Published: November 24, 2009

Starkville, MS -- Mississippi State University’s Athletic Director, Greg Byrne, announced today that the planned expansion of Davis Wade Stadium had failed due to inadequate participation by Bulldog fans. 

"We had our Civil Engineering department technician install creosote poles all around the top of the stadium, and we even had her nail down some cardboard cutouts of tree branches to make them look like longleaf pines, which are native to this area. However, we did not get nearly the number of tree stands put up there by our fans that we were expecting to. Maybe one or two, and I am not sure if those particular fans understood that the ‘new feed plot’ they had found was actually Scott Field and they would not be able to hunt it during deer season."

The failure of the Davis Wade expansion will set back a number of other efforts to improve facilities at the school, which clearly has significant ground to make up with the rest of the Southeastern Conference. Dr. Mark Keenum, MSU President, attempted to put a positive spin on the situation, saying that "with as much as there is going on in the Starkville area, it is no surprise that our fans would find sitting alone in the woods with a gun to be an attractive alternative to watching Tyson Lee run Coach Dan Mullen’s exciting spread offense."

Marilyn Bovinia, a junior pre-veterinary student from Starkville, had a different take: "It was just like when they put all the fair food around the Hump to try to get students to see what was going on inside. All it did was bring in lots of coon asses."