Merlin Olson's character was introduced as an Arkansas Razorback. The University of Arkansas wasn't established until 1871. The school's mascot until 1909 was the Arkansas Cardinals. In 1909 the team finished with a record of 7-0 and after beating LSU 16-0, there was a large crowd at the train station to meet the team. Coach Hugo Bezdek addressed the crowd, he said the team played like "a wild band of Razorback hogs". In the following year the students voted to change the mascot from a cardinal to a razorback.
According to the entry here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/razorback, the term "razorback", meaning a wild hog from the southern USA, dates from 1815-1825. Clearly, calling him that has nothing to do with the University of Arkansas, but that doesn't mean it is a mistake. It's likely that the guy is simply introducing him as an Arkansan who is as big and as tough as a wild hog.
reply
share
josborn828
15 years ago
The Arkansas Razorbacks were coming off the longest winning streak of any team in the 60's. The "game of the century" was played in the same year as this movie that came out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Texas_vs._Arkansas_football_game
At the time of the civil war, Arkansas was known as the Bear State. There was really nothing special about the wild boar population at that time. The Razorback hogs of that time period were lean and feral. Even today as feral hogs are causing so much damage, the problems occurring in Texas and in old deep south states like Georgia and Alabama. The university couldn't even find a razorback hog in the state and now use an imported (that means from out of state) Russian Boar as their living mascot.
http://www.physorg.com/news159864719.html
Being that Arkansas was known for Bears at the time and not considered unique for its hog population and that Arkansas' football team was doing so well at the time, this has to be the reason for the razorback reference. I think that Merlin Olson looks much more like a bear than he does a hog.
I am also sad to report that the Live Mascot Tusk II died earlier this week and his brother Tusk III will replace him in the future.
P.S. The import/out of state thing was a joke. A local restaurant uses the term to describe imported beer.
reply
share
Fingaroo
15 years ago
Let me put it another way. We know that the term "razorback" was in use at the time in the South, although it was not yet tied to Arkansas. Therefore, the fact that the guy called him an "Arkansas razorback" could simply be coincidence rather than a mistake. For example, if Olsen's character had been from, say, Mississippi, then the guy would have introduced him as a "Mississippi razorback." Now, while I agree that it was possibly--perhaps even probably--a goof on the part of the writers, there nevertheless still remains a plausible explanation for the use of the term. (Olsen does resemble a bear more however.)
Sorry about Tusk II. Did they have barbeque at the funeral?
reply
share
josborn828
15 years ago
Just strange that Tusk and Uga die within weeks of each other. I think the BCS was somehow involved.
reply
share