You Might Be a Hog Fan

        A popular comic has a routine in which he shares tell-tale signs that you may be a redneck. In the midst of another football season, you can tell you are a real fan if you have a list like what follows- my ten most memorable Razorback games. These are in chronological order, because there is no way I could rank the memories from best to worst. They are all a part of the fabric that makes up the lives of the people I love the most.

1.      Arkansas vs. Texas A&M-1975 War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.  My former boyfriend gave me and my new fiancé tickets to a game in December that was televised. While generous ex watched from the comfort of his couch, future hubby and I almost literally froze in the end-zone. I remember driving his precious Dodge Challenger through the bumper to bumper traffic.  I was very surprised while researching this column to learn that we actually won that game. The score did not play into my memories at all. I was happy to be with a great guy, but longing for a warmer location!

2.     Arkansas vs. Tulsa 1976- Fayetteville. As newlyweds, we drove up to the Ozarks with some friends and witnessed a defensive duel, highlighted by two record-setting field goal kickers- Steve Cox of Tulsa and Steve Little of Arkansas. Tulsa kicked three of them, and the Hogs only managed one. The final score 9-3 Tulsa.

3.   Arkansas vs. LSU 1996- Little Rock.  Our oldest son, with money from his first job burning a hole in his pocket, bought tickets for himself and his dad. A friend who was a State Legislator at the time let us use his passes, so the whole family went on a cold, rainy weekend after Thanksgiving and stayed for most of a miserable defeat. I remember that the purple and gold ponchos outnumbered the red ones by quite a bit when we finally made our way to the exits.

4.     Parent’s Day in Fayetteville- Arkansas vs. Alabama 1998- While recalling that game today, son’s comment was- “Were y’all at that game?” We watched the action from the student section, and observed our college freshman having the time of his life in the end-zone, A big 42-6 win that cemented our fervor for all things cardinal and white.

5.     Arkansas 28, Tennessee 24, Fayetteville, 1999. We watched on television, as our college student spent the weekend after his 21^st. birthday helping his friends dismantle the goal posts after a glorious game. He still owns a baggie with a piece of the turf from that game. Some relics are more precious than gold.

6.     Arkansas vs. Tennessee- September, 2001. Just days before the world changed forever, we were seated on metal seats at the very tip-top of the newly remodeled stadium during severe thunderstorm warnings. After several back and forth trips to the safety of the concourse, hubby and I decided we would be better off watching on the television in our hotel room. Our kids wanted to divorce us that day, but we’ve gotten over it, well most of us have. Anyway, Tennessee won.

7.   Seven Overtimes- Arkansas vs. Mississippi in Oxford- 2001 I actually watched this from a hospital bed after knee surgery. My future son-in-law was keeping an eye on the heart monitor and threatened to turn the television off if I didn’t calm down. Calm? Not a chance. Arkansas 58, Mississippi 56.

8.   War Memorial Stadium- Arkansas vs. Louisiana Monroe 2004.

Our second son had graduated from the U of A by this time, and he came to town for the game. We bought tickets from a scalper outside the stadium, and had terrific seats next to the Razorback band in the South end zone. Son was still in full-on student mode, and performed all of the songs right along with them. We won the game, but it wouldn’t have mattered to us in the least.

9.   Arkansas vs. Mississippi State at Starkville, MS 2008.

This was a road trip with our son’s fiancé and his friends from Memphis. Our now daughter-in-law still remembers that my husband made her leave her warmest coat in the car because it was the wrong color. We left when the game seemed lost, only to hear a rally as we were leaving. Our son pulled in and out of the parking space to get the best reception on the radio. Final score- Mississippi State 31, Arkansas 28.

10.  Arkansas vs. Auburn- Fayetteville, 2009. After a terribly difficult week that included the funeral of someone we all loved, we took a very refreshing trip to the top of The Hill. A great victory, 44-23. How ‘bout them Hawgs, indeed.

A bonus memory that doesn’t directly include me- After my oldest son married, his wife and I stayed at their apartment in Fayetteville, while “the boys” went to the Auburn game. They had two student tickets and a spouse ticket between them, and only one of them was an actual student. Dad was told to try to act like a professor, and brother was praying no-one would challenge his “spouse” status.

       

The Razorbacks are more than our favorite team, they are part of our lives. Here’s hoping your family has some memories together that will last long after the final seconds click off the stadium clock. Woo Pig Sooie!!

Only a Game? Not Around Here!

Only a Game? Not Around Here.
By the time you read this, Salt Bowl 2011 will be in the history books. I can visualize the dumbfounded look on some of your faces, but those who live anywhere near Saline County know that this is one of the biggest high school events in the state, nay the Nation! Because of the way that city limits and school district boundaries overlap, people who live in Benton and Bryant could live down the street from each other, go to church together, and still end up on opposite sides of the stadium once a year. What started as a conference rivalry over 30 years ago has evolved into “The” event of the football season. So big it outgrew both towns, and had to be moved to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. On that night, tumbleweeds run rampant in both cities, as the entire population heads east to gather at a huge tailgate party that rivals some of the Razorback games for enthusiasm.
Speaking of the Razorbacks, does every city have a countdown clock on the local TV station’s website measuring the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the first football game of the season? Although the University is located in Fayetteville, Hog Mania covers the whole state, and little red pig symbols adorn hats, t-shirts, golf club covers and babies’ pacifiers. For those who graduated elsewhere, the Hogs are one of their top two favorite teams. There are Razorback clubs across the country for ex-patriots who often place slogans like RAZBAX on their personalized license plates.
It’s just football, right? So what is all the fuss? When you get down to it, it’s a rather silly game. I remember hearing an old recording by Andy Griffith who described accidentally wandering into this big place where folks were lined up hollering at a bunch of boys who were trying to take a flattened out pumpkin from each other.
It’s really about community spirit, after all. Around here, football unites us. In other parts of the world, it might be soccer (also called football, but only a distant cousin to the American game), or running from bulls in the streets, or even rolling a huge cheese wheel down a hillside. It gives the residents something to get excited about, a cause to rally around, a reason to cheer.
Along with the football players themselves, other groups get a chance to show off their talents at the games. Cheerleaders, dance teams, and marching bands add pageantry and variety, and bring along their own very vocal cheering sections. These teams also compete at their own exhibitions, and the Ouachita Area has been fortunate to bring home many state and national trophies. You may see things at half time that you’ve never expected, like routines featuring Broadway show tunes, or movie themes. Dancers dressed as Cats, and strange noises that suggest Jurassic dinosaurs keep you wondering how next year’s students will top this year’s show. Once, we witnessed a whole marching band “disappear” under a giant tarp, causing a collective gasp in the stands. Not sure what old John P. Sousa would think of that, but it was great fun to watch!
Family traditions are born that span generations. If your Grandpa and your Dad were fans of a certain team, you most likely will be too, no matter where you went to school. Attending games together gives you common “war stories” to share for years afterwards. When you can’t be there in person, you can tune in on the TV or radio, and share the experience across the miles. Our family has often updated each other with text messages and emails when one member lives out of range of the broadcast.
I guess my favorite story of how football and the Salt Bowl affects us took place several years ago when a friend’s son joined us at the big game during a few hours of leave from military training at Camp Robinson. He received a phone call from someone who was on base. What we could hear of the conversation went something like this:
“Yeah, I’m with my Dad at a high school football game …. Well, it’s actually in Little Rock, at War Memorial Stadium …. No, my brother graduated a few years ago …. No, we don’t know anyone who’s playing on either team ….. Well, it’s just what you do on a Friday night around here…. Yeah, pretty cool… Okay, see you soon.”
Go Hornets, and Woo Pig Sooie!