Shanklin brought controversy, RBI Girls
by May 31, 2010 12:00 am 62 views
Speaking of Shanklin, we reluctantly admit to occasionally cruising Razorbacks-related message boards.
On such occasions, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that posters on said message boards sometimes generate no small amount of vitriol in regard to Shanklin. It’s been enough to make us wonder if marketing/licensing folks at other schools draw such heat, or if Hog fans can be a little bit cuckoo at times.
We decided Shanklin’s job, by its very nature, simply dictates some unpopular decisions. Throw in his occasional abrasiveness – a source told us Shanklin even earned the office nickname “Hurricane” – and we kind of get the grumbling.
It seems only fair, however, to remind Hog fans Shanklin was at least partly responsible for the UA ranking 18th by among Collegiate Licensing Company‘s top-selling institutions and manufacturers for the second quarter of the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Best we can tell, that’s the same number of times Arkansas’ football or basketball teams have finished any of the last 10 seasons ranked in the top 25.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Shanklin for his instrumental work in three of our favorite things: the UA’s baseball radio network, Baum Stadium’s Hogpen, and (sigh) the RBI Girls.