Wally Hall is in his 40th consecutive year writing about sports as a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
"Whenever anything big happens in sports in Arkansas, everybody waits to see what Wally says. I can't say that for any other state in the nation," said Ron Higgins, who has covered the SEC for several newspapers and is now editor of Tiger Rag, a magazine and website that focuses on LSU sports. "In Arkansas, when you say, 'Wally,' people don't ask, 'Wally who?' They know it's Wally Hall."
Hall, who was born in Searcy and grew up in Little Rock, has covered all sports since becoming a columnist in 1979, but college football has been a focal point.