Larry Brown's Wakeup Call to Arkansas Fans

I covered my first Arkansas basketball game last night for The Arkansas Traveler and it was a really cool experience. I got goosebumps walking out of the tunnel before the game. However, the crowd was a real disappointment.

I have been coming to games since I was born in 1994, so I have seen some packed games with a crazy atmosphere. That wasn't the case Monday night. The announced attendance of the game was only 8,927. 

Here's a quote from Larry Brown that should make Arkansas fans feel ashamed.

“No offense to Arkansas, but I’ve been in loud buildings. I was in Barnhill. You talk about a loud building…” - SMU head coach and Hall of Famer Larry Brown, when asked about how the atmosphere of Bud Walton Arena affected his team in its 89-78 loss to the Razorbacks. Brown has also coached UCLA, Kansas and nine NBA teams. He is the only coach to win an NCAA Championship (Kansas, 1988) and NBA Championship (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

Unfortunately, these small crowds are becoming the norm at Bud Walton Arena, especially for midweek games.

Last year, Arkansas played No. 2 Florida on a Tuesday. How many people saw the Razorbacks upset the No. 2 team in the country? Only 13,816.

When Arkansas played big opponents on the weekend, this number rose dramatically. They played No. 5 Syracuse on a Friday, as well as Missouri and Kentucky on Saturdays. The average attendance of those three games was 18,504. That's 34 percent higher than the Florida attendance.

So Razorback fans, let this be a wakeup call to you. A Hall of Fame coach called you out. Start coming to some midweek games.