Coach Broyles to headline Alzheimer's Alliance event tonight

Frank Broyles will give the address at tonight's Alzheimer's Alliance annual meeting at Texarkana College tonight at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $40. Broyles' wife Barbara died in 2004 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1999.

It's a slow day, so I'll tell about one of my first real experiences in politics that involved Broyles when I was president of the student body at the UofA (pictured right at a pre-game reception in Miami at the '95 Carquest Bowl with my roommates at the time). The Razorbacks had come on strong towards the end of the 1995 football season thanks to Madre Hill and others, and Broyles wanted to boost attendance at the upcoming homecoming game against Tennessee. He called over to the student government office on the Wednesday before the game and said it was imperative that we have a full stadium for the Tennessee game and that he thought it would be a good idea if we just allowed any student with an ID to get in the game and sit in the student section for free. Only 6,000 students had purchased student tickets, and 9,000 seats were reserved for the student section. I asked what would happen if the the vast majority of the 14,900 in enrollment showed, and he gave me his word that ushers wouldn't bother people who had to sit in the aisles because of overcrowding.

Of course, it wasn't that big of an issue in the big scheme, but I was smart enough to know that it was important to the 6,000 students who'd already bought the $6 tickets. I told him there was no time to convene the student senate and that I needed time to talk to others and consider it, and he told me he needed an answer in 90 minutes and hung up the phone.

I went on to class and asked every student I came into contact with what they thought. It was unanimous. "You mean you have the opportunity to give 9,000 students free tickets to watch two Top 15 teams, and you're considering not doing it?!" The cynics ensured me that it didn't matter what my response would be since Broyles had the authority to do it regardless of what some 21 year old student thought. They were right, of course, but even they thought it was a good idea. I told Broyles that I liked the idea but that we oughta give the students with a ticket a special roped area of the section closest to the field.

Well, Saturday rolled around and about 12,000 students crammed into a section designed to hold 9,000. I bet the stadium looked good on tv, but I think every student with a purchased ticket was holding up a sign demanding their $6 back (and we lost 31-21). The student newspaper let me have it the next week, and Broyles referred all media questions to me. He provided some cover later on, but I heard from some of those students for the rest of the year.

Still, Broyles called frequently that year, because he was interested in hearing from students. It surprised me, not only because no one not directly involved in student government cared about it, but that since Broyles himself reached near-sainthood in my household growing up. I always thought his Georgian drawl made him the best color commentator ABC had in the '80s. Since we're on old Razorback pictures, here's a good one from that same bowl game at the team's hospitality suite with Orville Henry and Paul Eells. I could've listened to their stories all night.