On one hand, people have told us Eric Musselman is overrated, not near his price as one of the 20 highest-paid coaches in the country. His teams have finished below .500 in the SEC each of the last two seasons and the 2023-24 year was Arkansas’ worst in 15 years.
On the other hand, the people who say such things are ignoramuses. Some of them are a bit more panicked than they’re letting on as social media has taken over like a wildfire, leading to the belief Musselman could leave the Razorbacks basketball team.
Wait. Nope. Hold on.
Tweet coming through.
Yes. OK. Got it.
He’s staying!
….
Oh.
Sorry.
Let’s see, here.
A user named “hogs4evawoopigleftlanehammerdownneveryieldIhatethisteamwhenitmakesmesad*” is now saying Musselman is leaving for Southern California and good riddance! The “Let’s Talk Hogs!” podcast heard from a reliable source that that isn’t true and it’s a dirty rumor started by a disgruntled player in the portal!
Sigh. That’s seriously what it’s like in this day and age. Everyone is an expert and rumors at a pace faster than anyone can keep up, a situation created by Arkansas’ limiting of actual media availabilities, something that increases at a faster rate each year.
Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek didn’t do himself or the fan base any favors with his own tweets over the weekend. The Razorbacks’ faithful can’t handle speculation or subtext. In fairness, few fan bases can, but in 40 years on this Earth among three different time zones covering teams in eight different markets, Hogs fans’ cognitive dissonance is singular.
Yurachek doesn’t know if Musselman is returning. The big-money donors don’t know. Musselman himself may not even know yet. We used to wait, anxiously, chewing fingernails, waiting to find out when the result would come. Now, we prognosticate, post those prognostications to an outsize audience and watch self-cannibalization unfold.
Given all this, would I blame Musselman for leaving after all? Heavens no. But I’m going to avoid guessing and sit, watch and chew my fingernails.
*You know these names and podcasts are generalizations for the purpose of mockery, right*