Arkansas men’s basketball heads to Rupp Arena to take on the Kentucky Wildcats.
It’s that time of year again for the Arkansas basketball team. Yet again, Arkansas heads to Rupp Arena as a road underdog to face the Kentucky Wildcats. This game will be different for players on both sides and fans from the Natural State.
Razorback fans will have to watch as the prodigal son who SHOULD have, by all fan accounts, been a Hog, dawn the blue jersey to face his home state’s team. Malik Monk is the main figure in the drama that is set to unfold. The traitor. The villain.
Et tu, Monk?
See the truth is something that few people really know about when it comes to this situation. I have heard that Malik made the decision to “turn his back on his state” and I have heard a lot more of “it was his older brother Marcus who made hime go, to get his athlete management business under way.” The latter I have heard from some pretty credible people but regardless, Arkansas hates the Monks right now.
Like Eric Bolin says in his article on the subject, you can’t blame Anderson for not trying. He did, in fact, try everything he could, short of paying him and his family and committing an NCAA violation. At least to my knowledge, he didn’t offer him any money.
Malik Monk is probably the highest talent player to ever come from the state of Arkansas. I would have taken him over all the other talent that left the state before him in a second but it wasn’t meant to be. His betrayal not only hurt the Razorbacks but also the state that did so much for him and his family.
Be Thankful For What You Have Not What You Want
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We lost Malik. Move on. Right now there are players that we are treating somewhat disrespectfully. Dusty Hannahs, Daryl Macon, and Anton Beard are all from here in the state. Now, are they on the same athletic level that Monk is? No. Few are and few ever will be. But what you fail to realize is that they WANTED to be Razorbacks.
Suppose you are dating a guy or girl who you have had a crush on for as long as you have known her. You have given your all to make them happy and make them feel loved but it was never enough. Instead, that person steadily talks about how poor of a job you do all the while saying they miss some else who they never even dated. How would you feel?
This is what we face now. These three guys are leaving it all on the line for a state they love that only talks about what could have been rather seeing the positives in what is. Kind of a messed up situation, right?
The Bonnie Situation
If you have ever watched Pulp Fiction, you know what the Bonnie Situation is. If you have haven’t, you’re doing it wrong and need to watch this classic. The Bonnie Situation is when all these intertwined story lines and subplots come to a head. Well aside from when Butch goes home for his watch.
When the Razorbacks walk into Rupp on Saturday night, all of these storylines will come to head. The hero finally meets the villain. Spoiler Alert: In the first battle of the hero meeting the evil villain, the villain always wins which makes the hero stronger in order to come back and at the last moment, save the day. SEC Tournament anyone? Meh, probably not how this will go but here’s to hoping.
Tipoff for this fantastic drama is at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN’s SEC Network and can be streamed online at WatchESPN. Both teams head into this game with a 12-2 record, however, Kentucky is 2-0 in conference while Arkansas is 1-1 and coming off a big road win against Tennessee. Woo pig.
