When asked why tailgating at War Memorial Stadium bests other Arkansas venues, Kent Berry, beer in hand, had a repetitive answer: “location, location, location.”
Berry, from Gravel Ridge, and his friends scored the first-in-line spot underneath a tree near Coleman Creek at the east end of the War Memorial Park Golf Course. They were eating, drinking and dancing Thursday in anticipation for the 7 p.m. kickoff when the Razorbacks take on Florida A&M.
Berry and his buddies showed up at the designated tailgating area around 4 a.m. to a diminished crowd from years past, he said. Normally, the hillside is a “sea of red,” said fellow tailgater Rance Golde. He said the Thursday game slot as well as concerns about rain likely kept people home.
Still, Berry and his buddies enjoyed a buffet of ham, cajun sausage, beef baloney and homemade bacon cooked with a sugar cure.
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Photos by Emma Pettit
Photos by Emma Pettit
“Nobody tailgates in Arkansas like they tailgate at War Memorial,” Berry said, wearing a jersey emblazoned with his first name. Fayetteville might have “bells and whistles,” he added, but Little Rock mixes people from all corners of the state.
A few tents down the line, tailgater Hayley Jones agreed with Berry's sentiment. She gestured at an empty green hillside. Usually, she said, it's “just people as far as you can see.”
Jones said she's concerned this year is the last of the Razorback appearances at the Little Rock venue. She and another tailgater, Cameron Aviles, are nurses who were off work Thursday. But many of their friends weren't so lucky, she said.
Aviles also fretted about the possible end of games at War Memorial. Hosting a Razorback game in central Arkansas makes the experience accessible to southern Arkansans because a trip to Fayetteville isn't feasible for many people below Little Rock, he said.
The drive is costly, and hotels would have to be booked far in advance, he said. Plus, there's the possibility of drunken driving, Jones added.
Jones said if her fears are realized, she might have to watch the game on television next year instead of getting in line at 6:30 a.m., like she did today.
“We certainly will still party,” she said. “We just might not make it to Fayetteville.”
