Arkansas 96, No. 4 Oklahoma 88

Without a doubt one of the most exciting Arkansas basketball games I have ever witnessed. Arkansas manhandled No. 4 Oklahoma in front of a sellout crowd. The Razorbacks led the Sooners the entire game, never looked back. Amazing. Courtney Fortson, above, clearly outshined national player of the year candidate Blake Griffin, pictured behind Fortson, and nearly picked up his second triple double of the season. Fotson had 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Merry Christmas From The Henning Family

For those of you that didn't get one mailed to you, consider this your 2008 Christmas card from The Henning Family. Looks like the card was a hit this year. Everyone seems to love it. Although I did catch a bit of grief from a select few who were concerned about Juno's willingness to participate in the photo shoot. I assure you she wasn't harmed physically in any way. However it may take her a few months to recover from the emotional scars.

I wish all of you a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Winner

I picked up a second place feature/single nod in the NPPA's National Monthly Clip contest for May with this photo I shot of an elementary school's field trip to the historic Rocky Branch School House near Rogers. This is the first clip I've ever placed in the national contest. I've come close several times. Regional clips winners can be easy if you've got a good shot. But the national contest is a much tougher pool of great images. Second place out of a pool of 33 award winning regional photos. Certainly gave me a boost for the day.

Arkansas 85, North Dakota 73

What's wrong with this picture? Besides the fact that Bud Walton Arena is virtually devoid of people. That's right, there are women playing basketball in my photo. Weird huh? After six years of shooting Arkansas athletics this is my FIRST-EVER Razorback women's game. They're not much of a draw. Probably a total of 200 people in the 19,200 seat arena. To be fair there was inclement weather forecasted for the evening. Maybe that's what kept the other 19,000 people away.

Christmas Parade

So I'm back on my news beat with The Morning News this week after three months of football with Hawgs Illustrated. Dove right in to the Downtown Bentonville Annual Christmas Parade today. It was fun. I haven't shot a parade in a while. Here's a few of my fav's.

Arkansas 31, LSU 30

Arkansas beat LSU for the second consecutive year on Friday in their annual "Battle of the Boot" rivalry game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. London Crawford pulled in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Casey Dick to tie the game against the Tigers with 20.9 seconds on the clock.


Kicker Alex Tejada put the exclamation point on the game with his point after touchdown kick through the uprights.

Two of Arkansas' underachievers made up for their shortcomings this season on Friday night and helped to end the Razorbacks' season on a high note despite finishing at 5-7 and not getting a bowl bid. Hopefully this is momentum the returning team members can take with them into next season.

I'll try to post more photos in the coming days.

Arkansas 79, South Alabama 77

Arkansas came from behind in the final seconds against South Alabama off of a clutch three pointer from Stefan Welsh on the road in Mobile, Ala.

More to come.

Mississippi State 31, Arkansas 28

Arkansas lost to the worst offense in the Southeastern Conference this past Saturday in Starkville. There are only two photos in this post because I really don't care to share anything else. Arkansas showed a spark early by putting up 14 points on the Bulldogs in the first quarter. It was all Mississippi State after that. The game boiled down to kicking for the Hogs. Kicker Alex Tejada, pictured above, missed a field goal early in the game and then, after the Razorbacks' clawed their way back into the game with a late touchdown and onside kick recover, he missed the game tying field goal wide right.


The Morning News' game story headline the next day with the photo of Tejada read "Too Much Cowbell." Perfect. The loss put the Hogs out of bowl contention and they end their season on Friday against LSU in Little Rock. A win would put their season at 5-7, pretty much what most football analysts had predicted for the Hogs in the preseason.

Arkansas 68, California-Davis 59

Just photos. Enjoy. Michael Sanchez (Above)


Michael Washington


John Pelphrey


Courtney Fortson


Sanchez again.


Fortson again.

Not much for words today. Saving my strength for high school football tonight. It's supposed to be in the high 20's. At least tomorrow's Arkansas/Mississippi State game is day game.

Arkansas 91, SELA 87 (OT)

The Hoop Hogs' season opener was last Thursday (yeah I've had a couple of days off since then) against Southeastern Louisiana. The team is really young this year, but they have a ton of heart. SELA pulled ahead of the Razorbacks by nine points with five minutes in regulation and it looked like the Hogs would suffer their first season-opening defeat in 35 years. Of course that didn't happen thanks to some last-minute heroics by junior Michael Washington and true freshman Rotnei Clarke. Above true freshman maniac Courtney Fortson charges fearlessly to the basket for two of his 18 points in the game.


Michael Washington had a career night in points, 30, and rebounds, 14, and was on the floor for 41 of the Razorbacks 45 minute contest with SELA. Washington certainly quelled the skepticism of this doubter.


Pelphrey gives his players some much-needed chewing during the game.


Rotnei Clarke, who is already earning the nickname "Iceman," hits one of his five three pointers against SELA. One of which was a clutch shot to bring the Razorbacks witin one point of tying the game with 29 ticks on the clock.


Michael Sanchez and Courtney Forston apply some backcourt pressure.


Any win for this young team is a good thing right now this early in the season. Coming back from behind is good for their confidence, but they need to get it out of their system soon. If they fall behind early to teams like Oklahoma and Texas, who they play on Dec. 30 and Jan. 6, respectively, they could see some big double digit losses.

Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 19

Jarius Wright was the obvious choice for this week's cover after his 70-yard touchdown catch against South Carolina. That and the fact he hasn't made the cover yet this season.

South Carolina 34, Arkansas 21

And the Hogs let another one get away from them this past Saturday in Columbia, S.C. Yes it has taken me a few days to make this update, I guess that tells you just how much I cared about the outcome and photos from this game. How do I describe this one. Arkansas just got beat. Even though they played bad the game still could've been close had it not been for a very poorly thrown pass from Casey Dick that was picked off, thus killing any momentum the Hogs had left in them. You won't see any photos of Michael Smith in this post because he was a non factor in the game before getting his shoulder injured. He was replaced by Dennis Johnson, above, and Brandon Barnett. They couldn't do much either.


All that remained was Arkansas' passing game, which was hit and miss. This near pickoff late in the fourth quarter went the Razorbacks' way on a pass interference call.


The tackling in the game was horrible.


D.J. Williams only had 40 yards in the game.


Arkansas' biggest moment came when Casey Dick connected with Jarius Wright on a 70-yard touchdown bomb in the second quarter.


The game was still close and the outcome looked good for Arkansas. I was hoping this jube between London Crawford and Wright would be my doubletruck for the magazine.


Hey Crawford even had one nice catch that netted 30 yards. Yes things looked good for a while.


We even got to see Nathan Dick, Casey's younger brother, get some quarterbacking time after Casey was pancaked on a sack and got a concussion.


It was all just a dream really. A dream that included a hairy Michael Phelps. Z-Man refers to him as "Evil Michael Phelps" due to his facial hair. (I could've sworn he had webbed hands)


I agree with you Jason. Williams-Brice Stadium is hands down the worst place to shoot college football (in the SEC). And what a mascot huh? I wonder if Sir Big Spur was fully aware of the fare being served in the press box before the game. Chicken anyone?

I get to take a weekend off as the Hogs are on a bye before heading to STARKVILLE (insert jokes here) to play Mississippi State on Nov. 22.

It's Pel Time Again

What can I say, I have truly missed shooting coach Pelphrey all these months since basketball ended way back in March. This is going to be a great season. Pelphrey has seven new players to scream and yell at for 40 minutes each night for the next five months.






Who cares if football is almost over. The fun has really only just begun.

Hawgs Illustrated: Vol. 17, Issue 18

A break from football on the cover of HI this week with the 2008-09 basketball preview issue. The issue also debuted the new redesign of the magazine. Gone is the bottom band on the cover. I love the new look with the full bleed. The inside changes look really good as well. Hat's off to Kai Caddy and his mad skills on the redesign.

Arkansas 30, No. 18 Tulsa 23

Arkansas took on the nation's highest scoring offense and prevailed Saturday in Fayetteville. The game really was a must-win game for both teams. Arkansas desperately needed a win to get some momentum going into two back-to-back SEC road games and the hopes of still having a post-season bowl appearance. The 8-0 Golden Hurricane need the win to remain relevant in the BCS race. The above photo is Dennis Johnson celebrating his 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with fans in the south end zone at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The interaction with fans cost the Hogs 15-yards on the ensuing kickoff, but it was a big moment for Johnson. The touchdown proved to be the game winner for the Hogs.


Dennis Johnson blows past Tulsa's kicker on the touchdown return. The play made No. 3 on Sportscenter's plays of the day.


Michael Smith adds a touchdown to the Hogs' 17 first quarter points. Smith only had 67 yards on the ground against Tulsa.


Zach Stadther, left, and Jerico Nelson combine for a sack on Tulsa quarterback David Johnson on the Golden Hurricane's first play of the day. On the following play Damario Ambrose sacked Johnson again. It was a heck of a start for the Hogs' defense.


Tight end D.J. Williams was the stud of the day for the Razorbacks. Williams matched his career-high record with 129 yards on six catches. He would have had more but bobbled a pass in the fourth quarter.


Linebacker Jerry Franklin had his helmet ripped off after intercepting a pass deep in Arkansas territory. The play was blown dead before Franklin could move the ball up field. Unfortunately the NCAA has a rule that doesn't allow a ball carrier to carry the ball without a helmet. Completely understood from the stand point of safety for the athlete. But it would've made some great photos. The Hogs did get 15 yards off a penalty against Tulsa for the helmet being pulled off though.


It was a big day for Arkansas' passing game. Casey Dick spread the ball all over the field. Tight end Lucas Miller had 63 yards on four catches.


Joe Adams had three catches for 30 yards. He would have had even bigger numbers, but dropped a 50 yard pass that would have been a touchdown. Betcha Joe lost some sleep over that one.


Freshman Jarius Wright, who has been quiet most of the season, had a huge day with 112 yards on five catches.


Junior tight end Andrew Davie carried a 13-yard pass in for the Razorbacks' first touchdown of the day.


London Crawford couldn't get a handle on this potential touchdown pass into double coverage. He did have three catches for 19 yards though.


Arkansas' defense did a phenomenal job on Saturday considering they were up against the nation's top-ranked scoring offense. Tulsa still managed to rack up 528 yards compared to the Hogs' 435. But the most important thing was the score. The Razorback defense came through when it mattered most and held the Hurricanes to only 23 points. Coming in to Saturday's game Tulsa was averaging over 50 points per game.


This interception by Tulsa in the end zone late in the fourth quarter was a huge play for the Golden Hurricane. For me it was a big moment because I almost got wiped out by the players when they crashed through the north end zone wall right where I had been only seconds earlier. I was pretty amazed at how fast I moved considering I was shooting from a kneeling position. That self preservation thing I guess. Also I didn't want to end up being the No. 4 highlight on Sportscenter that night.

Arkansas travels to South Carolina on Saturday to face the Gamecocks. I'm already cracking up inside.