Los Angeles Lakers General Manager, Mitch Kupchak, has said he hopes Dwight Howard will be with the Lakers next year.

After his much ballyhooed exit from Orlando, Howard was not the savior the Lakers were hoping for, especially with Kobe Bryant hurt, but will teams really be lined up to pay him the money he is going to demand after this season.

Howard is a great player, but when he got kicked out of the final playoff loss for fighting he lost the confidence of many of the fans and former players.

One man is never a team. Not Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bryant or Howard.

My friend Jerry Tipton, a Basketball Writers Hall of Fame member, writes one of the most prolific notes columns in the country each Sunday for the Lexington Herald Leader.

While it is primarily composed of interesting tidbits about Kentucky basketball, he does include other items and last Sunday he wrote:

Congrats

To Wally Hall, the longtime sports editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He has been appointed president of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

This two-year appointment figures to be more than a mere ceremonial pose. Job One figures to be to help track down missing funds totaling more than $100,000.

In the latest baseball rankings seven Southeastern Conference teams made the Top 25.

That’s 28 percent, with LSU leading the way at No. 2, and the Arkansas Razorbacks are (the entire list is below) No. 15, which is a good place right now.

Sure, some are disappointed in the Hogs who were No. 1 in at least one poll in preseason, but here’s the fact, Dave Van Horn’s brand of baseball is small ball. Get a run or two and let the pitchers to their jobs.

More times than not that works fine for the Razorbacks, and winning two of three, against Texas A&M this weekend is very good. Sometimes the pitchers are pitchers, which means they are going to have a bad game.

The bottom line is the formula has worked for Van Horn for a long time and he’s not about to change. The Hogs are sitting in a good spot right now.

Here’s the new rankings:

1.    North Carolina (39-2)
    2.    LSU (37-4)  
3.    Cal State-Fullerton (34-6)
    4.    Vanderbilt (35-6)
5.    Virginia (35-6)
6.    Oregon State (30-8)
7.    Oregon (29-10)
8.    UCLA (25-11)
9.    Florida State (31-9)
    10.    South Carolina (31-10)  
11.    North Carolina State (32-10)
    12.    Mississippi State (32-10)  
13.    Louisville (30-9)
14.    Oklahoma (31-10)
 15.    Arkansas (27-15)
16.    Mississippi (29-12)
17.    Arizona State (24-12-1)
18.    Indiana (29-8)
19.    Georgia Tech (27-13)
20.    Rice (28-14)
21.    UC-Irvine (25-11)
22.    Stanford (22-12)
23.    Cal Poly (26-11)
    24.    Kentucky (24-15)
25.    Oklahoma State (27-11)

Others receiving votes: Arizona (25-14) 45; Clemson (27-13) 39; Mercer (32-11) 38; Campbell (35-8) 33; Pittsburgh (29-10) 24; North Carolina-Wilmington (30-11) 22; Gonzaga (26-11) 17; Miami (Fla.) (27-16) 16; South Florida (26-14) 12; South Alabama (29-12) 11; New Mexico (24-16) 9; Central Arkansas (28-10) 8; Houston (27-13) 8; Creighton (22-9) 7; Kansas State (28-13) 6; Cal State Bakersfield (27-14) 3; Florida (22-19) 3; North Florida (29-12) 3; Notre Dame (22-15) 3; Alabama (24-18) 2; Minnesota (23-13) 1; Troy (29-11) 1; Virginia Tech (24-17) 1.

Sometimes when an athlete decides to change schools it doesn’t end well.

The athlete or some relative pops off.

In the case of Hunter Mickelson leaving the University of Arkansas, pending an exit interview with Athletic Director, Jeff Long, everything has been handled with class and dignity, especially by Hunter’s dad, Darien, who thanked the UA for the opportunities.

Mike Anderson hasn’t said a word, and he shouldn’t, and he won’t.

That’s the way change is supposed to be handled.

Until late August, every college football team is undefeated so enthusiasm is going to flow freely.

Same with the Arkansas Razorbacks, but they may have the toughest schedule in America next year.

The Hogs are on the road against Rutgers, Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU. All of those schools were in bowl games last season.

At home it is a little better, but they still have to play Texas A&M, who returns the Heisman Trophy winner, at least for one more season, South Carolina, Auburn and Mississippi State. Only Auburn was not a bowl game last season.

Louisiana-Lafayette, Samford and Southern Miss should not be worries, but everyone else is, including Auburn. Gus Malzahn will have something to prove.

What an ugly age we live in at times.

Two explosions during the Boston Marathon, and while there is no explanation at this writing, most people’s thoughts were another act of terrorism.

I can’t help but wonder what the world will be like the next generation of Americans are trying to keep this great country as the best place in the world to live.