Alabama vs. Arkansas: Has Bobby Petrino Lost His Mind Calling for a 'Red Out'?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Bobby Petrino is a great coach. That being said, he isn't much of a historian.

This weekend the team will be all in red, and he's asking the entire fan base to be in red and they're giving away thousands of red towels away for fans to wave.

Does he not remember the last time Alabama faced a team in a black out?

It was 2008 and the Georgia Bulldogs were favored against an Alabama team that was only considered to be an up and comer at the time. The team wore special black uniforms, the fans word black, it was the biggest black game in Georgia history.

And all the got for their trouble was an upset loss of historic proportions and their program sank that year to fall from number one to out of any top team consideration.

It motivated the Tide to play twice as hard and it will do that once again.

It caused Coach Scott Cochran to ramble off in a pre-game practice before the game to the boys during a workout that they better wear black, they're going to a (expletive) funeral! The boys loved it.

I can't help but wonder if he'll tell the team this week that everybody in Arkansas should wear red so nobody can tell just how embarrassed they will be.

And does Petrino not understand that red is not really that many shades off the Tide's own Crimson?

Does Arkansas really need to give Alabama any locker room material to further raise their will to win?

According to a statement released by Arkansas' athletic dept, "Our football team, Coach Petrino and our student body want a Razorback Red Out this weekend so let's join together to give them one," Director of Athletics Jeff Long says. "We are asking all our fans to wear Razorback red as they cheer on the Hogs. This is a great opportunity for people around the nation to see the tremendous passion of the Razorback fans. I have no doubt that our fans will be here in full force, dressed in Razorback red and extra loud in helping provide our football team a tremendous home field advantage."

Really?

Did anybody ask Georgia how that worked out for them and they were favored.

Yes, this is the biggest game of the year for Arkansas, the first time two top-10 nationally ranked teams have met in Fayetteville since 1979. But do you really want to give the Alabama team an extra incentive to play even harder?

Do you really want your fan base into a fanatic frenzy only to have that rug pulled out from under them? Remember the fall is a lot harder from loftier expectations.

Mark Ingram once said that the famous "Black Out" game only inspired them in practice to work harder and focus tighter on beating that team. He said this is a team that gets up for the big games, and the bigger they are, they harder they work.

So the Alabama fans should thank Petrino for helping Alabama prepare for this game.