LITTLE ROCK — Two House lawmakers want Arkansans to help them decide whether the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the Arkansas State University football teams should be legally required to play against each other for charity.
Reps. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, and Harold Copenhaver, D-Jonesboro, have set up www.ArkansasASUbenefit.com. They want people to visit the site by midnight Saturday and vote whether they should fight topass legislation that would require the teams to play.
House Bill 2274 would require the teams to play a single game at War Memorial Stadium. At least $250,000 from the game would be distributed to a charity, which can also be voted on at the website.
Mayberry said the game would benefit either a new veterans home, the Little Rock Zoo, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, War Memorial Stadium or the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
“Depending on what thevote results are, Rep. Copenhaver and I will either proceed on with the bill, or we’ll pull the bill down based on what the people want to do,” Mayberry said.
Mayberry said he paid for the website himself, which went live at 5 p.m. Tuesday. By 7 p.m., more than 1,000 people had voted, with about 56 percent in favor of the game.
“I’ve visited with so many people in this state who have mentioned so many times that they’d just love to see the game take place,” Mayberry said.
ASU athletic director Terry Mohajir said he was unaware of the legislation. UA athletic department spokesman Kevin Trainor did not return calls or e-mails.
Gov. Mike Beebe’s spokesman, Matt DeCample, said the governor “maintains his long-time position that while he thinks such a game would be great for both universities, that game should happen when the two schools agree to play rather than through legislative action.”
Beebe attended Arkansas State for his bachelor’s degree and attended the Universityof Arkansas at Fayetteville for his law degree.
Mayberry said he hopes excitement about a single game will be enough to show the colleges that people want them to compete.
Asked why legislation is necessary, Mayberry said: “You’d have to ask the universities that. They’re the ones who haven’t participated.”
Similar legislation was filed in 2001 by Rep. David Rackley, D-Sherwood, that would have created an annual football and basketball game between the schools.The House overwhelmingly rejected the measure.
Mayberry said there is precedent for legislatures getting involved when college teams are reluctant to play, such as Auburn and Alabama.
“Those two teams didn’t play for more than 40 years until their state legislature stepped in, threatened to pull funding from both schools unless they played,” Mayberry said. “That seems to have worked out pretty well down there considering both teams have won national championships in the past few years.”
Front Section, Pages 9 on 03/13/2013