thefinishline 08/17/10
Hawg Tied
By Aaron M. Little
My father was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, as were the previous three generations of Little men dating back to the founding of the state. I spent many summer weeks as a young child visiting family in Fort Smith and Fayetteville. I have a pretty good idea of how serious a thing it is to have Razorback pride. However, with all of that considered, I find it hard to believe that Renee Gork, an Arkansas radio personality, was fired for wearing a Florida Gators hat to a Bobby Petrino (Head Football Coach of the Razorbacks) press conference on Saturday.
No doubt the SEC is the powerhouse conference in the thrilling world of college football. The rivalries within the conference are the basis of many ugly deeds between fanatics of the schools, but when we start talking about people’s livelihoods, is it not going a bit too far? Ms. Gork, who is a Florida alum, claims that she had no malice at heart, but simply grabbed the hat as she ran out the door on a rainy morning. As someone who is a bit of a ball cap collector myself, I can appreciate the minimal, if any, thought she put into this act. Again, you can’t spend one day in the state of Arkansas, much less Northwest Arkansas without learning that the cardinal-red blood flowing through the bodies of Arkansans is primarily indicative of their Hawg allegiance, but where does common sense and reason factor into it all?
I don’t know the full story on Ms. Gork and how she was at her job? Maybe this was the last straw? I do know it would be difficult to have a job like hers while being an alum from a rival school. Who knows? It all just seems extreme to me, but I guess that’s life in the SEC.
My father was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas, as were the previous three generations of Little men dating back to the founding of the state. I spent many summer weeks as a young child visiting family in Fort Smith and Fayetteville. I have a pretty good idea of how serious a thing it is to have Razorback pride. However, with all of that considered, I find it hard to believe that Renee Gork, an Arkansas radio personality, was fired for wearing a Florida Gators hat to a Bobby Petrino (Head Football Coach of the Razorbacks) press conference on Saturday.
No doubt the SEC is the powerhouse conference in the thrilling world of college football. The rivalries within the conference are the basis of many ugly deeds between fanatics of the schools, but when we start talking about people’s livelihoods, is it not going a bit too far? Ms. Gork, who is a Florida alum, claims that she had no malice at heart, but simply grabbed the hat as she ran out the door on a rainy morning. As someone who is a bit of a ball cap collector myself, I can appreciate the minimal, if any, thought she put into this act. Again, you can’t spend one day in the state of Arkansas, much less Northwest Arkansas without learning that the cardinal-red blood flowing through the bodies of Arkansans is primarily indicative of their Hawg allegiance, but where does common sense and reason factor into it all?
I don’t know the full story on Ms. Gork and how she was at her job? Maybe this was the last straw? I do know it would be difficult to have a job like hers while being an alum from a rival school. Who knows? It all just seems extreme to me, but I guess that’s life in the SEC.