How Dinosaurs, Shark-Toothed Elephants, Puff Paint Led to Razorback Glory

Scientists, Transformers and Nintendo all part of long, winding road to a day where Hogs once dominated college football, New Year's Day scene

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jan 1, 2024 2:17 PM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It's weird how stream of consciousness and fond nostalgia can come together to create a winding path of momentary happiness.

It all started with a story about this being the 200th anniversary of scientists deciding dinosaurs are actually dinosaurs. A scientist named William Buckland, over 200 years after the first dinosaur bones were dug up in England, officially determined in 1824 that what he was examining was a giant reptile that he named megalosaurus, or "giant lizard."

It would be another 20 years before the term dinosaur came up as geologists, a completely new type of scientist, determined there were other giant reptiles around. The reason for the 200+ year delay was because people reportedly thought they were finding bones of Roman war elephants or giant humans.

Of course wondering how a jawbone laden with giant sharp, powerful teeth could correlate what they were seeing to an elephant seemed absurd. A bit like how when Arkansas came into the SEC back during the end of my junior high years, I found myself wondering how the people of Alabama connected the nickname Crimson Tide to an elephant. It made no sense.

I assumed because the term seemed to be sea related that Tuscaloosa must be in South Alabama on the gulf coast and at some point there was a lot of violent death off the shores that turned the waters red as it washed onto the shores. Perhaps, for some unknown reason, the only thing to make it out and onto the shore was a herd of elephants, possibly the lone survivors of ships cargo ships lost in the bloody battle.

There was no internet then, so it would be a while before I would seek the answer. My set of encyclopedias, a valued treasure after seeing people slowly collect each letter at the grocery store slowly over the years as they saved up money, was reserved for reading about famed Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc, states I figured I would never have the means to visit, and, of course, dinosaurs.

Having looked up Crimson Tide since, I can say I am glad I didn't find its meaning as a youth. That would have been traumatizing as no young boy has any business navigating that area of human nature. Why a man once saw Alabama get its white jerseys dirtied by iron-rich soil and thought that was the best way to describe it is not only shocking, but disturbing.

Fortunately, my obsession as a child was dinosaurs. I could name most of them by sight and learned a lot of facts about them that have since been proven wrong. That helped me remember a simpler time. A time of watching Transformers after school at 4:30 p.m. on Polaroid VHS tapes worn from being taped over multiple times.

The day Optimus Prime and company discovered dinosaur bones in the mountain in which their ship had crashed so long ago was a momentous day for me. Transforming cars were cool, and I had an affinity for the transforming jets thanks to "Top Gun," but when that discovery gave rise to the Dinobots, I was hooked forever. I don't recall if Grimlock, the tyrannosaurus rex leader was one I saved up to buy at a local store discount store called Howard's or if it was a gift, but I know it was the prize in an extensive valuable collection I kept for years until my mother threw them all away one day for want of cleaning out my old room.

The word rise associated with 1980s childhood brought things back to where so many memories of growing up in Arkansas goes – the Razorbacks. During Christmas in the late 1980s, the football team was good. Ken Hatfield's final years was one of the last truly consistent high performing eras in Arkansas history.

A major part of that was an expectation the Hogs would be in the Cotton Bowl every year, and indeed they were during the beginning of my sports consciousness. Those who were fortunate enough to be alive then probably recall the annual Razorback Cotton Bowl sweaters that came out just in time to be served up as special gifts under the tree.

While I'm not sure which trip to Dallas it commemorated, there's one sweater that stands out because of how it literally stood out. For some reason, there was a short while in fashion where what I can only assume was puff paint gave shirts a textured 3-D effect on the graphics. In this case, there was one of the old Arkansas Razorback logos that have come back en vogue. I want to say it was the Hog standing vertical with a lean to him, accompanied by a big cotton boll that extruded from the shirt in an almost rubbery, highly textured fashion. I might be wrong about the logo, but definitely not the cotton bolls.

They were so hard to get. The only place in Warren I recall having them was a small drug store downtown and they sold out faster than anyone could get their hands on them. People made sure to drive by on their way to the bakery, one of the two banks on Main Street or on their way to Sonic to see if a new batch was displayed in the store's front window.

Arkansas lost the only two Cotton Bowls I am able to recall prior to the Razorbacks going to the SEC, falling to Troy Aikman and his UCLA Bruins and future SEC original rival Tennessee. However, that didn't matter to me.

Losses weren't going to bother a child. After all, there was a movie coming out soon that captured everything that mattered to a young boy growing up in 1989 called "The Wizard" starring a young Fred Savage chasing his dream to become a champion playing Nintendo while all his little brother wanted to do on the journey was go on a park filled with, you guessed it, dinosaurs.

All made possible by a British scientist who had sense enough to recognize a big lizard 200 years ago when he saw one instead of an elephant running around with what looked like giant shark teeth.