What's the common denominator in Washington politics and Razorback football?

What do Washington politics and Razorback sports have in common?

First is money, lots of money, maybe too much money. You could argue that Washington thinks in hundred billions and trillions, so there is no real comparison. But, the number of zeroes that follow the significant digits and how the money affects attitudes is what really matters. Don't be fooled by the actual money numbers, think relative to the effect on the population involved. The second thing in common is power. Money begets power and the combination of money and power brings the full focus of the news media to politics and sports which in turn keeps us informed of what is happening.

A tweet from the president can explode into a story for every type news source, and a potential Razorback football recruit can become a major news article if he has a positive visit to Fayetteville.

If we consider the amount of money that will be spent by the presidential candidates of both major political parties and where it will come from, we should be asking ourselves what we can do to have meaningful input into the process. Lobbyists and major corporations through various PACs actually have direct involvement in elections while we poor, simple but mainstream Americans answer questionnaires and send meaningful but small checks to feel involved. The wealthy friends of candidates and the political parties' deep pockets actually affect the decisions.

That is not too far removed from what we see in the two recent coaching changes at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. My focus is the head football position because of the dollars involved, but probably the other sports' coaches have similar situations. It is well known that football is the big money sport and some of the lesser attended events depend on the football revenue for their financial support.

Who actually pays the "buyout" for a coaching change such as we saw a couple of years ago for Bret Bielema and more recently when Chad Morris was fired? Both coaches' buyouts were reported to be in the $10 million neighborhood. To make a decision costing the program numbers of that magnitude someone -- or lots of someones -- must have very deep pockets. It appears from newspaper articles that former coach Bielema is actually still drawing, or owed, money from his years at the University and now the firing of Chad Morris will add to the financial commitment.

The Southeast Conference has an image of being one of the better paying conferences in the Big Five. Money seems to be no problem but winning is a very high priority. From all indications the sports related facilities in the University are among the best in the SEC -- and some sources say the United States. But, we still need a winning coach to keep the stands full and the money flowing into the program.

Everyone had great hopes when the coach from Southern Methodist University was named to replace Bielema two years ago. Chad Morris had a good career as a high school coach (169-38), a couple of years as a quarterback coach at a very successful football program (Clemson) and an average or mediocre career at SMU. Was he the right man for an SEC school needing to rebuild after the Bielema era? It appears not.

Who actually made the decision to bring Chad Morris to Fayetteville? We will not likely ever know. He recruited a high school quarterback from Texas for Arkansas but the recruit was also the grandson of U of A alumnus Jerry Jones and might have wanted to play at Arkansas even if he wasn't on a scholarship. (He might not even have a scholarship!) The future will have to reveal if Morris was a good recruiter and we may never know if he had hired a winning group of assistant coaches. We now wait for the next coach to be named and trust he will meet SEC winning standards.

The university sports program has a fund raising arm called the Razorback Foundation. Membership starts at a student rate of $35 per year or so. Membership varies up with numerous levels to the platinum level -- $20,000. I don't know who the platinum members are or even the student members, but the Foundation is apparently obligated to pay off the majority of the buyout for the ex-coaches. Would it be too big of a stretch to wonder if the many millionaires or billionaires in the Foundation have a lot to do with hiring and firing coaches?

Money certainly affects Washington and our flagship University. As citizens we can affect the elected officials from our state when we vote our choice at the polls. But, even though we may not have any input into athletics at the University, we can enjoy the success when all our sports teams are competitive in their fields of play. The University of Arkansas certainly has an impressive list of graduates in various fields which one can check out on the internet. From the world of sports to the business community and politics the University has a history of success.

As followers of sports programs, regardless of the specific event, we should be equally concerned that the coach build character into the members of the team. How they lead and develop the individual athletes should be important to us who watch the games and not just the won and lost record.

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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County and has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace.

Editorial on 12/04/2019