SPRINGDALE - Charles Balentine remembers the flights before and after the game like his shot that won the game over North Carolina in 1984.
Those had to be memorable flights. Balentine’s shot to overcome Dean Smith’s
undefeated No. 1 Tar Heels, 65-64 with four seconds left in Pine Bluff lives on in
Arkansas Razorbacks’ history.
“Balentine’s Day” it was headlined for its two days before Valentine’s Day timing.
Twenty-six years later, Balentine, now an exectutive for the Flying J company and
living in Farmington, told Tuesday’s audience at the Northwest Arkansas Tip-Off
Club meeting at the Springdale Holiday Inn he still gets reminded about “Balentine’s
Day.” He’s not always reminded just by adoring Arkansas fans.
The Newport native and four-year letterman for former Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton
recalled staying anonymous under impromptu questioning as he and his wife and then
young children in 2004 stood in line for a Disney World ride in Orlando, Fla.
“I had an Arkansas hat on,” Balentine said, “and some guy with a bunch from North
Carolina are behind me and see the A, and say, ‘Alabama?’ And I say, ‘No, Arkansas.’
He said, ‘I hate Arkansas. I remember they ruined my North Carolina Tar Heels’ year.
I’ll never forget that name - Balentine.”
Balentine smiled.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I remember that game,” Balentine said. “I watched it on TV.’ I
didn’t want to get into it. I had my kids with me and I wanted them to get on that
ride.”
Whatever the Disney World ride, it was nothing like flying from Dallas to Pine Bluff
the morning of that early Sunday tip-off.
Arkansas had won “by the hair of our skin,” Balentine said, Southwest Conference
games on Wednesday at Texas A&M in College Station and Saturday at SMU in Dallas
and was supposed to fly a charter plane (“that in my opinion was a yellow box on
wings,” Balentine said) to Pine Bluff Saturday night.
“They told us because of weather we couldn’t fly,” Balentine said. “We spent the
night in Dallas. Coach Sutton said ‘Meet the next morning at 5:30 for team breakfast
and we would fly to Pine Bluff.’ We’re eating and the pilot told Coach Sutton, ‘The
weather, is still bad. It’s going to be bumpy. You might not want them eating too
much.”
Too late.
“I never hear so many praise the Lords” Balentine said, “and throwing up and crying.
We drop two, three and four times - eggs and bacon all over the place. A flight that
was supposed to be 45 minutes ended up taking two and a half hours.
The game was at 11 and we went straight to the gym.”
