Amazed By Arkansas: Legendary Razorback Fan

There aren't many people in Hot Springs Village who don't know Jim McKinnon.
A nice crowd showed up to help celebrate his birthday, his one hundred second birthday.

Jim is still quite popular with the ladies. He received his share of hugs and kisses. But he's even more popular with the University of Arkansas

This month they named Jim the university's first legendary fan.
At one hundred and two Jim may be the only Razorback fan older than the Razorback mascot itself. For the last two decades he has faithfully performed his duties as the official hog call leader of the Hot Springs Village Razorback Club.

Charlotte Akelaitis is the treasurer for the Hot Springs Razorback Club, "He leads the hog call every time. He gets up and takes his jacket off and loosens his tie and says everybody up and blows a whistle like no referee ever blew it. And then he says let's call them Hogs."

Jim's started rooting for the Hogs when his daughter attended school in Fayetteville. But he grew up in Tennessee, where Jim and his friends had a bit of a reputation as pranksters
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Brock Thompson, Jim's grandson spilled the beans, "They went out in a field and got a mule and after school had closed, and it was only a little school house, so after the school had closed they got this mule and they took it inside to the teachers desk, chained it to the desk. So the next morning when the teacher showed up, there's this mule attached to the desk."

Jim has been a fan of football since the 1920's, when he gained some attention playing high school ball.

Jim recalls the days of footballs that laced up, "So the football was kicked to me in the end zone and I grabbed the football up and it deflated. And I didn't know what to do with that thing. So I stuck the thing underneath my left arm there and run right down the sideline, and the official said touchdown!"

Jim says he still feels that same excitement when he roots for the Razorbacks.
His family says his love for the Hogs is what keeps him young.

And now he's got a reputation to uphold. Whether it's in Bud Walton Arena, or at the Hot Springs Village Razorback Cub, Jim McKinnon is a Legendary Razorback Fan.

And even at one hundred and two - the legend lives on.