Arkansas Expats: An SB Nation Community

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Introductory Hog Call

Howdy - and welcome to SB Nation's new blog about the Arkansas Razorbacks.

If by chance you weren't one of the millions, thousands, hundreds, multiple people who visited our previous site - RazorbackExpats.com - each day, please allow us to introduce ourselves ...

First off, our names are John Slater and Stephen Ursery.

When we grew up in Little Rock in the 1980s, few things gave us more pleasure than Razorbacks sports. Whether we were watching Alvin Robertson on the hardwood or Quinn Grovey on the gridiron, we were captivated in the way that kids everywhere are captivated when watching their athletic heroes. When the Hogs won, we were joyous; when they lost, crestfallen.

In the early 90s, we both moved out of the state (barely) to attend the same college in Memphis, Tenn. You might think that the obsession would have waned; on the contrary, it exploded. Encountering lots of people who didn’t like the Hogs – even some who (horrors!) hated the Razorbacks – our fandom kicked into overdrive. It also didn’t hurt that our small liberal arts college’s teams competed in the NCAA’s Division III and thus invited no real interest and that the Arkansas basketball team was enjoying the greatest half decade in its history.

After graduation, one of us ended up in San Francisco, the other in Atlanta. In the midst of establishing careers and building new lives in new places, following the Hogs fell off the radar a bit.

About three years ago, however, we felt ourselves being drawn back to our boyhood obsession. While trading e-mails about Darren McFadden’s Heisman candidacy, Houston Nutt’s various trials and tribulations, and the university’s often tragic and comic search for a new basketball coach, we rediscovered the way Arkansas athletics can so thoroughly captivate, frustrate and, especially, amuse us.

Thus, in August 2007, RazorbackExpats.com was born — just in time for more of Houston Nutt's trials and tribulations and the university's ooften tragic and comic search for a new football coach. And now, we're proud to join SB Nation by launching ArkansasExpats.com (we'll pause to let you compose yourself ... ).

We and our contributors - KevinHog, J. Hawg 3, The Hog Blogger and Whit E. Knight - try to talk about the Hogs in a spirit of good humor, balance and perspective. We don't file Freedom of Information requests for coaches’ cell phone records, and we don't have strokes over Willy Robinson's defensive schemes (maybe that's because, frankly, we're not terribly knowledgeable about them). We aim for lighthearted commentary, walks down memory lane, and Q&A's with former Hogs and the journalists covering the Razorbacks.

Whether you're someone who followed our old site or are reading us for the first time, we hope you'll stop by - and chime in - often. And don't limit your participation to the comment threads: the FanPost feature on the right side of the page allows you to make your own blog posts about the Hogs, and the FanShot feature lets you upload videos and pictures of the Razorbacks.

Before we go, we'd like to send a quick but much-deserved thanks to Chris Haines, Joel Hollingsworth, Tyler Bleszinski and the rest of the SB Nation crew for making our transition so easy and enjoyable. Thanks to their efforts, all of the posts from our former site have been moved over here and are ready for your perusal.

And now, on with the show ...

0 recs  |  Comment 16 comments |

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Welcome to SBNation!

So will the two of you be using the same handle for blogging, or is “Arkansas Expats” the name you’ll use for admin stuff?

I hope the new digs suit you well. And if you’re not going to use FOIA, could you at least do another flyover of Neyland, should you ever get tired of Petrino? (j/k, of course … unless you’d actually do it ) ;-)

by Hooper on Jun 22, 2009 7:17 AM CDT reply actions  

Welcome

It’s awesome having you guys as a part of the network.

Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog

by Year2 on Jun 22, 2009 8:07 AM CDT reply actions  

Welcome!

Great to have Arkansas represented on SBNation

by Will on Jun 22, 2009 8:09 AM CDT reply actions  

Great Job

Great Job on the move. Looks great!

by londonhogfan on Jun 22, 2009 8:40 AM CDT reply actions  

Thanks for the nice words

Thanks for the kind words, guys. We’re really excited about being part of the network. Hooper – just to clarify: We will each post under our own handle. Arkansas Expats is the handle that John and I use for admin stuff and also posts that we write together.

by Stephen Expat on Jun 22, 2009 8:49 AM CDT reply actions  

Ah, thanks.

Though the 2-headed dragon blogger concept was kinda fun.

by Hooper on Jun 22, 2009 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions  

Congrats, fellas

The English geek in me has to confess to missing the wonderful assonance of Razorback Expats, but I suppose I can live without it if i means you guys get the readership you’ve so richly deserved over the past couple of years. (I can also just think of it as “Arkansass Expats.” Problem solved!) So congrats on the move!

by JCCW Jerry on Jun 22, 2009 9:11 AM CDT reply actions  

Looks Good!

Hey, it is great to see Arkansas represented now when you look at the list of the SEC blogs on SB Nation. It is great also to see that all the older material has made its way over here. The historical record is intact! I am sure that is going to be a great help to the web historians someday, haha. Stephen, you with Dwight Stewart! Not surprised, at all. Good choice!

by KevinHog on Jun 22, 2009 9:43 AM CDT reply actions  

Lookin' good guys!

Ha! I told you that you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me so easily. The site looks good, and I already see some familiar handles from around the SBNation (Will of Rocky Top Talk, Year2).

Looking forward to you guys entertaining me over the next couple of months because, as we all know, there is NOTHING going on in the world of sports.

I have to figure out the Fanpost feature.

by Sue E. Pig on Jun 22, 2009 12:24 PM CDT reply actions  

Let me add my welcome

We’re now sooooo close to having the SEC fully represented on SBN.

Your blog was must-read before the move. I’m sure it will remain so now. No pressure or nothin.

Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.

by cocknfire on Jun 22, 2009 3:16 PM CDT reply actions  

Great Move

I see quite a few must-read SEC blogs here, including Team Speed Kills and Rocky Top Talk, and I’m thrilled we’re now a part of the fray. Nice idea, Stephen and John.

But crap, now we’re going to have to be funny . . .

by J. Hawg 3 on Jun 22, 2009 4:16 PM CDT reply actions  

Awesome

I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time.

Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
Dykstra has all the money!
ElectricOkra.com

by WhipSmart on Jun 22, 2009 4:33 PM CDT reply actions  

New URL

The new website looks great guys… the only problem is that I’m gonna have a hard time not pronouncing it “Arkansaw Sexpats.com”

by Dalla$ on Jun 23, 2009 8:43 AM CDT reply actions  

about that new URL

Thanks Dalla$. Keep an eye out for our Arkansaw Sexpats site coming soon – that’s our 18 & over version. A credit card will be required to view the pictures of Stephen, though.

by John Expat on Jun 23, 2009 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions  

Welcome!

With the whole SEC West on SB Nation, this fall is going to be very, very fun.

Congrats on the move! We’re all thrilled you’re here.

by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Jun 23, 2009 8:51 AM CDT reply actions  

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