David Bazzel
Former Razorback Linebacker & Radio Personality at 103.7 The Buzz
Former Razorback David Bazzel may be one of the most recognizable names in Arkansas. He played linebacker for the UofA in 1984 and had a total of 113 tackles. He was sidelined due to shoulder and back injures. “I think all of the football I played taught me a lot of discipline and taught me to grind and work hard,” says Bazzel.
He created the Broyles Award, now going on 25 years, and the Touchdown Club, which brings in big names from all over the country. He is also responsible for the “Battle for the Boot,” and the Tusk Fund. For David, it’s all about giving recognition to those who deserve it, while putting Arkansas in the spotlight.
In the fall of 1998, Bazzel wrote and starred in a one man play titled “Football, Biceps, Biscuits and Gravy: Confessions of a Razorback.” Due to lack of ticket sales, the show closed before opening night. “You win some, you lose some,” Bazzel said, adding he has “no problem eating a little humble pie.”
You can find Bazzel on TV during Razorback football season as a pre-game host and commentator, as well as doing his full-time job at 103.7 The Buzz.
Listen to Learn:
- How football taught Bazzel life and business skills
- Why paying collegiate players will hurt the game
- Lou Holtz's couching methods, and more...
Podcast Links
TRANSCRIPT
EPISODE 227
[INTRODUCTION]
[00:00:09] GM: Welcome to Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy, a production of flagandbanner.com. Through storytelling and conversational interviews, this weekly radio show and podcast offers listeners an insider's view into the commonalities of successful people and the ups and downs of risk taking. Connect with Kerry through her candid, funny, informative and always encouraging weekly blog. And now it's time for Kerry McCoy to get all up in your business.
[00:00:33] KM: Thank you, son, Gray. After four decades of running a small business called Arkansas Flag and Banner, now simply called flagandbanner.com, my team and I decided to create a platform for not just me, but other business owners and successful people to pay forward our experiential knowledge in a conversational way. Originally we thought we'd be teaching others, but it didn't take long before we realized that we were the persons learning. Listening to our guests has been both educational and inspiring. To quote the Dalai Lama, “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” The act of listening is learning. As Greek philosopher, Diogenes, wrote, “We have two ears and one tongue so that we may listen more.”
My guest today is one of the few men I know that really looks good in a puka shell necklace.
[INTERVIEW]
[00:01:25] DB: Wow! Goodness!
[00:01:27] KM: The well-known and former Razorback football player, David Bazzell.
[00:01:32] DB: Hi, Kerry.
[00:01:33] DB: Hi, baby. So let me tell about you.
[00:01:34] DB: Come on.
[00:01:36] KM: As a linebacker for the university of Arkansas in 1984 football season, David had a total of 113 tackles before he was sidelined with a shoulder and back injury. And this sounds like a lot to me, but his contribution to the sport did not stop there. David is not just a good looking media personality in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also a thinker and a doer being credited with founding the nationally renowned Broyles Award that honors the best assistant coaches in college football. The popular Touchdown Club, that during the football season has a weekly luncheon with celebrity guest speakers. And how about this? The Battle For The Boot, a football rivalry between Louisiana and Arkansas, is the brainchild of David.
These days you can hear David affectionately called The Buzz. Chatting it up each weekday morning with co-hosts, Tommy Smith, Justin Acri and Roger Scott on 103.7 The Buzz. And see him on TV during the Razorback football season as a pre-game host and commentator.
It is my great pleasure to welcome to the table, my friend, and Little Rock's beloved former Razorback sportscaster, local celeb and activist, Mr. David Bazzell.
[00:02:50] DB: Wow! What a lovely introduction.
[00:02:53] KM: All true.
[00:02:54] DB: I'm still trying to remember, did you say – So I've done radio now with Tommy Smith for 17, 18 years.
[00:03:01] KM: Wow! Really?
[00:03:02] DB: Before that, four or five years of The Buzz. So I've done 20 years of radio. I don't think I've ever said the word – Is it Diogenes? Is it Diogenes?
[00:03:10] GM: Yeah, good job.
[00:03:11] DB: Diogenes. I'm going to say that on the air tomorrow. Diogenes! But I don't know what Diogenes said, but I like his name.
[00:03:17] KM: Greek philosopher.
[00:03:19] DB: Yes. Good to see you, Kerry. Yeah.
[00:03:20] KM: Thank you David for coming. So let's start at the beginning. Do you come from an athletic family?
[00:03:25] DB: I'm an only child. I came from Panama City, Florida. My dad was a pretty good athlete, small, undersized, didn't play football. So I was the only one to do that. And left Panama City to come play football in Arkansas for Lou Holtz back in the early 80s.
[00:03:38] KM: So you were born in Florida?
[00:03:39] DB: Yeah, Panama City. Redneck Riviera.
[00:03:41] KM: I did not realize that.
[00:03:45] DB: Yeah. So for me to come up here, it was pretty unique because where I'm from down there, nobody knew much about Arkansas. But I wanted to go to a place to where once I left, I could make an impact. This was a 16-year-old kid making that decision. So I knew if I went to Arkansas, if I could achieve success with the Razorbacks, it would open up doors, because I couldn't believe how much people love the Razorbacks here. Where I'm from, every block in your neighborhood had Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Auburn. But the loyalties here, there are other schools here, but Arkansas was such a dominant thing to where I thought, “If I came up here, succeeded. Once I got through with school, it would open up a lot of doors,” and it has.
[00:04:24] KM: You said you were 16?
[00:04:25] DB: A 16-year-old senior making that decision.
[00:04:27] KM: Why were you a 16-year-old senior?
[00:04:28] DB: I started school early. So I was playing football for the Razorbacks when I was 17. How about that? Crazy.
[00:04:33] KM: And you're a linebacker.
[00:04:35] DB: I was a linebacker. Yes.
[00:04:36] KM: That's a big guy's position.
[00:04:38] DB: Undersized, but I was quick, I was strong. I had a good football IQ. I had some really good coaches. But I'm still, like today, I had a shoulder replacement. A year ago it failed. I can't even raise my arm. So I think that being undersized and playing that game, overuse – I'm paying for it now, but I will still do the same thing. I love the game.
[00:05:00] KM: That's my next question. You were linebacker and had 133 tackles in one season, which seems like a lot. Is that a lot?
[00:05:09] DB: Yeah, that's a pretty good year. That's a pretty good year back in the day. We had some good defenses back when I played.
[00:05:13] KM: Why did you pick that – If you were small, why did you pick that position?
[00:05:15] DB: Well, I was big enough. I just wasn't one of those guys that was 6'4. I was strong enough to where I was fast enough. The linebacker on defense is similar to the quarterback on offense. So you need a guy who's a leader, who knows the defense, can make the calls Listen, I would rather hit somebody than be hit. I love to hit than rather be hit.
[00:05:37] KM: I'd be the kicker.
[00:05:38] DB: There's nothing that mattered with that.
[00:05:40] KM: That way they if they hit you, they get a penalty.
[00:05:43] DB: Yes, but had to make your kicks.
[00:05:46] KM: Well, everything you do is big.
[00:05:48] DB: It is big. It is. Listen, you're either the hero or the goat. There is no in between.
[00:05:55] KM: So you talked about your shoulder injury and you also had a back injury, which forced you to the sideline. Tell us about that play that caused the injury.
[00:06:02] DB: Yeah. I think I remember I hurt it in practice. I think my sophomore year, and I dealt with it. The doctor said I probably would never play again. And I remember Dean Webber, the trainer, saying, “Go out one more practice. If you can make it through this practice, you'll keep playing. If not, maybe you need to hang it up.” And I went there and had a good day. Fought my way through it.
And, again, when you're undersized, you get hurt a lot. And so my deal was I’m going to figure out a way to stay on the field. And that's what I did even though I was injured, I was prone – Because I'm smaller than most guys. And so that's what the Razorbacks are made up of. The history of Razorbacks are made of. You got to have those all-American types. You got to have Darren McFadden, the Billy Ray Smith, but you got to have guys like Tony Cherico, and Drew Morgan, Grant Morgan who was a second team all-American this year, who are undersized, but they love the game. They play with passion because they represent the state.
[00:06:52] KM: They're a big heart. They've got a big heart. They play with heart.
[00:06:53] DB: That’s it. Listen, effort and heart, Kerry, it goes a long way.
[00:06:57] KM: That's what Lou Holtz always said. He said, “I don't want the best quarterback in the world. I want the quarterback with the most heart.”
[00:07:02] DB: That's exactly right, Kerry. That's exactly what I said. That's exactly what I said.
[00:07:07] KM: So who was your coach when you were there?
[00:07:09] DB: Lou Holtz was my coach for the first three years and then – Yes. And then Ken Hatfield was my coach for the last two years.
[00:07:15] KM: You had great coaches.
[00:07:15] DB: So I had the chance – Two completely different kind of coaches. Both were really great. One of my favorite stores I always tell is that we were playing number one Texas, 1981. Nobody gave us a chance to win. Coach Holtz came in the locker room, but he was always good at preparing for the big game. And Kerry, he got in front of all of us. He said, “When the national media come to this locker room after this game is over you tell them this was not an upset. Go get them!” And we beat them 42-11. We beat them 42-11, the number one team in the nation.
He was always good at preparing a very intense, sometimes bad, could treat you poorly. But he was –
[00:07:52] KM: How come you beat them?
[00:07:53] DB: Well, we were better prepared. They were probably over-ranked. But we had a good football team and we were better prepared. And Lou was always – That’s why he's a hall of famer. No matter where he went, Notre Dame, he always prepared well. So a lot of pressure. He put a lot of pressure on you during the week to practice well so you would play well.
[00:08:11] KM: So all preparation.
[00:08:12] DB: Preparation is a huge key. Same kind of thing, when I play for the Razorbacks, I do today. When I get up and do The Buzz every morning, I know I better be prepared or I'm going to embarrass myself, or I have the potential to – Whatever I do, the Broyles Award, the Touchdown Club, if I don't do a good job – Just like you guys. If you don't come in here and prepare decently, you'll embarrass yourself, or have the potential to. So it's the same principles that I was doing back in junior high school football.
[00:08:39] KM: Could you play football today? How tall are you?
[00:08:41] DB: No. I'm under-sized. I'm right at six feet, about – Well, I won't say how heavy I am now, but no, I'm too small. For the most part, it's a big man's game. If you're not, you have to be put together where you don't have injuries. I’ve got every joint is messed up on me. So it is what it is.
[00:08:57] KM: I was going to ask you about your lifelong lingering ailments, but I don't guess I need to.
[00:09:01] DB: Yeah, all of them.
[00:09:02] KM: But I do know that you have a lot of lingering positive life skills that you learned from playing football, because you said this, “I think all of the football I played taught me a lot of discipline and taught me to grind and work hard.”
[00:09:16] DB: No question.
[00:09:17] KM: What do you mean by that?
[00:09:18] DB: It's the same thing you do, Kerry, to make your business successful. You got to work the extra hours. You got to do the extra prep. It's the exact same thing you do. Physically, it pushes – You’re mentally and physically pushing yourself in football. But in your work, what you do with the show, what you do with your business, it's how hard. How many hours you put in? You can do the extra. It's the same thing. Football does. It's a game and you have thousands of people watching and it's the same principles, a little bit more intense, but it's the same mentality you have for both.
[00:09:52] KM: Success is not a secret. You just work hard and you just keep beating your head against the wall.
[00:09:55] DB: That's right. That’s right. That’s it. That’s it. You keep going after it.
[00:09:57] KM: You're listening to Up In Your Business with me, Kerry McCoy, and I'm speaking today with former Razorback linebacker, weekday morning host of 103.7 The Buzz, and TV commentator for Razorback football, Mr. David Bazzell, locally and lovingly known as The Baz.
Let's see. I know everyone wants to hear about your relationship with Frank Broyles, because I have watched you and him interact together, and it's charming. But don't talk about it yet. Before we do, let's fill in the gaps and talk about your life after college and what being a former Razorback did for your career and what were some of the jobs leading up to your current position at 103.7 The Buzz. I can't believe you said you've been there for – You haven’t been there 17 years. No.
[00:10:38] DB: Yeah. I started doing radio in the mid-90s, and then full time in the early 2000s. And Tommy and I have been together since 2004.
[00:10:47] KM: Do you have a degree in communication?
[00:10:48] DB: I don't. I don't. If I had to go back and do it again I would, but didn't at the time.
[00:10:51] KM: What'd you go to college for?
[00:10:54] DB: My parents didn't go to college. I had no idea what I was doing. They started out in general business, got out of it. Ended up in an education degree with a specialty on physical education and recreation.
[00:11:05] KM: Well, that fits.
[00:11:06] DB: Yeah. And after I got out of school, I went into the health club business where I ran the first Gold’s Gym franchises in Arkansas.
[00:11:12] KM: Really?
[00:11:12] DB: Yeah. Remember those?
[00:11:13] KM: Yeah.
[00:11:14] DB: And so competed against Jim Bottines. And I had a buddy of mine that was, may rest in peace, was a cheerleader, and we opened three or four Gold’s Gyms. That was the first thing I did, and then I got into the orthopedic business, Arkansas Sports, orthopedic business, where I helped a doctor. Get trainers and school high schools have trainers at site. And then also I started getting more media opportunities, because back then they were looking for people to talk about sports and that were well-verses. And Wally Hall had the Wally Hall Show, and Wally was a buddy of mine. So Wally had me on. So one day, Wendell Stacy, who was the weekend anchor for Channel 4, left for Memphis and the news director, Channel 4 called and said, “Would you like to do some real TV?” So I went down to Channel four. I had no training. I was horrible. During the weekends, that was embarrassing.
So the way I look at it, Kerry, is that I like to try. I love trying different things. I love popping into other people's worlds. I've written for the Democrat Gazette, a health and fitness column for seven years. I've done TV. I've done radio. I find it fascinating what everybody does. I've had a chance to work, doing PR for Jennings Osborne. Had a chance to do stuff for Frank Broyles. I find it really intriguing. I like to be challenged. I like to learn different things. I like to find new and exciting challenges. And so, yeah, I've really had a really cool experience here in Arkansas.
[00:12:35] KM: It doesn't hurt you're awfully nice looking –
[00:12:37] DB: Well. Back when I was 60 pounds lighter, you could probably see my cheekbones a lot better than you can tonight. But no, the people in Arkansas, Kerry, have been so good. When I came here, one thing – I go around the country because of the Broyles Award and different things. I'm proud to say that I'm an Arkansas, even though I was born in Panama City. People in Arkansas are. I love to represent them. I'm proud of my – I’m an Arkansas Razorback, and it's a fun thing to be able to represent Coach Broyles and what I do and the other things as well.
[00:13:08] KM: Everybody that comes on here talks about – That are transplants to Arkansas talk about how this is just such a well-kept secret diamond –
[00:13:15] GM: Diamond in the rough.
[00:13:15] KM: Amy Mo was talking about it two weeks ago, the new episcopal preacher from Trinity Episcopal is here. She said if anybody knew about Little Rock, Arkansas, they'd all be moving here.
[00:13:23] DB: That's right. Yeah, both the looks and people.
[00:13:25] KM: Yeah. Talk about your early morning anchor on 103 The Buzz. Describe your morning. It's not as easy as it looks.
[00:13:34] DB: That's exactly right, Kerry. Everybody goes, “Oh! You just get up and talk for a living.” Well, you think about it. So we have to get up every morning at six – To start talking at 6 a.m. and be compelling and be interesting for four hours every day, five days a week, 50 plus weeks a year, and we're supposed to talk about sports with our main thing and we have the Razorbacks and we don't have anything – So it’s a tremendous challenge to be interesting. And we can't play music. We just can't punch up music and play music and walk outside and smoke a cigarette smoke.
So people don't realize, and some days are better than others. We'll admit it. Some days –
[00:14:12] KM: Okay. This is going to make you mad. Your show reminds me of a male version of The View on TV.
[00:14:19] GM: Oh my God!
[00:14:19] DB: There's no question. You know what I tell people we are? We're a barber shop show. If you go into a barber shop and that's what you get. We'll talk about sports. We'll talk about relationships. We'll talk about a little bit of politics, not much, pop culture, music, whatever. That's what we do. We’re bigger than sports. We're more than sports.
[00:14:37] KM: You know what you won't talk about, because I've been on your show with you a couple of times. When I have been so angry with the athletic director's choice of football coaches and tried to say negative things about it, and y'all will not talk bad about the Razorbacks ever. Is that like a rule?
[00:14:57] DB: No. I think that's changed, Kerry, over the years. I think that really has. I think years ago when Coach Broyles was there, if you did not tow the line, you would be out of favor and probably not have the opportunity to have access like you did. Nowadays it doesn't matter. I mean I think everybody's fair game and it's social media, but I think back then it was like that way. You were very, very careful not to criticize because it would get back.
And I remember Craig O'Neill, he was doing the PA for War Room.
[00:15:27] KM: Is that why he got kicked out of doing that?
[00:15:29] DB: Well, Dale Nicholson called Frank Broyles and said, “Frank, we’re the TV station of the Razorbacks, not Channel 11.” Don't like what I'm saying. So Frank calls Craig, “Craig, I'm sorry, but we got to let you go.” So that was it.
[00:15:45] KM: Politics.
[00:15:45] DB: Yeah, there’s politics.
[00:15:47] KM: So you talked about this a little bit about how hard it is. And when the show is over, do you overthink what you should have said or you didn't say and how do you mentally handle gaffes when you make them?
[00:15:59] DB: Yeah. I think sometimes gaffes are fun. We like to call ourselves the stupidest show, because we're stupid.
[00:16:05] KM: You call it the no-name show.
[00:16:05] DB: Yeah. The show, no-name. Kerry, you know what? For us, I’d be honest with you, I want somebody to be screaming at the radio, “You idiot! It's not that! It's not Wizard of Oz!” I mean I want them to be that engaged to go, “If we've said something wrong, that's what you want.” You want that kind of that visceral reaction. So it's okay if we get it wrong. We like it when we get it wrong.
[00:16:27] KM: You told a gaffe today, because I listened today.
[00:16:30] DB: What did I say wrong today?
[00:16:30] KM: No. Not you. Someone was talking about a gaffe today, which made me come up with this question about a sports announcer on national TV calling a game and asked about it dog.
[00:16:40] DB: Yes. Yeah. So those are things – To be honest with, to me, you've done this long enough. The best things are the things you don't expect and that turn out to be the most shocker. Those are the things like you look back and laugh at, “Oh my gosh! Did I really say that? Did that really happen?” We had a call one time where a guy was waiting on hold for an hour. He went to [snoring sounds]. So we've got a clip of it. That's the funniest thing ever. So yeah, I think people like real radio. I think they like –
[00:17:07] KM: Tell our listeners what the gaffe was that guy said today.
[00:17:11] DB: Yeah, the guy was Peter Burns at the SEC network. He was talking about – I think it was Tom Hart I think his name is, “And Tom, listen, tell us about your dog, man. You got the greatest dog ever. And the guy goes, “Well, Peter. We had to put down the dog two weeks ago. So he's not around anymore.”
[00:17:27] KM: Dead silence.
[00:17:29] DB: Yeah, and I know Peter Burns, and that’s what’s embarrassing. But listen, it is what it is.
[00:17:33] KM: Okay, here. The game of football has changed a lot. On your morning show with Tommy Smith and Acri and Roger Scott, you talk a lot about all the rules and listen to some of the changes that I've noticed, because I watch football, because my husband watches football. He watches any sport on TV all the time. So I've noticed these things. I'm sure there's more. Kicker's ability to kick 50-yard field goals. It used to be heading to the 30-yard line. Ability to drop out of college and go into the pros early. You still can do that, which – The games stop all the time for video reviews. Hurry up offenses. I used to always say to my husband, “Why did they wait to the end of the game to do that? Why do they always do that?” So they started doing that. The passing game over the running game, another thing. I always thought, “Why don't they pass more?” But everybody's talking about defense and running games. And targeting penalties used to be highlights. Now you get in trouble. Thank goodness! As a mother, I'm happy about that. Importance of special teams and the monies earned by the coaches. Those were the eight I came up with –
[00:18:37] DB: Those are all good ones. Yeah, it's a big business. Yeah.
[00:18:40] KM: Do you think the game is better or worse for some of these changes? You want to talk about any of those?
[00:18:44] DB: Yeah, I think some of it's worse. The money, it is disgusting. I mean did you hear Gus Malzahn gets fired at Auburn? Tom Herman gets fired at Texas? They're paid $24 million to leave. It's a horrible business model. And that's why you see the argument about players getting paid. Players aren't allowed to have jobs for the most part now and now they're getting ready. We're going to open Pandora's box and have likeness image deal where players can get money for that. But think about this, you're paying coaches $19 million a year for amateur sports. So I hate the money part of it.
When I started the Broyles Award, an assistant coach was making $150,000 a year. Now they make 3 million a year. So the money is because of TV, Kerry. That's the problem. And it is what it is. I think it's going to be ugly when the players start getting big money. It's just not going to work out. But the game, I promise you this. People want to see scoring. As an old defensive player, I hate that. They make it where the offensive lineman now can hold you. They make it where the offensive lineman can go down the field where the defensive players can't tell if it's a runner or a pass. They have high scoring games, because that's what people want. I get it. Don't hit the quarterback. Quarterbacks are the star.
I do hate the ejection penalty as a defensive player. You work so hard. You get in there, you make one mistake, you're out for the next half of the game and the next game.
[00:19:58] KM: Are you talking about the targeting?
[00:19:58] DB: Targeting. I hate it. I hate it. Make it be a 50-yard penalty. Don't penalize a kid a half of two games.
[00:20:05] KM: That's extreme.
[00:20:05] DB: Yeah, it’s extreme. Listen. We'll be sitting here five years from now, we'll still have that. It's not going to change. So change the rule to where it's a bigger penalty and don't penalize the kid to lose a game.
[00:20:16] KM: And I don't think that they are – A lot of times it's an accident. I don't think –
[00:20:19] DB: No question. No question. It's an accident.
[00:20:22] KM: And they cry.
[00:20:24] DB: Yeah. It’s a bad – They've over-compensated for that. They need to go back. Yeah.
[00:20:29] KM: Well, you answered one of my questions, which was do you believe a college student should get paid?
[00:20:34] DB: Absolutely, you do not.
[00:20:37] KM: I don't mind some, but what they're getting ready to do is not going to work. They're going to allow people to have players to have agents. So what's going to happen? So I'm David Bazzell, the agent, I'm going to get this new player out of central high school and I'm going to – “So, Gray. Gray, liste. If you let me represent you, I'm going to have you making appearances at sports clips, Fletcher Ddodge Chrysler Jeep. Now you got to be there after class. Now you got to drive an hour and you're going to – Listen, I'm going to make it ten thousand dollars this month. You're going to be driving around in an eighty thousand dollar car while that farm family sits up there and pays a hundred dollars to get up there to watch you.” It's going to be a disaster.
[00:21:12] GM: You know what, 19. You can't give a 19-year-old that much money.
[00:21:14] KM: Well, how are they going to have the energy to even play the game if you do all that?
[00:21:18] DB: Listen. They can barely go to class and go to practice. Now we're going to have agents where you're making appearances. They've over compensated for this. I'm telling you, it could ruin the game. It really could. We'll see.
[00:21:30] KM: I heard uh an announcer just not too long ago talking about the theory of never kicking. Some coach –
[00:21:37] DB: Kevin Kelly here at Little Rock, Pulaski Academy.
[00:21:39] KM: Doesn't believe in kicking there point. Never punt.
[00:21:41] DB: Never punt and always kick on side. And it works. He's won like nine state championships. He's a hall of famer.
[00:21:47] KM: Well, if you stop and think about it, it takes three field goals to make what one touchdown can do. Because a touchdown – If you get the extra point. Seven –
[00:21:57] DB: Close. Yeah, seven to nine. Yeah.
[00:21:59] KM: I mean, yes, two field goals will get you to six. But if you get that extra point at seven, it takes three field goals. So if you have three chances to try for a touchdown, if you don't kick for a three point.
[00:22:12] DB: He does it with analytics. He can look at it and say, “It's better for you to go for it and not get it. The odds are in your favor to go for it and make it.” And he's right, but people just aren't willing to try that on the higher level.
[00:22:24] KM: Plus the confidence that it gives to your young players who are so emotional that you believe in them and that they can go for it.
[00:22:30] DB: And maybe if you're outmatched size-wise or numbers-wise, those are great ways to take advantage.
[00:22:35] KM: Yeah. What's it like working with Tommy Smith and Roger Scott?
[00:22:39] DB: Two super talented people. You got Tommy Smith and Bob Robbins and Craig O'Neill, three hall of famers. Honored to work with them. Rogers, one of the most talented guys around and –
[00:22:50] KM: Tommy Smith's a hall of famer?
[00:22:52] DB: He is a hall of famer, radio.
[00:22:53] KM: Oh, radio.
[00:22:54] DB: Yeah, those three guys are radio. Those three guys could have gone anywhere. He could have been Stern. He was a Stern for Arkansas back in the 90s. Remember, everybody listened to Tommy, because we didn't know what he was going to say, edgy. And so the fact that I think his last half as if his legacy is about overcoming alcohol and fighting what he went through. I think now his message is, “Guys, go get help if you have an addiction.” So I think it's really cool what he said. It's really been an honor to be a part of that, yeah.
[00:23:19] KM: He really is the Howard Stern.
[00:23:21] DB: No question.
[00:23:21] KM: I saw the movie Antiquities.
[00:23:23] DB: Yes, Roger was the star. Ted Danson. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen came up to him afterwards and said, “You were the best.”
[00:23:31] KM: Why did he do anything with that?
[00:23:33] DB: It's ridiculous that – Listen, I've tried to get Harry Thomason. Find this guy some more work he should. He's that talented.
[00:23:38] KM: I know.
[00:23:39] DB: Yeah, he’s that good.
[00:23:40] KM: So I have a topic for discussion on your show tomorrow, because I know you're looking for stuff. The canned crowd noises drive me –
[00:23:47] DB: Yeah, I don't know. We debated that. Some like it. I don't like it. I don't like it now. They don't do a good job with it. Somebody's just doing [cheering sounds].
[00:23:56] KM: I love watching sports even before COVID. I didn't like the crowd noise because I just didn't like the constant roar of the crowd, gives me a headache. When your husband keeps the TV on for six hours on a Saturday afternoon, that constant roar of the crowd wears me down. So now we've got a chance not to have it, and they put it in. I'm like, “What the hell is wrong with people?”
[00:24:19] DB: But yeah, I tell you this, Kerry. I'm so thankful that we had football this fall. Could you imagine how – Even if you don't like football, it just gave everybody a distraction for Friday night, high school and junior high school and college and pro. I'm glad – It wasn't perfect, but they worked their way through it.
[00:24:33] KM: It’s the only real reality TV.
[00:24:36] DB: Yeah, it is. And for this country in the fall, that's what we do. If we wouldn't have that, it would have been really a tough fall, but tough enough as it was, but having that was good.
[00:24:44] KM: All right. This is great place to take a break. When we come back we'll continue our conversation with former Razorback linebacker, local celeb and radio personality, Mr. David Bazzell. Still to come, David's relationship with the late athletic director, Frank Broyles, and his work on helping to create the Broyles Award, the Touchdown Club, the Tusk Fund, and my favorite, the Battle Of The Boot; a football rivalry between Louisiana and Arkansas. We'll be right back after the break.
[BREAK]
[00:25:09] ANNOUNCER: Have you been following the progress of dreamland ballroom upstairs from flagandbanner.com? Well, we're getting close to the reopening, truthfully. Assuming everything goes according to plan, the reopening is going to happen in the fall of this year. Here's where you come in too. There's so much to do before we reopen. While the construction projects are going to help prepare the ballroom for public accessibility and safety, there are a bunch of smaller projects that we could really use your help on in this historic downtown Little Rock building.
Over the next year we're going to schedule volunteer work days, painting floors, restringing old lights, putting up new lights, decorating, lots of little projects. Help us give the ballroom a real facelift. By the way, have you got any old furniture or pieces that you'd like to get rid of that would look great in the historic Dreamland Ballroom? Donate them to the Friends of Dreamland. We could use it to decorate the box seats, the balcony, the green rooms and stage left and stage right wings. Please keep in touch with us by signing up for our email list. You can do that by following us on Facebook and Instagram. You'll also learn when these work days are going to be scheduled and how to check in on the progress of those campaigns.
Thanks in advance for your help.
[00:26:20] KM: You're listening to Up In Your Business with me, Karrie McCoy. I'm speaking today with former Razorback linebacker, weekday morning host of 103.7 The Buzz and TV commentator for Razorback football, Mr. David Bazzell.
All right, before the break, at the beginning, we talked about you're from Florida. I had no idea. I should have given him a Florida flag. Missed – Oh look, you're reaching for your –
[00:26:42] DB: Listen. I have one of your big flags. Do you know that?
[00:26:44] KM: Oh, because you got it from Osborne.
[00:26:46] DB: No. Remember what it was? You don't even remember that, do you? So when 9/11 happened, I used to live in the Tuf Nut building. I was in a corner – And there was no high-rises there. There was nothing. The exit ramp that went down the river market was –
[00:26:58] GM: Oh, that was you?
[00:26:58] DB: That was me. So I bought your like 15-feet tall by 30-feet wide, or maybe it was bigger than that. Maybe it's 50 by 50. And I hung it on the side of the building and still have pictures of that. And I still have that somewhere, but I hung it there on the side of the Tuf Nut. Now you can’t see anything downtown because of that, but back then there were no high rises.
[00:27:16] KM: You were a real early adopter of living downtown.
[00:27:19] DB: Yeah. I was the first. I was the first in the Tuf Nut. Really, the first –
[00:27:23] KM: Do you I still live downtown?
[00:27:24] DB: No. No. I moved back out west. Then I moved over there by the big damn bridge now.
[00:27:28] KM: So before the meeting, before the interview, I asked David if he'd ever been married.
[00:27:34] DB: Once.
[00:27:34] KM: And I was like, “What?” I can't believe you were ever married, because you get so much grief.
[00:27:40] DB: Yeah, listen. Listen, I didn't date in high school. I didn't date – The first girl I dated was the girl I married. So I'm not good in relationships.
[00:27:51] KM: Are you a confirmed bachelor?
[00:27:53] DB: Yeah, I’m seeing somebody now. I have for four years. And so –
[00:27:55] KM: Is she listening?
[00:27:56] DB: I don't know if she will be. She knows who you are. Great girl. But listen, the girls put up with me. She puts up with me. I'm crazy. I'm busy. I'm doing things all around the clock. My hours are terrible. I'm not a good boyfriend. But yeah, I admit it. But she puts up with me.
[00:28:12] KM: I don't know. I don't know about all that. You're modest. Let's talk about your relationship with long-time athletic director, the late, Mr. Frank Broyles. How did you get to know him?
[00:28:22] DB: He was the athletic director when I played, but he was always gone. He was always doing the ABC weekend game with Keith Jackson. So we didn't see much. So once I graduated, I knew he was a legend, even though I'm not from here. So I went to him and said, “Coach, what if I – I saw where you had the most amazing assistant coaches. There's not an assistant coach of the year award. Would you let me start one?” “David, if you will not ask anybody else in the State of Arkansas for money that gives to the Razorback program, you could do that. I'd be honored for you to do that.”
[00:28:51] KM: Well, that's –
[00:28:52] DB: I know.
[00:28:53] KM: Thanks for nothing.
[00:28:53] DB: So I did the Broyles Award and he said, “David, if you have any other ideas, you did such a good job on the Broyles Award. Bring me other ideas.” So that's when I brought Tusk. Starting the live mascot program. That's when I did the Battle For The Boot. So he was great. He was such – Kerry, when he would walk in a room, he would light it up. And listen, there are other coaches that maybe won more but nobody had the charisma that Frank Broyles had, that southern drawl. And he was he was impressive.
[00:29:21] KM: So how did you get the money if you couldn't go to anybody that was already giving to the Razorback program?
[00:29:26] DB: I borrowed a hundred thousand dollars.
[00:29:28] KM: No, you did not.
[00:29:28] DB: I did.
[00:29:29] KM: How old were you?
[00:29:30] DB: There was a banker. I was 25. There was a banker. May he rest in peace. Name was Joe Ford, not the – And he lived in Ohio State, and he lent me money. I borrowed forty thousand dollars, sixty thousand, it got up to a hundred thousand because nobody had enough money. Nobody believed in the award. So I said, “The only way I'm going to get this thing done –” It took me seven years to pay it off. And now the award is one of the most recognizable awards in – As a matter of fact, the hottest coach in America just got the Texas job, Steve Sarkisian. Won the Broyles Award and his contract is five million a year. But I knew I had to do that to make it work. I wasn't married at the time, didn’t have kids. So I said, “I'm all in. This is the only way I'm going to make it.”
Joe Ford [inaudible 00:30:08] one time. I went to Joe about getting some money and Joe said, “David, I need to cut you a check. The Broyles Award – I cut Coach Broyles a check for the Razorback Foundation.” I said, “Joe, you take good you take good care of Frank Broyles. I'll deal with the Broyles Award.” That's what I was –
[00:30:22] KM: He has enough money to do both?
[00:30:24] DB: I know. He should have. But anyway, that's how it started.
[00:30:28] KM: Seven years.
[00:30:29] DB: It took me seven years to pay that.
[00:30:32] KM: So you’re not making any money on this?
[00:30:33] DB: No. Okay. I was paying $700 a month in debt service to the Broyles Award.
[00:30:37] KM: Where did this love of recognizing people?
[00:30:42] DB: Because it's fun to do. I love to do things that nobody's done. And nobody had created an assistant coach. Nobody had done it. And now every time you open your paper, somebody's referencing, “He was a Broyles Award finals. He was a Broyles Award nominee.” Now the NFL’s done that. They've done an assistant coach of the year. The Touchdown Club, thousands of people come to Touchdown Club every fall. They love it. Seniors are coming. That's all I need. I don't need to make any money.
[00:31:05] KM: Whatever.
[00:31:05] DB: It don't. It don't. Listen, that's not why I do it. I do it because it feels good. It's different. It's creates – It's like Jennings Osborne. He used to do things because he loved the reaction you get from people. I'm the same way. I love to see coaches and people come in and get a chance to see me and Mean Joe Greene and Larry [inaudible 00:31:23]. Get their picture made with them, or Steve Spurrier. And they never get access. This would be the first time they've ever seen these people. And they wait for an hour to get in the door. That's all I need. That’s all I need.
[00:31:32] KM: Well, that's exactly what I did. I went to the Frank Broyles Award, and I think you gave Gus Malzahn –
[00:31:38] DB: He was a winner.
[00:31:40] DB: I think he won something. And I went up and met Frank Broyles and got my picture made with him and got a signed plate, one of his plates. And I had never seen Frank Broyles up close. It's exactly like you said. He's larger than life. And when he takes the podium –
[00:32:01] DB: He owns a room. He owns the room.
[00:32:03] KM: I’ve never seen – It’s crazy.
[00:32:03] DB: He’s just good as anybody – Is anybody. Whether it’d be Nick Saban or Bear Bryant, he was that charismatic. And he owned it. It was impressive. When he turned it on, he could turn it on.
[00:32:16] KM: When he walked away from the podium after he got up there and motivated us all and we were like ready to go out and win the team, he walked back and you went over to the podium and just grinned like, “Wow! There he is.”
[00:32:27] DB: Think what he did, Kerry. Think what he did. He took a state that really didn't have much of a self-esteem especially what happened with 57 and the central crisis, and he made the Razorbacks a national commodity. He made him a national story. And people in Arkansas were like, “Hey, we're playing for the national championship. We're number one.” So it's amazing what he did for this state, really is.
[00:32:49] KM: Where did woo pig sooie come from?
[00:32:51] DB: Goes way back I think in probably the 20s and 30s that somehow there's not definite where it came from. But somewhere in that time that was part of the cheer that was originated. And the Razorback too, finding the Razorback. Used to be the Cardinal. They changed it. It used to be the Arkansas Cardinals. They changed it. Hugo Bezdeks. Yeah, they played like a bunch of fighting Razorbacks, and that was sort of it ever since.
[00:33:13] KM: When was that? What year was that?
[00:33:14] DB: That was back in I think the 20s, the late 20s, 10s or 20s.
[00:33:19] KM: Well, I just love woo pig sooie.
[00:33:20] DB: It’s a great call. It’s one of the best calls in America.
[00:33:23] KM: It absolutely it.
[00:33:23] DB: No question.
[00:33:24] KM: Everybody recognizes it?
[00:33:26] DB: Yes, and nobody else can go into a restaurant also and all of a sudden 50 people do that. People are going, “What is that?” I mean it is so unique and it's perfect. It’d be, “Look at those hillbillies over there. That's right. Woo pig!”
I’ll tell you, when I played football, Kerry, I can look at the other sideline and when that first call was done, you could see those players looking around going, “What in the world? Where are we at?” I mean it's intimidating to hear 60,000 people doing a hog call It's intimidating, but it's perfect. It's a great call.
[00:33:57] KM: It's fun to be in a bar when they start calling the hogs.
[00:34:00] DB: No question.
[00:34:02] GM: I've been in an opera house and they have started calling hogs.
[00:34:04] DB: Exactly. Yes! That’s right. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. That’s right.
[00:34:08] KM: We brought Jack's girlfriend from Ohio, came in town for Christmas, and we took her to a bar to watch – I think it was a basketball game and they started calling a hog.
[00:34:18] GM: She’s like, “What is going on?”
[00:34:20] KM: She loved it actually. Yeah. So what do you think Coach Broyle's biggest strength is? He's very charismatic. But his ego was big. Did it ever get in the way?
[00:34:30] DB: Oh yeah, yeah, but he was a visionary. Just think what he did. The money he raised, the things he did. He meddled with the football coaches. He met a little bit with Nolan. And so he wasn't perfect. But you look at the big picture. What he did was pretty significant.
[00:34:48] KM: He never would allow the Razorbacks to play any other Arkansas teams.
[00:34:51] DB: That's right. Now that's changed.
[00:34:55] KM: I saw the Razorback basketball team played UCA the other day.
[00:35:00] DB: Yeah, and the football team's going to play UAPB. And one of these days –
[00:35:02] KM: What? When is that?
[00:35:03] DB: I think it's next year. And it won't be long, Kerry, but they’ll play ISU.
[00:35:06] KM: Yeah. That’s what everyone has been waiting for.
[00:35:07] DB: Times have changed. We understand why he did it for so long, but times have changed.
[00:35:11] KM: I don't even know who the athletic director is right now.
[00:35:15] DB: For who?
[00:35:16] KM: For the race –
[00:35:17] DB: Hunter Yurachek. Hunter Yurachek. Yes. Not a name that you would recognize from – He has no connection. He had no connection to Arkansas.
[00:35:25] KM: he's probably a great business manager.
[00:35:27] DB: He’s done a very good job. He's done a very job.
[00:35:29] KM: How long has he been the –
[00:35:31] DB: I think it's been three years.
[00:35:32] KM: Wow! He must not be very a big personality at all, because I wouldn’t know him if I saw him.
[00:35:38] DB: Yeah. He’s not a Frank Broyles type, and so that's okay. That's okay.
[00:35:41] KM: So how long is the Frank Broyles Award been going on? 25 years?
[00:35:45] DB: 25 years. Yeah.
[00:35:46] KM: 25 years. So who's your favorite one you've ever given it to and what was the most memorable? And am I putting you on the spot?
[00:35:52] DB: No. They've been some really good ones. The coach at Oklahoma, Lincoln Raleigh was good. I love it when coaches get up there. The coach who won it who's now at Pitt. He talked about he kept his father's shoes, his coach's shoes, in his closet all his life, because his dad had died. He kept his coach's shoes, his dad's coaching shoes. He went on to become a head coach. And then Tom Herman who was just fired from Texas, he talked about the time he did have a dad. And his mom raised him, and his mom – And he said, “I thank my mom. I didn't have a dad.” So I love those stories, those back stories. Like that's really cool. So there have been a lot of those kind of things. And it's really neat to bring in some of the best assistant coaches to Little Rock and everybody gets a chance to hear their stories.
[00:36:32] KM: Are you still really involved or are you kind of passed the hat?
[00:36:33] DB: No. No. The Broyles family, I gave the award to them for the Broyles Foundation as they helped raise awareness for Alzheimer's caregivers. But I'm still involved every year. Obviously the big one this year was Steve Sarkisian, the offensive coordinator for Alabama. He won this year. Just got the head coaching job at Texas at five million dollars a year.
[00:36:50] KM: He won it this year. You had the awards this year?
[00:36:51] DB: We did it virtually. We did.
[00:36:53] KM: Oh, I bet that was real fun.
[00:36:55] DB: Saved a lot of money. But I'll tell you, the minute his name was announced, everybody knew him. And he's done a great job. And now every – We get a Google for any time Broyles Awards is mentioned, and it's amazing now. Year after year all these guys are finalists or nominees, and it's what I envisioned 25 years ago. I thought, “You know what? If I want to ensure the legacy of Frank Broyles, that 50 years from now who was Frank Broyles? If I went back and look, “Why is his name on the Broyles Award? Why is he –” Because he had the most amazing assistant coaches –”
[00:37:22] KM: Who manages all of that?
[00:37:24] DB: Well, now it's Molly Arnold, Coach Broyles’ granddaughter, and Coach Broyles’ daughter, Betsy.
[00:37:30] KM: Is it a foundation?
[00:37:30] DB: It's a foundation. Yeah. And so this is a way for them to make money now. They can use the Broyles Award as they as they will to make money for – And they're trying to raise awareness for Alzheimer's caregivers. That's how Frank died and that's how his wife died.
[00:37:41] KM: Oh, I love it. And you'll always probably be the MC.
[00:37:44] DB: Yeah, I'll always be involved. Yeah.
[00:37:46] KM: So let's talk about the Touchdown Club. That’s another one of your successes. Tell us how that came to be. And how old is that one?
[00:37:52] DB: That’s one – Let’s see, that one is 2004. Was it 16, 17?
[00:37:55] KM: Oh! 16 years, 16, 17 years.
[00:37:58] DB: Yeah. I'd seen some other touchdown clubs around the country and thought it was time to have one here. Went to Rex Nelson, a good buddy of mine. I said, “Rex, I think we need to start a touchdown club.” He said, “You're not going to believe this. I thought the same thing.” I went to Andrew Matters, same thing. Andre said, “Oh my gosh! I was thinking the same thing.”
And so this this community loves football. And so the challenge is now every year this group expects the big names. And so we've had Mike Ditka and Steve Spurrier, and Marcus Allen. And we've had Heisman Trophy winners. And now we have awards for not only do we have the Broyles Award, but we have the Cliff Harris award for the top small college player in America. We have the Darren McFadden Award, the Den Hampton award, the Willie Rope Award.
[00:38:34] KM: When do you give those out?
[00:38:35] DB: We give those out during football season. We didn't this year.
[00:38:37] KM: Did you do it at the Touchdown Club?
[00:38:38] DB: We do at the Touchdown Club. Last year we had Archie Griffin, the two-time Heisman Trophy winner. We've had Marcus Allen, and we've had Danny [inaudible 00:38:45].
[00:38:45] KM: Please tell me that somebody pays you to do that.
[00:38:47] DB: No. Don't make a dime.
[00:38:49] KM: That just drives me crazy. I’m too much of a businesswoman.
[00:38:49] DB: My dad has always told me. He said, “It's not –” But you know what? I don't care. I love people who enjoy that stuff. I love the fact that somebody drives two hours to get here to stand in line an hour before. Can I tell you? I don't want money for that. Listen, that's the coolest thing ever – It means that much to somebody. They want to fight to get to their seat. That's cool to me.
[00:39:17] KM: It's your legacy. So Mike Ditka was there? I didn't realize that.
[00:39:20] DB: Mike Ditka was there. Oh, he was great.
[00:39:22] KM: I bet the place sold out instantly.
[00:39:23] DB: Yes. Oh! He was. Earl Campbell was great. Larry [inaudible 00:39:26] was great, as I mention. Two tall Jones, Mean Joe Green.
[00:39:29] KM: Mean Joe Green. Boy! He looks mean. Is he mean?
[00:39:33] DB: Oh my gosh! He was such a nice guy.
[00:39:34] KM: He’s probably a little pussycat.
[00:39:35] DB: But the great thing is that people who go to the Touchdown Club go up and meet these people.
[00:39:38] KM: I know.
[00:39:39] DB: Yeah. They get to picture like you talked about. And so this year we'll have Sam Pittman. We didn't get him last year because of COVID. So it's fun. It's something – This is a small state. We love this kind of stuff.
[00:39:50] KM: You act like it's football because it's during football season, but actually I saw two basketball coaches.
[00:39:57] DB: Well, I think you may be getting it but confused with the Tip-Off Club, because the Tip-Off Club came after that because the Tip-Off Club saw what we were doing with the football thing. We want to do this during basketball.
[00:40:08] KM: You're right, I am
[00:40:09] DB: Which love it. I love the fact. Yeah, I love the fact that they do this.
[00:40:11] KM: So you're not doing the Tip-Off?
[00:40:13] DB: No touchdown club in America does more meetings than we do. We do 15, which is a ton, every Monday. So I go to every Razorback game. So I'm gone from Friday. Get back Sunday. Touchdown Club Monday. Do the radio show during the weekends. It's tough, but it's fun. It’s fun.
[00:40:29] KM: Golly! All right. Battle Of The Boot.
[00:40:32] DB: yes.
[00:40:32] KM: That's my favorite thing that I read about you that you started the Battle For The Boot, which if anybody doesn't know, it's the shape of Louisiana and Arkansas together. How did that idea come about?
[00:40:43] DB: So when Coach Broyles said – Yeah, I did a good job with the Broyles Award. He said, “Think of other things.” So I did Tusk. I did the Battle For The Boot and a few other things for him. And at that time, LUS was not that great, and I thought if they ever – If Arkansas and LSU ever came back, there're so many commonalities between the two. LSU got their first tiger, their first tiger mascot for where? The Little Rock Zoo in 1935. They paid seven hundred dollars. And so there are a lot of similarities.
And so at the time, neither one of them had sort of a fun rivalry game. And now LSU has dominated the last four or five years, but there have been times when it's gone back and forth. And my deal is I tell people, “There’s rivalry. LSU’s beating us too much.” This is only 25-years-old. Wait to this thing is 50 years old or 60 years old and that old trophy says and the players run over there and get it. When they win it, bring it back. And they've been doing it up in the north for a long time, but yeah that's a fun thing. They’re have been some great player, Darren McFadden's played in some great Battle For The Boot games. And when it was in Little Rock, at War Memorial, the day after Thanksgiving. That's when it was really the best and they had to move that. But it's fun. I make all my trophies big. I want to make them big and gaudy where everybody can see them.
[00:41:53] KM: So we don't do any – What do you think about them not playing any more games in Little Rock?
[00:41:57] DB: They hate it. I understand it. It’s money.
[00:41:59] KM: Are there going to be any at all?
[00:42:00] DB: One every other year right now. So Missouri will be here next year. It's a money deal. I sort of hate it, but I get it.
[00:42:08] KM: Don't players love to play in Little Rock?
[00:42:10] DB: I did. But these kids up there, they don't know Little Rock. When I played, Kerry, I’d play four games down here a year. Four. They didn't have lights when I played up there. Now that facility is – That's true. That facility's so nice up there now. They like staying up there. But the problem is it's tough to get people to go up there eight times a year. That's a lot of traveling, seven or eight times a year –
[00:42:28] KM: They don't have enough housing. They don't have enough hotel rooms up there.
[00:42:32] GM: Changing a lot though.
[00:42:33] DB: Well, and it takes a lot of money though. Unless you're wealthy, it takes into –
[00:42:37] KM: It does. Being a Razorback football fan, if you leave your house, it's expensive.
[00:42:42] DB: Yes. Seven or seven or eight times a year, yeah.
[00:42:45] KM: Yeah, I can't afford it, and I’m making pretty good –
[00:42:47] KM: You need a time share during football season.
[00:42:49] DB: Right. Right.
[00:42:50] KM: I want to remind everybody that you're listening to Up In Your Business with me, Kerry McCoy, and that I'm speaking today with former Razorback linebacker, weekday morning host of 103.7 The Buzz and TV commentator for the Razorback football, Mr. David Bazzell. Lovingly known as The Baz. So the Tusk Fund, we hadn't talked about that. What is that?
[00:43:10] DB: So that's just a way to help keep the mascot program started. The way that started, Kerry, is when I was a freshman I walked past the – I was walking up on game day and I saw this little cage with this animal in it and it said big red. And I said, “Is that our mascot?” It was a farm pig. It was a Little Rock red pig with fleas around. It was a farm pig. And I told my teammate, I said, “That's our mascot? I said that's embarrassing.”
So I made that note as a 17-year-old freshman. And when Coach Broyles came to me and said, “David, you did such a good job on the Brawls Award. Bring some other ideas.” I said, “Coach, I want to restart our mascot program. Let's get a real Razorback in.” So I renamed it from Big Red to Tusk. Built a giant big trailer that's 30 feet long and we have a real Razorback with tusks and we've had a lineages where they're all related over the last five years and people – The Stokes family and –
[00:44:02] GM: Is it the third now?
[00:44:04] DB: I think it's the fifth. The fifth. Yeah, the Stokes family, Darnell, takes such good care of them.
[00:44:08] KM: They don’t live very long?
[00:44:09] DB: About seven, six seven years is what they – Yeah.
[00:44:12] GM: It’s a Russian bore.
[00:44:13] DB: It’s a Russian bore. That's exactly what it is. And so boy, they are mean. They're strong they're powerful. And Keith does such a good job with handling them every year. But now people go up take pictures and tusk fits, big red. A Razorback's not red, it's brown. It's a Russian bore. So that's one of those crazy things. I also did, to clothe the mascots. We changed the dancers back to big red. We took that. And so I thought he needed to have a wife and child. So I did Sooie and Pork chop. So the kids like Sooie and Pork chop more than because they're smaller. And so they're not as intimidated.
[00:44:49] KM: And what are they? Are they Russian –
[00:44:52] DB: No. They're dancing. They’re human beings, they're students dressed up. Yes.
[00:44:56] KM: Oh I see.
[00:44:56] DB: Yes. And so have three clothed mascots and we have Tusk. So one of the more crazier things that people don't know when they see these dancing students down there in their Razorback outfit, Pork Chop, that that was one of my ideas with Sooie.
[00:45:11] KM: What's up for you next, David?
[00:45:12] DB: I don't know. People ask me that sometimes. I don't know. I just got through renovating the house. I spent a year and a half doing it. I'm excited about that. It's right around the corner. So it's nice to – I don't really take too much time to do something for myself like a house. So I don't know. I might want to do more TV. Love doing the radio. Tommy's going to retire in a year and a half. Maybe the Bazzell and Kerry show?
[00:45:34] GM: I love it.
[00:45:35] KM: When I was on your show, you asked these trivia questions, which I can't believe how good you are at naming people's names like on our show, because you are so good at remembering people's names. And that is probably my weakest link and always has been. But you asked me three questions, and I can only remember two of them. It was just country. You asked me and a caller called. You said, “What’s the number one selling shampoo?” And I can't believe I didn't get that. It was Pantene.
[00:46:06] DB: So we asked you that? Okay. Wow!
[00:46:08] KM: But then you asked us, neither I nor the caller got it, and then you asked us who was the first team to win the Super Bowl. And I said Green Bay. And you did just what you did just then. You went, “Good job, Kerry!”
[00:46:26] DB: If I had a bell, I'd ring it right now.
[00:46:29] KM: I don’t know how I knew that one, but I knew that one.
[00:46:31] DB: Very good. It’s always nice when you get something right?
[00:46:34] KM: Isn't it though? Y'all were doing questions today on the air and asking people –
[00:46:38] DB: People love to get things right. They love to feel like they can call in or they know the answer. Or when you get it wrong, they're yelling at you, “You idiot! Stupid. God! It is the Packers.
[00:46:51] KM: Yeah. I want to tell everybody that you can hear David every weekday. It's six o'clock in the morning till ten. I think I listen till ten today. That’s early. But four hours is a lot of work. He makes it look easy, people. It's not easy. You can hear David weekdays on 103.7 The Buzz talking with his buddies, Tommy Smith, Justin Acri, Roger Scott, and there are 12 of y'all on the website lined up, experts.
[00:47:17] DB: Yeah, all together. Yeah, RJ Hawk also in the morning. We have a lot of great talented guys.
[00:47:22] KM: And they can also see you on Razorback football games days, because you are behind the scenes. I like always what you have to say about what their kids are like in the locker and the coach is talking about. I really like all that behind the scenes stuff that you talk about.
[00:47:35] DB: Got 100 straight games, eight years for channel 7. Hadn’t missed a game in eight years.
[00:47:40] KM: Please tell me you get paid for that.
[00:47:41] DB: A little bit.
[00:47:41] KM: Okay, good.
[00:47:45] DB: Not much, but a little bit. Yeah.
[00:47:47] KM: Here’s your gift for coming on today.
[00:47:47] DB: Oh, wonderful. Thank you.
[00:47:48] KM: But I didn't give you a Florida flag, so you were going to get a Florida flag. It can go with your desk set. That is a US Arkansas, and I'm gonna send you over a little Florida to go with it from where you were born. Are your mom and dad still alive?
[00:48:01] DB: My mother lives here in Arkansas now.
[00:48:03] KM: You brought her up.
[00:48:03] DB: I did. I brought her up here. My dad still down in Panama City. Love it. Love flags. And I'm proud to say –
[00:48:09] KM: You do love flags. You’ve been a customer for a long time. That's how I actually know you.
[00:48:12] DB: Yeah. Proud to say I bought one of your biggest flags ever. Yeah.
[00:48:15] KM: Uh-huh. I really appreciate you coming on.
[00:48:17] DB: Yeah. Kerry, it’s a blast. Thank you. Yeah.
[00:48:17] KM: You did? You’re welcome. I want to say to our listeners, thank you for joining us today. We hope you've heard or learned something that's been inspiring or enlightening, and that it, whatever it is, will help you up your business, your independence or your life. I'm Kerry McCoy, and I'll see you next time on Up In Your Business. Until then, be brave and keep it up.
[00:48:41] GM: You've been listening to Up In Your Business with Kerrie McCoy. For links to resources you heard discussed on today's show, go to flagandbanner.com, select radio and choose today's guest. If you'd like to sponsor this show or any show, contact me, gray@flagandbanner.com. All interviews are recorded and posted the following week. Stay informed of exciting upcoming guests by subscribing to our YouTube channel or podcast wherever you like to listen. Kerry's goal is simple, to help you live the American dream.
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