Broccoli crowns and stuffed cows at the Women’s College World Series: Why softball dugouts are the best of college ball

May 27, 2026

A herd of stuffed cows and a human dubbed “Broccoli Guy” will walk into Devon Park this week, and no, it’s not the start to a bad joke.

Quite the opposite. The rosters these out-of-character items represent are hoping it’s the spark to a national championship. Here at the Women’s College World Series, softball is the rare sport left that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even if it does obsess over the result.

It’s supposed to be fun, after all. Idle hands in the dugout find ways to support teammates in the batter’s box and on the bases. It’s a throughline from the chants of youth ball screamed from underneath upside-down hats. And this year’s iteration includes stuffed cows for Nebraska and broccoli crowns for underdog Mississippi State.

That type of collective drive can rally a squad, as happened organically with a man in a short-sleeve broccoli dress shirt, dancing in the outfield holding his pack of veggies. yahoo!sports