I have written about my past visits to the Little Rock Touchdown Club many times and I have been amazed at the quality of the speakers. (Yesterday I talked about Phillip Fulmer.)Frank Broyles was one of my favorites but Phillip Fulmer, Paul Finebaum, Mike Slive, Willie Roaf, Randy White, Howard Schnellenberger, John Robinson, Mark May, Gene Stallings, Bobby Bowden, Lloyd Carr, Johnny Majors, Pat Summerall, Pat Dye, Vince Dooley , Eric Mangino, and many more.

My favorites were Phillip Fulmer, Howard Schnellenberger, John Robinson, Gene Stallings, Bobby Bowden, Lloyd Carr, Johnny Majors, Pat Summerall, Pat Dye, and Vince Dooley .

I heard Frank Broyles talk at the Little Rock Touchdown Club and he said he made a big mistake on the college football board he was on that limited college football to only one game a year till 1980 when it was overturned by the courts. In the article below you will read: Broyles joked that at one point, people worried television would ruin attendance at football games. Broyles had a chance last weekend to appreciate how times have changed.

“Starting at 11 o’clock, until 11 o’clock at night, and 22 games I watched,” he said. “There were 22 games on television last Saturday.”

The Razorbacks are still waiting to find out the time of their Oct. 10 home game against Auburn — it could be in one of four television slots. The game might be on CBS at 2:30 p.m. local time, or on ESPN, ESPNU or the SEC Network. The latter three have time slots between 11 and 11:30 a.m.

Wally Hall in his article wrote the following:

Broyles talked about the great attendance at SEC games and how back in the 1960s he believed too much television would hurt attendance.

“I was wrong,” he said. “What we found out was that it made football fans out of kids 9, 10 and 11 years old. All over the country now you hear people say they are looking forward to football season, except in Arkansas, and we say I can’t wait.”

Broyles also pointed out that every team in the SEC has had to expand their stadium at least 5 times in the last 40 years and 6 of the top 10 teams are from the SEC with UT 4th behind Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn St. and Auburn was #10 by the way according to the most up to date figures.

Here’s a list of the 2007 home attendance leaders, with average per game:

1. Michigan: 110,264

2. Penn State: 108,917

3. Ohio State: 105,110

4. Tennessee: 103,918

5. Georgia: 92,746

6. LSU: 92,619

7. Alabama: 92,138

8. Florida: 90,388

9. Southern California: 87,476

10. Texas: 85,144

Note: With the expansion of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to a capacity of more than 98,000 for 2008, UT is likely to move into the top five after numbers are crunched at the end of the current season.

Source: NCAA.org

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ matchup with Texas A&M this week brings back a fine memory for Frank Broyles.

Broyles’ first victory as Razorbacks coach — after six straight losses — came against the Aggies in 1958.

“That ‘58 team stayed with me,” Broyles said. “They built the foundation of what you could do: get better with a good attitude, don’t let the losses beat you but get better and better. We did improve.”

Broyles spoke Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, sharing some of his memories from his half-century with the Razorbacks. That 21-8 win at Texas A&M was the start of an eight-game winning streak, and Arkansas went on to finish at least tied for first in the Southwest Conference in 1959, ‘60 and ‘61.

Those days are long gone now, and so is the Southwest Conference, but nostalgic fans will have their chance to reminisce this week as the Razorbacks prepare to play the Aggies on Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.

Broyles talked for about 40 minutes about his coaching days, current trends in college football and the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, from which his late wife, Barbara, suffered.

Broyles mentioned the growth of the spread offense and said offensive linemen play differently now that teams rely so much on speed and passing.

He told one funny story involving former Arkansas athletic director John Barnhill. Broyles said Barnhill once told him Gov. Orval E. Faubus had given him the money to expand War Memorial Stadium.

“We didn’t have Freedom of Information in those days,” Broyles said, drawing a laugh.

Broyles was Arkansas’ coach and later the athletic director before retiring at the end of 2007.

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PICTURE IN PICTURE?: Broyles joked that at one point, people worried television would ruin attendance at football games. Broyles had a chance last weekend to appreciate how times have changed.

“Starting at 11 o’clock, until 11 o’clock at night, and 22 games I watched,” he said. “There were 22 games on television last Saturday.”

The Razorbacks are still waiting to find out the time of their Oct. 10 home game against Auburn — it could be in one of four television slots. The game might be on CBS at 2:30 p.m. local time, or on ESPN, ESPNU or the SEC Network. The latter three have time slots between 11 and 11:30 a.m.

LIKE IT IS:

Bazzel scores again with Touchdown Club

By: Wally Hall

Published: Wednesday, August 7, 2013

David Bazzel, president of the Little Rock Touchdown Club, announcing Tuesday this year’s speaker line-up at a news conference held in the lobby of the Metropolitan National Bank Building in Little Rock.

A large crowd gathered Tuesday in the atrium at Metropolitan Bank.

Hot dogs and hamburgers were being served, but every person was there for one reason. They wanted to hear who the speakers will be this fall at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, which attracts visitors from all over the state.

As Lunsford Bridges, president and CEO of Metropolitan Bank and the presenting sponsor of the weekly Touchdown Club luncheons, introduced David Bazzel, the thought occurred again of what a difference Bazzel has made in his adopted state.

He came here to be an Arkansas Razorbacks football player and has become an ambassador, innovator and good citizen.

Bazzel created the Broyles Award, the Golden Boot -which is given each year to the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game – and the Little Rock Touchdown Club, and helped found the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club.

No wonder he is on the voting list for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Tuesday’s news conference was more like being invited to a friend’s house for a glass of wine, only to discover they were serving Presqu’ile Pinot Noir, one of the premium wines produced in the United States.

The 10th year will be the best for the LRTDC.

Just a year ago, in a meeting at Corky’s restaurant, Bazzel told his board that he was tired and needed help. Everyone in the room agreed to help. We all know how many hours he has put into this organization – for free – and it has become, according to past speakers, one of the best football clubs in America.

Instead of getting help, he went out and came back with the best lineup of speakers ever, and even added four new awards that will honor some great football players born in Arkansas as well as longtime sports broadcaster Steve Sullivan.

The list of speakers are:

Aug. 21: Bret Bielema, head coach of the University of Arkansas.

Aug. 26: Cliff Harris, the former Ouachita Baptist and Dallas Cowboys football player.

Sept. 3: Dan Hampton, a former Razorback and Chicago Bear.

Sept. 9: Tom Osborne, the former head coach and athletic director at the University of Nebraska.

Sept. 16: Jeff Long, Arkansas athletic director.

Sept. 23: Houston Nutt, the former Arkansas and Ole Miss head football coach.

Sept. 30: Gene Chizik, the former head coach at Auburn and Iowa State.

Oct. 7: Clint Conque, head coach of No. 6-ranked UCA Bears.

Oct. 14: Mitch Mustain, the former Arkansas and Southern Cal quarterback, who is featured in a compelling new documentary The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain.

Oct. 21: Jonathan Luigs, a former Razorback and Rimington Award winner.

Oct. 28: Bryan Harsin, head coach at Arkansas State.

Nov. 4: Steve Sullivan, KATV’s sports director.

Nov. 11: Roland Sales and Ike Forte, former Razorbacks who won MVP awards in bowl games.

Nov. 18: Richard Davenport of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel, both of whom report on recruiting.

Nov. 25: Steve Atwater, the former Razorbacks and Denver Broncos defensive back.

The February banquet will feature Lou Holtz, who was head coach at Arkansas and Minnesota before winning a national championship at Notre Dame. He now works as an ESPN studio analyst.

The awards are the Cliff Harris Award, which will go to the small college defensive player of the year; the Dan Hampton Award, which will go to the defensive lineman of the year in Arkansas; the Willie Roaf Award, given to the offensive lineman of the year in Arkansas and The Sully Award, which will be given for the football call of the year in Arkansas.

Bazzel spent so much of the summer working on speakers and the new awards that he felt compelled to apologize to his girlfriend, Shantell Kelly, twice during the news conference.

No doubt he has again put in countless hours to help his home state and community.

Sports, Pages 19 on 08/07/2013

Here is a story on the 2013 lineup from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

LITTLE ROCK — Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne and new Arkansas coach Bret Bielema headline this fall’s lineup of speakers at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, along with Razorbacks athletic director Jeff Long.

The speaker series in Little Rock begins Aug. 21 with an address from Bielema. Osborne will speak to the club Sept. 9, followed by Long’s address Sept. 16.

Former Arkansas and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is set to address the club Sept. 23, with former Auburn coach Gene Chizik’s speech set for Sept. 30.

Other scheduled speakers include: Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque, former Arkansas and Southern Cal player Mitch Mustain, former Razorback Jonathan Luigs and Arkansas State coach Bryan Harsin.

The series wraps up with an awards banquet in January featuring a speech from Lou Holtz.

Here is an article on the speakers for 2013 from Sporting Life Arkansas website:

Little Rock Touchdown Club Announces 10th Anniversary Lineup

Featured, Football | August 6, 2013 by Sporting Life Arkansas | 2 Comments

LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Touchdown Club kicked off the 2013 season and announced the club’s line-up of renowned speakers and the state’s finest in football.

The Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club also released its slate of speaker for 2013.

• Bret Bielema – Aug. 28
• Jeff Long – Sept. 4
• Former Oklahoma St. coach Pat Jones – Sept. 18
• Lou Holtz – Sept. 23
• Fitz Hill – Oct. 2
• CBS College Football Columnist – Bruce Feldman – Oct. 16
• ESPNU Lead Host – Dari Nowkhah – Oct. 23
• ESPN.com SEC Writer – Chris Low – Oct. 30

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By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)