Arkansas Professional Sports, League, College and High School SportsSports have become an integral part of the culture of Arkansas, and her residents enjoy participating in and spectating various events throughout the year.
Team sports and especially collegiate football have been important to Arkansans. College football in Arkansas began from humble beginnings. The University of Arkansas first fielded a team in 1894 when football was a very dangerous game. Recent studies of the damage to team members from the concussions common in football make it clear that the danger persists.
"Calling the Hogs" is a cheer that shows support for the Razorbacks, one of the two NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in the state. High school football also began to grow in Arkansas in the early 20th century. Over the years, many Arkansans have looked to the Razorbacks football team as the public image of the state. Following the Little Rock Nine integration crisis at Little Rock Central High School, Arkansans looked to the successful Razorback teams in the following years to repair the state's reputation. Although the University of Arkansas is based in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks have always played at least one game per season at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock in an effort to keep fan support in central and south Arkansas.
College Sports
The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the names of college sports teams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The term Arkansas Razorbacks properly applies to any of the sports teams (men or women) at the university. The Razorbacks take their name from the feral pig of the same name. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (originally the Cardinals) in 1910 to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Since the Razorback name was already in use by the Texarkana Arkansas High School Razorbacks, the University agreed to 'use' the Razorback logo as their mascot; In turn, giving Arkansas High School used athletic equipment from the university. The Arkansas Razorbacks are the only major sports team in the US with a porcine nickname.
The University of Arkansas currently fields 19 total varsity teams (8 men's and 11 women's) in 13 sports. The 7 men's varsity sports includes baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, track and field; the 11 women's varsity sports includes basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, indoor track, swimming and diving, outdoor track, tennis, softball and volleyball. The Arkansas Razorbacks compete in the NCAA's Division I (I FBS in football) and is currently a member of the Southeastern Conference (Western Division).
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Stadiums - Arenas
The War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas is primarily used for football, and is the part-time home field of the University of Arkansas. It also hosts games involving Arkansas State University, the University of Central Arkansas or the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on occasion. The stadium additionally serves as the home field for Little Rock's Catholic High School for Boys' football team, the Rockets. War Memorial Stadium opened in 1948 and has a seating capacity of 53,727 people. The stadium is also used for concerts and other "large-venue" type operations.
During its 59-year existence, the facility has expanded from its original capacity of 31,000 to its current figure of 53,727.
A complete lighting system and an Astroturf surface were added for the 1970 season with a new artificial surface which followed in 1974. Ten years after that, another new layer of artificial turf was installed before a return to natural grass was made in 1994. A return to artificial surface was made in 2002, when AstroPlay was installed. FieldTurf was installed in 2006.
A new scoreboard and video screen were added prior to the 2005 football season.
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Official Arkansas State Sports Teams