Spit happens

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

The word "spit" has been a popular one on Arkansas sports talk shows and message boards the last couple of weeks. And it has nothing to do with how to prepare some of the state's famed barbecue food for tailgating activities before Thursday night's game between UNLV and the Razorbacks at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

No, this spit is the wet kind. The kind that Rebel quarterback Jason Thomas uncorked on Hogs' offensive guard Kenny Sandlin following a sideline collision during UNLV's 31-14 romp over the Razorbacks in last year's Las Vegas Bowl.

The "exchange" was caught on television by ESPN's cameras. Thomas, the MVP of the contest, apologized after the game for the incident.

But now the 6-4, 240-pound Heisman Trophy hopeful finds himself the target of some angry Razorback fans who haven't forgiven or forgotten him for his misdeed.

"I'm sure they will make a big deal of it," Thomas said. "I've talked to a lot of their reporters back there and that's all they've been asking me about. I apologized. If that's what you need to pump yourself up for a game, then it's a sad situation."

Does Thomas regret spitting on Sandlin?

"I wouldn't say I regret it because I learned from it," Thomas said. "I've learned that you can't do things like that. Stuff like that happens all the time in games. I just got caught.

"I was running out of bounds and I thought he went out of his way to shove me. The competitor in me just reacted. It wasn't smart. But if you let that happen, every time you run out of bounds someone will be hitting you.

"I apologized," Thomas continued. "It's one of those things where you just have to move on."

Somewhat surprisingly, the 6-3, 313-pound Sandlin, a second-team preseason all-SEC pick, says he holds no grudge.

"I believe in God and what the Bible says," Sandlin said. "There's a passage that reads, 'If a man slaps you on the left cheek, then turn and give him your right.' There's no sense dwelling on it. All is forgiven. There's no sense focusing on that."

Sandlin, who said he has never watched the TV replay of the incident, spent his summer worrying about more constructive matters. Literally.

Sandlin was one of 26 student-athletes from the group called "Arkansas Athletes Outreach" who went to a small town in Honduras to help build homes.

"It was a very rewarding experience," Sandlin said. "We would build these houses for about six to eight people. They were only about 10 by 14 feet. They had one door and one window. But you would have thought we had just built these people a mansion.

"Some of these people had been living in grass huts with dirt floors. It makes you very respectful for what we have here in our country."

A deeply religious person from Van Buren, Ark., Sandlin will be starting his 25th consecutive game for the Hogs on Thursday. He, like many of his Arkansas offensive linemates, has shed more than 20 pounds since the Las Vegas Bowl in an effort to increase speed and endurance.

"It wasn't just our play in the Las Vegas Bowl, but the whole season," Sandlin said. "We just weren't as quick in the fourth quarter as we were in the first quarter of games. We weren't able to finish. So we dedicated ourselves to getting our weight down and getting in better shape. I definitely notice the difference, especially in wind sprints."

McGruder is still trying to get felony drug charges reduced or eventually dismissed following a June 8 arrest in Knoxville, Tenn., for the manufacture, delivery and sale of marijuana. A Knox County (Tenn.) grand jury will determine soon whether the former Cheyenne High star will stand trial.

Robinson said as long as McGruder is charged with a felony he would not be allowed to join the Rebels.