From the Sports Chest: Arkansas Razorbacks 1999 Signed Team Football

August 14, 1999 – I count 55 signatures on this signature panel football that I had signed at Fan Appreciation Day 1999.  People with long lines (Coach Houston Nutt, Quarterback Clint Stoerner, Wide Receiver Anthony Lucas, etc.) were skipped on this day so that my goal of getting the signature of nearly everyone else could be accomplished. You can actually make out many of the signatures on this ball, a significant achievement from the perspective of a left-handed person with poor penmanship. The autographs written in blue ink don’t seem to have held up well 13 years later. In contrast, you can clearly make out most of the signatures in black ink.  I’d like to express a big “Thank you!” to the players that included their uniform # alongside their “John Hancock”.

This helps me identify the following signers of my 1999 Arkansas Razorbacks football team ball: Kenoy Kennedy, Raymond House, Derrick Johnson, Jamel Harris, Delancy Kent, D’andre Berry, Jim Ed Reed, John Geitner, Joe Dean Davenport, Curt Davis, Andre Ackee, Chris Brooks, Eric Parks, Orlando Green, Joe Bailey, Sparky Hamilton, Bobby Williams, Robby Hampton, Josh Melton, J.J. Jones, David Barrett, Chris Akin, Lazerius White, Nathan Ball, Rossi Morreale, Matt Burnstein, George Wilson, Mark Bokermann, Randy Garner, Michael Jenkins, Gary Brashears, Rodney Hampton, Jared McBride, Tony Dodson & Bo Lacy.

Thanks guys for your contributions to the Razorback football program and to my Razorback memorabilia collection!

From the Sports Chest: Arkansas Razorbacks 2000 NUTTin’ But Fun Towel

September 2000 – Southwestern Bell produced this promotional towel to hand out to fans ahead of the 2000 Arkansas Razorbacks football season. I can’t recall if I received this at Fan Appreciation Day in August or prior to the game on September 30, 2000 against the Georgia Bulldogs. My wife, brother and sister-in-law were standing outside the stadium looking for 4 tickets together when a kind stranger handed us free tickets to the game. We had great upper level seats on a beautiful day at Razorback Stadium. Unfortunately, Robby Hampton threw a pick-6 on the first series of the game and it was all downhill from there in a 38-7 shellacking.

The 2000 season was anything but fun. Arkansas finished 6-6 on the season (3-5 in Southeastern Conference play) and the Houston Nutt era was in a steady decline from the magical start to the 1998 season. I’ve recalled the “NUTTin’ But Fun” slogan from this towel several times since, mostly during the down years with Houston Nutt at the helm (of which there were way too many). Thankfully, the state of the Razorback program is much better today, even in light of recent events that saw the departure of Bobby Petrino and the hiring of John L. Smith as the interim coach. Hopefully, Hog fans will have much more fun during the upcoming season than they did twelve years ago.

From the Sports Chest: Arkansas Razorbacks 1998 Souvenir Stadium Cup

September 1998 – Houston Nutt returned to the program he once quarterbacked as Frank Broyles’ choice to take the Arkansas Razorbacks to new heights in the rigorous Southeastern Conference. The 1998 football season opened with great enthusiasm and optimism. I attended the first conference game in Fayetteville against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Arkansas won 42-6 and really controlled the game from start to finish. I attended the game with my wife, brother and sister-in-law and we had a great time celebrating a big SEC victory against the past and future SEC standard bearer.

 

This cup was sold at Razorback Stadium and featured a quarterback in the road white jersey wearing uniform #14. Hmmm…I wonder who that could be? This “Clint Stoerner cup” featured the player art with Coca-Cola logo on one side and the full game schedule on the other side. This ’98 team won their first 8 games and finished 9-3 on the season. Thanks to Coach Nutt and the players on this squad, the Arkansas Razorbacks were back on the national map.

From the Sports Chest: Arkansas Razorbacks 1994 Corliss Williamson Autographed Sports Illustrated Magazine

April 11, 1994 – The Arkansas Razorbacks won the national championship in college basketball in 1994. I first met Corliss Williamson the summer before his freshman year at the U of A. He and Scotty Thurman were roommates at the same apartment complex my wife & I lived in near campus. I knew who they were and being a big Hog fan, had hopes that they would help the team win. Never did I imagine how many games these 2 players would help Arkansas win during their 3 seasons together (1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1994-1995).

I was living overseas the day that Arkansas became national champs. I had to celebrate from afar and missed out on sharing this experience with my fellow Hog fans. My wife gave me this framed SI magazine signed by NCAA Final Four MOP (Most Outstanding Player) Corliss Williamson for my birthday last year. I’m extremely proud to be a fan of the Razorbacks basketball team and will be forever grateful to a power forward from Russellville High School who took Arkansas on his back and to the Promised Land – 1994 national champs!

From the Sports Chest: The Razorbacks: A Story of Arkansas football book by Orville Henry & Jim Bailey

Growing up in Little Rock, Orville Henry was one of my larger windows to the Arkansas Razorbacks. I would read his column in the Arkansas Gazette every Sunday morning following a big win or crushing defeat. I picked up this book, Razorbacks: A Story of Arkansas football, somewhere along the way but only actually began reading it in August of 2011. August is the toughest month of the year because the long summer nightmare is nearly over and the boys of fall are just about ready to take the field. I was craving anything college football and this vintage book (published in 1973) was a delightful diversion. I really enjoyed the historical perspective of the Razorback football program, especially in light of how much life has changed in the past 20 years since Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference. There was one prophetic story in the book that talked about how Arkansas was a better fit for the schools in the Southeastern Conference than the all-Texas school Southwestern Conference.

I highly recommend this book (you can pick it up on Amazon) for any Razorback fan interested in the history of the program. Orville Henry & Jim Bailey do an excellent job telling these stories, providing us a window to look back on many of the past greats to wear the cardinal & white.

From the Sports Chest: Arkansas Upsets #1 Texas Button (1981)

“Whatever the Hogs do in the future, whatever may change their careers, May ’81 go down in history as the year they clobbered the steers.” – Chase

October 17, 1981 - I don’t know who “Chase” is but I love his quote and that this button captures the scoreboard with the goalposts already coming down (with 14 seconds still on the clock!) and the fact that this upset was so monumental that a button was made to celebrate it! My favorite story which I’ve retold several times (don’t tell me if it’s not true, I don’t want to know) is how Coach Lou Holtz handled the pregame locker room pep talk. Coach Holtz gathered the team together and said, looking out over his team of fighting Razorbacks, “Gentlemen, it’s not even going to be close. Let’s go!” Texas fumbled deep in their own territory on their very first play, the Hogs scored and the rout was on. Big victories over the hated Longhorns were rare. Victories over #1 Texas when the Hogs were unranked? Almost never. But this was Arkansas’ day. I’ve often remembered this game in recent years when the Hogs were facing a tough SEC opponent, hoping for another ’81 Texas game like outcome. Maybe on September 15, 2012 when Alabama comes calling?