Tusk to Tail 2014: Hell yeah it’s gonna be cold, but the Godfather says ‘man up’

They call it “Astro.” Does it ring any bells? The dog on the Jetsons comes to mind, but that is about it. By mid-week, Razorback football fans should know the name well. It is the first named winter storm of the year, and though Arkansas will not get much precipitation with the storm, we will get arctic vortex temperatures associated with it.

And all just in time for the LSU Tigers, as they come to The Hill following their loss to Alabama. On top of that, the Hogs open are favored over the Tigers. The Las Vegas line has (as of Tuesday evening) Arkansas as a 2.5 point favorite over the Bayou Bengals. Hell may be freezing over.

There is a chance of snow flurries on Saturday. The last time I sat through a game with snow was in 1997. Auburn was playing in Fayetteville on Oct. 25 and I brought a Russian friend of mine to the game and it snowed on us and the other 41,000 in attendance. Neither of us was really dressed for the weather, so we pretty much froze to death. There was another late October snow for the 1993 Auburn game that the Hogs lost yet again. So let’s hope the snow stays away for the game this weekend.

With a projected high temperature of 43 on Saturday, this will be nowhere near as cold as the January 2010 Liberty Bowl, but it will be cold. Tusk to Tail is doing all we can to provide our guests with a barely-warm pregame environment and then it is every Hog Fan for himself in the stadium.

Through our members we have rounded up five propane patio heaters, which should keep our tent about 10 degrees warmer than the outside air with the sides on the tent pulled shut. That should provide at least some semblance of warmth compared to that of the game. The real problem is that even at 50 degrees, an all-day exposure to the cold does tend to creep into your bones in such a way that everything feels miserable. Add any humidity or precipitation and it just feels colder.

The menu for an LSU game is always Cajun. We will have homemade shrimp and sausage jambalaya, red beans and rice, duck gumbo, and French bread to accompany some Popeye’s fried chicken.

To wash it down, we will be stocking up on some Hot Damn Cinnamon Schnapps and Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey along with our usual assortment of beverage choices. I’m also hoping to offer some coffee and hot chocolate, though I have not figured out the logistics of that just yet.

With such a late 7 p.m. kickoff, and the cold inclement weather, I don’t think we will have a large crowd for the tailgate. Sadly, I think the Hogs will be lucky to pack 60,000 folks into the stadium even for such a big game. We will push our setup time back a bit to 9:00 a.m. but as the Godfather of Tailgating Craig May told us this weekend, it’s the last full tailgate of the season, so we have to man up. The final two games are expected to be early afternoon kickoffs.

So gear up, turn out early, and get ready to pull the Hogs through to their first conference victory under Coach Bielema this Saturday. One way or another, Hell is freezing over and the Hogs are going to win!

Go Hogs, Beat Tigers!