UA Asking Razorback Fans to #KeepItClassyArkansas

UPDATE:

The #KeepItClassyArkansas campaign page has been taken down and the Student Affairs department sent out the following tweet this afternoon:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Our attempt to create a catchy hashtag to remind all to stay off the field for safety reasons was a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fail?src=hash">#fail</a>. We know you are classy. GO HOGS!</p>&mdash; Student Affairs (@UA4Student) <a href="https://twitter.com/UA4Student/status/535885682729041922">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote>

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So it looks like this thing is dead in the water. Still insane though.

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Did you rush the field after the LSU game? Do you know someone who did? Would you have if you were there?

Well, if so, you need to have more class.

It's all about having class, Razorback fans. That's why today, UA launched the #KeepItClassyArkansas campaign, with the goal of keeping fans off the field after games. (We also want to note: the release did not come from the athletic department. It's from the Division of Student Affairs. Neither Jeff Long nor the athletic administration has publicly endorsed this campaign, although Long has been quoted as saying he does not want fans to rush the field again.)

According to the press release, keeping fans off the field "is intended to ensure the safety of fans, players and everyone else, on and off  the field."

It is true that, while I have seen no reports of anyone getting hurt in Fayetteville last week, there have been people who've been hurt when fans storming fields and basketball courts on occasion.

It wasn't mentioned in the story, but Arkansas was also fined $25,000 for rushing the field, and would be fined $50,000 for doing it again. While of course no one wants anyone to get hurt, it's hard to believe that's not a factor.

The worst part of it all is the name of the program. #KeepItClassyArkansas. As if the Razorback fans, who have suffered through everything they've suffered through for two and a half years, are somehow lacking class for taking over the field and celebrating with players after the game. That's unbelievably sanctimonious.

Arkansas should be beyond thrilled fans kept showing up to games. Nobody ever has to buy tickets or make donations, but that's especially true after a 3-9, 0-8 season that followed up a 5-7 lost year. Many people expected 10-15,000 fewer in attendance due to the cold, hunting season, and the 17-game SEC losing streak. But the fans paid their money and showed up.

The last thing fans deserve to be told by the school is to "be classy". If you really want it to be about safety, make the hashtag about safety. If you really just don't want to lose $50,000, go the way of the Ole Miss's AD after they were given the fine.

But let's not make it about something as asinine as class. After all, I still associate class with this:

I propose, in the effort for class, we start making Bielema-art. Something classy, you know, like a Revolutionary War general. Like Napoleon and his horse. That kind of thing. He's rather portly to be Napoleon. Not Napoleon exactly. Like Napoleon.

Send any submissions to me at heydocharper@gmail.com and we'll share the best. Remember, classy.