Keepng it REAL... BIG TIME

In times of extreme excitement and expectations, we can tend to take it overboard. And then when something fails to meet our expectations, we can take our disappointment overboard. Tomorrow, Sept. 25, 2010 could be one of those moments in the history of the University of Arkansas. This "blog" will be brief, just a few thoughts on what COULD be one of the biggest days in my school's, no my STATE's history. (Was that taking it overboard?)

Big games come and go. Every couple of years there will be a team that we (the UofA) put alot of stock into beating. Whether it was Texas through the '60s, '70s and '80s, or any number of SEC foes in the past 2 decades, there have been certain games that transcended being an "important" game, to being a HUGE game with far-reaching effects and lasting memories. Some of those games lived up to the hype and marketing, and some didn't (USC/Mitch's first appearance).

I have been blessed to be at a few of those games. I will always cherish my memories from 1999's "revenge" affair against defending national champions Tennessee, the feeling of spending $30 for a $2 student ticket so that my friend from Jonesboro could come to the game. Standing practically on the field throughout the game in the Northeast corner of Razorback Stadium, pre-expansion and jumbo-tron, when the student section included the bleachers in front of the Broyles center and the grassy hill on the south end zone. I can be be seen on the TV broadcast jumping in celebration as Tee Martin's last ditch effort is unsuccessful. (Trust me, how many other large guys could there be in the corner of the end zone that had taken their red shirt off to be bathed in white undershirt glory because it was INCREDIBLY warm for a Fayetteville November?)

I was standing next to the goalpost as Craig O'neill announced as the clock was running down, "I have to read this... Please stay off the field once the game is complete." Within seconds, the police and stadium crew "guarding" the field gave a smile, some high fives and told us not to get hurt. I was also in that same end zone when the first goal post came down, to be met with another unforgettable O'neill line, "We'd like to thank the University of Arkansas student body for taking the first steps in the stadium remodeling."

After pulling up a chuck of turf "for history" from where the goal post once stood, we headed home to continue the party. Some EIGHT hours later, my friends and I traveled down to Dickson street, where the police had closed a stretch of the road where the goal post was propped against the Ozark Brewing Co.'s balcony. Open containers and hog calls ruled the street, like a scene from Mardi Gras. I took a sharpie and signed the goal post, down low on the back side, and didn't like my signature or it's placement, so I signed it again, this time on the front side about 3/4 of the way up the post, below the cross bar. I wished that day could never end, and in some ways it hasn't.

My point is, weeks and days like this don't come along very often. A win Saturday could surely be bigger than our win in 1999, but that day will never fade in the hearts and minds of the Razorbacks who lived it. At first, I missed being in Fayetteville for this game, but as I thought more about what those folks could experience tomorrow, I couldn't help but feel happy for them. Win or lose, this is a special time, and it is more than a game. Saturday at 2:30, it's just a game, but the stuff leading up to it, and HOPEFULLY the stuff following will last a lifetime.

If we lose, the season isn't over, so we have to be prepared not to let the special game week we've had come crashing down. The Hogs will rebound, and there will be big games again, so let's just live this moment for all we can and take each day as it comes.

GO HOGS!!