Tulane coach Rick Jones said the grand opening of the brand new Turchin Stadium was a smashing success.

"It was a memorable, historic weekend," Jones said. "It was a great weather weekend–our field turf paid off right off the bat, because we had five inches of rain between Wednesday and Thursday, but it allowed us to have a great opening night with 5,000-plus fans. It was perfect with pregame festivities, the ribbon-cutting ceremony–there was just so much excitement in the downtown area. Then Saturday we had a band playing, they closed down the streets for this thing."

Former Green Wave great Bobby Brown, a longtime big leaguer and ex-president of the American League, threw out the first pitch, and Tulane’s massive video board showed highlights of him driving in Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio in a World Series game at Ebbets Field.

During the weekend, the video board also played interviews with current Tulane players talking about what the new stadium meant to them and how excited they were to have a home after Hurricane Katrina displaced them the last two years.

"For the players that have been in our program for over a year, it meant more because they knew what displacement was about," Jones said. "But it was special for the new guys too. You only open a new stadium one time, and you could feel their excitement."