Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

As much fun as it is to cheer on the Razorbacks along with tens of thousands of fellow fans in Fayetteville and Little Rock, there is nothing quite like venturing into enemy territory to call the Hogs.

You do have to put up with some heckling on the road, but it’s normally in good fun. It’s usually only painful if the Razorbacks have just lost. We’re not sure if it’s worse to get the direct, brute heckling from LSU fans after getting blown out in Baton Rouge, or the heartbreaking “heckuva game, Arkansas” received on the lonely walk from The Swamp back to our hotel after the near-upset at Florida in 2009. But the rabid fans are what make the football atmospheres in the SEC so special, and why victory on the road is so difficult (the Razorbacks are 3-8 when I travel to their road games).

Arkansas hits the road four times in 2012, and while not a single campus would be classified as “easy to get to” from Arkansas, each school is well known for creating memorable spectacles on game day and is worth a visit. Here are some tips for spending a football weekend at each of the four locales the Razorbacks will be visiting in 2012.

Texas A&M, Sept. 29

The Razorbacks visit Kyle Field for the first time since 1991, and if rumors of returning this game to Cowboys Stadium in 2014 are true, this may be the only football game Arkansas plays in College Station for several years. So take this opportunity if you can.

A standard suggestion for SEC road trips is to get to town the day before the game. Generally, this is because the anticipation permeating throughout a town the day before a game is electric — but in College Station, there are tangible reasons to get there early.

One of A&M’s most famous traditions is held on Friday night: Midnight Yell. At midnight, about 20-25,000 people will gather in the football stadium to, among other things, practice the yells (they don’t “cheer”, they “yell”) for the game. Wearing your Razorback gear here is an “at your own risk” practice.

If it seems odd to hold a weekly practice to learn cheers, understand the cheers are much harder to learn than a simple Hog Call. It’s a different language known as “Aggie jargon,” each yell has its own hand signals such as, for the “Beat the Hell” yell, “Left arm clapping bicep, Right arm pulling up, fist clenched, and certain yells have different lines that are yelled by different groups of people.

The “Horse Laugh” yell features the lyrics “Riffety, riffety, riff-raff! Chiffity, chiffity, chiff-chaff!” It gives the elegant poetry of Ole Miss’ Hotty Toddy cheer (“flim-flam bim-bam”) a run for its money as the SEC’s most eloquent cheer. The Aggies list 13 yells and five Aggie Songs on their website, so, clearly, practice is essential.

Also, setting up for tailgating begins at noon on Friday, and there is ample tailgating space on a campus that stretches 5,200 acres (for perspective, the Arkansas campus is 425 acres). The prime locations will get snatched up quickly, however, College Station is a very walkable campus, as it’s located in the Texas plains, so don’t be afraid of taking a stroll if you set up a little farther away.

For off-campus entertainment, check out the Northgate district, which begins across the street from campus on University Drive. Here, you’ll find all sorts of options for restaurants, bars, and shopping. The most famous restaurant/bar here is Dixie Chicken, which claims to “serve the most beer per square foot of any bar in the U.S.” We have no clue how that is proven, but arguing it seems moot.

If you want to sample Texas-style barbecue (where beef leads the menu instead of pork), a local favorite is C & J Barbeque.