The Hurtful Truth

Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson’s comments about Tiger basketball fans found the mark.

by Gary Parrish

t started out as a simple comment about his displeasure with the way University of Memphis fans treated former Tiger and current Arkansas Razorback Sunday Adebayo. But Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson’s post-game press conference quickly turned into a full-fledged attack on Tiger fans in general, an attack some believe was deserving.
You know the Adebayo story by now – played at Arkansas, then at Memphis, and now at Arkansas again. As a Tiger a year ago, Adebayo returned to Fayetteville and received a standing ovation from the opposing crowd. His return to Memphis was different, very different.
Not only was Adebayo called a “traitor,” but he was booed throughout the game. If that wasn’t bad enough, the kicker may have been when Adebayo checked into the game during a time-out at the 11:35 mark of the first half. He somehow got lost in the shuffle, and was never even introduced to the Pyramid crowd.
“I told him [before the game], ‘Hey, don’t expect to receive the kind of reception you received in Arkansas, these people over here aren’t that way,’” explains Richardson, whose team won the game 75-72. “They don’t care how many games you helped them win, all they care about is what’s going on now. You can see your [former] coach [Larry Finch] is no longer around.”
Richardson says the hostile reception motivated the senior from Nigeria. “I wish we could take this bunch [crowd] with us so they can just rattle him up and maybe he’ll help us win some more basketball games – because that’s what happened tonight,” the coach says. “I think they should’ve let the giant sleep, but they didn’t do that.”
The response Adebayo received may have startled the player, but not the coach. “Was I surprised?” Richardson asks rhetorically. “Are you kidding me? You listen to the [sports talk] radio shows, how could you be surprised?”
For most of the game Saturday, if the Tiger fans weren’t booing Adebayo, they weren’t doing much of anything. During time-outs, it was not uncommon to hear Arkansas fans “Calling the Hogs” in The Pyramid while the Tiger faithful seemingly watched in admiration. Keep in mind this was supposed to be a road game for Arkansas.
Richardson also noticed the roar of “Pig Sooeys” and used that as another opportunity to take shots at Memphis fans while complimenting his own.
“I think that’s great,” Richardson says. “Will you see as many fans [at the next game] as you saw tonight? I saw people asking for two, three, and four tickets outside that I’ve never seen [before]. Why? Because the Razorbacks support the program over here. Can you imagine playing 15 games [a year] against Arkansas here, and you got sellouts every night? They [the U of M] wouldn’t have a problem with money, would they?
“I’m glad, as I told our guys, that we have enough fans to kind of offset [things],” Richardson continues. “Can you imagine if it would’ve been 19,000 of just strictly Memphis [fans], what it would’ve been like for Sunday? It would’ve been pretty disgraceful.”
As a testament to the Memphis crowd’s low-key response, at one point during an Arkansas time-out in the midst of the Tigers’ valiant 20-6 run – which pulled Memphis within one point of the lead – another member of the media turned to me and asked in disbelief, “Where is the crowd?”
Memphis head coach Tic Price must have noticed the silence as well, because on two different occasions he took it upon himself to get Tiger fans on their feet, doing his best cheerleader impression by gesturing to the crowd with his arms to “get up.”
“I really wanted the crowd to get involved,” Price says of his plea to the stands. “Why the hell do you have a crowd if they’re going to sit on their hands? That’s what college basketball is all about, people getting involved.”
How many people will get involved when South Florida visits The Pyramid on Saturday? “I have no idea,” Price answers.
It won’t be a sellout, supporting Richardson’s contention that people came Saturday to see the Razorbacks. It’s hard to argue with what he says – in fact he seems to almost dare anyone to try.
Richardson even downplays the importance of this annual game. “This is not a big rivalry game for us anymore,” he says, adding that it used to be when Arkansas had Memphis players. There are no Memphians on this Hog team.
“Jason Jennings or Tarik Wallace, they don’t know anything about Memphis,” Richardson explains. “The edge is over here [in Memphis] because this is who they [the Tigers] want to beat – the Razorbacks.”
Not all Memphis fans are guilty of Richardson’s charges. Some attend every game. They yell at opponents every night, they yell at referees every night. Those are the fans who didn’t abuse Adebayo.
A local businessman on the front row, who attends every home game, told me he was embarrassed by what was going on. He seemed to feel worse than Adebayo himself. As Adebayo checked into the game unnoticed, the Tiger fan looked at him and yelled, “Hey Sunday, we love you.” Adebayo glanced at the man, and clearly recognizing him, smiled and winked with appreciation.
Those are the fans who give Memphis a good name. Those are the fans who don’t need their coach to tell them to get on their feet. They know exactly when to do so on their own. That indeed is what college basketball should be all about. n