Extensive archival research shows that, until last weekend, the fine city of Berkeley, California had never been treated to the majesty of a Hog call. But, I'm pleased to say that this is no longer the case.
I've been a Bay Area-based Arkansas Expat since the mid-90s (first in San Francisco, then Oakland, now Berkeley), and one of the only significant drawbacks about living here is that it's not the world's easiest place to follow the Hogs. So, even though I've never been much of a college baseball fan, when I realized the Razorbacks would be playing locally I had to check them out.
I went to the game fully expecting to be one of the only people wearing red in the whole place, but was pleasantly surprised to find a very solid contingent of Hog fans waiting there. In fact, I'd guess that a good 25-30% of the people there were on the Arkansas side. It was pretty awesome to see, and even more awesome to hear: as noted above, the sonorous sounds of Woo Pig Sooie rang out loud and clear several times.
As for the game itself, you can probably find better accounts elsewhere. I was chasing around my two small boys for most of the time, and although it was excellent father-son bonding it didn't make for the most blogging-friendly situation. But, I can report that the Hogs are as good as advertised. They jumped on the Bears early and never really looked back, particularly during a big five run 5th inning (the highlight of which was Tim Carver's three run HR - very nice). Fun times.
Besides the home run and Hog calls, the other highlight was that we were able to sit ridiculously close to the Razorback dugout (which was really more of a bench). The Cal stadium is what I'd call pleasantly intimate - definitely not the SEC here, folks - and we were right in the thick of things. After the jump, check out some firsthand photos and videos (including the Hog call!):
Photo slideshow (view the full-size pictures here):