We here at RazorbackExpats are open-minded sorts, and believe in exposing ourselves to new and exotic viewpoints every now and then. So, in honor of this weekend's big game against Alabama we reached out to one of our favorite Bama bloggers, the Tide Druid, and offered him a free post (no, we didn't lose a bet).

The fine people that operate this blog have asked me if I was interested in a guest blog post. Being the friendly guy that I am, I decided it would be fun to write something for a different U of A crowd.

So what to discuss? We've all seen some amazing things since this rivalry started in the early 90's, so everyone has their favorite memories. I noticed the post asking the readers about their most memorable highs and lows, so I thought I would offer an Alabama fan's point of view.

One of the lowest lows came in 2003, where I waited in the rain for the game to start. I had received a pair of tickets for attending a VERY boring seminar, and I was pumped to see Alabama take on an SEC opponent with new coach Mike Shula. I called up my buddy Joel, and we headed out to Bryant-Denny, unaware of the weather forecast. Needless to say, it poured rain for a good 30 minutes, and I could not get back to shelter. So we just sat there, listening to the PA system play "Purple Rain" by Prince. It cleared, and the game started as scheduled.

Things started out great, with Alabama taking a 21 point lead. Not knowing Alabama to blow such leads, I proceeded to party in the stands, only to notice a comeback when Arkansas was within a TD of tying the game. 3 OTs and a somewhat questionable celebration penalty on Bama soon followed, leaving Arkansas with the victory. I was wet, tired, and depressed, so it would only make sense that my car was blocked in my parking spot that cost $15. They had given me their word they wouldn't block me in, but life has a funny way of kicking you when you're down.

4 years later, I again got to Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch Alabama play the Razorbacks. This time, I had my girlfriend with me, who was born in Conway, Arkansas. Yes.... she has Hog fans in her family, although she's a Bama fan since they gave her a full scholarship. The first time I met her Uncle was the night of the Tiffin meltdown. His first words were "WOOO! PIG SOOIE!"

So, with tickets in hand, we proceeded to watch Alabama take a 21-0 lead. Everyone around me was jumping for joy, but I had old memories in my head. "There's still a half to go. They could come back." They did, and soon Arkansas had the lead with close to 2 minutes to go. I was down, because Alabama had not made a 4th quarter comeback in close to 6 years since Franchione's 2001 team against Iowa State.

But low and behold, John Parker Wilson showed signs of Joe Namath or Jay Barker, leading Alabama down the field within scoring range. As you can imagine, I was extremely tense, as were the 92,000+ in Tuscaloosa that night. Suddenly, the ball is snaped, and Matt Caddell gets just enough space to signal he's open. JPW throws a pass that appears to be too high, but Caddell makes the catch, saving the victory Alabama almost gave away once againt in Bryant-Denny Stadium!

We kick off, Houston Nutt gives EDSBS a great picture, and I go horse in a matter of seconds screaming for joy.

Some are expecting an upset, while others a blowout for the ranked team. I don't know what to expect, because this series always seems so close. Whatever will happen, somebody is bound to have their heart broken. Thanks for your time, and Roll Tide!

With our fleet of corporate jets undergoing some much-needed maintenance work, we were unable to attend last night's hair-raising, blood-pressure-spiking win over mighty Louisiana-Monroe. However, frequent commenter KevinHog was there, and, after his heartbeat returned to normal, he filed the following report detailing exactly 28 observations on the evening. Take it away, Kev:

1. Under a clear, blue (and bannerless) sky, the Hogs took on ULM and their own youthful selves. And as everyone now knows, they nearly got beat by both!

2. My mother joined me for the game as she is the most rabid Hog fan in the family outside of myself. My father stayed home asleep on the couch with the basset hound. Obsessing over the Hogs' triumphs and travails follows more the maternal line in my family. My grandmother is mainly responsible for my interests in sports and the Hogs. The loss in the SEC Championship game is proof enough that her pull in Heaven is not what it should be. But give her time! I think she might have actually pulled a few strings last night.

3. Gustav's journey through Arkansas was apparent on the golf course, where we encountered some downed trees. I think another visitor from Louisiana left their own mark: some downed expectations for this season's team.

4. The sheer diversity of Razorback wear! Teams of Indonesian and Chinese kids must stay up late at night working on yet another variation of Razorback wear. I rarely saw two shirts that looked alike. It is strange (but a good strange) for an expat who lives in Oklahoma to no longer be the only one wearing something with a hog on it.

5. Nobody looks cuter than little girls dressed up in Razorback cheerleading outfits. One of them sitting next to us was so cute that for a moment she took my mind off the disaster that was unfolding on the field. If the AP has a poll in ranking little girls in cheerleading outfits, I expect to see the Hogs at the top.

6. Tusk wasn't all that impressed with anyone's outfit, but we did take a picture of him in his cage. As we left, I think we saw him eating those red pants!

7. The Hogs themselves were back in white pants (the red stripes were missing though), but in action they still didn't look like the team that beat LSU last November. They were the team that struggled to beat ULM.

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8. I thought of my first game at War Memorial back in 1988 when we put up more than 60 points against Pacific. I naively gained the impression that the Hogs should always do that. What would Bobby Petrino and these young Hogs' first experience in Little Rock be like? (My official prediction was 37-17 Hogs - WAY OFF!)

9. National Anthem - Did Ned Perme provide the piano music for this? There was no Ned or piano on the field. It was piped in, I believe. And where was the flyover? Just a Channel 7 chopper going around and around.

10. It was a bad night for people wearing # 7. Tejada single-handedly killed the positive vibe of 50,000-plus people wearing red. Also a #7 was taken out of the stadium by cops for fighting. They were both embarrassing to witness.

11. We need to straighten out those kicks and the band's "A" out on the field. How many freshmen do we have playing for the band? Haha.

12. I had some flashbacks to the 2006 LSU game when the missed extra point killed that initial positive mood. Would Casey Dick look as bad as then?

13. Not exactly. And thank goodness. But Casey needs not to expose himself to so many sacks. Throw it away! And he missed seeing some clearly open receivers that everyone in Row 29, Section 35 of the north endzone was pointing out. At one point, just before halftime, I could feel the ghost of Casey Dick circa the 2006 LSU game coming back to War Memorial.

14. Michael Smith did a good job of giving us something of a running game. But he isn't Fred Talley just yet, and may never be.

15. 10-6 at the half, and I couldn't enjoy any of the halftime festivities. We were losing to ULM, so I had a hard time appreciating the fact that War Memorial has turned 60 years old. I think the 40-second clock must be 60 years old as well, for it didn't work that well all night.

16. And we would go into the hole some more when ULM would add points to their lead in the second half. ULM is a good team, but the Hogs were making them look like their cousins in Baton Rouge. In the end, I would not be surprised if ULM has more wins than the Hogs this season.

17. A bright spot (as War Memorial often is when you get 50,000 people from a small state together): My mother and I saw some people we hadn't seen in a long time. I saw an old high school friend whom I hadn't seen in over seven years. Since our high school reunion, he had served a tour in Iraq with the Arkansas National Guard. He predicted we would come back to win this game, but jokingly confessed that he would rather be in Iraq right now than watching this War Memorial disaster unfold.

18. My parents live in Warren, so it was especially sweet to see Warren's Chris Gragg make that catch on the Les Milesesque 4th and 1 call. No way Houston Nutt calls that, but Petrino isn't a coach who really has anything to lose this first season, as the pre-teen sitting behind me wisely pointed out. It isn't like we are going to fire him.

19. During the late rally, the wave went around. I was too busy trying to mentally will the Hogs into the endzone to do the wave or hit the beach ball.

20. Coming back from a smoke break, my mother reported that some kids claiming to be Razorback basketball players weren't allowed back into the stadium with their torn tickets. But they have a designated section they put smokers in who want to leave the game for a puff.

21. The defense just couldn't stop the quick over-the-middle slant. But when have they ever been able to stop that?

22. ULM's QB looked SEC-caliber out there. But the War Memorial fans did get loud enough on a few occasions to contribute to some false starts.

23. Common row 29, section 35 observations: the defense wasn't getting any turnovers - why can't they? And why must the offense start each game so slow? Will this be their MO all season?

24. But when the touchdowns did come, strangers were no longer strangers. Who were these people? I don't know. They were happy Hog fans, and that is all that mattered. Much hugging and high fiving all around. My mother and I gave our nearby strangers good analysis and commentary (we think!), whether they wanted it or not. We had to talk it out.

25. The moon was half full or half empty? Then it disappeared over the horizon. What did that mean?

26. The Hogs up by one with just over a minute left. What does that mean? With the Hogs, it certainly means expect more drama. And that is what we got.

27. I've never been at a game where it came down to a field goal. My mother and I and all our companions in the north end zone were waving our hands and shouting and wooing. I was also mentally trying to conjure up the spirit of Carlos Hall for a blocked kick. Well, Carlos didn't show up. But I did get some understanding what it must be like to be a Miami Hurricane fan, for the ULM kick was wide right. (Houston Nutt and the Rebs wouldn't be so lucky this night.) Houston, there really was one heartbeat in that stadium after that kick, and it would have short circuited any EKG machine!

28. Afterwards, I climbed up to the top of the north endzone and talked some with my old high school buddy and Iraq war veteran. I congratulate him on his faith in the Hogs. I was never as optimistic as he was. We both agree that things look tougher for the Hogs here on out, so we'd better enjoy this. We talk about the close calls in this game. He says that since we last saw one another he had experienced an even more stressful, on-the-edge-of-your seat Hog game. It turns out he has been to Iraq AND survived the seven overtimes in Oxford! He is well, I am well, and at least for a week the Hogs are 2-0.

NOTE: Six observations were left on the field due to poor special teams play. And James Shibest was several states away!

After his excellent commentary before and after the LSU game this fall, we once again turned to one of our favorite commenters, Tab Prewett, to get his thoughts on the Cotton Bowl. So, sit back and enjoy his take on Missouri, bowl traditions and the often-maddening addiction that is being a Razorback fan:

Arkansas versus Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, and I keep asking myself: Why don’t I care? Despite Missouri’s miraculous season, I’ve been mired in a post-LSU ennui, bored by Missouri’s history of mediocrity, and completely uninspired by the prospect of Arkansas losing another bowl game. I’d rather pound a pathetic Notre Dame or take another long shot at beating USC, or even engage damned Texas again instead of play Missouri and its surplus of offensive weapons led by Heisman nominee Chase Daniels. A great game needs a great traditional rival or a championship to play for. This game has neither.

Yet, Missouri represents a historical landmark for me, as in September of 1963 my father and I drove to Little Rock and I saw my first Razorback game, against none other than Missouri. Unfortuantely, Arkansas, a team with all the players who would win the 1964 National Championship, lost on a missed extra point 7-6. Skipping ahead four decades, the next time I recall Arkansas playing Missouri (and this is entirely by memory as my catatonia has prevented me from any research) was the 2003 Independence Bowl where Matt Jones and Cedric Cobbs outscored Brad Smith by some unmemorable score. That’s it, no rivalry, no bitter shirt-ripping-off, television-smashing defeats, no party-all-night wins, just two forgettable games and 40 years. That Missouri is not a traditional enemy leaves me without enmity. We might fear the unknown, but we sure don’t hate it.

Still, it is the Cotton Bowl, site of not only the 10-7 win over Nebraska in 1965 where we did secure our only football national championship, but also the Millennium destruction of despicable Texas, 27-6. Nor can we forget our allegiance to Dallas, where Nolan’s "Forty Minutes of Hell" teams romped and dunked their way through several NCAA regionals and NCAA tournaments. For the future we have the much-anticipated eight-year series with Texas A&M which will guarantee the Razorback presence in Dallas will grow even greater.

Dallas and the Cotton Bowl resonate with Razorback tradition, but Missouri, for me, is an uninspiring, if supremely worthy, opponent.

So I still don’t care. Why?

<!--more-->This week I’ve read of Herring’s leadership, Petrino’s interest in recruiting Texas, our underachieving basketball team, McFadden’s possible ineligibility, Felix’s potential return for a senior season, Dick’s improved accuracy, and Missouri’s tall, talented receivers. From all that, yawning, I conclude like everyone else the over-under will be a very interesting wager.

Imagine if the game really mattered, bore some significance. Suppose that, instead of one of a myriad of brain-numbing, sleep-inducing bowl games, we were playing in the equivalent of the NCAA basketball tournament, a single-elimination showdown, winner take all. Why then I’d skip my usual New Year’s Eve party to get some proper sleep in preparation for giving this game the attention it would rightly deserve. The Razorbacks in the NCAA basketball tournament, no matter how bad or good we are, leave us all intoxicated and spell-bound for the three hours . The most extreme example of such Hawg Devotion I recall is a friend of mine in Colorado who paid no attention to his soon-to-be ex-wife slipping out of the house for a late-afternoon tryst with a tango dancer while he watched hypnotized and befuddled as we lost to Bucknell. Of course, the divorce would have been easily digestible had we advanced to the second round.

Yet, no football tournament exists in this era of the BCS charade. But as I write, I come to realize I do care, simply because Arkansas is playing a game. Whether it’s LSU or North Texas, or even Missouri, I’ll watch. Like the answer to the question of why climb mountains, I’ll watch because "it’s there." With a pounding skull massaged by Tylenol and an uneasy stomach soothed by Alka-Seltzer, I’ll wake up early on New Year’s Day anticipating Felix going all the way on the opening kickoff, followed by a Michael Grant interception of Chase Daniel’s first pass.

44 years ago, a lifelong addiction began on a fantastic fall night in Little Rock, a passsion that has brought all of us in Razorback Nation unfathomable frustration along with unrelenting devotion and surprising victories. We’ll watch because the game "is there"; and as an eternal Razorback optimist, I predict a wild, heart-stopping, sans sitting, scoreboard-exploding game, which ends with McFadden leading us to a 42-31 win.

Who knows? I may even hate Chase Daniels by mid-afternoon January 1, 2008.

Believe it or not, the UT-Chattanooga game wasn't televised in California. So, I asked my dad - Little Rock resident, Razorback fan and former Little League football sensation - to share his observations from having attended the game. Here's his report:

The Hawgs looked awful Saturday night in their game with the mighty Univ of Tenn at Chattanooga Moccasins. The game was played in summer heat and the wave seemed to be the most exciting thing happening in usually-rocking soldout War Memorial Stadium. The tone was set when we inflicted a safety on ourselves and were behind 2-0 seven seconds into the game. The Mocs are in the same caliber league with UCA and Univ Ark at Pine Bluff but stopped Heisman Trophy candidate D-Mac again and again and again for only short gains. This is the team with the feared running attack and the two best backs in the nation?

D-Mac looked lackluster excepting one play when he ran over a UTC cornerback coming up to make the tackle. He even got stopped for no gain on a 4th and one from midfield in the third qtr when the Hogs badly needed a score. D-Mac lost fumbles twice as well. Jones, on the other hand, looked pretty good, breaking a long run in the 3rd qtr which finally at l o n g last gave the Hogs some breathing room with a two td lead. Until then, the Mocs stayed within one td of the Hogs.

One bright spot is Alex Tejada, our kicker...he nailed a 47 yarder and has been consistent. Casey Dick, bless his heart, keeps missing open receivers and throwing into double coverage for picks or near picks and taking sacks when he/we might be better off if he'd throw the ball away; he did hit get some completions on short routes but not enough to worry UTC and keep them from loading up in the box. All and all, the fans left feeling pretty frustrated with the state of Arkansas football.