the liquor stores within the three-mile radius surrounding War Memorial may go belly up without the every-other-year infusion of LSU fans into the area.

In one way, it’s kind of amazing to me that the location of this event has become anything approaching a big deal. In 1994, John and I, along with our group of friends, attended Little Rock’s first Thanksgiving weekend tussle between these two teams, and it was a thoroughly depressing affair. Both teams were firmly in the doldrums (the Tigers brought a 3-7 record into the game, the Hogs a 4-6 mark). Furthermore, the weather stunk (chilly and rainy), and this horrible human tragedy had taken place the night before. Add it all up, and Razorback fans were in a noticeably apathetic mood. If I recall correctly, we snagged tickets for something like $2 apiece. The only way the afternoon could have been bleaker is if there had been an Emily Dickinson poetry reading at halftime.

Almost needless to say, the Hogs got throttled (30-12). But the day was not a total waste: We got our photos in a Sports Illustrated article about the game. And that’s not because we were particularly close to the action: The crowd was so sparse that you could clearly see us sitting in the upper reaches of the end zone. Alas, it was our first and only appearance in the magazine.

The Battle for the Boot has come a long way, baby.

Rivals.com has ranked the top 10 college basketball teams of the 64-team NCAA Tournament era. Topping the list are the 1990 UNLV Rebels, who compiled a 35-5 record and stomped Duke 103-73 in an NCAA finals that bored the hell out of everyone outside of Las Vegas.

The 1994 national champion Arkansas Razorbacks are ranked No. 8 on the list. In the accompanying profile of the team, former Duke star Grant Hill gushes, “I remember watching the film of Arkansas as we prepared to play them and seeing all the weapons they had. You realized they could embarrass you. They were the kind of team that could blow you out.” Did I mention that I’ve always liked Grant Hill? (Of course, Arkansas did anything but embarrass the Blue Devils in that year’s tournament finals, as the two battled to the end, setting the stage for Scotty Thurman’s late-game heroics and the Razorbacks’ One Shining Moment.)

I didn’t leave the list feeling all fuzzy and gooey inside, though. Ranked one spot ahead of the Hogs is the team that foiled their attempt at back-to-back titles and a little slice of hoops history: the evil 1995 UCLA Bruins. Thurman, for one, doesn’t give his victorious opponent too much credit, telling Rivals.com, “If we had played our best ball, we would have won easy.”

Let go of your pain, Scotty - and when you do, let me know how you did it.

Ok, that’s a lie - we are superstitious, at least when it comes to the Razorbacks.

So when we see Darren McFadden on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as much as we know it’s a good thing for recruiting, his Heisman pursuit and the general perception of the program (not to mention our nerdy excitement over this sort of thing) we get a little nervous. After all, there is a famous cover jinx and we all know what happened right after the last time the Hogs were on the SI cover.

So let’s all enjoy the article and the attention, but be sure to keep some positive Razorback thoughts pointed in the right direction. And if D-Mac breaks his ankle climbing out of his enormous car, then we know who to blame.

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

Welcome to the inaugural post in a soon-to-be-regular series in which we dissect, analyze and critique the writings of everyone’s favorite sports editor.

August 14, 2007: “Not even McFadden can juke spotlight’s glare”

Primary Theme: Darren McFadden will really get a lot of media attention this year. Not exactly the boldest statement, but we can’t disagree.

Tell Us More: Felix Jones a likely candidate to go pro, too? Wally, don’t leave us hanging!

Choice Analogy: “Saying McFadden faces large expectations would be like saying LSU fans won’t be inviting Nick Saban to a crawfish fry anytime soon.”

Heartwarming Factor: 7/10. Wally isn’t afraid to tug at your heartstrings by conjuring up the image of a family reunion at the Heisman presentation.

Local Names Dropped: Mini Muhammed, Cookie & Graylon McFadden, Mickey Dean

God Watch: No holy references in this column. Maybe there’ll be a double whammy in the next one to make up for it.

Our Analysis: It contains some good information, but Wally slips into his bad habit of constructing a column out of several barely related trains of thought. For example, the first half that covers the media glare has only slight connection to the second half, in which Wally spins a few yarns about D-Mac’s early years and, after a few twists and turns, winds up on the feel-good note about the whole family being together at the Heisman ceremony. Overall though, not a bad effort.