NASHVILLE — NASHVILLE - On a crisp afternoon outside a Nashville diner, Liz McDaniel stepped out of her white Mercedes with a plastic Razorback hat fastened to her head and a strip of packing tape holding up her nose.
This is her alter ego - Pig Sue E. - a spin on the Razorback spirit call Wooo, Pig! Sooey!
McDaniel doesn’t just bleed red. She bleeds Razorback red.
But when she made avideo earlier this month in support of the Hogs, she had no idea it would be seen by more than a half-million people across the country on YouTube and send her to the center ring of a media mini-circus.
In the video, McDaniel is wearing the same Hog hat and has her nose taped up, and she’s singing a revised version of “United We Stand” by Brotherhood of Man while gyrating around in her chair.
After the team’s crushing 34-31 overtime loss tothe University of Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 9 in Little Rock, McDaniel said she felt the need to express her support for the Hogs.
The Nashville resident also offered encouraging lyrics to injured players, including quarterback Tyler Wilson.
“I put it on Facebook on Sunday, then, by Monday morning, I had forgotten all about it,” McDaniel said on a recent afternoon at a Nashville diner as she sipped from a large foam cup filled with iced tea.
McDaniel’s memory lapsewould soon end after a text message from a friend on Sept. 10 - a day when many Hog fans were still reeling from the loss to the Warhawks.
“She told me that the video was trending on Yahoo, and that it had gone viral across the Internet,” McDaniel said. “I paused for a moment and asked her what all that meant. Does that mean I am spreading a virus on the Internet?”
McDaniel’s friend quickly schooled her on the intrica-cies of online videos and how some spread like a raging wildfire across the globe.
McDaniel, who was elected in 2010 as Nashville’s city clerk/treasurer, isn’t a complete stranger to the online world, though.
She has been involved in a karaoke site for several years where registered members share and comment on each other’s videos, but it’s insulated from the rest of the Web.
McDaniel quickly took the video offline, but it had already been copied and was spreading throughout the online world.
And then the media began calling.
And calling.
And calling.
“I have five interviews this afternoon alone,” Mc-Daniel said. “It’s been crazy. A TV station in Phoenix interviewed me, ESPN, and I just can’t even keep track of how many requests I have gotten.”
After the Razorbacks’ were shut out 52-0 by Alabama on Sept. 16, McDaniel said she felt compelled to make another video in support of her beloved team.
By then, the initial shock of becoming an Internet sensation had slightly worn off, and McDaniel said she needed to “get some positive words out after that devastating loss.”
In that video, McDaniel sings a revised version of the 1970s hit “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead and urges Hogfans not to give up on this season.
She belts out, “OK Razorback fans, we are gonna have to get up, shake the dust off and win every game the rest of the season” before singing the Hog call and continuing with the song’s chorus.
Once again, McDaniel’s video went viral.
As the positive comments rolled in by the thousands on various websites, including YouTube, there were also negative comments.
Some were so bad that McDaniel said she began toregret ever making the videos.
“I just can’t believe how cruel some people can be,” McDaniel said. “I have been called an alcoholic, crazy, and some people are telling me that I’m the worst thing that ever happened to the Razorbacks. But I have a lot of support, too. It’s just very hurtful when people are mean like that.”
A LIFELONG FAN
Though she declined to give her age, McDaniel said she has been a Razorback fan “since my mama’s womb.”
She attended the thrilling 1969 Arkansas vs. Texas game in Fayetteville, where President Richard Nixon declared Texas the national champions after the Longhorns narrowly beat the Hogs 15-14 in a game known as “The Big Shootout.”
McDaniel said she goes “hog wild” on game days, especially now that she hasa niece in the Razorback Marching Band.
She has been to more games than she can count. And, while there, she said she “goes crazy when I see the Hogs. I am just jumping and screaming and cheering my heart out.”
REACTION
Kevin Trainor, the associate athletic director for public relations at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said he wasn’t surprised when he saw McDaniel’s video online.
He said she fits into the pattern of “the very passionate fan base we have had throughout the years.”
And, “in today’s technology, something like this can go viral very easily,” Trainor said. “And it shows people that Razorback fans are truly very passionate about their team.”
Trainor said he wasn’t aware if the video has come up in locker room or practice-field conversations, but “our guys are young, and they are on the Internet, so I am sure some of them have seen it.”
Dave Wilson, editor of the Playbook section of ESPN.com, wrote an article about McDaniel shortly after her first video went viral. He said he wanted to introduce his readers to the person behind the quirky video.
“This is a sweet lady who made this video,” Wilson said. “I thought it was a little unusual at first, but when you talk to her, she is so sincere about the Razorback program. I wanted to tell her story to my readers and humanize her.”
Nashville Mayor Billy Ray Jones, who works with McDaniel at City Hall, said he laughed when he saw her first video.
“You either love it or hate it,” Jones said. “There is no middle line. And while I personally find no issue with it ... do I think that it is something that an elected official should have done? Probably not, but you can’t help but like her enthusiasm and doing things to have fun.”
Back outside the small diner near Nashville’s downtown, McDaniel said her family has had mixed reactions to her newfound fame. Her son and husband, she said, are concerned about the negative comments she’s received online.
But the overwhelming support from others has kept the situation mostly positive, McDaniel said.
“At first, I thought this was the stupidest thing I had ever done in my whole life,” she said. “Then, after people said they loved it, and that they wanted me to continue it, I thought, why not.”
McDaniel said she isn’t sure if she will make another video after the Rutgers game today.
“It just depends on the outcome,” she said.
Above all, McDaniel said she wants the Arkansas Razorbacks football team to know that she loves and respects each and every team member.
“I didn’t do any of this seeking fame,” she said. “I just want the team to know that my true desire is for them to succeed. I wanted to uplift them. I would never, ever do anything that I thought would embarrass the school.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/22/2012