Links to get your week started right:

* A Kentucky fan rates the home court advantage afforded by the various SEC basketball arenas. The best quote: “Arkansas fans rule”. Aw shucks, now we’re blushing. Anyway, if you’re curious as to where he ranks Bud Walton, I’ll keep you in suspense a little longer…your answer is right here.

* A few weeks ago I noted the running joke on the Chicago Bears’ message board about Marcus Monk being an all-powerful super being. Well, the fun continues as Bears fans speculate on how Monk would fare in the high-stakes world of competitive eating.

* “The Return of Hope in 2008″ - the new Barack Obama campaign slogan? A marketing campaign for the Watermelon City? Nope, it’s the title of a Bleacher Report blog post by an Ole Miss fan. In case you’re wondering what exactly that cause for hope is, here’s a sample quote:

“Win or lose, they will leave it all on the field. They will play intelligently and soundly. They will execute. They will understand the fundamental elements of the game. And their leader’s decision making will serve as a strength, rather than a handicap.”

* This is officially ancient history (2007), but I just stumbled across a link that’s too hilarious not to share. Apparently, back during his freewheeling cell phone days, Nutt accidentally dialed the wrong number of some lady in North Carolina a couple of times. Then, when the number was published as part of that FOIA mess, some psycho Hog fans began calling her at all hours of the day (and night). I can only imagine how confusing all that must have been for her.

* The Sporting News college football preview is out and, for what it’s worth, they rank the Nutt the 4th best new hire and Bobby Petrino the 5th best. A more interesting list would have been if they’d shown us where all the other potential Arkansas hires would have ranked…what about Jim Grobe? Tommy Tuberville? Tommy Bowden??

Hmm…lots of Houston Nutt content in this hodge podge. I didn’t plan it that way, but something tells me that he’ll be the source of much blog fodder for many months to come.

A few months back, to track down art for our interview with Eugene Nash, we flipped through a copy of the 1981-82 Razorback basketball media guide. Doing so proved to be a powerful walk down memory lane, as we were re-introduced to players who meant so much to us when we were kids.

Doing so also proved to be a powerful reminder of the sheer dudeness of Greg Skulman, a 6′5″ reserve forward from Ozark who was a senior that year. (Above is Skulman’s “street clothes” shot from the guide - love the Adidas t-shirt in the background.)

The feathery hair, the mustache that would surely command the respect of Chuck Dovish, the unbuttoned shirt and outgrowth of chest hair … he doesn’t look like a college basketball player as much as he does a sergeant in a late ’70s/early ’80s TV cop drama or a member of Grand Funk Railroad.

Since we only started following the Hogs around the time that Skulman was on the team, we can’t claim the following statement will withstand the scrutiny of those more well-versed in the history of the program (Whit, we’re looking in your direction), but, nevertheless, here it is: For our money, Razorback basketball has never produced a more dudelier dude than Greg Skulman.

If someone wants to argue otherwise, by all means, do so. The floor is yours.

Kind of a quiet milestone yesterday…after 23 years, Nolan Richardson’s business relationship with the University of Arkansas is over. His buyout period has ended and the university has stopped the alimony payments concluded its contractual obligations. Definitely not the way he should have gone out.

Nolan, whenever you’re ready to give a wide-ranging and insightful interview about your life as Razorback coach, just contact us at razorbackexpats at yahoo dot com. We’ll be waiting for your email.

Anyway, in honor of the occasion, here are a couple of other basketball-related tidbits:

* Yesterday was also Chancellor John White’s last day at the university, and in an interview with the AP he related that legendary Arkansas coach Dana Altman had “buyer’s remorse” from the get-go. Our thought: Altman never lost a game during his Razorback tenure…how could White let an undefeated coach slip away like that??

* Nolan’s name came up on the blog of former NBA coach Eric Musselman yesterday (btw, Musselman’s blog is quite interesting if you’re a bball fan…perhaps not as Pulitzer-worthy as this one, but still well worth reading): he cites Nolan’s time with the Panamanian and Mexican national teams as an example of a coach’s passion, and has a nice quote about Nolan’s underdog spirit.

By way of Chicago, Sonny Weems has landed in Denver. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of time today to bore you with our commentary. Instead, here’s a brief round-up of media reports:

• Denver Post: Arkansas swingman Weems acquired for second rounder.

• Rocky Mountain News: Trade news ‘world class’ athletic talent for Nuggets.

• Northwest Arkansas Times: Weems drafted, traded.

• The Morning News: Weems drafted by Bulls, traded to Nuggets.

• Associated Press: Weems drafted No. 39 by Bulls, shipped to Denver.

• Hoopsworld.com: Nuggets make draft night deal.

Quick plug: According to our friends over at Razorbloggers.net, this week marks the end of the 2008 “fiscal year” for Razorback sports. Accordingly, they are marking the event in two ways: transferring their revenues to offshore entities to avoid paying their fair share of taxes (just kidding) and counting down the five best Razorback games of the past 12 months (not kidding). So, head on over and enjoy the good memories. They’re set to unveil the top of the list today. Gee, any guesses as to what that game will be?

In honor of tonight’s NBA Draft, we present the image below, which captures perhaps the greatest moment in the event’s history. OSHA regulations mandate that you put on sunglasses before looking. Otherwise, severe burning of the retina may occur.

Mike Miller of MSNBC.com’s Beyond the Arc college basketball blog is counting down the all-time great programs, and he’s placed the Razorbacks at No. 17 on the list.

A couple of things please us about this list. First off, after they’ve filled much of the past decade with mediocre-to-crappy seasons, the fact that the Hogs are even on the list at all is nice; secondly, Miller has given us some bragging rights over Texas.

Here’s part of what he had to say about Razorback hoops:

“They don’t excel in any one area, but they don’t lag behind anyone either, which is the main reason the Hogs are in the top 20. If not for the dropoff in the last 10 years, they’d be higher.

Still, when it comes to college basketball, Arkansas has two things going for it that few other schools have:

* A true shining moment from the Big Dance in Scotty Thurman’s rainbow 3-pointer over Duke’s Tony Lang that sealed the school’s lone NCAA title.

* A jaw-dropping Sports Illustrated cover of a ready-to-throw-down-a-rim-rattling-dunk Sidney Moncreif [sic] that helped introduce Arkansas hoops to the rest of the world.

The rest of the college basketball world should be so lucky.”

At first, we were choked with outrage that Miller misspelled Sir Sid’s last name. But later we saw that he had the abundant good sense to link to and compliment Whit E. Knight’s magnum opus - the three-parter on the 1978 Final Four team that ran on this site earlier this spring - and we had to sheepishly tell the angry, pitchfork-wielding mob that we had gathered to go home.

Anyhoo, check out the list when you get a chance; No. 16 is slated to be revealed tomorrow.

Really, how could you even hope to defend against this? I feel a little sorry for #40 in this picture…he obviously drew the short straw in the locker room before the game.

I tried. I really did. But I just couldn’t do it: I couldn’t get into the NBA playoffs.

Not even with the retro appeal of this year’s Finals and one of my favorite athletes getting some well-deserved time in the sun. And not even with my adopted city’s team - with a former Hog as one of its star players - nearly pulling off an all-time upset of the eventual world champion.

I turned away from the NBA in the early part of the decade, when offense dried up and final scores seemed to regularly be something like 75 to 68. And despite the obvious rejuvenation of the game, I haven’t been able to re-engage. I don’t really know why: I’ll leave that up to our staff psychologist.

Whatever the cause, my current apathy stands in stark contrast to my attitude in the 1980s and 1990s. Back then, I was an NBA fanatic. And I was never more absorbed by pro basketball than I was during the epic, seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal showdown between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks in 1994.

This one had it all: two teams that despised each other, fourth-quarter comebacks, a good old-fashioned brawl, last-second heroics, a questionable game-deciding call and the in-game mental meltdown of a star player. Even before all of that happened, the series’ storylines were wildly compelling.

(Read on …)

December Madness? According to Brandon Marcello of The Slophouse, John Pelphrey is trying to schedule an early-season invitational that would take place next season in Bud Walton. Sounds like a cool idea, although let’s hope it turns out better for the Hogs than did the last regular-season tournament held in Fayetteville: the John Thompson Foundation Challenge Classic, which took place in November 2000.

The Razorbacks, sporting the talents of one Joe Johnson and ranked 15th in the nation, lost to Southern Mississippi in the finals. Perhaps the guys were just distracted by the ongoing Florida recount.

Peering into the Future. In the June 2008 issue of Pravda Hawgs Illustrated, Harry King does his best Nostradamus impersonation and unfurls his game-by-game prediction of the 2008 Razorback football season. The bad news? A 5-7 record. The good news? No humilating bowl loss.

The wins: Western Illinois, Louisiana-Monroe, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Tulsa. The losses: Texas, Alabama, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi State and LSU.

Before you dismiss his prognostications, you should know that King correctly predicted last year’s regular season record (8-4), although, as he’s quick to point out, he erroneously predicted the Hogs to beat Kentucky and lose to LSU.

Do not doubt Harry King. Stronger people than you have - and been destroyed as a result.

One on One. Bobby Petrino recently sat down for a Q&A with ArkansasSports360’s Chris Bahn; to listen to the interview, click here.

The Pride of Little Rock. Please excuse the non-Razorback item, but here’s a nice article on Los Angeles Lakers guard and Little Rock native Derek Fisher. We here at RazorbackExpats can’t think of an athlete that we admire more than Fisher, and we have been known to gab about the following “What If?” scenario: What if he had been a member of those wonderful mid-1990s Razorback teams?

In some ways, it’s not a terribly gripping discussion: After all, the Hogs did win the 1994 title without him. But, we can’t help but wonder if his off-the-charts leadership qualities might have helped combat the sluggish and unfocused play that frequently plagued the 1995 Hogs. Regardless, we would have loved to have seen a backcourt of him and Corey Beck.

Other than both being known for their smooth flow at the mic and silky three point shots, Snoop Dogg and John Pelphrey wouldn’t seem to have that much in common. But, in today’s Recruiting Guy column Richard Davenport describes potential Razorback bball recruit Ekpe Udoh as being impressed in Pelphrey’s taste in music, describing him as “bobbing his head” while he listens to Snoop and other hip hop favorites.

Whether it’s enough to lure Udoh to Fayetteville or not, who knows, but that mental image kind of made my day.