The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 5/18/8
The last time that Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium was filled to its official capacity of 60,492, your trusty scribe had a reasonably full head of hair. Consider the photo of the bald guy below Exhibit A in today’s column.
For anyone looking seriously at the future of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, the numbers tell the tale. The last time Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium was filled to capacity was 1984, when Alcorn State University took on Mississippi Valley State University for the 1984 SWAC championship. Alcorn beat Valley 42-28 before 63,808 fans.
Originally called Mississippi Memorial Stadium, the stadium was proposed as a 35,000-seat monument to the state’s veterans of World Wars I and II. The stadium was later completed to the 46,000 seat level in the 1950s.
The stadium often had capacity crowds for Southeastern Conference games in the 1960s and 1970s – crowds swelling to the point that in 1980, the decision was made to expand the stadium by 16,500 seats to 62,500 seats. Subsequent renovations dropped the current seating to the official 60,492 seats.
