How to Go to an Arkansas Football Game

Old Main, on the Fayetteville campus

40 States down, 10 to go. This Saturday, the University of Arkansas plays football against Auburn, one of the powers of the Southeastern Conference.

It's still strange to see Arkansas in the SEC, even 26 years after leaving the Southwest Conference (SWC), essentially leading to its demise. But in the SEC, they are.

Before You Go. Being in the South, Arkansas can get quite hot. But this will be late October, so daytime temperatures on Saturday are projected to be in the mid-70s, and nighttime temperatures in the low 50s. You should bring a jacket.

Despite being a former Confederate State, you will not need to bring a passport or change your money to go to Arkansas. However, it is in the Central Time Zone, an hour behind New York, so you will have to adjust your timepieces.

Tickets. Despite not being a championship contender in recent years, the Razorbacks usually top 70,000 fans at home games. So tickets may be difficult to get. Sideline seats are $85 in the lower level, and $65 in the upper level.

Getting There. It is 1,328 miles from Midtown Manhattan to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Knowing this, your first instinct is going to be to fly.

Arkansas is one of the few States whose capital doesn't have a major football-playing college in it. (There is a University of Arkansas at Little Rock, but they're not Division I-A.) As a result, flying to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to attend a Razorbacks game could be difficult.

United Airlines offers one daily nonstop flight there from Newark, leaving at 8:15 AM (Eastern) and arriving at 10:28 AM (Central, 11:28 Eastern). But there are no nonstops on the way back, and the total fare is going to be over $1,500. Flying to Little Rock instead (into the airport now named Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport), and renting a car to go the rest of the way, won't help, as it's 189 miles away.

So what are the other options? Amtrak does not go to Fayetteville. Greyhound does, and it will cost $358, but it could drop to $302 with advanced-purchase. The station is at 3075 W. Wedington Drive, about 2 miles northwest of the campus.

Oh... kay. So what about driving? As I said, over 1,300 miles. I would definitely recommend bringing a friend and sharing the driving. You'll need to get on the New Jersey Turnpike, and take Interstate 78 West across New Jersey, and at Harrisburg get on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which at this point will be both I-70 and I-76. When the two Interstates split outside Pittsburgh, stay on I-70 west. You'll cross the northern tip of West Virginia, and go all the way across Ohio (through Columbus), Indiana (through Indianapolis) and Illinois.

When you cross into Missouri, you'll be in St. Louis, going over the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. Switch to Interstate 44 West, and take that across southern Missouri until reaching Exit 11A, onto Interstate 49 South. Exit 66 will get you to the campus.

If you do it right, you should spend about an hour and 15 minutes in New Jersey, 5 hours in Pennsylvania, 15 minutes in West Virginia, 3 hours and 45 minutes in Ohio, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Indiana, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Illinois, 5 hours and 15 minutes in Missouri, and 45 minutes in Arkansas. That's going to be a little over 21 hours. Counting rest stops, preferably 5 of them, and accounting for traffic at both ends, it should be about 28 hours.

Once In the City. Arkansas was the 25th State admitted to the Union, on June 15, 1836; the 9th State to secede from the Union, on May 6, 1861; and the 2nd former Confederate State to be readmitted to the Union, on June 2, 1868.

Founded in 1828, Fayetteville was named for the founders' hometown, which was Fayetteville, Tennessee, which was named for Fayetteville, North Carolina, which was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French nobleman who helped America win its Revolutionary War.

Arkansas' most famous citizen, former President Bill Clinton, once explained that the reason the State is so poor is that the major transcontinental rail lines bypassed it. Neither the one going westward from St. Louis to San Francisco nor the one going westward across the south to Los Angeles, through Dallas, went through it. Thus, there were no towns established around such stops, and thus there were no such towns to grow into revenue-generating cities.

The image of Arkansas as a racist bastion, due to the 1957 Little Rock school integration crisis (on top of the 1919 Elaine Massacre where over 200 black people were murdered), didn't help. Nor did the corporate-owned media's portrayal of Clinton as a horny, corrupt country bumpkin who was in over his head upon his arrival in the White House. He wasn't corrupt, he was no bumpkin, and if he was ever in over his head, he swam out of it.

The Fayetteville area, in the northwestern part of the State, is home to about 84,000 people (not counting University students in residence), and the area is home to about 500,000. Arkansas as a whole is home to about 3 million people.

The State House in Little Rock

ZIP Codes in Arkansas start with the digits 716 to 729, and for Fayetteville 727. The Area Codes are 501 for Little Rock and Hot Springs, 479 for Fayetteville, and 870 for the southwestern part that includes Texarkana and Bill Clinton's hometown of Hope. The State sales tax is 6.5 percent. Neither Little Rock nor Fayetteville has a "beltway."

The State's largest newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, recently took over the local paper, the Northwest Arkansas Times, and made it the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. College Avenue divides street addresses into East and West, and Center Street into North and South. The University of Arkansas was founded there in 1871, and their Razorback Transit bus system is free, and provides access around town, mostly to the campus.

In addition to the main campus in Fayetteville, there's also a campus in Little Rock (including the Medical School), one in Monticello, one in Pine Bluff and one in Fort Smith. UAPB is NCAA Division I, but in the Football Championship Subdivision, what used to be known as Division I-AA. UALR doesn't play football, but is Division I in all other sports. UAM and UAFS are in Division II.

Among UA's alumni are Dillard's Departent Stores founder William T. Dillard; Alltel founder Joe T. Ford; pacemaker inventor Dr. Walter Keller; novelists Charles Portis and E. Lynn Harris; CNN anchor T.J. Holmes; actor Laurence Luckinbill; Governors Jeff Davis (not that Jefferson Davis), Xenophon Pindall, George Donaghey, Junius Futrell, Charles H. Brough, John Martineau, Joseph T. Robinson, Tom Terral, Francis Cherry, Sid McMath, Bob Riley, Joe Purcell, Dale Bumpers, David Pryor, Jim Guy Tucker, Asa Hutchinson and Mike Beebe, plus Governor Edwin Mechem of New Mexico; Senators Robinson, Davis, Bumpers, Pryor and his son Mark Pryor, J. William Fulbright, Tim Hutchinson and John Boozman; and a President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli.

Going In. Razorback Stadium opened in 1938, at 350 N. Razorback Road, about a mile northest of downtown. If you drive in, parking is $20.

Originally seating 13,500, it was expanded to 21,000 in 1950, 30,000 in 1957, 42,000 in 1969, 52,000 in 1985, and its present 76,000 in 2001. That last expansion was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, founded by an Arkansas media chief, and the stadium was renamed Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The field is laid out north to south, and has been artificial turf since 2009. It was named Frank Broyles Field for the former football coach and athletic director upon his 2007 retirement as AD. The scoreboard includes not a "big screen," but, in keeping with the Razorback theme, a "Pig Screen."

(UPDATE: Arkansas returned to natural grass for the 2019 season.)

The Athletic Center, including team offices and training centers, was also named for Broyles, and in the north end zone. It was recently demolished to make way for an replacement facility under a bleacher section that will expand capacity to over 80,000.

Food. It's the South. You're gonna get food that's long on taste and low on health benefits. You can get your organic Whole Foods and nonfat latte from Starbucks when you get back to New York.

They seem to like macaroni & cheese in Arkansas, because they put it on both a "Mac Attack Burger" (definitely not to be confused with a McDonald's Big Mac) and a quarter-pound hot dog. They also serve Big Red Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches, Petit Jean Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, and Buffalo Chicken Nachos. In other words, if you're rooting for the visiting team, if they can't beat you, they'll kill you by ruining your diet.

Team History Displays. Long a mainstay of the Southwest Conference, Arkansas won it 13 times: In 1936, 1946, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1975, 1979, 1988 and 1989. They've found the Southeastern Conference rough going, winning the Western Division in 1995, 2002 and 2006, but losing the SEC Championship Game each time.

They won the National Championship in 1964, with a team that included future Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (guard, Number 61) and future Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson (defensive tackle, Number 60). This included beating Nebraska 10-7 in the 1965 Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

They won the Cotton Bowl again in 1976, 2000 and 2012. They also won the 1947 Dixie Bowl, the 1960 Gator Bowl, the 1969 Sugar Bowl, the 1978 Orange Bowl, the 1980 Hall of Fame Classic, the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl, the 1985 Holiday Bowl, the 2003 Independence Bowl, the 2009 Liberty Bowl, the 2014 Texas Bowl, and the 2015 Liberty Bowl. However, there is no open display for any of these honors in the fan-viewable areas of the stadium.

Razorback football legends the following members of the College Football Hall of Fame, with their senior years included: End Wear Schoonover (1929), running back Clyde Scott (1948), linebacker Wayne Harris (1960), receiver Lance Alworth (1961), running back Billy Joe Moody (1962), offensive tackle Loyd Phillips (1966), receiver Chuck Dicus (1970), defensive end Billy Ray Smith Jr. (1982); and head coaches Hugo Bezdek (1908-12), Francis Schmidt (1922-28), Bowden Wyatt (1953-54, elected for what he did elsewhere), Frank Broyles (1958-76) and Lou Holtz (1977-83). Alworth is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Other prominent Arkansas football players include end Jim Lee Howell (1936, was an NFL Champion with the Giants as a player in 1938 and as head coach in 1956), end Jim Benton (1937), offensive tackle Pat Summerall (1951, won an NFL Championship with the Giants, better known as a broadcaster), defensive tackle Dave Hanner (1951), quarterback Joe Ferguson (1972), linebacker Dennis Winston (1976, won 2 Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers), guard R.C. Thielemann (1976, went from Arkansas to the Washington Redskins, so remained a "Hog," won a Super Bowl), defensive tackle Dan Hampton (1978, won a Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears, Pro Football Hall of Fame), guard Fred Childress (1988), safety Steve Atwater (1988, won 2 Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos), offensive tackle Brandon Burlsworth (1998), running back Darren McFadden (2007).

Former college head coaches Red Hickey, Barry Switzer, Fred Akers, Ken Hatfield, Jimmy Johnson and Butch Davis are also Razorbacks.

The Razorbacks have retired 2 numbers: 12, for Clyde Scott; and 77, for Brandon Burlsworth. Scott, born in 1924, was a member of the 1949 NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles, and is still alive. Burlsworth, born in 1976, is not, killed in a car crash in 1999, after being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, but before he could play for them.

Arkansas is also known for a great track & field program, which has produced Olympic Gold Medalists Mike Conley Sr. (1992), Veronica Campbell (2004 and 2008 for Jamaica), Omar McLeod (2016 for Jamaica) and Taylor Ellis-Watson (2016). The school also produced swimming Gold Medalist Neil Brooks (1980, for Australia).

Other prominent Razorback athletes included baseball players Tim Lollar, Kevin McReynolds, Tom Pagnozzi, Cliff Lee, Eric Hinske, Dallas Keuchel and Andrew Benintendi; basketball players Gordon Carpenter and Robert Pitts (Gold Medal, 1948 Olympics), Sidney Moncrief (the Milwaukee Bucks retired his number), Joe Kleine and Alvin Robertson (Gold Medal, 1984 Olympics), Corliss Williamson (led them to the 1994 National Championship) and Joe Johnson (current Brooklyn Nets star); and, if you want to really stretch the meaning of "athlete," beyond the amount you normally would for a golfer, there's John Daly.

Outside the north end zone, where the Athletic Center named for him was, and will be again after the renovations, a statue was dedicated to Frank Broyles. He lived long enough to see it.

The Razorbacks' greatest rival was the University of Texas, culminating in a game at Razorback Stadium on December 6, 1969, with the Longhorns coming in ranked Number 1 and the Razorbacks Number 2, and the winner getting the SWC title, a berth in the Cotton Bowl, and a shot at the National Championship.

It was billed as one of those periodic "Game of the Century" matches, and was attended by President Richard Nixon. (Legend has it that Arkansas native and future President Bill Clinton attended, but he was at Oxford University at the time.) Arkansas led 14-0, but Texas won it 15-14, ruining the Hogs' hopes. In his book Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming: Texas vs. Arkansas in Dixie's Last Stand, Terry Frei of the Denver Post called it "Arkansas' Greek tragedy." They ended up losing the Sugar Bowl to neighboring Mississippi, too.

Texas leads the rivalry 56-22, but the annual game stopped after Arkansas left the SWC for the Southeastern Conference in 1991 (rendering the SWC a Texas-only league, and probably leading to its doom 5 years later), they haven't played each other since Arkansas won the 2014 Texas Bowl, and they won't play each other again until 2021.

Arkansas' move to the SEC led to rivalries with schools from neighboring States, including the University of Missouri (a.k.a. "Mizzou," also a new SEC team, they lead Arkansas 5-3), the University of Tennessee (they lead 13-5, although Arkansas has won the last 2), the University of Mississippi (a.k.a. "Ole Miss," Arkansas leads them 35-27-1), and Louisiana State University (a.k.a. LSU. who lead Arkansas 38-22-2).

UPDATE: Through the 2020 season, Arkansas now leads Ole Miss 36-28-1, but trails Missouri 9-3, trails LSU 42-22-2, and still trails Tennessee 13-5.

A trophy in the shape of the adjoining States of Arkansas and Louisiana, called the Golden Boot, goes to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game, usually played on Thanksgiving weekend since 1992.

Stuff. There is no big team store at the stadium, just souvenir stands. You'll have to go to the University  Bookstore, at 616 Garland Avenue, at Douglas Street, about a 5-minute walk northeast of the stadium.

The most comprehensive history of Razorback football I could find on Amazon.com only goes up to 1995: Orville Henry's The Razorbacks: A Story of Arkansas Football. Terri Frei of the Denver Post wrote Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming: Texas vs. Arkansas in Dixie's Last Stand, about the 1969 Texas-Arkansas Game. 

There's not much on video, either, just the period specific 22 Straight: Arkansas Football 1963-1965 and Arkansas SEC Classics (which covers 1992 to 2008).

During the Game. In 2013, Arkansas visited Rutgers, and thousands of their fans came in their cardinal red clothes, and were very polite, and didn't make a fuss about going 1,300 miles just to lose to Rutgers. If you return the favor, I don't think you'll have a problem with rough treatment.

In 1909, the team, then known as the Arkansas Cardinals for the school color went 7-0, and outscored the opposition 186-18. Coach Hugo Bedzek said his team "played like a wild band of razorback hogs." The name was changed to the Razorbacks for 1910, and by the 1920s, the traditional cheer, the Calling of the Hogs, was in place: "Woooooooo... Pig! Sooie!" It usually starts in the student section, the upper deck of the southeast corner.

Tusk IV and a Razorback cheerleader. At Arkansas,

if you call a man a "pig," he might say, "Thank you, sir."

The fight song is "Arkansas, Fight!" There are 2 mascots: A live Tusk IV, a Russian boar and the great-grandson of Tusk I, who debuted in 1994; and Big Red, a student in a costume, used since 1973. There's also a female Hog, naturally named Sue E. (UPDATE: Tusk IV died in 2020, and has been replaced by a Tusk V.)

Big Red appears to be cheating on Sue E.

by hamming it up with these cheerleaders.

After the Game. Your safety won't be an issue. Getting a postgame meal might be. Despite my joke earlier, there is a Starbucks about half a mile east of the stadium, at 111 Ozark Avenue. There's also a Chick-fil-A at 435 Garland Avenue; and a Quizno's, in Brough Commons Dining Hall, at 1021 W. Dickson Street. But you're probably better off heading downtown.

If you visit Arkansas during the European soccer season, as we are now in, you're probably out of luck: The best-known "football pub" in the State is back in Little Rock, Dugan's Pub, at 401 E. 3rd Street.

Sidelights. Just to the southeast of Razorback Stadium at 285 Stadium Drive is the 10,000-seat home of Arkansas basketball from 1954 to 1993. Originally known as the Arkansas Fieldhouse, it was renamed Barnhill Arena in 1973, for the late John Barnhill, football coach 1946 to 1949 and athletic director 1946 to 1971.

Head coach Nolan Richardson ran his "Forty Minutes of Hell" offense, and the arena was nicknamed "Barnhell." He was successful enough to get a new arena built, named for a member of the Walton family of nearby Bentonville and Walmart infamy: The 19,368-seat Bud Walton Arena. 1270 Leroy Pond Drive, about half a mile south of Razorback Stadium and Barnhill Arena.

In their 1st season in it, 1993-94, the Razorbacks won the National Championship. In their 2nd season, they got back to the Final.

They won their conference's regular-season title 24 times (including 1992 and 1994 since moving to the SEC) and its tournament 7 times (including 2000 in the SEC). They've reached the Final Four in 1941, 1945, 1978, 1990, 1994 and 1995.

Aside from the University, there isn't much to see in Fayetteville. Headquarters House, at 118 E. Dickson Street, was a headquarters for both sides in the Civil War, as the city changed hands.

Back in Little Rock, 189 miles to the southeast, is War Memorial Stadium, a 54,128-seat stadium built in 1948, which the Razorbacks have used as a secondary home, usually once a season. (They opened this season there, beating Florida A&M.) It is also home to the football team of Arkansas Baptist College, and minor-league soccer's Little Rock Rangers. 1 Stadium Drive, about 2 1/2 miles west of downtown.

Hot Springs, 185 miles southeast of Fayetteville and 55 miles southwest of Little Rock, where Bill Clinton spent his teenage years, was a resort well known for having actual hot springs, and also for illegal gambling. It is said that Spring Training was invented there when, coming off a Pennant-winning season, Chicago White Stockings (forerunners of the Cubs) manager and 1st baseman Adrian "Cap" Anson took his team there before the 1886 season to "boil the beer out of them." It remained a popular Spring Training site into the 1920s, before railroads and air-conditioning made Florida, and later Arizona, practical.

There are 2 minor-league baseball teams in Arkansas. The Arkansas Travelers, currently a farm team of the Seattle Mariners, play at the 7,200-seat Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. 400 W. Broadway Street, just across the Arkansas River from downtown Little Rock.

Dickey-Stephens Park, with the Arkansas River

and downtown Little Rock in the background

DSP replaced the Travelers' previous home, 1932 to 2006, the 6,000-seat Traveler Field, renamed Ray Winder Field in 1966. 4936 W. Markham Street, just south of War Memorial Stadium.

The Travelers, named for the old folk song "The Arkansas Traveler," have won 9 Pennants: In 1937, 1960, 1971, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1989, 2001 and 2008.

Despite their name, the Travelers compete in the Class AA Texas League, as does the State's other team, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. They are a farm team of the Kansas City Royals, have won 4 Division titles, including the 2010 Texas League Pennant, and play in Arvest Ballpark. 3000 Gene George Blvd. in Springdale, about 8 miles north of the UA campus.

Dickey-Stephens Park is named for 2 sets of brothers, local businessmen Jackson and Witt Stehens, and ex-big league catchers Bill and George Dickey. Bill Dickey, of course, was the 1st great Yankee catcher, starting from 1929 until 1943, and winning 8 Pennants and 7 World Series. He was Lou Gehrig's best friend on the team, played himself in the movie The Pride of the Yankees, and, while the Captaincy was officially vacant from 1939 to 1976, he was the effective captain from 1939 until 1939.

He managed the team in 1946, and was a coach from 1949 to 1960, teaching Yogi Berra how to be a proper catcher. The Yankees retired Number 8 for him and Berra in 1972, and dedicated Plaques in Monument Park for them in 1988. He died in 1993, and is buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock. 2801 Asher Avenue, about 3 miles southwest of downtown.

From the UA campus in Fayetteville, it is far to any major-league city: 216 miles west to Oklahoma City, 232 miles north to Kansas City, 318 miles southeast to Memphis, 331 miles southwest to Dallas, and 358 miles northeast to St. Louis.

In baseball, most of Arkansas shows the effects of the old St. Louis Cardinals' radio network, plus Card superstar Dizzy Dean being from Arkansas. Both Little Rock and Fayetteville give about 25 percent of their baseball fandom to the Cards, with the Yankees and Red Sox both around 10 percent. Except for the southenrmost tier of the State, which tilts toward the New Orleans, Saints, Arkansans tend to root for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.

In basketball, the easternmost part of the State, bordering Tennessee, supports the nearby Memphis Grizzlies; and the western area, bordering Oklahoma, favors the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Little Rock and Fayetteville are too isolated from Memphis or OKC for those teams to register. Fans there mostly root for the most successful teams: The Los Angeles Lakers, the Golden State Warriors, and whatever team LeBron James is playing for now. Hockey is barely on the radar, but the St. Louis Blues are preferred over the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars.

The University of Arkansas also has a campus in Pine Bluff, and won the National Championship of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in 2012. The Golden Lions play at the 16,000-seat Golden Lion Stadium, 1960 Oliver Road. The school is 43 miles southeast of Little Rock, 229 miles southeast of Fayetteville, and 142 miles southwest of Memphis.

The Beatles never played in Arkansas. Elvis Presley did, especially early in his career, because his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee is right across the Mississippi River from West Memphis, Arkansas.

He played at the Texarkana Municipal Auditorium on November 24, 1954, April 22 and May 27, 1955; the Catholic Club in Helena on December 2, 1954, January 13, March 8 and December 14, 1955; the P and G Auditorium in West Memphis on December 8, 1954; the City Auditorium in Camden on February 21, 1955;  the Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock: On February 20 and August 3, 1955, and May 16, 1956; City Hall in Hope on February 22, 1955; the Armory and Porky's Rooftop in Newport on March 2, 1955; the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium in Texarkana on March 3, September 2 and November 17, 1955; the Fair Park Coliseum in Hope on June 7, 1955; the Sevier County Fair in De Queen on June 16, 1955; the Silver Moon Club in Newport on July 21 and October 24, 1955; the Camden Municipal Auditorium on August 4 and November 16, 1955; River Stadium in Batesville on August 6, 1955; Memorial Stadium in El Dorado on October 17, 1955; the B&I Club in Swifton on December 9, 1955; and the Community Center in Jonesboro on January 4, 1956.

And at high schools in 1955 in Leachville on January 20, August on February 2, Aubrey on February 3, Pine Bluff on February 23, Parkin on March 21, Marianna on March 24, Dermott on March 25, El Dorado on March 30, Nettleron on April 4, Bono on September 6, Watson Chapel on September 27, Forrest City on November 14, and Swifton on December 9.

In his later years, he played the T.H. Barton Coliseum in Little Rock (2600 Howard Street) on April 17, 1972, and the Pine Bluff Convention Center (1 Convention Center Plaza) on September 7 and 8, 1976. Both buildings are still standing.

Bill Clinton is the only President with a significant connection to Arkansas. The William J. Clinton Presidential Center is at 1200 President Clinton Avenue, just east of downtown. Between the Library and downtown is the Historic Arkansas Museum, at 200 E. 3rd Street.

The Clinton Birthplace Foundation is at his childhood home, at 117 S. Hervey Street in Hope, 113 miles southwest of Little Rock, 232 miles south of Fayetteville, and 209 miles northeast of Dallas. This was the home of his maternal grandparents.

But it was not his birthplace: He was born on August 19, 1946 at Julia Chester Hospital, which was demolished in 1991, just before he began his run for President. (This happened to Gerald Ford as well: The house where he was born was torn down 4 years before he became President.) Ironically, a funeral home was built on the site. Brazzel-Oakcrest Funeral Home, 1001 S. Main Street. He later lived nearby at 321 E. 13th Street; in Hot Springs at 1011 Park Avenue; and at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock, at 1800 Center Street.

The tallest building in Arkansas is the 547-foot Simmons Tower, at 425 W. Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock.

There have been 2 notable TV shows set in Arkansas. Evening Shade, running on CBS from 1990 to 1994, was a sitcom with Burt Reynolds playing a local football hero coming home to coach his old high school's team. Although taped in Los Angeles, several Arkansas scenes were used in the opening sequence, including McClard's Bar-be-que in Hot Springs National Park. And what started as 17, becoming 18, and finally 19 Kids and Counting starred the Duggar Family, who lived in Tontitown, outside Springdale. It ran from 2008 to 2015, until scandal sank it.

Thelma & Louise started in Little Rock, as did Brubaker, Robert Redford's 1980 prison film. So did Walk the Line, the film biography of Dyess native Johnny Cash.

*

Arkansas is an odd place in many ways, but they do love their college football. The Razorbacks are an institution, and if you hear the call of the Hogs, find a time to answer it, and go.