By Rod Williamson, Director of Communications
May 11, 2011
Saturday is Lucy Jones Day at the Florida baseball game. She is retiring.
Say it isn’t so! Did we hear that right? Lucy Jones, the woman who is pictured when you look up Vanderbilt Commodores in the dictionary? That Lucy Jones? Since when do you get to quit at 39? We need some answers!
We’ve double-checked our sources and hard as it is to believe, it’s true. Her last official day as Senior Director of Athletics Development will be June 30 but we’re going to call it Lucy Jones Day around here Saturday. We might consider calling 2011 Lucy Jones Year because to many, Lucy is Vanderbilt athletics.
There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 125 employees in our athletic department and its highly unlikely anyone cares as much about the Commodores and their coaches as Lucy. It’s in her DNA.
Lucy has worn several hats in her 28 years of service but most of us know her for her many years as our ticket manager or in the last decade or so, as a friend and leader in the National Commodore Club. We all know Lucy, we love Lucy and we trust Lucy.
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| Jones with 2010 grad Brian Harris |
I arrived about the same time as Lucy, who was following her passion after a few years with First American Bank. She was born and raised in Franklin and in those early years was a faithful assistant to ticket manager Dot Poag. She later ran the shop.
She was terrific in the box office but Lucy Bird (as I have longed called her) is often the life of the party. A small cadre of us used to delight in putting on skits for the rest of the department when someone was leaving town, during holidays or other special events.
We called ourselves “The McGugin Players” and heaven help the poor soul that publicly goofed up as their miscue usually became the plot of our next spoof. Nobody was immune; once Athletic Director Roy Kramer had a fender bender when they put in a new stop light at Natchez Trace and Jess Neely. That was prime fodder for a “Crash Kramer” ditty that left our boss and colleagues in hysterics.
We laughed with Lucy on many occasions. And when the Commodores came up short on the field of play, sometimes we shared a tear or two with her.
Anyone who has ever watched one of our home basketball games has seen this woman in action. Sitting directly behind the Vanderbilt basket and decked out in black and gold, one can always see Lucy, her husband Doug, niece Debbie Green and sons Jody and Dewayne. Yes, she’s the one that looks like she’s watching her first college game and has bet her mortgage on the `Dores. Keeping the officials honest (they all know her by name), urging the Commodores onward, inciting the crowd to produce Memorial Magic. And, by the way, her personal cash contribution to the NCC gave her the right to those seats; she never sat there because of insider trading.
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| Lucy’s 1985 headshot |
She was a whirl of action at a basketball tournament. As the Commodores would advance, Lucy would bolt into action to get more tickets from the losing team’s ticket manager. Eddie Fogler would say admiringly, “fast walkin, fast talkin’ Lucy Jones.”
It’s going to be difficult for all of us to get used to a McGugin Center world without Lucy Bird — her million dollar smile, her upbeat attitude, her stories. Not that she always saw the world through gold-colored classes; pity the foolish staffer who thoughtlessly gave his tickets to a neighbor that ended up wearing blue or red or…the biggest sin…orange to the big game and tried to sit in our staff section. She is as bull dog loyal as she is passionate.
I’m hoping that Lucy’s departure doesn’t mean she will quit baking goodies. There are a lot of good cooks in Music City but I’m saying there are none better than good ole Lucy. If I were Doug, I’d weigh 500 pounds.
She isn’t really leaving; she’s simply retiring from Vanderbilt Athletics. We’ll still get to see Lucy and her family at the pre-game tailgates, the special events, those seats at Memorial Gym.
But it’s time for Lucy to enjoy more of her wonderful grandchildren, play some golf with Doug and generally take it easy. After all, at age 39 she’s earned as much. And all of us will thank her from the bottom of our hearts for what she has meant these many years as the heart and soul of the Vanderbilt Commodores.
