People would support Arkansas State if Indian fans, no offense, got a grip and stopped blaming Arkansas for their personal troubles.
I used to support both UA and stAte, as did many Arkansas fans. Little by little stAte fans wore myself and other Razorback fans down. ASU decided to move up to Division I-A in football. The result put them in a ton of debt that was being paid for by Arkansas taxpayers. The main problem stems b/c the Jonesboro metro area is approx. 77,000, and of those 77k, about 50k of them are Razorback fans first and foremost.
State then demanded (not asked, demanded) that they get a chance to play Arkansas. Frank Broyles said no, and issued a set of guidelines in which he'd let stAte play UA in football. Among these were that 1) the state pop. of Arkansas has to exceed 4 million, and 2) Arkansas State must average a home crowd even or bigger than the smallest SEC stadium (Vandy's at 41,500). State fans exploded and began to blame Frank Broyles for everything wrong with the ASU athletic program. This goes as far as even saying Broyles had a conspiracy to keep ASU off the back front cover of Hooten's Arkansas Football. Just ludicrous. Instead of rolling up their sleeves, winning some games, and trying to sell their program, they go and attack the Razorbacks. They even tried to mock with bumper stickers saying "How long will the HOGS run?". Arkansas fans started ignoring them, because they were little babies who demanded a free handout, instead of trying to build an athletic program through hard work like UA did.
Frank's reasons, though, in my opinion, are sound ones. Coach Broyles built the Arkansas program from the ground up. With Orville Henry's help, the Razorbacks became the team of the state and earned a fan base and media monopoly. Notice the word earned in there. Broyles knew the state population and knew what kind of fan base and media were needed to keep UA a nationally prominent program. Having your annual rival as a Sun Belt team, when you're in the SEC, is not only bad business, but it risks the fan base and media attention that UA has. Would you, as an Athletic Director, risk years of hard work building a fan base and media market to play some little school in Jonesboro who just turned D-1 and haven't worked to create a fan base, instead just expected it to come, and then when it doesn't, whine about it? Hell no.
The stAte protests grew further. Rep. David Rackley, an ASU grad and big Indian fan, created a bill forcing a permanent yearly game between Arkansas and Arkansas State. This was the true trigger, as Arkansas and ASU fans went to war on the issue. Led by Rep. Bill Pritchard (R-Elkins), the bill was soundly defeated, 85-26.
State fans used to attract big crowds, because Razorback fans from Jonesboro and NE Arkansas would go watch them if the Razorbacks were on the road. This isn't happening anymore, though, because ASU fans attacked the one fan base they need to stay 1-A. ASU's athletic program is in so much debt, playing 1-A schools, that their President attempted to move roughly $2 million of AR TAXPAYER MONEY from their academic program to their athletic program. Students have to pay a fee to try and cover their bills. There simply isn't enough support for ASU to maintain 1-A status, and it'll continue to be that way if ASU doesn't mend fences and stop this idiotic anti-HOG rhetoric.
On a last note... Mississippi might have 3 1-A teams, but go check <a href="http://www.ncaachampionships.com" target="_blank">www.ncaachampionships.com</a> and see how many nat'l titles they all have, and then check their attendance figures. Athletic programs are all about business. If Wal-Mart moves into a town, stays a long while, builds a customer base..then a K-Mart is built and suddenly they demand the same customer base, though selling worse products...is that fair? Arkansas v. Arkansas State would bring Arkansas State up, but it will bring the UA dramatically down fiscally. Razorback fans who truly love the UA won't stand to see our school sink to a lower level b/c of the whining of people in Jonesboro.
Only way I'd let stAte play UA would be...
1) Arkansas State expanded their stadium to over 40,000
2) Arkansas State became self-sufficient..aka the state taxpayers don't have to fund their program
3) Arkansas State averages over 40,000 in attendance
4) Arkansas State joined a better conference football-wise...at least Conference USA.
Til then, stop whining at us, stop blaming us for your own problems, and prove to us you can make it in 1-A. THEN we'll play you.
WPS
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