Like it is

Except for football, it's all in the past with Holtz

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A hard decision has been made: No feuding with Lou this week.
As true as it may be that Lou Holtz and this columnist didn't get along while he was at Arkansas, there comes a time to let the past go.
To forget the personal barbs and slights he passed out so easily.
To forget the lawsuit he won over the book we wrote together in 1980, only for him to get a better offer two weeks before the book was to go on sale. The judge said: "Lou, you know better than to sign a contract without letting your attorney read it, but I'm giving you a permanent injunction."
To forget the jokes he made about Arkansas on national television.
To forget how he forgot recruiting to make big-buck motivational speeches.
To forget how he endorsed Sen. Jesse Helms.
To forget how he would publicly humiliate his players.
To forget how he "resigned" because of job burnout and then showed up as the Minnesota head coach less than two weeks later.
To forget he was fired at Arkansas.
There's no sense in bringing any of that up this week.
It doesn't matter that after last year's game he turned and walked away from the extended hand of former player Keith Burns, who was Arkansas' defensive coordinator at the time.
There's no reason to bring up the old Lou Holtz dolls, of which yours truly once bought 2,000 for a nickel apiece.
They made great kindling.
Let it be beyond this writer to mention all the money Holtz made off cable television stock and other deals but that he could never say a nice word about a state that welcomed him with open arms despite his being fired by the New York Jets.
None of those things matters anymore.
This is about a new Holtz who suffered through the longest losing streak in the nation last season when South Carolina was beaten 11 consecutive times.
It is time to celebrate the Holtz who has the Gamecocks ranked in the Top 25.
And that is something the South Carolina fans truly deserve. They are some of the best in the entire country.
Gracious and friendly, they have supported their team through the thinnest of times and will continue to no matter how old Holtz's jokes become.
This is the time to report on Holtz -- and the Gamecocks -- winning at Kentucky on Saturday.
The last time South Carolina won on the road was against Arkansas in 1997.
This is the week to revel in the power of Derek Watson, South Carolina's running back, who will be the best the Razorbacks have faced this season.
The Gamecocks couldn't have beaten Kentucky without his game-winning 58-yard run, which was part of his 149-yard effort.
There's no need to mention that what Holtz saw was Watson fumbling twice.
"He carries the ball well," Holtz said. "He's running excellent, he's very competitive and he blocks well. He's playing well without the ball.
"The trouble he gets into is when he's playing well without the ball and he's supposed to have it."
That's Holtz, always with the funnies.
Apparently there won't be a need to go into all the old stories again about how Houston Nutt played and coached for Holtz.
"I'm not playing, and Houston's not playing," Holtz said.
Which translated means, the Razorbacks better strap 'em on tight, because Holtz has some serious payback in mind for last year's 48-14 thumping.
That was Holtz's first trip back to Arkansas since he was fired on that fateful Sunday afternoon in 1983.
Nutt, a graduate assistant at the UA, was traveling back to Fayetteville from his honeymoon and heard the news on the radio.
Nutt drove straight to the Broyles Complex and ran into Holtz, who was already very wealthy, in the hallway.
Nutt, of course, was concerned about how he was going to support his new wife.
Holtz told Nutt not to worry, that Minnesota had already been in contact and Holtz wanted to take Nutt with him.
They had their very next conversation before last year's game in Little Rock.
Of course, there's no reason to go into all of that.
But knowing Holtz, you can just imagine what he has planned for Nutt's birthday Saturday.
Just don't expect to see any of that old bad news in this space, we aren't feuding this week.

This article was published on Tuesday, October 10, 2000

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