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Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/22/03

12/22/03
by John C. Thomas
Big Joe is on vacation this week, but he left the keys to his column on his desk, so I thought I’d take it out for a spin. Let’s see how fast this baby can go!

Down here in the South (it’s capitalized, you know), the state universities are about the only antebellum institutions that have survived almost completely intact in the 142 overwrought years since the region first decided it was too different to be America. But now, except for the twang and balmy weather, there’s not a lot here besides the beloved state universities that ol’ Johnny Reb would recognize. So the state-run higher education outlets of the South hold a special meaning here, and their performance on the gridiron or hardwood is routinely mingled with more serious barometers of state pride.

About 5% of the vanity license plates in Arkansas feature the razorback hog. There is no front license plate required in the state, so about 20% of the cars feature some sort of Razorbacks front license plate. Some cars here have a Razorback hog decal on the side of their doors-- yes, on the side of the door, as if it was a university-owned vehicle. Other vehicles fly razorback flags. Every Arkansas football game and most of the men’s basketball games are on television. The women’s basketball games are carried on a 100,000-watt flagship station and on four other stations throughout the state.

Meanwhile, the state’s three other Division I programs-- Arkansas State, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff-- muddle through a lot like Loyola, with the exception being that every once in a while state lawmakers are shamed into voting more money to support those sports programs.

In 1962, Houston won a Major League Baseball expansion franchise, which was the first of its kind in any major sport south of the line from Kansas City to St. Louis to Washington, DC. In 1966, the Milwaukee Braves relocated to Atlanta, lured by “New South” boosters.

And yet, the Southeastern Conference (in which Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Tennessee, Florida, Tulane, and Vanderbilt were members at the time) recruited its first African-American basketball player in 1966 (at Vanderbilt). The last holdout, Mississippi State, recruited their first black hoop player in 1972-73-- a full decade after their first game against an integrated team: Loyola in the 1963 NCAA Tournament.

Here in Arkansas (a member of the Southwest Conference at the time), conditions were pretty much the same. The first black player to appear in a Southwest Conference game, Baylor’s John Westbrook, answered the whistle in 1966. And everyone knows what happened at Central High School in 1957-- now a Civil Rights museum about ¾ of a mile from where I’m writing this.

The combination of history (both admirable and ugly), lack of competition from professional franchises, and state pride all combine to drive a machine that makes southern state schools quasi-professional outlets. Yes, the same conditions exist in the north, but not to the extent it does down here. Naysayers or uninterested parties are ostracized here, as if you’re spitting on the state flag.

What it does to college sports is to raise the stakes so much that a set hierarchy of teams funded by state money are competing on a quasi-professional level, and the entire endeavor loses its meaning completely. Just recently, the University of Arkansas Trustees voted to accept classes with a grade of “D” for transfer students, overruling the academic council. The decision was motivated by a request from the athletics department, who’s looking to recruit some talented jucos. Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let put football fans in charge of academics!

Although Loyola will almost assuredly never return as a dominant force in college hoops under these circumstances, I think we can all appreciate the fact that our moment in the sun in the early Sixties was a lot more noble, genuine, and historic than anything a “D” student transfer does on the offensive line at Arkansas next year.

P.S. Merry Christmas!

Previous Columns:

Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/15/03
Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/08/03
Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 12/01/03
Big Joe's Two Shots and the Ball - 11/24/03