Usually for review purposes, big Arkansas Razorbacks games get taped (OK, a DVR is used but only with directions every time), but the Texas game got forgotten so the ESPN2 broadcast has not been heard.

So when some e-mails and a call to Sports Animals questioned Jimmy Dykes, there was some surprise.

What most people probably don't realize is that when Dykes, who lives in Arkansas and walked on for the Razorbacks, is doing a national broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2, it is not the same as when he does one for Razorback Sports Properties.

With the entire nation watching he has to be more objective, and that means, at times, being brutally honest.

It is the same thing Kirk Herbstreit has run into on ESPN when he has been critical of his alma mater, Ohio State.

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Dykes grew up loving the Razorbacks and still does. It is just that his ESPN job dictates critical analysis.

When reached Thursday morning, he was still going on about Hogs point guard Courtney Fortson and said: "He has great, great vision. He has the rare ability to see all four of his teammates and all five defenders at the same time."

Incidentally, Dykes had some e-mails at ESPN from Longhorns fans calling him a homer, which just proves once again when you have two old rivals playing, fans' emotions run very high.

Dykes has been nominated for an Emmy the past two years by ESPN.

Speaking of Fortson, Rivals. com ranked him as a four-star recruit last year, and that Web site updated Thursday how its 25 five-star players were doing as freshmen.

Fortson has logged more playing time than all of them, he's outscoring all but three, and by far has more assists (averaging seven per game) than the fivestar players. Plus, he is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game and is the shortest starter on the Hogs' team.

This is not a shot at the Web site because recruiting is an inexact science, and it is often more about need and players fitting a system.

Fortson isn't the only Arkansas freshman to shine.

Rotnei Clarke was a threestar recruit, and he's averaging more points than 19 of the fivestar players. Of the top 25 from last year, only Ater Majok is still waiting for the NCAA clearinghouse to declare him eligible.

The August before his November 1997 firing, Danny Ford was watching the Arkansas Razorbacks football team walk down to the practice field.

When No. 77 walked by, Ford turned and said: "Guys like him are why you get into coaching."

When pressed, he said Brandon Burlsworth was a walk-on who was going to be a great player.

From walk-on to All-American, All-SEC and All-Decade Razorbacks team, Burlsworth was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts and then was tragically killed in a car crash before ever playing an NFL game.

A decade later, his name lives on because his brother Marty Burlsworth has devoted his life to the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation.

In 2000, Marty started "Burls Kids," a program in which the foundation buys 30 tickets to every home football game in Fayetteville and Little Rock and takes underprivileged children from all over the state.

Now Marty has added another program, one that would make his brother smile even wider.

"Eyes of a Champion" provides free vision exams and glasses to low-income children who probably would not have been able to have glasses without this assist.

The Brandon Burlsworth Foundation is a 501(c)3 corporation that depends totally on donations. For more information on "Eyes of a Champion," "Burls Kids," camps or the Burlsworth scholarship program, call 870-741-1443.

The "Eyes of a Champion" program is available to every public school nurse in Arkansas. They can receive information at the same phone number.