FAYETTEVILLE — The voice of the Razorbacks he's not. But a voice for the Razorbacks?
That's Tim Smith.
On game day, the beefy red-headed lawyer uses a microphone to call out the names of coaches and marquee players as they run the gantlet of Hog fans gathered to tailgate in the parking lot of the Broyles Athletic Center, north of Donald W.
Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Smith, of Elliott and Smith P.A., has been tailgating in Lot 44 for several years. He introduced his personal sound effects using a microphone and small amplifier he originally got to play his iPod.
"When the team got ready to walk through, I hooked up the mike and started talking to the coaches and players as they walked by, trying to get them fired up for the game," he said. Smith has since graduated to a larger, and louder, Peavy system that he also uses to play music from the custom-made tailgate trailer he shares with Nathan Smith.
The pair of Smiths and others hit the pavement as early as 8 a.m. Sept. 19 to ready their tailgates for the Razorbacks' first 2009 Fayetteville game, a hard-fought contest the team lost to Georgia 52-41.
Louise Ferguson of Cornelia, Ga., watched the game from the stadium skybox inhabited by her brother, legendary former Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles and his wife, Gen.
"For 50 years I've been rooting for the Razorbacks," said Ferguson, whose 90th birthday is two weeks away. Her three children - Bob Ferguson of Mount Dora, Fla., and Judy Field and Bette Edwards, both of Gainesville, Ga. - and their spouses all graduated from the University of Georgia.
"We can't lose," the matriarch said about the game.
Off campus, Len Pitcock of Little Rock, Kelly Zega and others with Cox Communications hosted a Beat Georgia at George's VIP tailgate party at George's Majestic Lounge before the game.
Northwest Profile, Pages 48 on 09/27/2009