Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

ESPN college football analyst Mark May will open the Little Rock Touchdown Club's slate of speakers on Monday, Aug. 20, at the Peabody Hotel ballroom downtown.

Club president David Bazzel and Lunsford Bridges, president and CEO of Metropolitan National Bank, the 9-year-old club's chief sponsor for the past eight years, revealed the list of Touchdown Club speakers Thursday afternoon.

While May's appearance is set for the Peabody, the remainder off the schedule will be held weekly through the season at the Embassy Suites in west Little Rock. That slate of speakers starts with former Southern Cal and Los Angeles Rams head coach John Robinson on Aug. 27, followed on Tuesday, Sept. 4, by Howard Schnellenberger, another former college and pro coach who led Miami to the 1983 national championship.

Other Schnellenberger's appearance Sept. 4, all other meetings will be held on Mondays.

Arkansas coach John L. Smith will speak Sept. 24, and Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn is scheduled for Nov. 19. Veteran UCA coach Clint Conque returns Nov. 5.

Other names highlighting the lineup are former Razorback quarterback Matt Jones (Sept. 10); recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee Willie Roaf on Oct. 1; former Razorback All-Southwest Conference lineman Mark Henry, father of UA commit Hunter Henry, on Oct. 29; and national recruiting expert Tom Lemming on Nov. 12.

Controversial Alabama media personality Paul Finebaum, whose radio show is carried daily on satellite radio, returns for a Touchdown Club visit Oct. 8. Finebaum addressed the club in 2006 to a full house and lived up to his acerbic reputation with club members, particularly during the question-and-answer session.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive is set for an Oct. 22 visit.

Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long speaks Oct. 15.

"The 2012 speaker lineup shows again why the Little Rock Touchdown Club is considered one of the top clubs in America,” Bazzel said. “Even though we don’t have a Division One FBS program in Little Rock, the amazing support of our sponsors and membership allow us to bring in some of the top names in football from across the country. Entertaining football talk on Mondays throughout the season has become a tradition for our club and central Arkansas and the diversity of speakers this year means the tradition will continue in a big way.”

Touchdown club membership is $50 per year for all returning and new members. Exclusive "50-Yard Line" membership, which allows priority banquet seating plus a photo taken with each week's speaker, is $250. Weekly lunches are $15 for returning members and $25 for guests.

The Touchdown Club is also introducing the "Business Membership," a $1,800 membership for four people who will receive lunches and admission to all 14 meetings as well as priority seating, plus a photo with the weekly speaker. For $2,250, six individuals may receive all the benefits of the Business Membership.