It was the day before New Years Eve, 2021. South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer sat in the center of the room and listened as cheers of anticipation grew—but something far from a ball in Times Square was about to be dropped. Two women, donned in shirts that read “I’m just here for the Mayo,” lifted a jug-style cooler (most often seen being used to dump Gatorade over the winning coach’s head games at, you know, normal sporting events) filled with mayonnaise. With one extra push, it was hoisted easily above their shoulders—so easily that it would almost make you think, “Wow, I could probably do that.” But then it started to tip, and the momentum of over 30 pounds of mayonnaise (one gallon weighs about 7.5 pounds, so that’s really an underestimation) brought it down with a bonk, bouncing off Beamer’s Gamecocks ball cap-covered head as the thick, white condiment coated his upper body.
This year, either NC State head coach Dave Doeren or Maryland head coach Mike Locksley will have the honor of getting dumped on following the 2022 Duke’s Mayo Bowl. But it’s not just the coach himself who will be different—the dumpers will be too. After the bonk heard ‘round the world, Duke’s Mayo began a search for new “Mayo Dumpers,” officially announcing the open role to fans via social media in November. Well, first, the company sent Beamer a hard hat as an apology, which he promptly shared on Twitter. Then, after that was taken care of, they turned to the fans.
Allison Vick, the owner and founder of Little Blue Bakehouse in Raleigh, N.C., was a Duke’s fan before she was a college football fan, having not become invested in the sport until she went to college at, coincidentally, NC State. Growing up in North Carolina, Duke’s mayonnaise was “built into your core memories,” the 35-year-old says. She didn’t go without it until 2011, when she moved to Austin, Texas.
