Time for Memorial Service for War Memorial in Little Rock

Fans, Arkansas' football program will benefit from finally ending relationship that's gone bad

Arkansas Razorbacks fans during the second half against the UAPB Golden Lions at War Memorial Stadium. Arkansas won 70-0. / Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Recognizing when to quit something is vitally important in life. Pro athletes face the issue as talent fades and Father Time wins again.

Families decide when to lovingly end the life of a suffering pet. Then there's the restaurant buffet line and knowing when to put the fork down.

Whatever the circumstances, choosing to end well is important. Which brings me to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

It's a situation involving many layers but the choice is obvious to anyone looking objectively at what has become a major problem for Arkansas' football program. The solution is simple: don't ever play there again.

Trouble with that is the Hogs host Arkansas State at War Memorial next season. Nothing is scheduled beyond that and word is the powers-that-be have already decided to end this long relationship between Arkansas football and the stadium.

Seems wisdom will prevail. That doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate what was once a strong, vital and necessary relationship.

Great memories. Lives changed. Spectacular fun. All of this occurred at War Memorial.

But the Razorback football program has long since outgrown whatever benefit War Memorial can bring. Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt, a Little Rock native, was saying that to me more than two decades ago before I moved to Colorado.

It's ludicrous for Arkansas not to play every home game on campus, both for competitive advantage and finances, not to mention convenience. Millions of dollars weren't spent on facilities to provide the players with comfort and necessities, as well as the fans, only to make everyone take a bus to leave home.

Little Rock is not home to the Hogs.

If there's any doubt how good the UA football facilities are these days, watch this video. I haven't been to War Memorial since 2003, but I'll bet a year's worth of mortgage payments it doesn't come within 10% of what's on campus.

So why quit playing at War Memorial?

• Finances: Razorback Stadium seats 76,412 and War Memorial 54,120. Concessions, parking, cost of travel. It all adds up, except it doesn't logically add up.

• Convenience: Players hate leaving campus. Coaches hate leaving campus. Fans have quit leaving NWA to go to Little Rock games.

• Recruiting: Empty seats on TV is embarrassing and there were tens of thousands of unoccupied seats for the 70-0 shellacking of UAPB on Thursday before a national audience.

Recruits notice what a stadium looks like and even empty seats at Razorback Stadium look better than that.

Yes, the Hogs own a semi-impressive 171-68-5 record in games at War Memorial, but many of those opponents were cupcakes in town for a paycheck. One memory I will always have is how bad and small the locker rooms were, hardly befitting an SEC team, or an SWC school back in the day.

The stadium isn't quite as old as President Joe Biden, but opened in 1948. It took most of a work day to drive from Southeast Arkansas to Fayetteville back then, followed by the trip back, almost certainly a day later. It was physically and financially impractical for many to see the Hogs play in NWA, so the school scheduled three or four home games a season in the Rock, allowing fans from the other three corners of the state to see the team. That cultivated a rabid fan base and kept Arkansans on the state's borders from rooting for neighbors like Ole Miss or LSU, whose campus was actually closer to their house.

Evangelist Billy Graham speaks to a crowd of 75,000 on the seventh day of his 10-day Greater East Tennessee Crusade on May 28, 1970, at Tennessee's Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. / Frank Empson / The Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Are there highlights to celebrate? Absolutely, and here are a few:

• President Truman spoke at War Memorial in 1948.

• Bob Hope performed there in 1949 and 1991.

• Rev. Billy Graham conducted crusades, with Bill Clinton attending in 1959.

• Concerts featuring the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, George Strait and others.

• A grand tradition of hosting state championship football games.

Arkansas Razorbacks receiver DeCori Birmingham in the south end zone of War Memorial Stadium with catch to beat LSU in 2002, sending the Hogs to the SEC Championship game the next week. / Arkansas Communications

My memories? There are also many, including:

• The "Miracle on Markham" when the Hogs beat LSU in the final seconds.

• Ken Hatfield's "Jesus Wept" game when the Hogs called timeout on defense just before Texas won on a last-second pass.

• Riding the company plane to cover games in the 1980s and flying back that night.

• Seeing and hearing Elton John and Billy Joel on their "Face to Face" tour just days after Arkansas lost to UCLA in the 1995 NCAA championship game in Seattle.

• As a freshman, watching the No. 19 Hogs rout No. 2 Texas A&M 31-6 in 1975.

• Witnessing the whipping of No. 5 Southern Cal as linebacker Dennis Winston had 19 tackles to win national Defensive Player of the Week to lead the No. 20 Hogs in a 22-7 win.

Ah, the good 'ol days. Nostalgia is great, but progress waits for no man.

We all get old while technology and improvements make life better. I moved on when tossing out my VCR, music on 8-tracks and cassettes, and my AOL email account.

I struggle to donate old clothes, but my wife is right when insisting I clean out my closet.
It's time. Goodbye, War Memorial.

HOGS FEED:

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• Razorback fall baseball looms, starting preparations for season 

• Did Oklahoma State see enough to lose sleep over Hogs' win?

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