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OPINION | WALLY HALL: Petrino has paid for his transgressions at UA

Some are curious about the sort of reception Bobby Petrino will receive Saturday when he brings Missouri State to Conway to play the University of Central Arkansas.

More than likely it won't be any different than any other coach whose intention is to get a win in Conway.

First, UCA fans probably don't give a day-old cheeseburger about what Petrino did when he was the head coach of the University of Arkansas.

They are about their Bears, and they should be.

Secondly, it was just a little more than a year ago when Petrino took the stage in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and almost broke down emotionally.

"I've had a lot of people ask me about it, and I wanted to be able to come here and to apologize to everybody, the fans, the players, and truly tell you how sorry I am for the way it ended," Petrino said while getting choked up. "But I also wanted to come here to thank you for everything the people in this room, in this state, did for me and my family. You were great to us. You are a special, special group. Special crowd. You don't really understand how much of an effect you have on players and their families."

He choked up while saying that.

Montana cowboys don't choke up, and Petrino is a Montana cowboy, tough to the core. Those guys get thrown during a rodeo, wrap up a broken arm with duct tape and get back in line for their next ride.

The day Petrino apologized, there were few if any skeptics among the witnesses.

To further emphasize how much it meant to him, he paid for his own way to Little Rock on a commercial airline, turning down a free private plane offer from a friend. He also accepted no speaking fee.

There is no sense in rerunning the old tape of Petrino getting fired. There was a motorcycle wreck, a female employee, and he lost his job at a program he built into a national powerhouse.

Petrino was 34-17 as the Razorbacks head coach for four years, but he was 21-5 in his last two seasons, both ending with the Hogs ranked in the top 10 after appearances in the Sugar and Cotton bowls.

Since he left, the Razorbacks are 37-62.

Football aside, Petrino has sincerely apologized.

He obviously found out too late that this is one of the greatest states in the country, especially if you are the head coach of the Razorbacks.

Now, he's the head coach of the Missouri State Bears, and he's paid dearly for his mistakes.

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The Pac-12 has seemed to lack leadership through the pandemic crisis.

The conference, which is part of the Power 5, seem to have been disregarded by fans nationwide.

Now comes the story of Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott laying off or furloughing 94 employees, but not before paying out $4 million in bonuses, which included $2.5 million to himself.

Some of the bonuses went to people who didn't lose their jobs.

So instead of severance packages for those who were laid off and live in one of the most expensive areas of the country, Scott padded his bank account.

Rumors are rampant that it will be his last bonus, and he may not have many paychecks from the Pac-12 in his future.

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Authentic went wire to wire to win the Kentucky Derby, beating sentimental and betting favorite Tiz the Law, winner of the Belmont Stakes.

Authentic has been made the favorite for the final leg of the Triple Crown on Oct. 3, the Preakness, by sportsbetting.com.

Art Collector is second and Thousand Words third as Tiz the Law is skipping the Preakness, most likely to focus on the Breeder's Cup and a rematch with Authentic.

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