Episode 512
Razorback Media = Propaganda? I’m Calling ’Em Con Men
I'm calling it: Razorback fans are fed up — there's a real fight inside Razorback Nation about whether to keep showing up and funding this program. Some folks stayed away from the Georgia game, some want Hunter Yuracheck fired, and others turned to Sack Saturday and paper bags to make a point. That point got boiled down perfectly by 67-year-old Lisa Hancock, who called the Chuck and Bo show after 62 years of fandom and went viral because she spoke for thousands who say "enough." Instead of listening, local sports talk laughed and mocked her, which I call out as propaganda — these talking heads protect the institution while ridiculing the people writing the checks. Bottom line: college football became a business, so fans are allowed to act like customers — if the product ain't worth the price, stop buying. Woo Pig Suey.
Takeaways:
- I say staying home, wearing a paper bag, or canceling donations doesn't make anybody a disloyal fan.
- Ms. Lisa’s viral call — after 62 years of fandom — crystallized decades of frustration felt by longtime supporters.
- We called out the local sports media as propagandists who laugh at the fans they should be serving and protecting.
- Since college football acts like a business now, I say fans can act like customers and withhold money when the product fails.
- I pointed out the hypocrisy of wealthy pundits telling struggling Arkansans to 'just go to the game' when that actually costs real sacrifice.
Transcript
Good morning.
Speaker A:It's Haystack.
Speaker A:I've debated over the last 24 hours or so whether to discuss the Arkansas Razorbacks this morning.
Speaker A:I'm a lifelong Arkans and a lifelong Hog fan, and I think we have to acknowledge at this point there is a fight going on inside Razorback Nation.
Speaker A:And this is about more than whether Arkansas can win a football game.
Speaker A:On one side, fans are demanding change.
Speaker A:Some stayed away from the Georgia game.
Speaker A:Some called for Hunter Eurocheck to be fired.
Speaker A:Some supported Sack Saturday and war paper bags.
Speaker A:And on the other side, people including, let's say John Daly, said that's not a true fan.
Speaker A:This is when Razorbacks need us the most.
Speaker A:Fill the stadium, support the players, give the program the money it needs to compete.
Speaker A:And there is truth in that argument.
Speaker A:The players didn't hire the athletic director or create the last decade of Arkansas football.
Speaker A:Ryan Silverfield has coached three games.
Speaker A:Empty seats don't help the players, the recruiting or the home field advantage.
Speaker A:So if you believe the best way to express your loyalty is to attend every game, wear red and call the Hogs, I respect that.
Speaker A:But another fan can love the Razorbacks just as much and make a different decision.
Speaker A:And that fan is not disloyal.
Speaker A:That fan has simply decided that after giving financially, emotionally for years and years, that enough is enough.
Speaker A:And that frustration was perfectly captured by Lisa Hancock, the 67 year old woman who called into the Chuck and Bo show and the call goes viral.
Speaker A:Ms. Lisa says she's attended Razorback games regularly since she was 5 years old for 62 years, 62 years of tickets, travel Saturdays, coaches promises, rebuilding plans and requests for more money.
Speaker A:She says she spent enough supporting Arkansas that she could have traveled around the world and she feels the people running the program don't care whether she comes or goes.
Speaker A:She was allegedly told by one member of the staff that you should just support asu.
Speaker A:It's closer.
Speaker A:And yes, she was funny.
Speaker A:During the call she said something about running administrators out of town on the back of a turtle.
Speaker A:Yes, that's kind of funny.
Speaker A:But the call went viral.
Speaker A:Not because she's funny, but because she spoke for thousands of fans who feel the same way.
Speaker A:They're tired of being told that change is coming, tired of being told to remain patient, and tired of being asked for more money when the people responsible for managing those resources keeps their job making millions.
Speaker A:And this is not about one bad game.
Speaker A:Arkansas lost to Utah 43 to 10, then to Georgia 45 to 17 while finishing with 17 rushing yards.
Speaker A:But this is not about that.
Speaker A:This frustration has been accumulating for years.
Speaker A:Utah was simply the match that reached the gasoline.
Speaker A:And when Ms. Lisa expressed her frustration, members of the local sports talk media, I use that term loosely, mocked her.
Speaker A:They laughed at her.
Speaker A:Watch the clip.
Speaker A:Listen to the tone.
Speaker A:Chuckles is worthless.
Speaker A:Ass told her to take a nerve pill.
Speaker A:These men make tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars covering the Razorbacks.
Speaker A:Their access, their relevance, their livelihoods depend on remaining close to that machine.
Speaker A:And then one of the ordinary people who help fund that machine calls to explain she feels ignored, that she feels taken for granted.
Speaker A:And they laughed at her and mocked her.
Speaker A:And that is not journalism or media.
Speaker A:That is propaganda.
Speaker A:They're not serving the fans.
Speaker A:They're serving the institution while pretending to speak for the fans.
Speaker A:When the institution needs more money, they're going to tell you to donate.
Speaker A:When the team fails, they say, be patient.
Speaker A:When you get angry, they say, be positive.
Speaker A:And when you stop paying, they question your loyalty.
Speaker A:They protect the people cashing the checks and ridicule the people writing the checks.
Speaker A:So I will say it plainly.
Speaker A:They are propagandists and they are con men.
Speaker A:Because the con is convincing everyday Arkansas fans that loyalty travels in only one direction.
Speaker A:You must buy the tickets, make the donation, fund the nil, pay for parking.
Speaker A:Show up.
Speaker A:Be positive.
Speaker A:What does the football program owe you?
Speaker A:Apparently, nothing.
Speaker A:Not accountability, not competence, not competitive football, not even the respect of listening without laughing when you say you've had enough.
Speaker A:They want your loyalty.
Speaker A:They don't really want your opinion.
Speaker A:They want your passion, but only when it's profitable.
Speaker A:They want you invested enough to keep spending, but docile enough to not demand anything in return.
Speaker A:And the people that yell the loudest about supporting the hogs, it seems to me, often have far more money than the average Arkansan because it's easy to say, well, just go to the game.
Speaker A:Just be positive.
Speaker A:When Buying tickets doesn't require sacrifice.
Speaker A:But for many Arkansans, they save all summer to attend one football game or the football season.
Speaker A:For them, it's not just the tickets.
Speaker A:It's the donation.
Speaker A:To be able to have the honor of buying the tickets.
Speaker A:It's the gas, the parking, the food, the lodging, the merchandise.
Speaker A:It's likely, for many, the family vacation they did not take so their children could experience Razorback Stadium.
Speaker A:Those fans have already sacrificed.
Speaker A:What is Razorback football giving them in return?
Speaker A:College football chose to become a business.
Speaker A:Players can leave for better opportunities.
Speaker A:Coaches can leave for larger contracts.
Speaker A:Conferences can discard tradition for television money.
Speaker A:Universities can sell naming rights and suites and sponsorships.
Speaker A:Administrators can leave for different and better and bigger paying jobs if they can find somebody stupid enough to hire them.
Speaker A:Say in Kansas, everybody gets to make a decision based on money except for the fan.
Speaker A:I say no, not at all.
Speaker A:If college football wants a professional marketplace, fans are allowed to act like customers.
Speaker A:If a customer decides the product is no longer worth the price, that's not betrayal.
Speaker A:That is the marketplace that college football created.
Speaker A:The fans did not create this message.
Speaker A:The man who wore a paper sack did not create this mess.
Speaker A:The man who stayed home did not create this mess.
Speaker A:The family that decided $8 tickets to an SEC football game still aren't worth the gas and parking and mills and lodging.
Speaker A:They did not create this mess.
Speaker A:The people making the decisions created this mess.
Speaker A:The fans have simply stopped shielding them from the consequences.
Speaker A:Anger is not the greatest danger.
Speaker A:Apathy is.
Speaker A:People don't protest and wear paper bags.
Speaker A:They don't rant because they don't care.
Speaker A:They do it because they care so deeply that the continued failure has become intolerable.
Speaker A:John Daly posts on Social about his shame and fans boycotting.
Speaker A:So John, support the Hogs your way.
Speaker A:I love John Daly.
Speaker A:You know, go to the games, fill your seat, call the Hogs, never stop believing.
Speaker A:I respect that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:I admire that.
Speaker A:But the fan who stays home loves Arkansas to the fan wearing the paper bag loves Arkansas to the fan canceling the donation loves Arkansas too.
Speaker A:Nobody gets to decide that that person is not a true fan.
Speaker A:Nobody gets to shame somebody for refusing to spend money they can't afford to waste.
Speaker A:And nobody sitting in a press box or a luxury suite or some sponsored studio gets to mock that person for reaching their breaking point.
Speaker A:Razorback fans have given this program their money, their fall Saturdays, their traditions, their family traditions, their memories.
Speaker A:They have earned the right to be angry.
Speaker A:They have earned the right to protest.
Speaker A:And they have damn sure earned the right to decide when enough is enough.
Speaker A:And for those of you in the so called sports media, if you criticize people who have supported this program for decades because they finally said enough.
Speaker A:If you laugh at if you mock those passionate fans while you're laughing all the way to the bank, shame on you, you damn worthless con men.
Speaker A:Woo Pig Suey.
