| NEWS
| SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Mud Madness
Students get down and dirty to
prepare for Oozeball
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| The Shorthorn: Dominic Bracco |
| A student sloshes through the
mud Thursday at this years Mud Stomp in the field
behind the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house. Arlington firefighters
from station 1 soaked the field for today’s Oozeball
tournament. |
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By Michelle
Echevarria
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Five volleyball courts of 143 tons of topsoil lined Summit Avenue
with two Arlington Fire Department fire trucks against the curb
on either side.
Shooting water almost 100 feet across the courts and blowing at
1,000 gallons per minute, the pits were doused and sprayed as the
students sat on nearby bleachers eating pizza and soda before they
began the stomp.
The 16th annual Mud Stomp commenced Thursday night as the Student
Alumni Association got down and dirty while preparing the mud courts
for the Oozeball volleyball tournament.
The tournament will begin at noon today
at the Oozeball lot on Summit Avenue between Greek Row Drive and
Fourth Street. According to Patrick Harmon, Student Alumni Association
director of special projects, 23 teams are registered as of Wednesday.
Teams can still register today for $70. Money raised will go to
the Student Alumni Association scholarship. Proceeds raised beyond
the scholarship amount will go toward hurricane relief.
 |
| The Shorthorn: Dominic Bracco |
| Water sprays at 1,000
gallons per minute Thursday afternoon for Mud Stomp. Students
crawled, splashed, shoveled, raked and jumped into the
mud pits to prepare the lot for today’s Oozeball.
|
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In preparation for the tournament, firemen
sprayed the courts, and the soil quickly became a soupy mess of
mud.
Some students hesitated to enter the mud, while one student walked
around in it holding his pizza. Those brave enough to enter were
given rakes and shovels to break up the soil while getting drenched.
Harmon, a public relations senior,
was covered in mud as he tried to mix and break up the soil so the
courts would be ready for today’s
tournament.
“It doesn’t feel as disgusting as it looks,” he
said. “The water is cold, and that is what’s the most
uncomfortable thing.”
Fireman Dale Alexander bet his fellow firefighters that he would
jump into a pit of mud before they retired to their station.
Shoes off and ready, he sprinted and jumped in face-first as everyone
cheered and clapped. He said it was a hard landing that he had expected
to be softer.
Biology senior Canell Tyson, a Student Alumni Association member,
said it was her second Mud Stomp and said Oozeball is a wonderful
tradition on campus.
“I’m psyched about this Mud Stomp, man, and the firemen
aren’t bad to look at either,” she said. “Oozeball
is one of the oldest traditions on campus, and it’s a lot
of fun.”
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