April 2007 Archives

When I heard the news that Dana had changed his mind and was returning to Creighton as the head coach, two thoughts came to mind:

1) THANK GOD

2) He is going to be ripped to shreds by the national media

After hearing him at his press conference on Wednesday, and later on Matt Perrault's show on 590, the Arkansas story began to crystallize. He put money and prestige above being loved and appreciated. He rushed into a decision to take a high-profile job, letting his ego overrule his heart. Then just hours after accepting the job, he realized he'd made a horrible mistake.

So he reconsidered his decision and decided he had to take a mulligan. Knowing full well he was trashing his reputation, at least short-term, and prepared for the inevitable media assault, he fixed his mistake.

Oh, Dana, you prankster. I didn't know you had it in you. Its always the quiet ones, isn't it? If you're going to pull just one April Fools joke in your adult life, you'd better pull out all the stops...and boy, did he ever!

The ruse: pretend to take the Arkansas head coaching job.

The co-conspirators: Arkansas AD Frank Broyles, Arkansas Chancellor John A. White, Dana's wife, his assistant coaches, Creighton AD Bruce Rasmussen, and Creighton president Fr. John Schlegal.

With that impressive and all-encompassing list of co-conspirators, its not hard to see how everyone from fans to media was duped and fell for the ruse. I mean, I usually never fall for these things, and I took the bait -- hook, line and sinker. What else am I supposed to believe when ESPN reports every five minutes on the bottom line that Dana Altman is the new Arkansas coach?

Right. You bet.

There were four jobs open this weekend that AD's were interviewing candidates for in Atlanta: Kentucky, Arkansas, Michigan and Iowa. Most people looked at this situation and figured Dana Altman was a candidate for one of those positions -- Iowa -- and I felt if they asked him, allowed him to bring along his assistants, and showed a commitment to win, he'd take the job. And the Hawkeyes did indeed talk to him on Sunday. Problem was, he'd already been talking to someone else for two days, and had reached an agreement in principal to leave Omaha.

Arkansas.

Arkansas?

Arkansas!

The Razorbacks are a better program than Iowa. They're probably the second best program, tradition-wise, in the SEC, and one of the 10 best jobs in the country. They're in the weaker SEC West away from Florida and Kentucky, the team is loaded for a deep tournament run next year, and its unquestionably a basketball-first school. Its also a job with tremendous pressure to win big. As my buddy John described it, they've won a National Championship in the last 20 years and they want to win another one.