Note: The following appears in the Louisiana Tech football gameday program. Memorial Stadium turns 80 years old on Monday, Sept. 19. That’s right, the gates opened for the first time on Sept. 19, 1942, when the Tigers faced Presbyterian. Here are some of my favorite facts, figures and stories about the facility, commonly known as “Death Valley.” CONSTRUCTION Frank Howard supervised the sodding of the turf in Memorial Stadium in the summer of 1942. The workers were not progressing at a rate that satisfied Howard, so he gave them some incentive. “About 40 people (including Howard) laid the sod on the field,” said Howard years later. “After three weeks, on July 15, we had only gotten halfway through. So I told them I would give them three weeks pay for however it long it took to finish. I also told them we would have 50 gallons of ice cream brought to the stadium when we finished. “After that, it took them just three days to do the rest of the field. Then we sat down in the