More than 50 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1965, the Arkansas Razorbacks, undefeated and ranked second in the country, played the sixth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
My parents, both of them still in their twenties at that time, traveled all the way across Arkansas and much of North Texas to be there to watch.
Because the game had national championship implications, the '65 Cotton Bowl had the attention of the entire football world.
My parents told me about their Cotton Bowl trips years later (they also attended the '66 Cotton Bowl, in which Arkansas fell to LSU).
To get to Dallas in those days, the roads weren't nearly as good as the ones we travel today. Dad said they didn't get to use a four-lane road at all until they entered Texas.
They started in Corning, (about as far to the northeast in Arkansas as one can be) and then drove on U.S. 67 Highway in a southwesterly direction all the way across the state.
My Mom was employed in the office of the J.W. Black Lumber Company in Corning, and had to take off work to make the trip.
Her boss was Charles Rufus Black of Corning, who had lettered in football for the Razorbacks in 1932 and 1933. In 1933, he was a part of the first Razorback team to defeat Texas. The Hogs finished that season with a 7-3 record and the Southwest Conference Championship. They played in the 1934 Dixie Classic in Dallas where they tied Centenary 7-7.
The 1934 Dixie Classic was the last one in Dallas; in 1937, the city replaced it with the Cotton Bowl game.
Mr. Black remained a Razorback fan after his playing days, and at one time he was said to have been the oldest living Razorback, until his death in 2002 at the age of 88.
At the '65 Cotton Bowl, as my parents made their way in to the stadium with friends, they were startled by a familiar voice.
"Hey! Who's working?"
It was Mr. Black, my mother's boss and former Razorback, who had also come down to watch the game.
He asked jokingly, "I wonder who's watching after the store?"
And then he added, "I'm glad you got to come."
Mr. Black was the grandson of the founder of Black Lumber Company (started in Corning in 1895) and at the time my mother was working in their offices in the 60s, he was the president and co-owner of the company.
But no matter what the background was for any Arkansas fan at the game, they all witnessed a great contest and an important piece of Razorback football history.
Trailing 7-3 in the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks put together an 80-yard drive which ended with a Bobby Burnett three-yard touchdown run to give Arkansas a 10-7 victory.
Arkansas quarterback Fred Marshall said, "There is no way to explain all the things that happened on that 80-yard drive that won the Cotton Bowl game from Nebraska."
But win the game they did. And the 1964 Razorbacks--who had defeated Texas 14-13 earlier in that season, and had held their final five opponents scoreless--finished the season with an 11-0 record and laid claim to Arkansas' only national championship in football.
I'm glad my parents got to watch it all unfold, and I'm glad they told me about the experience.
This year Arkansas will take on Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., which admittedly doesn't seem nearly as big as when Arkansas won the Cotton Bowl and a national title in 1965.
But there will be people who attend who will enjoy themselves the same way my parents did so many years ago.
There will be former Razorbacks watching with interest, like my mother's boss did at the '65 Cotton Bowl.
There will be Arkansans who watch with great pride. There will be memories made and stories to tell.
Some of the details will be told to others in the days ahead, but it's possible that some personal accounts may not be revisited until 50 years later. You just never know.
Fun times. Exciting times. Family times. Woo Pig Sooie.
DAVID WILSON, EdD, OF SPRINGDALE, IS A WRITER, CONSULTANT AND PRESENTER, WHO GREW UP IN ARKANSAS BUT WORKED 27 YEARS IN EDUCATION IN MISSOURI. YOU MAY E-MAIL HIM AT [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Editorial on 12/28/2016