Like it is: It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's just Smartvision

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

All drivers going to the Arkansas-Alabama game beware once you are within 25 miles of Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
There is going to be a strong urge to look up and start admiring the Hog Eye in the sky, but please wait until you are safely parked.
If you think it will be easy to resist looking up at the world's largest television at a sports venue, you are in for a shock.
It is awesome.
Consider these facts that were provided by the company that created Hog Eye.

It is 13 feet longer than a basketball court.

It is the same size as 3 1/2 end zones.

It is the same size as 810 27-inch televisions.

To get the same perspective as sitting in front of a large screen TV, you have to be 713 feet away from the Smartvision screen.

To get the same perspective as looking at a postage stamp on your desk, you have to stand 5,350 feet away.
The set is so impressive that when it was being tested and set off a national emergency signal used to locate downed aircraft, one Razorbacks fan wrote to ask, why didn't Frank Broyles just get the emergency signal frequency changed?

This is not just any Razorbacks game for Bob and Mary Denman. Exactly 50 years ago today they were married in Prescott.
They honeymooned in Little Rock, but the big celebration of their wedding was going to the Oklahoma A&M-Arkansas game in War Memorial Stadium.
Of course, as they have so many times over the last 50 years, they are going to Fayetteville Saturday for the Razorbacks' first SEC game of the season.

If patience is a virtue, then Saturday needs to be the most virtuous day Razorbacks fans have ever had.
Things are going to be a little hectic and crazy because of the construction on Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
So if the UA or Fayetteville police seem a little more tense than usual, remember that although this may be the first cop (hopefully) you have talked to that day, but you are probably the 5,000th driver they have dealt with who has no idea where their parking lot has gone.
After studying the maps and traffic flow patterns, the only thing you can be sure hasn't moved is the game.
Actually, the patience should begin hours before arriving on campus if you are driving up for the game.
There are 5 miles -- it just seems like 50 miles -- of construction just east of Clarksville and the speed limit is 50 mph, but with the heavy traffic and narrow lanes, expect it to be much slower.
Oh, and as for those State Troopers you are going to see, they don't want to be there, it is their job.
By the way, if you go up on Friday, all Razorbacks fans are invited to the Walton Arts Center Plaza on Dickson Street, for fellowship and music by Earl's Garage.
That's the name of a band, not the place you go to hear the music while your car is worked on.

These comments from people who have long had seats near the Razorback Marching Band.
"The best ever."
"The director is as into doing what he does as the coaches on the field are in what they do."
"I wouldn't sit anywhere else now."
Tim Gunter has taken over on Saturdays and apparently has brought with him some of the style he has shown at basketball games.
It was obvious things were on the upswing when he allowed the band members to wear shorts for the first game when temperatures were in the 100s.

When Arkansas and Alabama met a year ago in Tuscaloosa, Andrew Zow was 13-of-23 passing for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Tide won 35-28.
Total offense for Alabama that day was 530 yards and, of that, Tyler Watts contributed 10 on 1-of-3 passing.
The starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide Saturday night will be Watts.

This article was published on Friday, September 22, 2000

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