| Southwest Times Record | Sunday, September 9, 2001 |
| BY SCOTT FALDON - Southwest Times Record | |
A combination of rain and limited parking did little to deter University of Arkansas fans from indulging in some serious pregame tailgating before Saturday's SEC clash between the Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers. More than five hours before kickoff, parking lots around the campus began to fill with football fans from both schools. By 5 p.m. pay lots charging up to $15 per car on Razorback Road were full. The parking lots at Baum Stadium and the Randal Tyson indoor track complex, both more than a mile from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, were also filling up hours before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff. Located directly in front of the Tyson track complex, the WebHogs Chapter of the Razorback Foundation was anticipating a couple hundred members and guests for a pregame barbecue, said chapter president Rick Bawiec of Barling. "We aren't worried about the weather," Bawiec said. "We've got a couple of big tents and everyone brought their rain gear, so we'll be OK." The Internet-based organization was set up about as far away from the stadium and still on UA property as possible because of the scarcity of parking spots on campus. With 20,000 seats added to the stadium, UA officials were only able to add roughly 1,200 new parking spots. That lack of planning was somewhat galling to Bawiec. "They've been planning for this day for three years now, but it seems like they didn't think about parking until a month or so ago," Bawiec said. "With the money they spent on the stadium, it seems like they could have razed Carlson Terrace and put a parking deck there. Or bought some of the property to the west of the stadium and put one there. Why they didn't do that, I have no idea." For the Volunteer fans in town for the game, parking was actually better than what they're used to at the 107,000-seat Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Anthony Tucker said that parking at Razorback Stadium was a breeze compared to what it's like at Tennessee home games. He and three orange-clad friends parked at a car wash located at the corner of Razorback Road and Sixth Street for $5. "At home, there's no parking at all around the stadium unless you're a big-money donor and get a parking pass or get there 10 hours before the game," Tucker said. "I think this might the closest I've parked to a stadium. We got here about 10 minutes ago, around 4:30, and pulled right in here. "This is much better than where we park for home games." The expanded stadium was attracting old Razorback fans to return to Fayetteville for the first time in many years. Norm and Edith Watson are season ticket holders for all the Little Rock games, but admitted they couldn't remember the last Fayetteville game they'd attended. "We just wanted to see what this new stadium looked like," Norm Watson explained. "So we got season tickets in Hog Heaven for this year; we're very excited about the new stadium." SCOTT FALDON IS A TIMES RECORD SPORTS WRITER. E-MAIL HIM AT SFALDON@SWTIMES.COM. | |