Mississippi State’s broccoli tradition made it all the way into Devon Park on May 28, and the NCAA made sure fans could bring it with them. Donny Faircloth, the grandfather of MSU pitcher Alyssa Faircloth, carried a bag of broccoli florets to the Bulldogs’ opening matchup against Texas Tech after hoping gate workers would let it in.
Faircloth said he and his family were willing to take the chance. “We were hoping that they'd let us through the gate.... We were bringing it on the chance they did,” he said, and when workers looked at the bag, he said, “They looked at it, nodded, said, 'Cool.'” Mississippi State’s game started at 11 a.m. CT on, but the broccoli was already part of the scene before the first pitch.
The timing mattered because the Bulldogs were stepping onto the Women’s College World Series stage for the first time, and the broccoli had become part of the team’s identity long before Omaha. It started with a fan known as Broccoli Guy, who showed up at the Eugene Regional and danced with the vegetable in the stands. From there, the good-luck charm followed Mississippi State through the NCAA Softball Tournament, though until the World Series it had been limited to the players in the dugout.
That changed in a way that fit both the moment and the venue. Outside food is normally on the prohibited list at Devon Park, but the NCAA made an exception for broccoli, turning a private team ritual into something the crowd could share. The Bulldogs had already been carrying plenty of it — after winning the regional final over Saint Mary's, they had a surplus in the dugout, and broccoli was still there during the super regional wins over No. 3 seed Oklahoma. Dean Goold, the father of pitcher Peja Goold, said he even cleared an entire shelf of broccoli at Homeland grocery store for the players, calling the whole thing a way to keep the mood loose: “This is supposed to be fun. It's not supposed to be a business. It's not supposed to be high pressure. It's supposed to be a game. So, I think the spirit of positivity, positive energy and just keeping it what it's all supposed to be about is very important right now.”
The broccoli was not the only thing Mississippi State parents brought to the World Series. After super regionals, Gretta Grassel’s mom, Penny, helped commission black Team Broccoli shirts with three smiling florets on them, and the parents planned to wear them for Mississippi State’s second game of the weekend. Penny Grassel said, “Once we won super regionals (Game 1), I was like, 'Oh, we've got to get broccoli shirts,” and added, “I just think it's cool that everybody's jumping on the whole broccoli thing.” She said the World Series letting it happen was part of the point: “It's cool that the (Women's) College World Series has just allowed that to happen and just let these girls live out their dream and have fun with the broccoli.” What the NCAA has not said is how long the exception will last, and whether broccoli will still be welcome after Mississippi State’s next game rolls around.
