Skip to main content

Election 2012: Voting for a Pro Team for Arkansas



With the Razorbacks searching for their next head football coach, I’ve heard a lot of people talking about the positives and negatives of the state of Arkansas. It’s an often-cited fact that Arkansas doesn’t have a professional sports team, which makes the Razorbacks the state’s pro team by default and consequently increases the attractiveness of the football head coaching position.

(I don’t think there’s any question that Arkansas would struggle to support a professional sports team—the population just isn’t large enough. I think there would be a core of rabid fans, but not enough casual fans to make a consistent profit. And professional sports teams are all about the money.)

This led me to consider an important question: If the state of Arkansas had to vote on which professional sports team to adopt as its own, which team would Arkansans pick? Regional proximity was one of the most important aspects I considered, so I included how many miles each team is from Little Rock. What follows is a list of the ten most likely teams that Arkansans would ratify as its own by popular vote.

(Honorable mentions: Kansas City Chiefs/Royals, St. Louis Rams, and Texas Rangers)

10. Dallas Mavericks, 317 miles — A significant amount of Razorback fans and native Arkansans live in and around Dallas, but I just don’t know that the Mavericks have the same following of loyal Arkansans as its football counterpart. A lot of Arkansans probably jumped on the Mavs bandwagon during their 2011 NBA championship run. Most jumped off after last season, I’d guess.

9. Houston Texans, 435 miles — This is a team I’m really torn about. If it wasn’t for other NFL teams with longer histories, I think the Texans could be a lot higher on this list. It’s just all too new and too far away.

8. Oklahoma City Thunder, 339 miles — See Texans. The Thunder have a better chance of catching on in Arkansas, in my opinion, because of the proximity of Oklahoma City to Fayetteville. The Thunder play an exciting brand of basketball that is reminiscent of the Razorback glory days with Nolan Richardson. There’s plenty of potential here.

7. Atlanta Falcons, 518 miles — Originally I had the Falcons ranked at six and the Braves at seven for one simple reason: the NFL is more popular than MLB to casual sports fans. However, tradition has to count for something, right? I’ve never cared for the Falcons, but I know a number of Arkansans that follow them with pride. Maybe I am underestimating the Falcons’ following in Arkansas.

6. Atlanta Braves, 518 miles — I’m biased: I grew up watching Bobby Cox manage Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Fred McGriff, and Chipper Jones on TBS. And I can’t be the only one—thanks in large part to Ted Turner and TBS, the Braves gathered a huge regional following. However, the Braves would never beat out the other MLB team near to Arkansans’ hearts.

5. New Orleans Saints, 427 miles — Less than a decade ago, not even Louisiana wanted to claim the Saints; now it seems like every Southern state claims some allegiance to the Saints, whether it’s because of Katrina or the recent Super Bowl or Drew Brees. I just can’t claim the Saints because I equate a New Orleans fan to a LSU fan. Not happening.

4. Tennessee Titans (Nashville), 349 miles — Maybe it’s just because I’m from Northeast Arkansas, but I know a lot of Titan fans. However, if Arkansas had to pick between NFL teams and number two wasn’t available, I still think Arkansas goes with the Titans over the Saints simply because of the LSU factor.

3. Memphis Grizzlies, 137 miles — The Grizzlies are the closest professional sports team and are now partly owned by Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake. That has to count for something, right? Personally, I probably identify with the Grizzlies more than any other team on this list. However, I’m always disappointed that Memphis doesn’t do more to grow its popularity in Arkansas—I think the Memphis ownership is missing out on an untapped resource.

2. Dallas Cowboys, 317 miles — The connection between the Cowboys and Arkansas is deep: Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer. There is an argument to be made that the Cowboys would win a popular vote in Arkansas by a landslide. I just feel like football loyalties of Arkansans are a little more diverse than people realize, which leads me to…

1. St. Louis Cardinals, 403 miles — I don’t know the history between Arkansas and the Cardinals (someone please enlighten me); however, once again this may be NEA bias, I know more people who passionately follow the Cardinals than most of the other teams on this list put together. Can you imagine a runoff between the Cardinals and the Cowboys? It’d be like an Arkansas election between Bobby Petrino and Bill Clinton for the most awesome man alive. How do you pick a winner?

(Someone needs to make a GIF or picture of Clinton and Petrino.)

(This is what readers are for: doing what you don't know how to do. Thanks to Justin Williams.)

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guess Who's Back?

Not to get sentimental, but I was recently reminded of the joys of writing a blog. So, I logged into Dribbling Ink to see my past failed attempt at a blog. A number of things immediately struck me. My last post was dated Monday, December 1, 2008 , which was just a short video of the immediate celebration after the Miracle on Markham II. Seriously? I went an entire year without writing a single blog entry. Naturally, I asked myself what happened. The answer is simple. Life happened. I started blogging because I didn’t have anything better to do. I had just gotten married and moved to Arkadelphia, where I failed to find a job for a few months. Tell me a better way to waste your time than to write blogs that nobody reads? After Christmas I started graduate school at Henderson State University . During the fall, I began working as a graduate assistant in the HSU Writing Center . (I also spent a few torturous months as a substitute teacher.) Essentially, I didn’t have a reason to w...
6 comments
Read more

Conversations: An Optimistic Razorback Fan

Caption: Your optimistic dad cheering for the Razorbacks. No offense to baby Chase, but the magic is gone. Yep, it’s time for another classic Arkansas drought. As an avid sports fan, I understand that there will always be ups and downs no matter how good the team is you are rooting for. As much as my wife would hate to admit it, even the Kansas Jayhawks have lost a game this season—the funny thing about that loss is it’s the only Kansas game we made a point to watch all year. Luckily, Arkansas ’ losing streak is exactly what An Optimistic Razorback Fan wanted to talk about in this week’s installment of the Dribbling Ink Conversation Series. An Optimistic Razorback Fan: OK, since losing is a part of sports, I should be able to cope with the Razorbacks’ newest losing streak. Right? You win some, you lose some? Plus, we still have a chance of finishing .500 and going to the NIT. Jacob Cooper: Wrong. Let’s look at Kansas ’ loss to Tennessee earlier in the year. Since the Jayha...
1 comment
Read more

Home, 257 Miles Away

Go ahead, ask: Where are these pictures from and why are they important? Easy. My parents' new house and...because they are of my parents' new house. OK, easy enough for me, but you're still wondering why they are important to you or, at least, why you should bother wasting your time looking at them. The only answer I have is because we are all products of environment, whether it's our house or our hometown. There are three things that have undoubtedly shaped me: family, Arkansas, and "home." The first is easy enough to understand. When I say Arkansas, I am specifically referring to Paragould, Arkansas, and more generally to the South. However, in this blog I'd like to talk about "home," in which case I am referring both to a physical dwelling and the environment I grew up in. The pictures featured below are taken from my parents' sixth new house, the first since I moved out a few years ago (of course, I only lived in the fifth house a few mo...
4 comments
Read more