2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 85
Grabbing
the Grass
Story: Jacob Matthews
Photo: Long Le
Design: Gabe Henderson
T
Piece of history: fans took free
Tiger Stadium sod Monday, giveaway
ran out in minutes
he 2019 football season for the LSU Tigers will
be remembered as one of the greatest and
most dominant seasons in University history. To
remember that greatness, fans came from all over
town on Monday and rushed to grab a slab of the
sod that lay in Tiger Stadium during the historic
run.
The team has gone 12-0 in the regular season,
marking the first time the Tigers went undefeated
in the regular season since 2011. With the SEC
Championship Game on Saturday, many fans who
bleed purple and gold wanted something to plant
in their homes to remember the occasion.
The LSU Athletic Department pried up 3500
square feet, amounting to more than 3,300 slabs
of Tiger Stadium sod with grass on top, to invest
in a months-long project to fix field drainage in
Tiger Stadium. Right outside of Alex Box Stadium
from 4-6 p.m., the slabs were given away. Fans
went crazy over the opportunity to receive a
piece of LSU history, and all the sod was gone
within minutes of it being available. Petroleum
engineering freshman Alex Ignative was one of
the first people to get in on the giveaway. “When
is this ever gonna happen again? I thought, ‘why
not come get some grass?’” Ignative said.
Ignative was not the only one running though.
Many people were walking up to the stadium
excited when they were told all the sod
had already been distributed. Construction
management freshman Collin Craddock said he
was just happy he was able to get some after
running for it.
“It’s a big deal, not many opportunities to be able
to get this,” Craddock said.
Craddock was not the only fan to feel this way,
as many people waited around the stadium in
their cars since 10 a.m. Monday for the chance to
get a piece of sod. At first, visitors were told to
only approach the area in vehicles, but traffic was
moving fairly slow, and many people had already
walked far just to turn around and possibly not get
any. Once the first person walked up and grabbed
a piece, it was a free for all.
The highlight of the scene was certainly seeing
people get fired up when they secured theirs,
including marketing senior Emily Mancusi. “This
is special sod. This is 12-0 sod,” Mancusi said.
“This is legendary, this is iconic. Joe Burrow, our
Heisman, our quarterback, walked on this.”
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