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Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, Benton, Heber Springs
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Read More about this safari issue.April 25, 2014
April 25, 2014
In Fayetteville, a usually sleepy atmosphere surrounded an afternoon scrimmage game that drew 5,000-10,000 fans at the most, and the big attraction in my day as a UA student was trying to spot coeds sunning in various spots throughout Razorback Stadium. The crowd was usually double and sometimes triple the next weekend in Little Rock. Quarterback great Joe Ferguson and the Razorbacks drew 34,000 fans to War Memorial Stadium for the 1972 Red-White Game under the lights. An approaching tornado sent media and fans fleeing in 1978.
In Fayetteville, as it is now, the game was free. To cover the expense of playing at the stadium in Little Rock, it typically cost fans $1 and the old IGA store chain made up the difference. Yes, don’t tell current UA athletic director Jeff Long, but 34,000 fans would be willing, even back then, to fork over a buck to see their Hogs scrimmage in Little Rock while half that or fewer could barely muster enough energy to see them for free in Fayetteville.
So, yes, just as we say when we opine about UA games being played in or taken away from Little Rock these days, what with a much larger stadium now on campus: Times have changed. …
Learn more about Sporting Life Arkansas - Jim Harris.
A little about Sporting Life Arkansas - Jim Harris.
Jim Harris is the former editor of ArkansasSports360. He has covered Arkansas sports for decades at papers including the Pine Bluff Commercial and the Arkansas Gazette. He a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Jim is also in search of the best gumbo.
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Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, Benton, Heber Springs
Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Fort Smith
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