Moving to Arkansas and I know nothing about the state or Arkansians(?) ... Help?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas#Toponym

 

Thanks, Inky.

 

Actually, the way it goes is Louisiana makes fun of Mississippi; Mississippi makes fun of Alabama; and everybody thanks God for Arkansas.

 

As I sit in the parking lot of a Subway in New Albany, I can affirm that Mississippi doesn't need to make fun of anything.

 

The way I understand it, Arkansas can now say Thank God for Mississippi, West Virginia and D.C. and South Carolina is getting nervous.

 

Crap, I came within an ace of taking a job in New Albany 1996ish.

 

I've heard the state is moving up in population thanks to the Duggars' efforts.

 

Re: Moving to Arkansas and I know nothing about the state or Arkansians(?) ... H

I spent 8 years in Arkansas going to undergrad and law school. I also grew up on the Texas side of Texarkana. When I went to undergrad there, I couldn't wait to get the hell out. Sometime during law school, I decided I loved the place and would probably claim it as my adopted home state for the rest of my life.

Pine Bluff is pretty much considered the armpit of the state, but I've only driven through the place once.

I spent time in Central Arkansas, and it's a different world from NW Arkansas. Little Rock is just ok, a place to go if you need to shop at a mall or frly somewhere. The River Market in downtown LR is good for decent nightlife...as far as Arkansas goes.

The Arkansas Razorbacks play two games a year in War Memorial Stadium in LR and the tailgating on the golf course is great. They usually play a game or two of basketball and baseball there as well. IIRC, one of the most of the most famous moments in Arkansas sports history happened in Pine Bluff. The Razorbacks defeated Jordan's #1 ranked Tarheels in a game played in PB.

If you can't tell, the state revolves around Arkansas Razorbacks sports, particularly football. I don't think there is another state in the US that is so united behind one team, although you will find a decent # of LSU fans in the southern part of the state.

Arkansas isn't the greatest place in the world, but I made some of the best friends I've ever had during my time there. I'll always remember my time there in a positive light.

 

Yeah. What he/she said. It's a tough job if you're the SID of a non-Razorback school in that state. You always play second (or lower) fiddle to the Hogs. And the scene around War Memorial on Razorback game days is nuts. We lived not too far from the stadium, and pretty much never left our house those two Saturday's every fall.

And, during our five years, in The Rock, we, too, made some really, really good friends.

Our time there was good while it lasted, but I was really glad to leave.

 

Don't live in PB. Try to find a place in White Hall and drive in to work.

It will put you a little closer to Little Rock and will also keep you out of some of the PB crazy.

Little Rock isn't a bad place to live but it helps to have some connection to the area. Arkansas on the whole tends to run in fairly small circles, so in you don't have an entry point into one, you'll be out of luck.

Most of the people you'll be dealing with — coaches, parents, players, etc — know you are a short-timer. So they won't go out of your way to make connections.

That's not really all that much different from most other places though.

PB travels for UAPB, or at least did, and they sent a couple of people to the NCAA tournament a couple years back and the away football games used to be a given.

But everyone has been cutting, so that might have went away.

 

See if you can get the Arkansas ZIja franchise.