We here at Arkansas Expats, Inc are nothing if not completely original, so as we rapidly approach the conclusion of the 00's we've decided to take the bold and unique approach of doing an end-of-decade retrospective. Earlier today we put our researchers and scientists to work to determine the top basketball player, and now we focus on the same task for the football side of the equation.

Never in the entire storied history of the Arkansas Razorback football program has there been an era quite as crazy as the Aughts (then again, John C. Futrall and Glen Rose never had to worry about a text-messaging scandal). The decade brought us exhilarating victories, crushing losses and one of the more insane coaching dramas ever seen anywhere.

Beyond any of that, the Aughts also gave fans the privilege of rooting for some of the most talented, exciting and all-around fun-to-watch players ever to wear the Hog uniform. But, even with a long list of worthy candidates to choose from, our search for the Official ArkansasExpats.com Football Player of the Decade was quick, easy and unanimous (we even let the interns go home early after a mere 12-hour workday).

In the interest of maintaining at least a little suspense, follow us after the jump for the shocking winner of this honor:

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The SEC Media Days have begun, and there's lots of news coming out already - Bobby Petrino looking relaxed and cracking jokes about Twitter, Malcom Sheppard discussing how he got shot in the eye with an arrow (!!!) as a kid and, most importantly, the all-consuming hunt for the solitary coach who dared not vote for St. Tim Tebow as QB of the preseason All-SEC team.

But, we at Arkansas Expats like to take the road less traveled, so we're here to bring you details of the week's true top story: Casey Dick's recent wedding. According to the Benfield Photography blog, it was quite the soiree and included appearances by some notable ex-Hogs - Darren McFadden and Marcus Monk among them (Houston Nutt's and Mitch Mustain's invites were probably just lost in the mail).

Jokes aside, we didn't start this site to become a society column, so we'll get to the main point of this post...this awesome photo of the best player in Razorback history getting funky on the dance floor:

We miss you D-Mac!

(Photo courtesy of Benfield Photography...they have others on their site if you're really curious. And thanks to ArkansasSports 360 for the link.)

The Hogs' all-universe backfield of 2007 hit the NFL this year, and we were sure that Darren McFadden's talent would shine through no matter how crappy his team was, Felix Jones had landed in the perfect situation in Dallas, and even 7th round pick Peyton Hillis would thrive in Denver's rushing attack.

However, things haven't quite worked out as planned, and we're not shy about calling it some sort of curse...surely that's the only explanation. Our staff of unpaid interns is working feverishly to figure out what exactly is causing this curse (let us know if you have any ideas...the interns haven't slept in days), but here's a quick look at the havoc it's wreaked:

* McFadden: D-Mac has been slowed by lingering painful injuries and a historically incompetent coaching staff/front office organization. His stats for the season equal a typical two game total from last year, so it turns out that he's mortal after all.

* Jones: Felix blew up the NFL from the get-go, scoring about 200 touchdowns in his first few games. Unfortunately then his hamstring and toe ligaments also blew up and his last game for the year was a loss to Arizona on October 12.

* Hillis: Seemed like he was destined to be the feel-good story of this bunch, when he went from a 7th round rookie fullback to the starting running back on a legit NFL team. He was in the process of making the most of the opportunity with a couple of great games when he also went down with a season-ending hamstring injury.

Well, there's always next year. In the meantime, the mysterious curse lives on...if you have any ideas on what's causing it or how to solve it, let us know.

I'm occasionally accused of being overly nostalgic. Although I try not to let those instincts get the best of me when I'm blogging, the one year anniversary of the McFadden/Jones offenseapalooza requires some sort of tribute. I mean, 497 combined rushing yards? Between just two people?? In a single game??? Amazing.

Just sit back and behold these two clips...D-Mac and Felix make it look easy. Hell, for them, maybe it really was that easy. Anyway, enjoy these little 80- and 72-yd dashes down memory lane...I'll see you back in 2008 when you're finished:

I really didn't want to post one of these this week, but unfortunately the circumstances are dictating it.

So, in preparation for this week's face off against Ole Miss, enjoy this clip...it's only two years old, but feels like it's from about a million years ago. Mitch Mustain, D-Mac, Houston Nutt - this one's full of gems:

While we all fret about the state of the Hogs, let's not forget about the strange case of perhaps the most prominent Razorback fan of all, one Mr. Darren McFadden. Not only is he watching his favorite team struggle like the rest of us, but his current team is currently immeshed in the soap opera to end all soap operas. And, in a bizarre bit of irony, the madness coming out of the Oakland Raiders HQ has a definite Arkansas twist to it.

As you've probably seen by now, Raiders owner Al Davis fired coach Lane Kiffin earlier this week and in the process unleashed a vicious series of personal attacks on Kiffin that could only be described as circus-like, even by Davis' own circusy standards. It seems that their relationship began to sour when Kiffin privately expressed interested in the Arkansas job last December (only to be outdone by Bobby Petrino, who famously had no qualms about leaving his team mid-season).

We like it when things come full circle, and the many weird connections between the Razorbacks and the Raiders over the last 12 months definitely appeal to our need to see some sort of order in the universe. However, we'd feel better if the Hogs' fortunes on the field would divert from Oakland and take their own course sometime soon.

Meanwhile, D-Mac is hobbling around on a hurt foot and trying to figure out who his coach is this week. Something tells us that he's probably not marveling at the cosmic significance of it all.

* Think D-Mac is wishing the Cowboys had traded up to pick him, as was rumored before the draft? In the latest news out of Oakland, a Raiders exec went off on a local reporter on Monday, yelling at him and giving him a good shove (check out the video of the incident). The reporter, Tim Kawakami, gives his side of the story here, and the San Francisco Chronicle's beat writer shares her thoughts here.

Meanwhile coach Lane Kiffin knows he's going to be fired any second now but hasn't actually been told that officially, so he's still showing up for work every day. At this point, McFadden is probably wistfully recalling the simpler times when his team's scandals involved text messages and FOIA requests.

* Feeling down about the rebuilding states of the football and basketball teams? Well, here's pick-me-up: Arkansas just won the collegiate bass fishing championship (beating Texas in the process, even). Suck on that, Longhorns! We own the lakes! [link courtesy of reader Eastville Holdings]

* A Texas blogger gives his younger readers a history lesson about the Arkansas rivalry with a bunch of semi-amusing made-up facts. We'll give this post one lowercase "ha" and two sarcastic eye rolls. [link courtesy of reader K Smith]

* Stepping up the level of wit a bit, earlier this summer a Texas judge managed to squeeze some friendly jabs at the Hogs into his paperwork on a legal decision. The Supreme Court will be dealing with this as soon as they complete their work on the landmark People of Arkansas v. Pass Interference, My Ass case.

* So Miami routs New England using the Wild Cat Hog formation and the pro football press is shocked - shocked! - at the bold innovation ("You had to see the Miami game plan to believe it" - Peter King). Full credit is given to David Lee before the intrepid media digs deeper and sort of figures it out. Obviously King and his cronies aren't reading RazorbackExpats.com often enough. (for the best recap of the saga, check out this Slophouse post...complete with HDN quotes!)

In just his second NFL game, Darren McFadden conjured up visions of his years in Fayetteville by rushing for 164 yards on 21 carries in Oakland's 23-8 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. McFadden's day included a 50-yard run and a touchdown.

DMac's heroic effort came as rumors were swirling that Raiders owner Al Davis was all set to fire coach Doogie Howser Lane Kiffin if Oakland lost yesterday. After playing for three years for a certain prodigious sender of text messages, McFadden may be better equipped than many to handle off-the-field drama. Unfortunately, it's hard to escape the feeling that Darren has landed in a spot where the story off the field will always be much more interesting than the one on it.