Random stuff for today…

Heroes

Tonight, after a few months of waiting, Heroes returns with the season 2 premiere. I really enjoyed the first season, and am looking forward to the next chapter of the series. With Lost not returning until after the new year, and the USA series’ I watch - Monk, Psyche and Burn Notice - having finished their summer seasons, Heroes is pretty much it for me right now as far as TV goes.

I’d say that my favorite characters of season one were Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and, despite being the “villain”, Gabriel Gray, aka Sylar (Zachary Quinto). I also liked Masi Oka’s Hiro and his sidekick Ando, perhaps because they often reminded me of a couple of good friends of mine from college who also happened to be from Japan. There are a number of new cast members to be introduced this season as well. The DVR is set, so I’m ready for season 2 to kick off tonight.

Remedy

The new David Crowder Band album due in stores tomorrow, titled Remedy. Their last full album A Collision was one of the best albums of this decade, IMO, and I’m anxiously waiting to acquire their newest tomorrow.

Football

You often see, in the world of sports, a player or players benched because they aren’t getting the job done. There’s usually a backup player who then comes in and attempts to do what the starting player was unable to do.

This is what Arkansas needs right now. Not additional players - they have players - but coaches. They need a second team of coaches. The first team needs to be benched and allow someone else to give it a shot.

I am listening to local talk radio all day today in order to see what I’ll hear, but considering the poor coaching of the last two weeks and the arrest of Michael Smith on Sunday, I believe even those who have been defending Houston Nutt and his staff over the last few years will have little to no defense for them. I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt over the last few years, but I think the calls for Nutt to be shown the door out of Fayetteville will be louder than ever this week, and will be made by more people than ever. Even people who have supported him are starting to say it’s time for him to go. I’m inclined to think that, this time, those voices just may be heard and the Nutt era could end at season’s end.

I was discussing this with some folks from my church at lunch yesterday, and I mentioned that - if this comes to pass - Arkansas could find themselves in a similar situation as they did when searching for a basketball coach earlier this year. Kentucky - perhaps the best college basketball job out there - was also searching for a coach. They ended up with Arkansas’ top choice (although I think Arkansas ended up with a great young coach in John Pelphrey nevertheless, and am looking forward to seeing what he does with the Hogs this winter.)

If - as is also suspected - Lloyd Carr were to end up being relieved of his duties at Michigan, and Les Miles were to leave LSU for his alma mater and replace Carr - Arkansas would again have to deal with competing with a program that will likely get their first choice among available coaches. Odds are that anyone out there seeking an SEC job would go to LSU before Arkansas. Many seemed to think the Hogs could have had a shot at Butch Davis last year - which may or may not be true - but the way things are looking now, it’s a shame they didn’t try.

Of course, that’s all just speculation for now. Arkansas could still end up 9-3 this year - all of their games are winnable with the probable exception of LSU. And obviously I hope to see them do it despite the downside - that it might give this coaching staff another year. However, I think there will have to be a lot of changes and/or improvements to come close to 9-3 at this point.

Shaun

And, finally, how can you not love Shaun the Sheep?