The new year is looking good now

The year 2012 is looking good, as least from my vantage point as a Blackhawk/razorback fan. Coming off a long-building back problem which culminated in a spinal fusion, I am looking for 2012 to be also much better for me personally than the preceding few years.

The new indoor arena will be nothing short of a boon to the ’Hawk football team which will go into the fall with a seasoned seniordominated lineup. Facilities do matter as the ascent of Shiloh High after the All-star Arena was built in their back yard.

With the baseball and softball teams getting to use the new building, both squads could be miles ahead of where they might ordinarily be if forced to go outside in times past in bad weather. However good either team might be, the new spaces will only enhance.

With the recent state championship performance by the Blackhawk cheer squad, it hadn’t occured to me the great value the new digs would be to their activity. Wide open spaces with soft turf offers loads of advantages.

The new place will even benefit local basketball teams as the roundball gyms won’t be taken up sharing time with a variety of other sports. The elementary/middle school basketball fortunes have been steadily rising ever since practice time for the Little ’Hawks has become more and more available.

It’s a great time to be a ’Hawk and a ’Hawk fan. mark with both losses coming up against teams that were ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, the two teams that played this week for the national championship.

Had the Hogs beaten either Alabama or LSU, they would have been in the national championship game this season. That is closer than the huge majority of teams ever come.

The Razorbacks’ win on a Friday night with no other game on TV led to millions of folks seeing a team they may not have had much knowledge of. More importantly, all those possible recruits the Hogs are chasing may well be persuaded to cast their lot with the Razorbacks.

It is more than likely that Arkansas will be ranked rather highly when the preseason polls come out this fall. While several top players are graduating, Petrino’s crew have been pretty good at getting what they need in the way of new recruits. throughout against the team that has been a concensus pick to be the best of the western division SEC teams.

Of course, this year there is no Western Division of the SEC in men’s basketball as it was decided to have all 12 teams in one division, with a 14-team league next year. Personally, I think it was an insane action for the following reasons.

Before this year, each team had a home and home situation with each team of their division opponents along with a single game against the six schools of the other division for a total of 16 games. To be absolutely fair, each team in the SEC ought to have a home and home with the other 11 (13 next year) but that takes up a lot more games and limits their non-conference games. So every team’s schedule won’t be the same with regards to schedule strength. SEC championships might be won or lost because of ease of scheduling or lack therof. It oughta change back.

The Hogs were picked near the bottom (some had them at THE bottom) this year after having several players jump ship after others graduated. Anderson started the season with very little experiences albeit a pretty good class of freshmen. Anderson’s brand of basketball, the only kind that I really like, is to play fierce defense, lightning offense, which requires a huge amount of running.

Up until this week, the Hogs have played kinda eratically but they were on their game Saturday. By the middle of the second half, the Bulldogs were sucking air and the the Hogs were just running rings around them. If this kind of improvement keeps going, they may well be a threat to get into the NCAA championships this season. The game attendence has been steadily rising this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the later contests this year reach sellout status. the Broncos were given no chance to win the wildcard playoff game against the superior Pittsburg Steelers. The announcers were sure that the Steelers were going to win, especially after they had tied the score and with Pittsburg within field goal range in the final minute. Then the oddest thing happened. The Broncos got through to sack the quarterback three times in a row to take the Steelers out of field goal range and to force a sudden death playoff.

The Broncos had the ball first and on the first play, Tebow threw a pass for 80 yards and the winning touchdown. The overtime lasted 11 seconds, an NFL record. A miracle?

••• Editor’s note: John Mcgee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.