Let me count the ways...The top 10 reasons I hate NWA

Some of my favorite people live in Fayetteville and I spent a very fun four years there in college and continue to return for football games, so northwest Arkansas couldn't be all bad, right? Well, maybe not, but I wish a few things about that part of the state were not what they've developed into in the last decade or so.

Northwest Arkansas has become an insulated little world that looks down on the rest of the state if they even pause to pay attention to anything going on below Mountainburg, and many people there would secede to form their own state given the chance.

Now we have a Minor League baseball team up there and once again it's the same typically arrogant approach with everything surrounding it. So why do I hate northwest Arkansas? Let me count the ways...

They expect us to drive up there six times a year for football games but can't make the trip here twice to experience one of the premiere tailgating atmospheres in the country? Seriously, they don't come to Little Rock games.

Enough with those high school brats from Springdale and their whining parents who just would not rest until they got the coach fired for benching Little Johnny. And why doesn't anyone remember how badly Central put the whipping on this dream team of golden boys and their genius coach?

One million chickens a day die in Springdale and in spite of this AQ is still not what it used to be. (Don't get me wrong, I will still eat there, though. But that's a lot of chickens.)

Everything bad about Wal-Mart that adversely affects points across the globe starts in northwest Arkansas. What's wrong with Wal-Mart? Starting with the fact that the vacuum filter I just bought from there doesn't fit because Wal-Mart has strong armed all its suppliers to move operations overseas in order to cut costs to the bare minimum and now so much of the merchandise is cheaply made junk, a ton as evidenced by Wal-Mart Watch.

Half the people living in northwest Arkansas are carpetbaggers from northern states and care little about anything in the state beyond the borders of their suburb unless it's to keep the Mexicans from speaking Spanish in their schools. I mean, God forbid there be languages other than English.

Northwest Arkansas is a great area if you like empty strip malls and treeless neighborhoods in the latest Lindseyville that was just clear cut and then went up too fast.

They never should have kicked Ice Cube out of the group. Whoops, wrong NWA. (Alternate wrong NWA joke: Hasn't been the same since they stripped Harley Race of the belt.)

Northwest Arkansas is Royals country while the rest of the state has a deep-rooted  history with the St. Louis Cardinals that is still strong today regardless of the local Minor League operation that cut ties with one of the truly great organizations in baseball history.

The Hutchinson brothers are northwest Arkansas' best idea of good elected officials? Yes, that one is so crazy I had to put a question mark on it.

Northwest Arkansas is so much colder and windier than the rest of the state. You try walking from the Razorback Stadium parking lot to Kimpel Hall for a 7:30 a.m. class three days a week from January through March and tell me you wouldn't be better off just taking the F.

Hollywood celebrities from Central Arkansas -- Billy Bob Thornton, Mary Steenburgen, Joey Lauren  Adams, Amy Lee. Hollywood celebrities from northwest Arkansas -- Kobe Tai.

Yes, it is a rivalry whether we have games between the Travelers and Naturals or not. But as the scoreboard stands now, it's Travs 4, Nats 0.

Car-Mart Cup, comin' home!

Comments

I like the new nickname Elson chose for the Naturals. I heard him call them the Northwest Arkansas Mouthfuls today.

I also heard that from Phil... loved it!

[Jim]

Well....let's not get political shall we?? in this little hate NWA diatribe. I dont hate the people of Northwest Arkansas. I am a Trav fan and want them to win every game, but it's not beause of the AREA of Northwest AR.
1. "One million chickens die"---and thats a reason to hate Northwest Arkansas. Oh please....the little darlings! Pass the nuggetts !!!
2. Most people want to stay and work at Wal Mart. Their stores have the best grocery prices, and they employ millions around the world. "Cheaply made junk"???? You must be meaning K Mart dood.
3. Thank God for people who want English to be the official language of this country. "Press 2 for English, Para Espaniol etc, etc, BS...BS...." Let illegals speak Spanish but assimilate and learn English and dont sneak in here and expect to change this culture by DEMANDING jobs and lying aout who you are. Oh I forgot....luck us herein Little Rock...We have a Mexican Consulate!!!
4. Oh right..."dis" the Hutchinsons. I guess you'd like Helena-West Helena or Pine Bluff. Those dudes rock, bro !!Little Rock had Jim Guy (tax fraud), Nick Wilson (cheat), rampant black crime (check the "demographics" of 90 of the assaults, robberies and burlaries), and Tommy Robinson.
5. I'm a Cardinal nut!..and at least I can hear the games at night on radio when I am in NWA since the Cards dumped KMOX. You cant get it on radio here.
So, you are a typical Politically Correct puke. Go Travs ! beat NWA !!...but not because you don't have the distinct pleasure of claiming----Mary Steenburgen. Awwww Commmmonnnnn !!!!

[SamNLR]

Would someone in the Trav's organization PLEASE get a new scoreboard operator. I was at the game last night and the operator couldn't get the balls and strikes count right on several batters and was always slow. Errors went up then disappeared. Who is running the scoreboard, a high school intern?

Sam,

The scoreboard situation is fixed. The balls and strikes were wrong twice yesterday, and the errors were taken off the scoreboard because the official scorer made a change in a ruling on a play. I think the scoreboard was run much better than during the first home stand and you won't see the wrong count up there much any more.

[Herman Beeftink]

2007: Travelerocity - The news and opinion fan site for historic Arkansas Travelers baseball.

2008: Travelerocity - One man's corkboard for tedious and uninspired digs at an easy target.

As far as providing actual information on Texas League baseball? Eh, that's for amatuers. Plus it takes - ugh - effort.

Scoreboard was much improved regarding balls and strikes on Friday over Thursday.

But what got me was the PA guy and the scoreboard kept announcing Adam as the DH and Nate as 2B, yet clearly it was Adam making those fine plays at 2nd.

I can understand being on the road and having it wrong, but come on, these are our own guys.

Congrats to Sean Rodriguez! The Angels called him up after place Kendrick on the DL.

http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080418&content_id=2550097&vkey=news_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana

[sally]

OMG, what a game last night. Though I left in the middle of the 7th, after my Travs had a severe brain lapse at bat, I would have to say that the game was exciting. I do have to thank Ortega (#33) for turning his back to the stands so he could what appeared to be adjusting himself. Thank you for not subjecting the fans to such human behavior.

[Arky]

I'm glad to see the Travs finally got it changed but why in the world would the official story from the official website of the Arkansas Travelers say "The Travs now lead the NWA Naturals 2-1 in the Arkansas Diamond Series."

Do the people who write those actually watch the games?

It was still wrong as of midnight last night. Glad to see they got the story right by this morning.

Aye, aye, aye!

[BoSox Fan]

Read this nugget from the Boston Herald:

"In recent years, because of an absence of quick-strike power, the Angels’ aggressiveness on the bases frequently has worked against them, something Red Sox officials have duly noted. Some Sox officials believe part of the reason the Angels struggle to score consistently is because the club often runs into outs, killing potential rallies that might result in big innings."

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?&articleid=1088347&format=&page=3&listingType=sox#articleFull

[Stephen C. Smith]

Coming into today, the Angels were #3 in the A.L. in runs scored and #6 in all of MLB. In 2007, they were #4 in the A.L. and #6 in all of MLB.

So much for the "struggle to score consistently" canard.

[Cobra22nd]

I never been to NWA, but Helena/west Helena and Pine Bluff are total shit holes.

Hey Cobra22nd, how's being damn near 40 years old and still stalking players workin out for ya?

[Cracker]

In all fairness, Harley Race had offered a $25,000 bounty to anyone who could eliminate Flair from the NWA.

Beautiful day for baseball yesterday. The play the NWA SS made at 2nd on the attempted double play was awesome. Can't say the same for the chick trying to throw the bean bags through the hole. Worst effort ever.

[Mars]

Sweep! Take that NWA. I'd celebrate sweeping anybody especially after the dismal performance to open the season. Solid pitching and decent defense made me proud to be a Travs fan. I only got to see Sat and Sunday's game but Mosebach's CG sub-2 hour gem was a treat. The pen held up on Sunday and I appreciated the nervous feeling in the ninth with runners on.

RE Stephen C Smith's post. you know BoSox fan's never let a good story get in the way of the truth. The Angels score runs. There is no doubt about that. That is what makes their case so interesting. They win playing aggressive, potentially rally killing baseball. They do this in the face of the current sabermetric trends of high OBP, high K, high HR school of thought. They run and they score and the make the defense make plays. 10 years from now we may all be singing the praises of the Angels pioneering the return to smallball in the post-steroids era. But I think they are gonna need to win another title or two for that to happen.

For the record, I don't care if it's Sciossia's philosophy. "Running on contact" regardless of where the ball is hit drives me nuts.

Mars, It drives everyone nuts, but thats the way it is. The players hate it too especially the pitchers, but thats how it is and there isnt anythng we can do about it.I feel your pain.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

Notebook: Mulder thriving in Springfield

While Cardinals starter Braden Looper was wobbling here Sunday, prospective Cardinals starter Mark Mulder seemed to be thriving in Springfield.

Mulder, making his second start on a medical rehabilitation program as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery, pitched six scoreless innings for Class AA Springfield against Tulsa. In throwing 76 pitches, Mulder walked three, allowed three hits and fanned only one. According to stadium radar readings, Mulder often was between 87 and 90 mph.

Mulder told the Springfield News-Leader that he was pleased with his location, "especially with my changeup and cutter."

"They were hacking," he said. "I wasn't exactly missing many barrels (of the bat)."

Mulder probably will return here for a couple of days and then make at least a couple of more minor-league starts before there would be any thought of pulling him off the 15-day disabled list and planting him back in the rotation.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/8DC4DD677389F69F86257432001A2F01?OpenDocument

[JeremyPepppas]

My goodness, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Maybe someone needs to fung shei their bedroom and put the bed in the central portion of the room and not in the northwest corner.
Anyway, it was a good series, at least from the Travs perspective. Four solid wins and good attendance. Saturday night looked like opening night, pre-storm at least.
The fans were rowdy, the mood was festive. Seemed like a stadium. Best sight was the pregnant woman smoking and drinking in the beer garden.
The Naturals (Nats?) didn't look very good. Couldn't hit their way out of a wet paper sack.
A quick boo to Channel 7.
I left when the Travs went up 2-1 in the fifth. Hopkins-Calzaghe was on the HBO, had to make it home, anyway. I set the tivo to record the news, so I could get a final and Nicholson didn't have it.
Said at last report the score was tied 1-1, wrong and, according to the box score, the game was done in just under two hours. So that means the final would have been available, yet it still didn't make the air.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I didn't know they allowed drinking for two in the beer garden.

That's nice to know.

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

Royals' country? Have you ever been here? I've lived here for 14 years and I'd say the breakdown is like this - 50% Cards 10% Yanks/Sox (the bandwagon's everywhere) 10% Braves/Cubs (WGN/TBS influence) 30% everyone else.

I see more NYY, NYM, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, Nationals, Twins, Astros, and Giants hats than Royals. The only person I know who is a Royals fan is from MO.

Another thing - when I moved here as a child I was dumbfounded that the UA doesn't play every game in Fayetteville, seeing as how that's where the campus is. I'm sure you'd like to play more games down there, but students can't afford to travel all the time to watch the team, so having games on campus is a good thing for the campus and the UA, if not for a few cantankerous, self-righteous folks from LR.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

As stated in the beginning of the post, yes, I've been there. I lived there for most of four years in college. The Royals country thing was meant as an insult because I know very well it is Cardinals country, too. But the Royals intend to change that, and that's part of the reason they located there.

If you were "dumbfounded" as to why the UA doesn't play every game in Fayetteville then you also must be ignorant of the fact that the UA chose to play games in Little Rock, even before War Memorial Stadium, because it desperately needed to and actually drew more fans here than there. The football program was built on the back of Central Arkansas to provide statewide access.

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

So the fact that the UA screwed up a long time ago is reason to continue screwing up today?

I'm sorry, but the fact that there was a reason for beginning to play games there is not the same as a reason for continuing to do so.

Further, I'd say that the overall problem LR folks have with NWA stems from two sources.

First, until recently LR was the only part of the state that drew any attention from outside the state. That's no longer the case, and people down there are jealous of the attention NWA is getting.

Second, so many people come up here to go to college (I read the part about you going to college here, but figured you must not have really been here) and don't go back to central, southern, and eastern Arkansas that Fayetteville has become known as Fayette'Nam. A little indignation at the brain-drain, no doubt.

I will say this - I only stumbled on thie blog because of a new-found interest in MiLB given the Naturals' presence here. Initially it looked like a good place to get some info on a natural rival and get some TL perspective. Turns out its a vindictive, angry rant-a-thon.

Maybe I'll start my own blog. I haven't found a Nats' blog yet.

[Pedro G]

Natty fan from NWA,
UA has drawn from the entire state since it's existence. LR games have always been necessary in tempering the majority of the fanbase.

Also, a TON of UA grads end up in the LR area

[The Travelerocity reporter]

The UA screwed up? If the UA hadn't played so many games down here Razorback athletics would probably resemble something from Conference USA right now and wouldn't have nearly the statewide fan base it enjoys now.

If the UA wants to dwindle it down to one game a year, that's fine with me. My point was that NWA people don't travel to Little Rock but expect the rest of the state to make that long drive to Fayetteville (and sometimes way north if Bentonville is the closest hotel room you could find) six times a year.

"Fayettenam" has a been a term to refer to the UA since at least the early '80s, probably before. It has nothing to do with any recent development in the area.

[JeremyPepppas]

If it hadn't been for Little Rock, the Razorbacks would be struggling to hit C-USA numbers.
More like the Sun Belt, a regional school with fairly solid basketball and horrid football.
UA's Fayetteville stadium was around 40,000 and had no lights until the mid-80s. I remember when they were put in. Same goes for the upper deck.
Until Nolan started rolling, the basketball team hit the road. Arkansas's most famous hoops victory came in Pine Bluff.
No one, not a soul who had a clue wouldn't credit the Stephens family for what they did for Arkansas sports.

[Mango in Paris]

Start your own blog. No one is stopping you. It would be a huge mistake to take games out of LR. When the campus sits where it sits they better have games that allow all Arkansans to attend. Especially if the gas prices stay as they are. I have never seen a shortage of UA students at War Memorial games. Maybe because the pregame activities are just more fun here. I will say this...I hope the Naturals have a fans that actually get into the game. If they (the fans) are anything close to the ones that show up to the football games up there good luck. There is a reason players enjoy playing in LR more than up there.

The statement that UA students don't come back here is idiotic. Seriously. Who wants to live around a bunch of yankees anyway?

Springdale still sucks. Nuthin' gonna change that.

[rob]

@Naturals Fan

There are many nice things about NWA, but I can promise you that I am not jealous. The only thing about NWA that I'm jealous about is the university and that's nothing new. I also don't think the university represents NWA, because it represents the entire state and is quite different then the rest of NWA.

[Mars]

I don't know what's the least interesting subject, NWA v Central Arkansas or former player v BV.

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

OK, obviously I didn't mean that nobody goes back to the LR area - it would be a ghost town if that were the case, and it isn't. I don't even dislike LR and the surrounding area. I just don't understand why it's arrogant for people in NWA to think that it's better up here, but not arrogant for people in LR to think the same about their area.

It's also obvious that many here (and, obviously the athletic dept. and board of trustees) have a different idea of what the UA athletic dept. should be than I do. I think it should be student-centered and don't care if it's Sun Belt-esque, while others think (it appears) that it should serve the state as a whole and be nationally recognized. For the record, there's no way anyone who goes to both sites would think that there are as many students at LR games - it's just not so.

Wow, Mango, you act like it was a threat to start my own blog. Maybe I should have separated the thought a little better. What I meant was that if I want an NWA Naturals blog I shouldn't just wait around for someone else to start it, given the vitriol toward NWA here.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

Naturals fan, you sound like a reasonable person and are probably one of the good ones in NWA. Please don't take my comments about the area personally. We're glad to have you around to talk baseball. Like I said, I can understand the need for more games in Fayetteville and would almost be OK with just leaving one game here (preferably an annual season opener with ASU). The fact was, and is, the UA athletic department needs the rest of the state to generate the revenue it desires. This is a poor and relatively small state. Even the big money in NWA can't make up the difference and support the UA on its own. Again, what gets me about NWA is the arrogance, and it's there, and it's totally different from what comes out of Central Arkansas.

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

Sure, reasonable minds can differ on the proper course for the UA athletic dept., and I understand that people down there want to see the Hogs, and that War Memorial provides a unique and different experience than one gets at the Dub.

I'd also love to see an annual game against ASU, but seriously doubt that it'll ever happen. The UA has too much to lose and, from their perspective, little or nothing to gain. For me it would be fun to see the in-state matchup.

On a MiLB note - I Made it to the 'Vest last night to catch the nail-biter. I think the Naturals will have to throw shut-outs to win, as it was the 4th consecutive game in which we managed one lousy run. Last night's was on a two-base error (comebacker followed by a bad throw to first), wild pitch, and grounder to the catcher (really).

Looking forward to the series this weekend, hopefully we'll make a little bit better showing.

If I do get a blog going, I'll post it here so you guys can come hijack it like I've done to yours.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

To illustrate my point about all the treeless new neighborhoods in NWA...

6,634 homes unsold in NW Arkansas

There are 1, 000 more homes for sale in the two-county Northwest Arkansas housing market than in the six-county Little Rock metropolitan area, according to Arkansas Realtors Association data released Monday.

Northwest Arkansas, which the association defined as Benton and Washington counties, had 6, 634 homes for sale Monday, compared with 5, 625 in central Arkansas, which includes Pulaski, Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry and Saline counties.

Based on Northwest Arkansas’ estimated population of about 397, 000 people, that equates to one house for every 59 people. With central Arkansas’ estimated population of 666, 000, that is one house listed for sale for every 118 people.

The big difference in the inventory of the two markets is the number of new constructions in Northwest Arkansas that have not been sold, Deck said.

http://nwanews.com/adg/Business/223574/

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

New NWA Naturals blog - any criticisms/suggestions are welcome.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

Congratulations on starting the blog. I think you are off to a good start. The photos are a nice touch. I see that you mention rehab assignments will be a focus. That's one thing you've got on us since the Angels WON'T SEND US ANY REHAB ASSIGNMENTS EVEN FOR PITCHERS WHO ARE GOING TO BE IN REHAB UNTIL MAY 4. I'll put up a link to your site shortly.

On another note, I see that someone from Springdale found this site by searching Google with the phrase, "Are the NWA Naturals a Rookie Team." Sorry, but I have to laugh at that one. Looks like they have a long way to go in NWA in educating the fan base.

[Natuals Fan from NWA]

I've noticed that that's a sore point for the Trav faithful. Unfortunate, since that's a good bit of the fun. I'm hoping that, given the proximity and the ties to DG that we'll get some rehab assignments. We just missed seeing Mulder, as he started on Sunday before our series with the S-Cards began on Monday.