DUMMIES: Auburn apparently learned how to block in its practices. Arkansas? Needs work, sports columnist says.

A couple of points seemed worth emphasis after a run-through of the morning Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

* RAZORBACK FOOTBALL: Sports editor Wally Hall wrote:

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Arkansas’ two biggest problems against Auburn, as well as in their two other losses, were blocking and tackling.

No comment, except this: We are in the fourth year of a head coach who is guaranteed a $4.1 million salary and an aggregate coaching staff payroll of just a hair under $8 million.  We pay the man who hired them about a half-million a year. No wonder sports show callers are unhappy.

* CANCER: The Health Department’s Gary Wheeler was quoted again in the paper, in a diplomatic fashion, about bringing the legislature around to continuing a modest program aimed at helping people quit smoking. It costs $1.8 million a year, too much for Bully Bart Hester.

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Context: Arkansas ranks second, behind only tobacco-state Kentucky, in the percentage of cancer deaths attributable to smoking. Health care costs for smoking-related cancer runs more than $1 billion a year.

We get a lot of bang for the buck when people are helped  to quit smoking.

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That smoking cessation program is cheap, about 20 percent of the cost of paying Razorback coaches to teach players how to block and tackle.