Bill's Blog: War Eagle = Weather
FAYETTEVILLE — If it’s wacky weather, it’s War Eagle.
For fans headed to Fayetteville, no need to worry about the rains. After over 4.5 inches at my house in 12 hours — and my rain gauge was not the high number among several I’ve checked — there’s only enough water left in the atmosphere to create a nice, surreal fog for tomorrow’s kickoff.
Better bring a coat, however, as the forecast is calling for the 30s tonight and a chilly start for the day Saturday.
In other words, football weather.
Auburn and Arkansas have had their share of unusual playing conditions over the years. I remember a very early season snowfall back in the 1990s that ended up freezing the Tigers.
The crisp morning temps are perfect for a hot cup of coffee, and you’ll need it with our 11 a.m. kickoff. That means the gates open at 9 a.m., and to repeat Coach Petrino’s instructions from his Wednesday night radio show, he is expecting the crowd to be there bright eyed and ready to rock Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Last night, Washington County had a bit of a scare with a tornado warning. For the students camping outside of the stadium, it had to be a rough night with the warning sirens going off. Fortunately, it was all warning, no spinning.
This has been a year of rain, going back to some epic ice storms in February, strong storms in the spring for softball and baseball and of course the derechoes that swamped through the NCAA Outdoor Meet (see the photo).
While the storms are over, tailgaters should take care with the turf around their spaces — keep in mind we had pretty wet ground and just added almost five inches of rain.
Along with Auby, the other rainmaker might be the Silver Wings. The U.S. Army parachuting team is back to try again to deliver the game ball. Did we mention the last time it was foggy in Fayetteville was . . . . Georgia game?
This weekend’s game marks the fifth week with some kind of rain, but it has yet to directly effect the game. The rains stopped at Tuscaloosa right before kickoff, the roof was closed last week in Dallas and the rain ended early in the afternoon for both Missouri State and Georgia.
Until tomorrow morning, remember, Coach Petrino is counting on you.
LATE NIGHT EDITION: If you’re facing cold weather, you sure want hot pizza. A big surprise for the students camping out last night as the tallest delivery guy in Fayetteville shows up with fresh pies.
John Pelphrey called his new media relations person, Phil Pierce, at around 8 p.m. and said, "I’m thinking about taking some pizzas to the students — what do you think?"
Absolutely, and the video of that visit is posted this morning for your game day blog start.
