Battle Between Hogs, Rebs Fans Put on Ice
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – This is a mundane weekend for Arkansas fans.
It's too hot to fish. Too hot for golf.
And there's no college baseball befitting a Razorback fan to be found on TV this weekend.
Razorbacks' shortstop Jalen Battles (2) throws to first base against the Ole Miss Rebels during the first inning of the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
(Dylan Widger / USA TODAY Sports)
Of course, this weekend's malaise before attention fully turns to football could easily be seen through the prophetic board at Rocco's, a local Omaha pizza joint that hosts an annual Jello shots competition between fanbases.
The annual battle went to new heights in a skirmish between Arkansas and Ole Miss fans that even caused hunting gear companies RealTree and Banded Brands to choose sides.
The Hogs' faithful dominated most of the way, but just before the Razorbacks and Rebels took the field to determine who would face Oklahoma in the championship series, an Ole Miss fan drifted in with $9,000 to push the Rebels just past Arkansas on the leaderboard to stay.
What went on in the pub was reflected on the field as the Razorbacks put up a gallant showing behind a powerful Connor Noland pitching performance only to fall in a tight one to the Rebs. Shortly after the 2-0 win over the Razorbacks, Ole Miss fans put the lead away for good.
With no Arkansas fans left to drive up sales, Rocco's turned to local Oklahoma fans who had largely stayed out of the fray to fill the void.
The offer to Oklahoma fans came after an initial pledge to give back to the University of Arkansas and Ole Miss after their overwhelming support.
While Rebels fans kept up the pace, Sooners don't seem interested in mixing it up with their championship game rivals when it comes to spending large sums of money on alcohol. Ole Miss used an off day to top 10,000, while Oklahoma barely moved the needle.
Even a depressed departing Arkansas fan base tripled up Oklahoma.
Without Arkansas around to push their Oxford counterparts, things have settled down. That might be unfortunate for the owners from Rocco's, who orchestrated an emergency run to accommodate the anticipated continuation of sales.
By the time Razorback and Rebel fans square off again, two new Marvel movies will have come out, prime fall fishing will have passed, squirrel season will be over and the states will be deep into deer season.
All plenty of things to pass the time until they meet up again, just not this weekend.
It may be time to take in a bit of baseball while basking under the cool blast of a window A/C unit in Mississippi, but in Arkansas, it's just 20 days until talking season begins for football.
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