ARKANSAS VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
11:21 a.m. War Memorial Stadium. $65.

Dammit. Just … dammit. Here’s where we are, fellow Hog faithful: Hoping for a single, solitary SEC win in 2013 (I think we can all safely rule out a Miracle in Baton Rouge later this month, right?). We all knew this was going to be a rough season, rebuilding in the ashes of the crash of Bobby’s April Fool’s Day Extramarital Motorcycle Tour and Johnelle’s 2012 SMILE! Campaign of Terror and all that. But holy hell, this has been painful.

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At least for some of us. I’m not naming names, but there are certain commentators out there who seem to positively relish how poorly the Razorbacks are playing this year. Which, whatever. If that’s the sort of thing that brings some folks a bit of joy in this gray, late-capitalist world, I won’t begrudge them that. I’d only ask them to remember that while schadenfreude might be an exhilarating sugar rush of an emotion, in the end it provides only empty spiritual calories, unlike memories of cheering for your favorite team with friends and family.

I still remember screaming and jumping up and down and high-fiving my friends when Ryan Mallett threw that crazy 80-yard bomb to Cobi Hamilton for a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half of the 2010 game against LSU. That was an awesome moment of celebrating with people I care about, and I’ll always savor it no matter how poorly the Hogs are playing right at the moment.

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