Calling the Hogs is a tradition of
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
students, alumni, and sports fans. The origin and date of first use are not known, but is said to have started in the 1920s when people attempted to encourage a
Razorback football team that was losing.
["Calling the Hogs.]
Website.
University of Arkansas Alumni Association. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
The next home game produced a group who repeated the cheer often.
The cheer is the best-known cheer at the University.
["A Proper Hog Call.]
arkansasrazorbacks.com
18 July 2008. Retrieved on February 11, 2009. It is not confined to
Razorback Stadium
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium is an American football stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas and serves as the home field of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks football team since its opening in 1938. The stadium was formerly known as Razorb ...
, where it is used before every kickoff, and may be used in locales such as airports and hotels where Razorback fans unite.
Procedure
![Kentucky at Arkansas basketball, 2013 006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Kentucky_at_Arkansas_basketball%2C_2013_006.jpg)
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.
["A Proper Hog Call]
Arkansas Razorbacks Official Athletics Website.
Retrieved on October 13, 2016. 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.
Lyrics
Woooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!
Woooooooooo, Pig! Sooie!
Razorbacks!
Etymology
The distinctive call is likely a degraded form of Latin, as the
Razorback
The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids.
Definition
A feral pi ...
, or wild boar, is a member of the pig family, which in the
Linnean classification (Latin) naming system is
Suidae
Suidae is a family of artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domestic pigs and wild boars separately), classified into ...
. 'Sooie' is a pig-calling call in northeast England, as is 'Giss giss'.
See also
*
Hog calling
Hog calling, or pig calling, is the art of making a call to encourage pigs to approach the caller. Competitions in hog calling are held.
Calls
To attract pigs (or family), the calls are based on four strategies: a male call to encourage terri ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calling The Hogs
University of Arkansas
Arkansas Razorbacks