Paul Mainieri emailed me today...

and said the stadium isn't ready, but it will be....

Dear Coaches Committee,

I can assure you that the opening game will be played in the NEW Alex Box Stadium this Friday night with Opening Ceremonies at 6:15pm and First Pitch at 7:15pm.

However, it is with great regret that I must inform all of you that our Coaches Committee meeting that included the tour of the new Alex Box Stadium that was originally scheduled for this Wednesday, February 18th must be postponed.

The contracting firm of Bouquet & Leblanc is doing a fantastic job… but is still putting the finishing touches on the stadium so that we will be ready to go Friday night against Villanova. They simply have not yet turned the stadium over to the LSU Athletic Department as they must go through the legal process of making this happen. We expect this process to be completed on Thursday. The finishing touches include installing some fencing and gates and mainly include construction clean-up. Because there still remain some possible safety issues, our athletic administration, in consultation with the construction company, feel we should not have our walk through with the Coaches Committee on Wednesday.

I want you to know how bad it makes me feel that you will not be able to tour the stadium or sit in your seats before the first game. However, I still want the Coaches Committee to be the first people to tour all of the areas of the new stadium that are not available to the general public (locker room, offices, team meeting room, players' lounge, indoor hitting facility, etc.). That being said, we have decided to postpone the meeting to Thursday February 26th, and will follow the same schedule of having dinner from 6pm-7pm and then begin the tours at 7pm. By the way, I am hoping that on Friday the gates will open earlier than the typical 2 hours before game time so that you can walk around and tour the stadium by yourself before the game. However, that decision has not yet been made final and I will let you know if this becomes the case.

Thank you all for your patience and we greatly look forward to seeing you all at the new Box this Friday night!

Sincerely,

Paul Mainieri

Head Coach

Louisiana State University