Behind-the-Scenes of a Boo-tiful night

At first glance, it's a gorgeous, warm and sunny day at John Cropp Stadium. The home of the University of Kentucky softball team is practically sparkling, thanks to a brilliantly-blue sky and luscious, freshly-mowed grass. The sun is literally shining bright on Kentucky softball's home.

The UK Sports Turf crew is equally responsible for the aforementioned beauty and for the destruction to follow.

To be fair, destruction may be putting it harshly.

Boo-tification is sillier. It's also more accurate.

As Josh Barnes, Matt Goode and their small group of student workers take turns shaking cans of paint and revving up something called the "Field Lazer S1000," there's certainly a sense of eagerness (and the undeniable smell of spray paint) in the air.

"Coach Lawson is a Halloween nut, and I am, too," Barnes told BBN Tonight anchor Maggie Davis. "On her Halloween practices, me and my boss would go out there and paint skeletons and all sorts of stuff randomly… She loved it, and it snowballed."

Barnes is reluctant to take credit, but it's clear those painted skeletons, in their own way, paved a path toward Wednesday's work and Friday's spectacle.

The Big Blue Boo takes this stunning softball stadium and flips it into something spookier, and the painted field provides the perfect backdrop for what essentially equates to part-time softball, full-time festival.

"You've never seen anything like it because it's sports meets fall festival meets Halloween" Coach Lawson said in a press conference Thursday afternoon. "The best part about it is just to see the field. The work the grounds crew [does] to transform this stadium tomorrow, it's just going to be impressive. Anybody who's a sports enthusiast, you'll just never see anything like it anywhere else."

With free admission and more games, inflatables and costumes than you can count, the Big Blue Boo has morphed into a beloved tradition for the thousands of fans who have walked through the hay-lined gates over the past five years.

Photo by Marissa Gilchrist | UK Athletics

"The environment is great," Goode said of the annual event. "We're doing this for Coach Lawson, and she does a great job with it... Whatever she needs, we'll do it. We'll make it happen for her."

Barnes says prepping this field for the Big Blue Boo is "up there" with his favorite assignments of the year, with Goode adding it's a "ten" on his scale.

It's a favorite, but it's also far from typical. The UK Sports Turf department as a whole is responsible for the care and upkeep of every field on campus.

In addition to the softball stadium, Goode's primary responsibilities include the men's and women's soccer pitch at The Bell, as well as their practice fields.

"Those are the three fields me and Josh take care of," Goode said. "Mowing and, if soccer has a game, we paint. We check practice soccer, make sure it’s mowed. We’ll mow the softball field, drag it, put bases out, water the infield and get the moisture right for her so she’s ready to practice. We make it game day ready."

Goode is in his first year at UK, following a stint with the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels. He's an EKU alumnus, who earned his degree in horticulture with a concentration in turf grass management.

"If softball has a game, you've got to tarp, look at the weather and go from there. You have a challenge every day," Goode said. "That makes it fun: doing different things - new things! - every day. The best part is you’re working outdoors."

Barnes is longer tenured. He's been with the Wildcats since 2006, after beginning his career down the road at Georgetown College. It's been something new every day since, in a career he first entered as a 16-year-old kid looking for a summer gig.

"I always watched a lot of football - that’s why I wanted to learn how to do this," Barnes said while laying down the lines of the "UK" logo across center field. "The opportunity arose and, for some reason, I was good at it. I don’t know why."

After spending only an hour or so together, and at the risk of sounding arrogant, I think I know why.

This group is part pit crew, part art class. Tight-knit yet easy going. They swear up-and-down they're not perfectionists ("I wouldn't be doing this if I was," one student worker told me), but it's clear they take an immense amount of pride in their work.

They're true teammates, poised and at the ready for the other teammates who rely on their thoughtfulness, as well as for the fans who come to campus daily to cheer on the Cats.

"To let [the fans] see our work, what we do, is nice," Goode said. "You get the wow factor."

"If you can’t have fun, it ain’t worth it," Barnes added. "That’s what makes it. That's what makes it."

BBN Tonight

Story shot and edited by photographer Nick Lazaroff.

For more behind-the-scenes spotlights and other stories about the Wildcats, join us on BBN Tonight, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18.