(Ryan Miller/ArkansasSports360.com)
The Facebook page "Team Save Coach Petrino" has gained a lot of traction in the past couple days, but the rally it was trying to promote Monday evening fell flat.
The site asked its members to meet at The Gardens, a popular tailgating spot on the Arkansas campus, to rally in support of coach Bobby Petrino in hopes of persuading athletic director Jeff Long to not fire him. However, according to ArkansasSports360.com, only about 200 people showed up in non-virtual support, making it easy to question how many people would actually be willing to stand up for Petrino?
ArkasnasSports360.com reporter Chris Bahn tweeted Tuesday that the number of people on the Team Save Coach Petrino Facebook page, which was at more than 20,000 members at the time of this posting, was fraudulent and that many had been added to the group without their consent or knowledge.
Last Thursday, Arkansas placed Petrino on administrative leave after he revealed he had engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year-old female subordinate who was a passenger on his motorcycle when it crashed.
Rally organizer Matt Couch told the website he didn't approve of Petrino's actions, but that he didn't think he should be fired for them.
"We're not condoning it. I wouldn't ask him for marriage counseling," Couch told the website "But at the same time we're supportive of him and want him to do well."
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