On May 11, the Red Wolves baseball team will take the bus trip to Fayetteville to meet the Razorbacks on their opulent home diamond. It will be the first time ever that these programs meet, and it’s about time.
Nine consecutive wins after a brutal loss to UAPB, Matt Daniels is making his case.
Here’s one thing I’ve observed over twenty years of checking in on the sports universe: making war with fans is futile and self-destructive. Fans may be dicks. They might be armchair athletes. They may even post unflattering blog posts, but Fans rule with an We’re #1 Foam-Finger Fist. Provoke them at your own peril.
There is literally nothing to watch: no exciting three-point marksman, no thunder-dunker, no ball-handling wizardry, no clairvoyant teamwork, no selfless defense. The biggest statistical talking point for this team? It gets to the free throw line. In the final minutes against ULM, when the Red Wolves really needed the free throws, Arkansas State was all brick.
After all, one of the things that actually worked for the Red Wolves in 2020 was the offense. In Heckendorf’s two years running the offense, A-State total offensive has ranked 26th and 33rd in the nation. In 2020, the Red Wolves ranked second in the nation for passing. This is with an offensive line that hasn’t really dominated and established a run game.
The Glory Days Conference has no divisions. They just randomly play each other, with each pointing to a victory over the other as ironclad proof of its Playoffs legitimacy. We’ll name somebody ridiculous to be conference commissioner – like Mack Brown. Design of the logo will bear a distinctly 1990s feel. As a preemptive action, we’ll secure separate TV rights for each team instead of a conference channel, because, you know, Texas.
For the first time since 2014, the Arkansas State Red Wolves will start the season with a new […]
Because we’re SBC, baby. Stronger the CUSA. Better than the MAC. More relevant than the Mountain West. Less pompous than the American. And masters of the Big 12. We have Chris Vannini , Nicole Auerbach, and The Athletic singing our praises. The Sun Belt has never pulsed brighter.
The Sun Belt has shed its stepping stone reputation. Let’s not go total Mike Aresco here – top talent won’t end a career in the SBC. But we’re no longer a coach-in-training conference. We’re a portal to big gigs and Top 25 recognition.
Theres more – or rather, there’s less. Arkansas State hasn’t had an NBA draft pick since 2002, when 7-footer Jason Jennings went 43rd to the Trailblazers (he took a job in Europe instead). A-State’s biggest claim to fame is the documentary Hoop Dreams which nobody has rented since Hastings went out of business. There’s just no juice in Jonesboro.
Howl Raiser 