column by DUDLEY E. DAWSON

STARKVILLE, MISS. -- All too often if a former Razorback doesn't make the NBA, information on him after he leaves Fayetteville only comes in the form of a "Where are they Now" feature or a note at the end of someone's column.
But that's not the case anymore courtesy of a "minor hogs" website operated by University of Arkansas students Charlie and Dale Shields, a married couple with a great passion for the Razorbacks.
I came upon this during my daily trek through the message boards served up by Hawgs Illustrated, to which I am a contributor, and the Pigpen and intend to make this new site another daily stop.
Charlie is a 21-year-old Political Science/Journalism major from Texarkana, Texas, while her husband Dale, a former offensive lineman at Booneville, is also 21 and majoring in Kinesiology.
She has attended 70-straight home baseball games while he has an even longer streak and they both have been to all the basketball and football games in Fayetteville since they started college.
"The site at first was really just an e-mail update that Dale has been sending out for a couple of years to about 15 people," Charlie relates. "The update was stats from the previous week from former baseball players in the minor leagues. He got all of his stats off of team websites and minor league sites.
"... Anyway, last July we decided to expand the update and make a website," Mrs. Shields continues. "At first it was just for baseball. We have a biography page for each player with tons of stats, we had a list of where each player was, and what league they were in, as well as links to the team and league sites."
With baseball season over, they turned their attention to former UA football and basketball players, both in the minors and in the pros.
Not only do they post cumulative stats and articles on the players, but also daily updates on how the player did last night.
"You would be amazed how much these foreign countries get into basketball," notes Charlie. "We scour the net for any former Hog-related news and put it on the site."
Those of you with Internet access can call up the site at:
http://www.geocities.com/minorshogs -- The main site
http://www.geocities.com/minorshogs/fball.html -- The football section
http://www.geocities.com/minorshogs/basketball.html -- The basketball section
For the benefit of those without a computer or electricity or time, here is a report on some of the former Razorback basketball players currently getting paid to play.
NBA RAZORBACKS:
Todd Day, Minnesota Timberwolves: currently on injured list, where he landed on Dec. 15. Day is averaging 3.5 points in 13 games of action this season.
Corliss Williamson, Toronto Raptors: "Big Nasty" is averaging 10.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while being part of the Vin-sanity in Toronto.
ABA 2000
Derek Hood, Kansas City Knights: Fifth in the league in rebounding at 7.7 and ninth in points per minute. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds in 19 minutes on Friday night for the 5-1 first-place Knights.
Corey Beck: Memphis Houn 'Dawgs: Beck is second in the league in assists with six per game, eighth in steals, 11th in minutes played at 31 per game and third in assist-to-turnover ratio. Memphis is 2-4.
BRITISH BASKETBALL LEAGUE:
Tarik Wallace: Leads his Chester Jets team with 20 points per game, which is 14th in the BBL. He is first in the league in 3-point percentage (54.9) and ninth in steals.
FRANCE PRO A:
Lenzie Howell, Bourg-en-Bresse: Howell leads his team with in scoring at 23 points a game and is third on the team in rebounding at 5.1.
JAPAN:
Nick Davis, Denso Hoop Gang: Davis - surprise - leads the league in rebounding with a whopping 16 per game and also in blocked shots at 2.25 per contest. He is also shooting 54.4 percent from the field.
SWISS FEDERATION OF BASKETBALL:
Davor Rimac, Olympique Lausanne: Averaging 14.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

The Shields also pose a poll question for each sport with the current basketball question being "When will UA sophomore Joe Johnson declare for the NBA?"
As of Saturday, moments before the Mississippi State game, the poll results were:
Sophomore: 11 percent
Junior: 55 percent
Senior: 27 percent
Never: 3 percent
Who?: 1 percent.

This story was printed in the Northwest Arkansas Times sports section.