Victory Over No. 1 Auburn Takes Place Alongside Two Other Landmark Moments in Arkansas History

Family tradition gets to pass down another generation

When I was a small child in the 80's, my parents had the same coffee table/ottoman set-up that thousands of homes across Arkansas had in those days.

It was the full width of the couch. It had two brown and tan velvet-like cushions with images of various things like unhitched 1800s wagons without their covers with buttons sewn in a symmetric pattern.

On either end were giant dark-stained hardwood legs that stretched up to an arm placed at the perfect height for a young lad such as myself to run and slide on socks across the tile floor and slip face first right into. 

In the middle, laid across a thick stetch of wood was the family Bible surrounded by various coasters cobbled together and switched out as each one took turns wearing out from the icy sweat of glasses of iced tea and Dr Pepper.

One day, when I finally found out that giant wooden middle section could be removed to reveal a hidden storage compartment, I cleared the top and used all the strength I had to lift the wooden braces inside that kept the lid from sliding off up over the edge.

Inside I found yearbooks dating back to a time that to me might as well have been from the 1700s. Seeing my parents as young teens was shocking to me as I never imagined such a thing could have ever been.

But the most curious item in this treasure hole was a folded bit of newspaper. It was a cut-out of the story of Arkansas beating No. 1 North Carolina. 

As I read through it, I couldn't believe my eyes. The Arkansas Razorbacks had once beaten Michael Jordan. THE Michael Jordan. MJ!

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

They had also beaten a guy named James Worthy. I vaguely remembered he was in the NBA also, but Michael Jordan? Wait. In Pine Bluff?

Michael Jordan once played in the Pine Bluff Convention Center; the same building that I knew as the home of the Shriner's Circus. 

My dad spoke with such pride and reverence as he told me the story of Dean Smith, Eddie Sutton and Charles Balentine.

Several years later, the day after watching Scottie Thurman hit "the shot" against Duke to bring Arkansas the national championship that had so narrowly evaded the Hogs so many times before, I made sure to grab a copy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

There was a massive photo of Corey Beck hugging Corliss Williamson with the words "Boss Hogs" written in giant letters across the top. Down below was a touching column by Wally Hall about how Arkansas's win made an angel smile, referring to Nolan Richardson's daughter Yvonne who died of leukemia during a difficult time in Richardson's early tenure at Arkansas.

I slipped my biggest Razorback moment into the storage area of a similar coffee table that had replaced the old alongside my dad's Carolina clipping.

As my wife and I sat Tuesday night watching our kids experience Bud Walton finally feel like it did in the 90's again, I knew it was coming. There was a legendary coach in Bruce Pearl shouting himself hoarse from the sidelines to no avail over the Arkansas crowd.

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports

Nelson Chenault / USA TODAY Sports

A Hog team that would have been exhausted with such a shortened line-up and the emotion of such a big game kept drawing from the fans and responded with relentless defense.

On Auburn's side, Walker Kessler proved how impactful a true big man can be on a game. Future lottery pick Jabari Smith made the case that one day another young Hog fan may wonder in awe a the idea he once played in Bud Walton Arena and lost. 

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

All the ingredients, down to an 8-minute streak without a basket by the Hogs, an almost perfectly executed white-out, cuts all over Jaylin Williams's body, overtime, gutsy play by J.D. Notae as he went in against the unstoppable giant, a court storming scene like has never been seen before in college basketball, and Eric Musselman going shirtless a la Bruce Pearl in the crowd afterward with his arm in a sling, made for a mental image my children will remember.

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

My kids, along with anyone 35 and under, finally got that one major moment they'll never forget in Arkansas history. 

In my mind, since it won't be on newspaper print like the clippings preserved by me and my father, it seems a little strange. But I will call my mother and ask her to print out the story of tonight and add it alongside the others so my children's children can see for themselves while their parents tell them their first-hand experience.

Arkansas 80. No. 1 Auburn 76.

A night definitely worthy of its spot in Razorback. And in the coffee table.