Game #127 of 362 35% complete

When I started this quest 9 years ago, I had many goals and wishes. At the top of the list was the desire to see an Operation 351 game with my grandchild who did not exist at the beginning of this journey. Welcome Jack my 3 1/2 year old grandson to this crazy quest!. May there be many games in the future with Grampy. My granddaughter Lily will soon be old enough to join me as well.

Of course, an Arkansas basketball and a stuffed razorback were bought by me as souvenirs for Jack.

Arkansas and Georgia are not exactly lighting up the SEC this year. Overall, the SEC has seen better days led by Kentucky and surprising South Carolina. But as in any SEC league game, the crowd was fired up.

Who can forget the Arkansas team who won the national championship in 1994 taking down Duke? Sophomores Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman were the leaders of that team. I remember Arkansas native President Clinton embracing Coach Nolan Richardson on the court when the Hogs won it all.

I always point out the firsts on my journey. There were two in this game. This first was a race of corgis during half time. The black corgi in the middle raced quickly to blow away his opponents. I also counted 5 times when an Arkansas player stepped on the end line. That has to be a Operation 351 record.

During one timeout, a freaking alarm went off with a buzzer and red lights flashing throughout. I was ready to evacuate but it was a precursor to a “cheer” video on the scoreboard. If you are regular to the Arkansas home games, it was no big deal. Not cool!

I lost track of the number of times I saw the word “Walton” traveling to the arena. Sam Walton began Walmart. Walmart is king in this area including the home arena. Bentonville has the Walmart corporate offices and resides next to the city of Fayetteville, the home of the University of Arkansas.

The game itself was nip and tuck from start to to the end. Arkansas’s tough defense held Georgia under their season average on offense. Neither of these teams will be in March Madness unless they win the league tourney.

RIP Toby Keith. A number of his songs were played during the timeouts.

Jack had a great time. Grampy can not wait till his next game.