Arkansas Blog

Grrrr....

I won't be there. Gave it up three years ago. Seats on the 40. Had enough of Nuttin but fun stuff. Saw my first live game in 1957. Witnessed many memorable events (like the streaker at the Ole Miss game). Freddy Akers field goal that defeated TCU in the rain 3-0, but I'm done. I'd rather let the fat cats rule it all.

I hear you, Cato. My saw my first live game in 1946, when my father found an end zone seat for $2 for me, gave me a quarter for the streetcar and with enough left over for a bag of peanuts, and dropped me off at Fifth and Main with instructions to be home by 6 o'clock. John Hoffman intercepted the pass that beat Rice, 7 to 0, at Little Rock High School's Tiger Stadium (now Central High's Quigley Stadium). Caught that pass right in front of me. I was on the 40 yard line that day in 1954 when Buddy Bob Benson threw to Preston Carpenter to beat Ole Miss 6 to 0. Two pivotal games in Hog history. But now the colleges are well on their way to being mere farm clubs of the NFL, and it's sad. The Porkers, with the police-blotter and endless coaching drama overshadowing everything, have become interesting mostly as sociology. I'll never root against the Hogs, but it's ever more difficult to care very much whether they win or lose. And I gave up my NFL tickets years ago. Thugsports just can't cut it for me.

Maybe some of the coaches and coordinators can kick in a little bit of their lavish play money to support the program and keep the cost down for the poor saps in the stands.

DonKeyhotay, are you feeling all right? are you joking?

I figure this would happen when Satan ice skates.

It's a great idea but I can't see any of the coaches/coordinators making any financial sacrifices for the likes of us.

I saw my first live game when I was in elementary school. I read Orval Henry's column faithfully every single day even back then. I was there for the Big Shootout in 1969. Had season tickets when we lived in Little Rock about 25 years ago. Our seats were on the very top row of the east (?) end zone and I was terrified throughout every game. Our neighbors were............well, they took up their fair share of their seats, let's just put it that way. they always arrived with a nice snack from KFC including those giant drinks KFC was selling at that time that looked like a cardboard 1/2 gallon of milk. I never drank anything because i didnt want to have to go to the nasty bathrooms or climb up & down to the very top row again, not that the Coke man came up there very often.

my ex was in grad school, and we lived close enough to the stadium that we could walk to games and avoid the traffic. This was a good plan except for that time we beat Texas and a carful of annoyed Longhorn fans threw beer ALL over me while we were walking home.

sometime in there it just wasn't fun any more. The last time I went to a live game was when son #1 was in first grade - I wanted him to see a Razorback game, but he was not impressed --- and now he's about to graduate from law school, so I guess it's been a spell since I saw a live game. At that price I'm sure not interested.

They ought to just pay the college players, it's a full-time job anyway, might as well be up-front about it. maybe these fine student-athuleets would even remember the rules of conduct better if they got paid to play. what if a football player needs to work to pay some of his school expenses, he can't because football takes up all his time. it really is just a farm system for the pros like Casimer Pulaski says. The star players probably get paid somehow already.

that sure makes an expensive day out, $90 for tickets for two and then at least two meals on the road unless you want to stay up till midnight or whatever and make a tailgate picnic. It's a shame that there's a whole generation of Arkansans out there who will never be able to afford to go see a live game. I dont want to go and probably won't ever go again, but im sure there are people who do. I can remember when i was in high school, our entire band went to at least one game a year in little rock, when the Hogs would be playing the Little Sisters of the Poor or something, and I dont remember paying for the ticket but it couldn't have been over $10.

tina:
No, not kidding - I'd like to see some real contribution that these UAF financialteat suckers are making back to the school other than taking all the money they can get.

That includes the head suckling Frank. too.

Come to think of it, maybe some enterprising reporter could do a story on how committed the Hog Coaching staff is to The University - by interviewing the individual coaches - or getting the contribution records from the school to see if any of the coaching staff are contibuting financially to the institution that is paying them 3 to 4 times the annual salary of the other UAF staff members. . .

Do coaches even make contributions to charity?