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Dave Chappelle’s alter ego Tyrone Biggums once preached that dog food tastes just like it smells, delicious.

Biggums has obviously never been to the University of Louisville’s Belknap campus.

Located on 2441 S. Floyd St. right beyond the campus, next to the Bass Rudd Tennis complex and across from the Yum! Center and Lacrosse Field is the Solae factory. The Solae Company is committed to bringing “more great-tasting nutritious soy-foods to the market place.”

In the process they produce a smell that junior marketing and business management major Patrick Mayer said smells like old meat.

According to Nicholas Weber, public relations manager for the Solae Company, the site produces sustainable soy products for the paper and board industry and no edible products are produced.

Still, U of L students seem to remain under the impression that the factory, or at least the smell it produces, wreaks of something putrid.

“Ever since I’ve gone to Louisville I thought it was a dog food factory,” said Mayer, who first encountered the smell while trying to participate in an intramural soccer game his freshman year.

Mayer is one of numerous athletes who must attempt to compete under the foul-smelling conditions.

“I can’t tell you how many times, either in the heat of summer or in the frigid air of winter, that my teammates and I have smelled and subsequently commented (sometimes with the use of expletives) on that horrendous stench coming from the factory,” said Nate Gerstle, senior midfielder and captain of the men’s soccer team. “The last thing you want when you’re gasping for air is to breathe that stuff in.”

Twenty U of L teams practice within an eighth of a mile of the factory, with the majority practicing outdoors.

“We have such amazing facilities at U of L. The only problem is the nauseating smell that we get to experience each and every time we hit the field,” said senior All-American goalkeeper Joanna Haig, who ironically finds a giant picture of herself plastered on the opposite side of the factory. “I guess we have kind of become accustomed to it. But there are hot, humid days when it is unbearable.”

The smell of the factory diminishes from the major strides U of L has made in upgrading its athletic facilities. Can you imagine how horrendous it would be if the smell, which comes and goes irregularly, hits the women’s lacrosse inception this Friday?

Can you imagine what a recruit would think if they got a whiff of the factory? Maybe the smell had something to do with why the football team signed the No. 55 best recruiting class according to Rivals.com. Too bad Coach Kragthorpe wasn’t recruiting Air Bud Golden Receiver.

It is time for U of L and the athletic department to get serious about acquiring the Solae factory. Can you imagine how nice a parking garage or intramural field would look right there?

Until then, U of L will always be associated with foul (smelling) play.