Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/17/2010 at 6:15pm

In an effort to make the 2010 RazorRock a bigger extravanga than last year's well received "Central Arkansas weeklong football rally," as organizers dubbed it, the newest version has Verizon Wireless signed on as a presenting sponsor and the Oxford American as a partner for Friday night entertainment.

The lead-up to Arkansas's Sept. 11 game with Louisiana-Monroe at War Memorial Stadium in Central Arkansas will include a Friday night pep rally and concert of regional music acts at the Riverfest Amphitheater sponsored by the OA, the Conway-based magazine focused on Southern culture and literature.

Tuesday, UA Athletic Director Jeff Long joined several Little Rock area businessmen and the mayors of Little Rock and North Little Rock at the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce buildng to announce plans for RazorRock II. Frank Thomas, the chairman of the Arkansas River Cities Sports Commission, took the lead and put a personal note on the announcement by recounting his first visit to War Memorial Stadium, in 1964. "You could hear the stadium before you could see," he recalled of the drive up from El Dorado with his father and uncle to see the team that would eventually be named the 1964 national champions by the Football Writers Association of America.

Long's experience with War Memorial Stadium and his Razorbacks playing in Little Rock is shorter, since he only came on board in late 2007. He said his memory of last year's RazorRock "was being on both sides of the river bridge and calling the Hogs." Last year's Friday night pep rally drew a throng of fans downtown and in the Argenta neighborhood of North Little Rock to cheer with the Razorback spirit groups and band.

They'll reprise the setup this year, only at Riverfest Amphitheater instead of Dickey-Stephens Park, since the Travelers will have concluded their season on Monday, Labor Day. The Travelers will be included in RazorRock on the front end of the weeklong rally, while the ballpark has a prominent role in a food event and movie screening.

Greg Nabholz, who created the idea of RazorRock last year and this year serves as chairman, outlined a week of film, food, art and culture with RazorRock, featuring 17 events on both sides of the Arkansas River.

The concert on Friday night will even include the first live performance of the new single "Woo Pig Fever" by the Little Rock/Los Angeles-based country comedy band 10 Horse Johnson, part of the Oxford American Presents "A Night of Arkansas Music." True Soul Revue, the Salty Dogs (Bakersfield-style country rock) and Jim Mize (blues and blues rock) are also on the wide-ranging bill.

Other highlights:

* RazorRock Bike Rally, Tuesday, Sept. 6,, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

* RazorRock Foodie Festival, Tuesday, Sept. 6 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at Dickey-Stphens Park.

* A Night of Art and Soul, 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, Argenta Arts District.

* RazorRock After Hours at the Little Rock Zoo, 5-7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8.

University of Arkansas alumni groups also plan several parties in the area during the week.

Frank Thomas promised Jeff Long on Tuesday that his group's goal was to celebrate RazorRock every time a UA sports team plays in Central Arkansas, no matter the sport. Arkansas plays basketball annually at Verizon Arena and has begun scheduling a baseball game each spring at Dickey-Stephens Park.

The Hogs and Louisiana-Monroe are scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. Sept. 11.

"If we tried to orchestrate this from Northwest Arkansas, it just wouldn't be done," Long said, expressing his thanks to the local group for organizing the events in conjuction with the football game, one of two Hog visits to Little Rock this year. "Central Arkansas is very, very important to us."

For the full lineup of plans, visit the event website.

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Jeff Long offered the laugh of the day, commenting on the many trips he's made of late to Central Arkansas: "I'm here in Central Arkansas so much, the two mayors [Mark Stodola and Patrick Hays] are trying to get me to pay taxes here."

Tagged: Greg Nabholz, Jeff Long, Frank Thomas