FAYETTEVILLE — Never thought this old Arkansas Southwest Conference basketball tournament joke would recycle at Arkansas’ expense.
It was Arkansas’ lame duck Southwest Conference year. The Razorbacks, officially SEC bound and at their Nolan Richardson era zenith, dominated the SWC basketball tournament in Dallas both on the court and in the stands. A sea of Razorbacks red overflowed Reunion Arena.
According to legend, a man inquired, “I wonder with Arkansas gone what the tournament’s dominant color will be next year?”
“Whatever color the seats are,” allegedly came the reply.
In Fayetteville, a late arrival to a Razorbacks basketball game could only assume the seat color was red.
Too many were seated or wildly rooting in front of their seats to know for sure.
Now we know even in the middle of games the seats are red. Except forthe black seats along Jack Nicholson Row - you know, those courtside seats as conspicuous as the actor at a Lakers game.
If any purchased those posh seats just to be seen, they aren’t being seen by many.
Saturday’s 8,859 was the biggest announced crowd this season for an arena that used to announce crowds of 20,000-plus.
Among those into being socially “in” it seems more “in” now to say you are not attending than attending Arkansas basketball games.
A miscalculation, it seems, by the suits now operating the Razorbacks more as Arkansas’ corporation than Arkansas’ team.
Reconfiguring one of college basketball’s most unique venues hasn’t helped Walton Arena. Nor, even if they ring the cash register, do the constant commercials and big screen blather numbing the crowd before tip-off.
However, Walton Arena had all that this time last year and still rocked with the Razorbacks rolling 12-1 in nonconference play as they upended Oklahoma and Texas.
Then the bottom fell out. A 2-14 SEC collapse. Just as bad, an ensuing off-season of roster turnover and disciplinary suspensions breeding a 2-5 2009 nonconference start. Empty seats, gloom, doom and apathy.
Except this is Arkansas. The one school aside from Kentucky in the football-crazed SEC always respecting basketball.
Witnessing Saturday’s 8,859 willing their Razorbacks’ 72-69 victory over Stephen F. Austin University, there is still a basketball beat to Arkansas’ heart. Maybe the apathy isn’t so entirely apathetic.
Just that so many say so often how apathetic they are speaks that care is still there.
Thou doth protest too much, to paraphrase Shakespeare.
Arkansas would love catching basketball fever again. If All-SEC forward Michael Washington’s inspired performance (25 points, 11 rebounds) against Stephen F. Austin indeed infects his teammates, it could become sufficiently contagious to rouse some season-ticket stay-at-homes back to Walton.
A three-point victory over Stephen F. Austin would inspire nothing but alarm during the vintage Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson eras.
But for this 6-5 team at this time, it’s a step forward.
How big a step will be measured if there are more empty red-bottomed seats or Arkansas bottoms on those seats when the unbeaten Missouri State Bears come calling Tuesday night bringing fans of their own from nearby Springfield.
Sports, Pages 18 on 12/21/2009