Cost Hogs the game
I believe two critical coaching decisions on fourth down cost Arkansas a crucial win against LSU Saturday.
First quarter: Fourth and goal, Arkansas decided against a sure 3-point field goal (LSU's eventual margin of victory).
Third quarter: From its own 40-yard line, Arkansas went for a first down rather than punt. It was stopped. LSU easily scored its only touchdown of the game from this favorable field position.
Even though Arkansas played an outstanding game on defense without its starting quarterback, these two risky and unfortunate fourth-down coaching decisions likely cost the Razorbacks a much-needed win over a top 10 team in November. In such a physical and intense defensive game, the conservative textbook decisions of a seasoned coach (Holtz, Nutt, Petrino) were sorely missed.
KEVIN McCRAY
Little Rock
The value of our lives
I once was a pediatrician in Conway/Greenbrier and I traded it in for a much simpler life. I think I value life no matter the chromosome makeup, no matter their party affiliation.
My dominant heifer, Sweetie, died this week after a long life of at least 17 years. My wife Cathie states Sweetie was closer to 20 years. Sweetie was the leader of my small cow-calf herd and taught all my heifers and calves how to behave. My 4- to 5-year-old bull was distraught with her passing, trying to get her up and vocalizing sounds I have never heard from a bull as she struggled at the end. They were very close; he looked for her after we took her to her grave. She taught me that cows are many times smarter and loving than we give them credit.
It seems a shame that many of our animals are more humane with each of their own than we are with fellow humans. Two teens killed in North Little Rock this past week, at the University of Virginia there were three students killed, a recent hospital shooting in Arkansas resulted in one death, and in March Arkansas had one killed and 20-plus wounded, including many children.
To many people these lives are of no consequence. They value their pistols and ARs, guns which have no purpose except to kill another human. We blame this "crime wave" on Joe Biden, but it really is the ease and access of guns throughout our society. There are many good people with guns, but with a 5 to 20 percent rate of mental illness in our society, we are throwing a match into a gasoline fire. The deaths of our innocents will happen over and over until it happens to my/your family.
With our "superior" genetic makeup and all of our intelligence, it seems a pretty simple answer, but are we that selfish? Is shooting a gun geared to kill people and placing it in the hands of a mentally disturbed person worth the risk? Many countries with a much lower murder rate have answered that question. I love my grandchild. Do you?
ANDY CONNAUGHTON
Vilonia
Demand peace talks
How much is a billion dollars? Ripley's Believe it or Not says if you spent $1,000 a day it would take 2,740 years ( you read it right) to spend $1 billion.
With the proposed $37 billion in additional aid President Joe Biden is proposing for Ukraine, that country will have received more than $90 billion in U.S. aid, mostly military, for its war with Russia. That's more than Russia's entire military budget for one year.
I question if our money is being used wisely in Ukraine, which reportedly has a reputation as one of the most corrupt nations on Earth.
President Biden, however, is due credit for admitting it apparently was Ukraine's missiles and not Russia's which recently landed in Poland, allegedly killing two persons. The Ukraine president has denied the allegation and blamed Russia. I prefer to believe Biden.
Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine, but I believe if we are to avoid a nuclear war, we must demand that the United Nations call for an immediate ceasefire and then sit down at the peace table and try to settle their differences.
VERNON McDANIEL
Ozark