So, come on over and join us.

The entire content of RazorbackExpats.com has been transferred to the new site. This URL will remain up at least for a little bit, so feel free to poke around. Just try not to mess things up too much – we’re hoping to get our security deposit back.

1. Watch this video three times, preferably from a north end zone if you have one nearby.

2. Watch this video six times, ideally with a younger brother who occasionally surpasses you and a friend who’s prone to poorly-timed mistakes.

3. Chant “WE GOT THAT WOOD” nine times while you hop around in little circles.

So, it’s as easy as that. Go Hogs!

Update: Well, that definitely didn’t work. I’ll consult my voodoo handbook and try again for the football season. Nonetheless, kudos to the baseball team for the great season and for giving success-starved Hog fans something to cheer for.

I am pretty sure you’ve heard or read by now, hopefully you saw it happen, that the Hogs had one pinkie holding on to the cliff edge of elimination from the College World Series when they managed to climb themselves back into the game and go on to win it in dramatic fashion in the 12th, 4-3 over Virginia.  Moral Orel Hershisher and Mike Patrick had already declared the player of the game to be from Virginia. They were at the point of saying how the Hogs should still be proud of their season and what an amazing thing it was that they had made it to this point, yadda yaddda yadda, when Eibner knocked one out of the park with a man on first, and suddenly it was a new game.

I  admit that I haven’t paid baseball all that much attention in years, being more of a football and basketball fan, but I have suddenly gained back my old respect for it with this run the Hogs have made this season. I also realize just what a sadistic game it can be as I think about Virginia packing up for home. They were just one out away. They had opportunity after opportunity and couldn’t get any of those many base runners home.

As the Hogs kept getting themselves in tight situations in the 10th, 11th, and 12th, but kept coming back, I thought I might see Matt Jones and Houston Nutt suddenly appear in the dug out, for it reminded me of the seven overtime games that they played against Ole Miss and Kentucky. Different sport, but the same display of not losing your cool and coming through in clutch moments. And both give action to the words that appropiately end our fight song, “Fight, Fight, Fight.”

Now it is on to another fight with LSU on Friday where I hope we do have more fight in us than the last 9-1 performance. I think we will, for as someone once said, tomorrow is another day, and the Hogs have shown that they don’t want to go easily with the wind from Omaha. But whatever comes of it, Dave Van Horn and Company, know that we here at Razorbackexpats, soon-to-be Arkansas Expats, are proud of the way you’ve represented us this season. Thanks for giving us so much to cheer for and about. Go Hogs!

The late baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti once famously wrote of his sport, “It’s designed to break your heart.”

Hog fans surely have to think that the Razorbacks were designed to break their hearts (in truth, probably every college fan feels that way about their team – even the Tar Heels and Dukies of the world). From the loss in the Game of the Century to the last-second defeat at the hands of Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979, the tales of pain and suffering are legion.

With the sleepy and suffocating summer months upon us, and Hog news items few and far between (OK – so there is this little thing called the College World Series going on), I thought it would be interesting to hear what you consider the most heartbreaking defeat of your time as a Hog fan.

I got my first real dose of Razorback-induced pain when I was seven years old, at the end of the 1979-80 basketball season. That was the first year that I followed any Hog team. After my dad took me to an early-season contest in Little Rock’s Barton Coliseum, I was hooked, and every game was cause for extreme excitement. So, when the season came to a crashing halt courtesy of a 71-53 bloodletting at the hands of Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I was devastated and promptly burst into tears (I think I stopped reacting to losses in this way sometime in my mid-20s).

However, I don’t consider that the most heartbreaking defeat – not by a long shot. For me, that “honor” goes to the loss to UCLA in the 1995 NCAA title game. I so desperately wanted Corliss, Scotty and the guys to win back-to-back titles and write their names in the history books as one of the very few teams to do so.

If they had won that game, then I think they would be part of the discussion when people talk about history’s all-time teams. Not at the center of the debate, but at least in the mix. That would have been very satisfying.

The loss is also painful when you consider that it marks a clear demarcation line in the history of the basketball program: the Hogs have never been a national factor since.

Enough from me. What are your thoughts?

Much like George and Weezy, we’re moving on up.

Starting on Monday, June 22, you will have to travel to a new site, one with the oh-so-original URL of www.ArkansasExpats.com, to find our geeky, strangely-Dwight-Stewart-obsessed brand of Hog talk. The new site will be part of the Sports Blog Nation network of blogs.

We’re very excited about the move: the SB Nation lineup is chock full of outstanding sites – check out A Sea of Blue or Rocky Top Talk, to name just two – and the network provides its bloggers with tremendous resources and support, so we feel that the pieces are in place to really improve the content that we bring to you.

Furthermore, the site will provide a more interactive experience for you, the reader. Check out the two sites linked to above, and you will notice that, through the Fanpost and Fanshot features, you will have the chance to write your own posts and upload pictures, videos, etc.

Although the new site will include a lot of positive changes, one minor inconvenience is that you have to create an account at www.sbnation.com (or on www.ArkansasExpats.com once the site is live) before you can leave a comment. However, it’s free and only takes a few seconds, so please don’t let that stand in your way.

We really hope that you will take this extra step and continue to be a part of our site. Your insights, humor and other observations are easily our favorite part about working on the blog (well, other than the Beatle-like fame and riches), and we’re extremely proud of the little community of die-hard Hog fans that has developed around it. The next several months should be interesting ones for the Razorbacks, and we’ll want to hear what you have to say!

Well, we guess that’s about it for now. If you’ll excuse us, we have to do an interview for a Newsweek cover story and then contact the movers, pack things up, get the utilities set up in the new offices, etc. Busy day. Talk to you soon …

That end result puts LSU in a good place to reach the championship bracket. The Hogs will have to defeat Virginia on Wednesday night and then beat LSU twice. All LSU has to do is win one more game against either us or Virginia. In the CWS, you really are in the driver’s seat if you win those first two games. The ESPN stat of the night that I saw as I was watching the Hogs go out with a whimper is that 17 of the last 19 champions won their first two games. Ouch.

The Hogs will have to battle against two good baseball teams and some stiff odds to get to the championship bracket. I am not counting them out, but I can’t count them “in” as much as I could before Coleman got his claws into them. I am pretty sure Dave Van Horn is going to be heard uttering these words a lot today, “One game at a time, men.” If the Hogs start thinking too far ahead about the hill they have to climb, they’ll psych themselves out of it for sure.  For both Arkansas and Virginia, a lot depends upon which team has the best psychologist as coach.

I think a lot of Hog fans were not feeling too good about this game going into it. And I think a lot of us were thinking the same thing, ”Uh Oh, an SEC team.” That’s been the trend this year in all three major sports. We’ve done well in out of conference play, but have struggled with our fellow SEC brethern. I also was not feeling good in the gut about Eibner at the mound.  That feeling got confirmed, unfortunately, from the get-go. Forrest put in some good innings, and you have to wonder if he had started and the Tigers hadn’t gotten ahead so quickly so early things might have gone differently, or at least not as badly.

I am off to watch on youtube London Crawford catching that pass from Casey Dick. After a night of too much going right for the purple and gold, I think it is just the pick me up I need.

Our staff of TV historians has already declared Irwin’s “dammit” at the 40-second mark one of the great moments in the history of the boob tube.

(footage courtesy of Deadspin)

Of the four winners over the weekend, I think the Hogs actually had the easiest time of reaching the winners’ bracket. And in that bracket they now will face another favored team, LSU. Considering that number one, LSU is a really good team, and number two, Arkansas lost a series to the Tigers in Fayetteville earlier in the year, I am nervous. On the other hand, there is no denying that the Hogs are sizzling hot right now, and they did get one win in Fayetteville during that LSU series.  I don’t know enough about baseball to break things down and give anything that resembles analysis.

 But I do know enough about sports superstition that come tonight when I sit down to watch the game, I will wear the same Razorback shirt I had on Saturday and will continue my practice of watching the Hogs bat, but switching channels when the other team comes to bat and then just allowing myself glimpses of what is going on. Hey, it worked on Saturday, haha. I would twirl a dead chicken over my head and stand on one leg if I thought it would help the Hogs. I certainly would like to see the Hogs channel the good fortune that came over War Memorial Stadium back in November when Casey Dick and London Crawford connected for a win over a favored LSU team.  Maybe some Arkansas fans  should go out to War Memorial tonight and watch the game there?

One final note, I see where Texas (spit) advanced a step closer to the prospect of facing the Hogs in the Championship bracket.  Considering that Texas (spit) struggled to beat Southern Miss. and won only by taking four balls to advance the runners in the bottom of the 9th as the Southern Miss. bullpen choked, I like the Hogs’s propsects, but of course, a lot more still has to happen. First, just beat the hell out of those Tigers! Go Hogs!

1.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama for two years will not be allowed to sell any houndstooth clothing merchandise. Nor will any fan be allowed in the stadium wearing such clothing.

2.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama has to close the Paul Bear Bryant Museum for one year except for the hours of 8 to 12 PM on Sunday mornings. (Thus forcing the Tiders to choose between their gods. They are bound to feel guilty no matter which place they choose on Sunday.)

3.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama has to replay scenes on its scoreboard of Auburn’s greatest victories during each home half-time for a period not to exceed four years.

4.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama has to rename one campus building “Phil Fulmer Hall” for the period of the rest of Phillip Fulmer’s natural life. The building in question will be determined by Mr. Fulmer.

5.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama must remove the mascot of an elephant from its buildings, signs, and clothing and replace it with a mouse for the period not to exceed three years.

6.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama institute a course called “Get a Life Outside of Football 101″ and have all of its boosters complete it before being allowed to take any future donations.

7.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama is relegated to the Papajohns.com bowl for the next five years regardless of how many wins over .500 they might have. They also must spot the opposing team a three touchdown lead.

8.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama must supply Auburn University with all the toilet paper it needs for the next ten years at Toomer’s Corner.

9.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama must endow a chair in the music department named after Neil Young.

10.) The NCAA hereby mandates that the University of Alabama must re-instate Mike Shula as head coach until said coach wins the SEC Championship. Nick Saban will be allowed to coach the gymnastics, swimming, or girls softball teams without any adjustment in salary.

          If you have any punishment scenarios of your own, please submit them in the comment section. Who knows, maybe we can write the textbook on how to humble a football program.

That game was so painful it inspired me to write a short post on the brand-new Razorback Expats site titled “Here’s What I Hate About Sports.” And, if you’re like me, you probably have done your best to NOT think about it in the months and years since.

But, good news…it turns out that, according to the NCAA, we actually won that game. Yes, thanks to some mini-scandal involving players getting free textbooks, etc, etc Alabama has been ordered to vacate 21 wins between 2005 and 2007, including that infamous Hog loss (and the one in 2005, fwiw).

So, sit back with me and reflect on the time when the Hogs made a triumphant goal line stand at the end of the game and left Tuscaloosa with a 38-34 triumph.  Ah…such fond memories.

[Update: Unfortunately, KevinHog's remarks in the comment thread below appear to be correct. From a USA Today article on 'Bama's punishment: "The victories were vacated, meaning the school may not acknowledge a win. Vacating a win is different from forfeiture, in which the loser claims the victory, according to The Birmingham News." Alas, the heartbreak lives on.]