Reveling in the moment for the Hogs and Wolves

Two former professional football coaches, following coaches who had not met the fan's expectations and connected with the state of Arkansas, will never forget the game their respective teams played last Saturday night. I'm of course talking about Steve Roberts and Bobby Petrino.

The former led his Red Wolves as they christened a new name and new era with a type of win all but alien to ASU fans…….a big time win over a big time name, Texas A&M.

Petrino, on the other hand, took a big time program which had been, with relative success, ensconced in a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust philosophy for at least the past two decades and gave them permission to fly…..and fly they did.

The two wins had some similarities---Both teams had to come back from deficits to record their wins: ASU was down by 11 points at the half and Arkansas had to score two Tds in the final eight minutes to gain their victory. Both teams were playing in games which were supposed to be lopsided: for Arkansas and Against ASU. Both teams had senior quarterbacks who took charge to lead their respective teams to victory.

The differences in the two wins are too numerous to list, but one difference which does which does jump out at me is what the two teams' fans expectations are now.

For the Wolves, the fan's expectations probably largely fall into four categories:

Overly optimistic- "Bring on Bama, they ain't nothing'."

Cautiously optimistic- "I can see eight, maybe nine wins. All of them are possible, but the Tide and Tigers. Memphis will be out for revenge after last year."

Cautiously pessimistic- "It was a great win, but we'll probably come down to earth pretty quick. I just hope we can break even."

Overly pessimistic-"Evan a gorilla can write his name if you give him enough pencils, paper and time. Pure luck and the odds of a big win finally falling their way nothing more. Besides, that team in College Station Saturday night wasn't the A&M I remember."

For the Hogs, the thinking is about in the same categories, I guess:

Overly optimistic- "Did you see that comeback? And Casey Dick, man, Nutt was a nut to never let him pass--or even run."

Cautiously optimistic- "At least we have another week to work things out before we have to go down to Austin. But then there's Bama and Florida and Aub……oh man."

Cautiously pessimistic- "If we can just get to the Kentucky game now worse than 2-4 we might be able to get another four wins and get to a bowl game. But, I don't know."

Overly pessimistic- "Anybody got Danny Ford's number? How about Jack Crowe?"

You know, that's the bad thing about sports, even after a win, you've only got a few minutes to revel in a victory before you have to start getting prepared for the next game and match. And at the end of the season, no matter what sport, there's only one set of fans who are really happy.

But, that's life, I guess. I also guess that that's why the old refrain of "Wait'll next year" will never die. Whether it's sports, politics or life in general, there's always hope, at least in the minds of some.

But, as usual, that's just my opinion this week, for what it's worth.