Stories by Wally Hall

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Anthony Lucas’ hire was win-win for Pulaski Academy When Anthony Lucas was a freshman at the University of Arkansas, his first media day was a year before he would play, because of redshirting. That day, though, Fitz Hill, who was the receivers coach ... May 22, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Harrison struck by case of Razorback fever HARRISON -- It was Sunday, and Saturday's rainstorms had cleared out some of the pollen. Even though the first stop on the One Razorback Roadshow wasn't until Monday, this city was showing signs of Ra... May 20, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: New York adds another blemish for Baffert It may not be the crowning blow, but it's significant. The New York Racing Association temporarily banned Bob Baffert from racing at its three big tracks -- Belmont, Saratoga and Aqueduct. Pending a... May 19, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Decision to run Rombauer racking up dough Except for Bob Baffert, Saturday's Preakness was like a fairy tale for Rombauer, and his owners, trainer and jockey. John and Diane Fradkin are small-time breeders from California with a couple of Ke... May 18, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Day about Baffert as Medina Spirit fades It wasn't supposed to be about Bob Baffert, but there was no way the 146th Preakness couldn't be about the trainer who was suspended by Churchill Downs after Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby and t... May 16, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Valuable lesson learned at 1983 Preakness I was in Baltimore for the Preakness in 1983. It had been raining for days, but the odds-on favorite Sunny’s Halo had some mudder breeding, so there wasn’t a lot of concern. Sunny’s Halo had won the... May 15, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Medina Spirit likely doesn't need Baffert There is no way Medina Spirit will be juiced for Saturday's Preakness. The winner of the Kentucky Derby, who later tested positive for a steroid, is under heavy scrutiny with pre-race testing, and al... May 13, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Saban's voice carries weight in Alabama Arkansas is doing great in spring sports but does not rank well nationally when it comes to vaccines against covid-19. At least the Natural State can point a finger at the greatest football state in ... May 12, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Baffert again in spotlight for wrong reasons For now, Bob Baffert is the winningest trainer in Kentucky Derby history with seven victories. He's also currently suspended from racing at Churchill Downs, and there's a huge cloud over him and his ... May 11, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Nothing wrong with Fisher's Bama assertion Spring sports are dominating the sports pages, as they should. But any time a football story shows up in May, it is going to get some discussion. That was the case last week when Texas A&M Coach ... May 9, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: SEC moving toward live football media days Got a questionnaire from the SEC office this week, as did about a 1,000 other journalists, asking if we would attend SEC Football Meetings in person this summer in Birmingham, Alabama. It also asked ... May 8, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Yurachek on road again to meet Hog fans Apparently it has nothing to do with the spring ritual of attending Razorback clubs all over the state. University of Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, football Coach Sam Pittman and Tusk V... May 6, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Rodgers just playing games with Packers Random thoughts while wondering why Arkansas has to be with Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi among the states slowest to get vaccinated against covid-19, which is still among us. News almost as big a... May 5, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Modest breeder has huge role in Derby win When it was first learned that a horse in the Kentucky Derby had sold as a yearling for $1,000 there were some initial thoughts: (A) The poor breeder who had to sell a horse that cheap. (B) The hors... May 4, 2021

Medina Spirit a big winner for small price Bob Baffert with a 12-1 horse is almost unheard of, but that's not as unlikely as a horse that sold for $1,000 as a yearling winning the Kentucky Derby. Fairy tales came true Saturday as Medina Spiri... May 2, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Kentucky Derby signifies return to normalcy Watching the early Kentucky Derby Day on NBCSN it was almost shocking to see how small 45,000 looks like in such a massive facility as Churchill Downs. Of course that is much better than a year ago w... May 1, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Good to see Derby back where it belongs With the Kentucky Derby moving back to the first Saturday in May, a solid piece of the comeback foundation is in place for the world of perspiring arts. Covid-19 forced the Derby to move to the first... April 29, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Another year, another batch of SEC coaches For the second consecutive season, there will be four new head football coaches in the SEC. Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Shane Beamer (South Carolina), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt) and Bryan Harsin (Auburn) ar... April 28, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Favorite Essential Quality draws No. 14 post position The Kentucky Derby post position draw is official and Essential Quality, the favorite who won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, drew the No. 14 post. Essential Quality opens at 2-1. Super Stock,... April 27, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Saban's itinerary part of random thoughts Random spring thoughts while wondering why more people aren't getting the potentially lifesaving -- and not just their life -- vaccination that is free. What does Nick Saban do now that spring footba... April 27, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Foundation saves on Bielema settlement They ended up about in the middle. Bret Bielema and the Razorback Foundation agreed on a settlement of $3,529,167 of the slightly more than $8 million that had them suing each other. Bielema, now th... April 25, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Razorback Foundation chief holds the line in Bielema suit I’m glad the Razorback Foundation and Bret Bielema settled their lawsuit. One of my goals in life is to never have to go to court again. I was subpoenaed by Bielema’s attorneys and would have had to ... April 24, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Former Hogs decide fresh start is for them Wednesday's sports front was filled with news of the University of Arkansas and the transfer portal. Or in the case of Desi Sills, a former Razorback who announced he is going to Auburn, where he wil... April 22, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Jewel of Oaklawn is starting to sparkle HOT SPRINGS -- Sounds of progress were everywhere, even on a day off from racing. It is a family affair for friends and for the state of Arkansas. It is about thoroughbred racing, Hot Springs and Ga... April 21, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Hall of Famer proud of his Golden Lions Jesse Mason was to the left and next to him was Bill Ingram. We were at Greg and Dora Jane Flesher's home for a Friday reception dinner for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductees, of which Mason ... April 20, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Spring game provides intel for coaches FAYETTEVILLE -- Sam Pittman knew exactly what he wanted from his first Red-White Game. Only he and his staff know whether they got everything they had hoped for. It could not have started better and... April 18, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: UA's second-team offense wins Red-White game FAYETTEVILLE — Red-White games aren’t always supposed to make sense to fans. In all my years of covering them, I’ve never seen the No. 2 offense outscore the No. 1 offense, which is what happened in ... April 17, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Flesher handles Hall of Fame duties like pro The torch passes tonight but not before nine very deserving people are inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. A journey for them that ends where it was destined, in the spotlight. A journey... April 16, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Arizona moves on after Eric Musselman signs new contract with UA Arizona reportedly had Eric Musselman on its short list to replace Sean Miller, who was fired last week. Musselman never interviewed. There were probably several reasons, starting with the fact he a... April 15, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Musselman investment is money well spent Everyone knew Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman had earned a raise. In his second year as the basketball head Hog, he took the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight, where it gave eventual champion Baylor its to... April 15, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: AAA proposal a step in direction of fairness It is being whispered that State Rep. Jim Wooten of Beebe will not proceed with House Bill 1097 on Thursday morning. The bill would have prohibited private schools from competing against public schoo... April 14, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Matsuyama shoulders weight of a country No doubt most of Japan cheered when it found out Hideki Matsuyama had become the first native son to win the Masters. In fact, he's the first Japanese man to win a major. The victory won't make golf... April 13, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Arkansas Derby Day awash in great racing The grand opening of Oaklawn's hotel is nearing, reservations can be made and Saturday was a glorious day for racing. Charles Cella was looking down and smiling. The sun was shining, horses were run... April 11, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Oaklawn Derby Day full of racing excitement If -- and there's always an if in Arkansas in the spring -- the weather is good, Oaklawn Park could have 7,500 racing fans for Arkansas Derby Day on Saturday because the infield will be open. If ther... April 9, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Coaches not paying attention in final poll Polls, no matter who conducts them or votes in them, are never perfect. The final college basketball poll was flawed almost from the start. It makes you wonder whether the coaches were paying attent... April 8, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: No need to dig deep: Baylor was just better Baylor was the lawnmower and Gonzaga was the grass. From start to finish the Bears dominated the Zags, and even when the undefeated overall No. 1 seed cut the deficit to single digits, it didn't feel... April 7, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Kudos to NCAA for an amazing tournament It has been an extraordinary NCAA Tournament. No, not because of the 13 upsets or even Monday night's championship game between the two best teams in the country, Baylor and Gonzaga. Out of 67 games... April 6, 2021

Former UALR coaches have Big 12 week The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, known as UALR in NCAA Tournament circles, got a couple of nice references on its resume last week. Former Trojans head coaches Chris Beard and Porter Moser ... April 4, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Beard's fairy tale has come true When Chris Beard was at UALR for one season we didn’t get to know each other very well until the Trojans were in Denver for the NCAA Tournament. I heard things about Beard, that he was a little of an... April 3, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Indianapolis, San Antonio great sites for NCAA Tournaments It was never a surprise that Indianapolis and San Antonio were chosen to host this year’s NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments, including the Final Fours that start today and end Monday. From 1982 thro... April 2, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Williams one of the best in college athletics "Is this an April Fool's joke?" was the first thought after reading the headline that North Carolina's Roy Williams was retiring. Read a little further and got a little more skeptical. He's a youthfu... April 2, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Fun NCAA Tournament reaches Final Four After watching ultra-talented Gonzaga easily dispatch of Southern Cal, it seemed like we stumbled into an NIT first-round game with UCLA vs. Michigan. Granted, watching the well-oiled, perfectly time... April 1, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: This hoops season good for the state's soul After 25 years of disappointment, frustration and apathy, Eric Musselman and his hand-blended Arkansas Razorbacks brought joy and peace to Hogville's heart. During a fatal pandemic of more than a yea... March 31, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Razorbacks' rollicking ride put on pause A great run by the Arkansas Razorbacks came to an end against No. 1 seed Baylor, 81-72, on Monday night. In the Hogs' previous three NCAA Tournament games, they overcame double-digit deficits. This t... March 30, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Davis hits game winner with three seconds on clock Davonte Davis scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half on Saturday, including the game winner with 3.1 seconds remaining, and the Arkansas Razorbacks advanced to the Elite Eight with a 72-70 win ... March 27, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Same names, different teams for UA, ORU Only in name have the Arkansas Razorbacks and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles already played each other. The teams that met five days before Christmas have grown, matured and developed an undeniable chemi... March 26, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Bracket is collateral damage of a fun time Besides Christmas and Thanksgiving, March Madness is the greatest time of the year. It has been reported millions of work hours are lost when the games are played on a workday. Several million peopl... March 25, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Securing Musselman a wise investment Eric Musselman is in a bubble in Indianapolis, but his name is being spoken of favorably all over the country. He has led a team to the Sweet 16 for a second time, but the great masses who are just n... March 24, 2021

It was a great year for Arkansas, despite loss In the last few years, watching the University of Arkansas women's team -- whenever the Razorbacks were on TV -- became a habit at our house. Fundamentally sound, well coached and ready to play every... March 23, 2021

OPINION | WALLY HALL: Fast finish not enough as Razorbacks fall to Wright State A fast finish couldn’t overcome a slow start and poor shooting and the Arkansas Razorbacks fell to Wright State, 66-62 in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Arkansas trailed 38-26 at t... March 22, 2021