Anyone driving out past the high school the past few days couldn’t help but notice the activity taking place on the athletic practice field.

It’s pre-season football time and Tony Travis’ 2010 edition of the Pea Ridge Blackhawks is currently in production. In spite of the heat and humidity, the numbers have been good and enthusiasm is running high.

Following 1-9 and 2-8 seasons, the turnout and pride developing among the boys who are foregoing the remainder of their summer vacation is heartening.

If the ’Hawks are to return Pea Ridge football to the level of success that it has attained in the past, it will require quite a bit of work and sacrifice. It will also require a lot of patience and support on the part of the fans if this trek towards success can keep on track.

If fans can recall last season, Decatur had to cancel its whole season when lackadaisical support from the Bulldog athletes left them short of enough players to have a season.

There were enough players available, but with a significant portion of prospective athletes opting to wait to go out when the weather was a little nicer, the number of players that were committed to do what it took was just too small.

Fortunately, we don’t have that kind of problem here although, it is true enough that we would have more players on the high school team if only there was a little less practicing or working out. Success, however, has a price. The price you pay may not be returned to you this year or maybe even the next but it will be repaid.

Hogs heating up as well

Anyone reading the various outlooks for the Arkansas Razorbacks upcoming season can’t help but notice the excitement seemingly oozing from the pages of sports magazines and sports reports. It wasn’t just a couple of years ago that the Hogs were coming off a losing season with some pundits wondering whether new coach Bobby Petrino was the right man for the job or not. They came close to losing to some average mid-level teams that year and I can remember the fans consternation.

At the time, Coach Petrino remarked that there weren’t enough Hogs that had paid the price to be successful, and he questioned some players’ commitment to the game.

The last few years under their former coach, the Razorback players had indeed developed lazy practice habits and were becominga bit of a scandal machine with their “off the field” behavior. It was obvious that there weren’t enough players truly sold on the team concept of football.

After observing the Hogs first week of fall practice, a lot of former Hogs were marveling over the increased speed and quickness displayed by the ’10 Razorbacks. Arkansas today boasts bigger, faster, tougher players with a lot deeper roster than it did just two short years ago.

Some of these potential stars are newer recruits, but a lot of them are upper classmen who have changed their habits and mental approach to match up with what is now expected of them.

With the 2010 schedule the Hogs have, they have a clear path to a possible national title. They are starting the season in the top 20 ranked teams and they will probably play a half-dozen top 25 teams before it is all over. After a couple of lesser opponents to start the season, they go to Georgia to play the Bulldogs in a crucial showdown. The ’Dogs are ranked in a similar position as the Hogs and a road victory over Georgia before the game with defending national champion Alabama the following week could set the stage for Arkansas to rocket into the top 5. If they can best LSU and Auburn, also highly ranked teams, Arkansas could win the SEC West and play an unbeaten Florida team for the overall title. Florida has a favorable schedule in an unusually weak SEC East this season. If Arkansas can take down Alabama, Florida could conceivably be the top ranked team in the nation by the time the SEC Championship game is played.

As has become the norm the past few years, whoever wins the SEC Championship game will get a shot at the BCS National Championship game in January.

Hopefully, this will be the year of the Hog.

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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.

Sports, Pages 8 on 08/18/2010