Maryland Coach Sparks Controversy By Wearing Big Hat While Getting 4.5-Gallon Duke's Mayo Bowl Bath
The third-annual Duke's Mayo Bowl has come and gone, which left Maryland head coach Mike Locksley to celebrate a win in the best (worst?) way possible. He had 4.5 gallons of mayonnaise dumped on his head, as is tradition.
However, he wore a big hat while doing so— which sparked controversy.
Over the course of the last decade or so, bowl sponsor baths have become the norm. We have seen smoothie baths, french fry baths and Cheez-It baths.
None of them compare to what happened on Friday afternoon.
What is the Duke's Mayo Bowl bath?
The inaugural Duke's Mayo Bowl was played in 2020. It left fans extremely disappointed with the lack of Mayo bath.
To answer to its people, Duke's made a promise in 2021. If South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and North Carolina head coach Mack Brown agreed to have mayonnaise dumped on their heads, the Duke's Mayo Bowl would donate $10,000 to the winning head coach's charity of choice.
Of course, it would be an awful look to deny $10,000 to charity, so both coaches agreed.
It took a lot of preparation and science. Mayonnaise is not easy to dump, so it required the perfect amount of water to be added for it to become dumpable.
Ultimately, the Gamecocks won and Beamer was the first celebratory Mayo bath recipient in the history of the world. It was glorious, but the Mayo dumpers nearly concussed the head coach while dousing him in the creamy condiment.
Duke's Mayo Bowl steps it up for 2022, despite controversy.
After nearly concussing Beamer in 2021, the Duke's Mayo Bowl held a national search for new dumpers in 2022.
They were carefully selected, and even went through a dress rehearsal on the day prior.
With everything ready to go, the game got underway and the mayonnaise made its way to the sideline.
Tubby, the Duke's Mayo Bowl mascot, was also on the sideline and was having a blast.
The mayonnaise was everywhere.
The legendary Jay Arnold was among those in attendance, as the Duke's Mayo Bowl's 1,000,000th fan. He spent the entire game crushing a jar of Duke's Mayo and could not have looked any more joyful while doing so.
What an honor!
There was also a deviled egg eating contest at halftime.
Meanwhile, on the field, Maryland played to a 16-12 win over N.C. State. Thus, Locksley was the Mayo bath recipient.
He wore a big hat while receiving the honor. Locksley's choice of headwear did not go over well.
We will give him a pass in this instance, only because the big hat is hilarious and because the big hat-maker is a Terrapin.
Ultimately, execution could not have been better. Last year's mistakes were a thing of the past and the Duke's Mayo Bowl mayonnaise bath was everything that we could have ever hoped for and more.
And to Locksley's credit, after much pushback about the big hat and chants for him to take it off— he did.
He took the mayonnaise to the dome like a champion.
There are people out there who say that there are too many bowl games. Imagine being one of those people and looking yourself in the mirror every morning. L-A-M-E.