Thursday’s thumbs

If the Hogs won, they deserve the biggest thumbs up

So, is it “the Arkansas Razorbacks are national champions” or wait until game 3 to find out? By now you know and, if Arkansans’ dreams came true, you’re still celebrating, but at the time editorial writers have to meet their deadlines, the Hogs were just getting warmed up in Omaha. We spent yesterday thinking a Wednesday evening seemed an appropriate day to crown a national champion.

Today’s thumbs can hardly start off with anything but an acknowledgement of the great time these diamond Hogs have delivered for Razorback fans, regardless of whether the College World Series wrapped up last night or continues on this evening. Dave Van Horn and Co. deserve accolades not just for this season, but for the program they have built up. And these players … wow … for anyone who has struggled with the concept of team, the 2018 version of the Razorbacks should be a prime example of what can happen when individual talents and attitudes are focused on a team mission. Thank you, Razorbacks.

But back to the task at hand, for which we are purposely all thumbs.

Federal agencies and the military get a sometimes well-deserved rap for their inertia. In plenty of instances, there’s slow, then there’s government slow. But once the Razorbacks made it to the College World Series championship games and the Oregon State Beavers earned their way in, too, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded quickly to a Twitter-driven push to rename Northwest Arkansas’ largest lake. For the duration of the games, Beaver Lake would be known as OmaHog Lake, the Corps decreed. We appreciate the spirit behind the gesture. Naturally, a few folks chimed in with “Well, what about …” gripes about other institutions deserving of such honors. To which we say, relax. The lake hasn’t undergone some major name-changing process requiring new signs, new maps and new letterhead. It’s all in good fun, and we appreciate the sense of humor involved. It’s not like it was renamed Ecclesia Lake, right? Although it wouldn’t be surprising if we learned one or two state lawmakers might have tried it.

There’s something about paying for recycling that sticks in the craw. After all, it’s an act of environmental benevolence, at least as long as the folks hauling away plastics, cardboard and paper live up to their end of the bargain. But 2018 has become a tumultuous year for cities and other organizations trying their best in the recycling of materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. Asia, most critically China, has clamped down on accepting waste from other places, and a lot of North America’s recycling materials were sold into that market previously. Recycling has never been about making money, but it’s tilting more toward losing money these days. The Bentonville School District, however, is stepping up. Schools have been without recycling services since last year, when the Benton County Solid Waste District ended its money-losing recycling pick-up program. The district, however, will return recycling services to its schools after agreeing to pay as much as $10,000 to a private hauler who will pick up bins regularly at the schools. Kudos to the school district. It only seems right that the adults of tomorrow have ample opportunity to pick up on recycling practices and, even better, an appreciation for reusing materials as much as possible. Maybe one of these young minds will develop the kinds of processes we need in this country to reduce our waste before it’s even made in the first place.

Here’s wishing the Rodeo of the Ozarks a great run as it continues through Saturday at Parsons Stadium in Springdale. It was great news to read the other day that Tyson Foods had again made a commitment to sponsor the rodeo, maintaining a relationship dating back to the 1940s. Some miscommunication apparently created a perception the food-producing giant had dropped its sponsorship, but a company spokesman said that was not the intention. The rodeo is rooted in Springdale tradition just like Tyson is. It’s good to see that partnership continuing.

Is anyone surprised that the U.S. House of Representatives’ GOP majority flubbed another try at immigration reform? The party’s leaders appear to have strong opinions about what they don’t want, but little in the way of what they do want and what will work for the future of the country. Here’s an idea: Let’s bolster our system of legal immigration to play an active role in selecting who gets in while letting more people come. The nation’s immigration system offers little hope these days, and it should if it is going to work. If there is no hope within the United States’ legal immigration system, there’s going to be little hope illegal immigration will end.

Does anyone remember a guy named Chad Morris who is coaching a sport that’s not baseball up on the hill at the University of Arkansas? Football, maybe? Even the football Hogs have never had a lake named for them, right? In any case, word came the other day that Morris and the UA had finalized the contract for the first-year head coach. It’s always great to head into an athletic season with the head coach worrying just about what’s happening on the field, not whether all the paperwork is sewn up.