Calling the Hogs is a tradition of University of Arkansas students, alumni, and sports fans. The origin and date of first use are not known,[1] but is said to have started in the 1920s when people attempted to encourage a Razorback football team that was losing.[2] The next home game produced a group who repeated the cheer often.[2]
The cheer is the best-known cheer at the University.[3] It is not confined to Razorback Stadium, where it is used before every kickoff, and may be used in locales such as airports and hotels where Razorback fans unite.[3]
Procedure
Madre Hill leads a hog call in Razorback StadiumRazorbacks fans call the hogs at Bud Walton Arena during a game vs Kentucky.
Fans begin a hog call with a "Woo", which increases in volume and also includes raising the arms with fingers wiggling up and down. Razorback fans have stated that the Woo should last eight seconds.[4] The arms are brought down during the "pig" and the hands are clenched into a fist. "Sooie" is accompanied with a fist pump. After the third call, "Razorbacks" is added with two additional fist pumps.[3]
The distinctive call is likely a degraded form of Latin, as the Razorback, or wild boar, is a member of the pig family, which in the Linnean classification (Latin) naming system is Suidae. 'Sooie' is a pig-calling call in northeast England, as is 'Giss giss'.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
