why is alabama's mascot an elephant

What is cardinal color? It's not just a random date that the food company picked out of thin air. [Related: PHOTOS: 2012 college football uniform tracker & grader]. In addition to being the live mascot at Crimson Tide football games, Big Al is also used in a number of other ways to represent the university. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. Unmatched in size that Alabama team knocked me [out] cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size." Big Al celebrated his first year with Bear Bryant's 300th win against the Kentucky Wildcats and a victory against the Baylor Bears in the 1981 Cotton Bowl. Welcome to my blog, where Ill be discussing the important question of why the Alabama Crimson Tides mascot is an elephant. The Elephant Story. As a result, the live elephant mascot was eventually retired. The school still refused, however, to acknowledge the elephant as an official mascot. The first time an elephant was mentioned in relation to Alabama athletics was in 1907, when then-head football coach Eugene Beaumont called his squad a great big blue elephant. The nickname stuck, and in 1931, then-sports editor Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote that Alabamas football team had the biggest, grandest show on earth.. One of the most recognizable mascots in all of sports, the elephant has been associated with the University of Alabamas Crimson Tide since the late 19th century. Photo courtesy of William Webster. The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The band will form an elephant on the field and Big Al will march them down the field. He makes appearances at university functions and events, he stars in commercials and public service announcements, and he even has his own line of merchandise. How hot is it? 2 Alabama at Tuscaloosa isn't the Crimson Tide's mascot Big Al. That person will go back into the locker room and the next Big Al will come out for the first quarter. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. So very rarely will you see Big Al on the sideline in Bryant-Denny during the third quarter because he's actually up in the boxes visiting people up there. Since you see out of the corner of your eyes the way they push you up you can see yourself on the screen whenever they put you on the screen. But there is a little bit of pressure about image. Since the early 1900s, the University of Alabama has been associated with the elephant. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions. Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys. We do get a little bit of scholarship money just because we do so much for the university. "It's a pretty common question," said Ken Gaddy, Director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa. He wasn't fat. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. ", Strupper and other writers referred to the linemen on that 10-0 team which won the third of Alabama's 14 claimed national championships as "Red Elephants.". After this, they perform for 1015 minutes each during the game, mimicking a normal gameday atmosphere. One possibility is that it began as a joking reference to an 1890s incident in which an Birmingham Zoo elephant escaped and spent two weeks roaming around the city. Q: What was your favorite game or moment as Big Al? Big Al is the costumed mascot of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 2023 www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. This fits in well with the tradition and history of the Alabama Crimson Tide, which is one of the most prestigious college football teams in the country. We have a round that is just the walk. Click to reveal Nothing about No. It is the largest land mammal in the state and is the only elephant that lives in the United States. What gives? The "Big Al" mascot officially debuted at the 1979 Sugar Bowl, when the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks. Additional troubleshooting information here. 4 Oklahoma square off in Orange Bowl for national title bid. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. He'll also drop in on your nuptials, if youre willing to pony up his $400 wedding appearance fee. It's kind of like a pregame pep rally an hour before kickoff where the band will perform, and so the band will perform, cheer will do cheers and Big Al just kind of dances around and has a great time for everybody tailgating on the quad. We have five different assignments for every game day split between all five of us. He has a signature, so we practice the signature and teach it to other people. During the 1979 season, after a little pleading with Coach Bear Bryant tojump on board with anon-field mascot, Big Al made his first appearance alongside the Crimson Tide. Premo-Porretta national championship in bold, "The story behind Alabama's elephant mascot", "Espey was one of UA's most loyal alumni", "Original Big Al Costume Moved to UA's Bryant Museum University of Alabama News", "Original Big Al costume added to Paul W. Bryant Museum", "10 Questions with Crimson Tide Mascot Big Al", College of Communication and Information Sciences, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Al_(mascot)&oldid=1118445329, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 October 2022, at 01:50. So join me on this journey as we explore the answer to this important question: Why is Alabamas mascot an elephant? We were up for all of those morning shows. Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Usually, if you're a first-year on the team you get a little bit less than everyone else on the team. Hugh Roberts, sports editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald, is widely credited as being the first to use "Crimson Tide" to refer to Alabama's football team. Later that afternoon, the candidates come either prepared with a minute-and-a-half skit or they can make an impromptu one at tryouts. It's a little bit of both. He's cute. LSU in 2019 was probably my favorite environment in sports. If you picture your vision on a clock from 9-3 you can't see from 11-1 o'clock. Can he throw a football? That was not the image of his players he wanted to portray." The mascot made its debut in the 1980 Sugar Bowl, but the first student to don the elephant costume was Melford Espey Jr. . This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. The final announcement of the next year's mascot team happens immediately following the spring game. Dickey: "I'm not actually sure why, but it's just always been the thing that Big Al does. He became Big Al in the spring of 2019 and is currently one of five students on the Big Al team. The Crimson Tides mascot is an elephant because the UA spirit committee began hiring elephants from travelling circuses or Tuscaloosa to attend every homecoming. The bigger ones go to the school.". The maximum amount of time Big Al can spend at your special day: one hour. Alabama's elephant mascot is known as "Big Al". "Coach (Bear) Bryant thought it was not representative of football players," Gaddy said. So Quad is everything that happens before Big Al even arrives in the stadium. We do have a roster on rolltide.com. Whoever makes the final cut is invited to A-Day for the final tryout, which consists of a field walk before the game. We'll take Big Al around the Quad, we'll drive him around and he'll wave to kids and everybody tailgating. link to Can you cook mince 1 day out of date? LIVE. They play the Green Day song ["Basket Case"]. Needless to say, Alabama opponents in the SEC aren't nearly as fond of seeing the Crimson Tide's elephant mascot. The tradition of an elephant mascot continued for many years, with . What gives? When Bryant shot down the elephant mascot idea, that was that. You have to go all the way back to 1930 to find the origin of Alabama's elephant. We had Good Morning America. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes. 1 Alabama's nickname of "Crimson Tide" brings to mind the school's costumed elephant mascot, Big Al, no matter how hard you try. After a few rounds, he got dropped. While there is no official explanation for why an elephant was chosen as Alabamas mascot, there are a few theories. [Related: Top 10 college football live mascots ft. Auburn's "War Eagle"]. The fact that he's an elephant, it's just not something you see very often. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while. Big Al walks in to the room and he has to interact with the props in multiple different ways, but he can't use any of the props for their intended purpose. The University of Alabama is home to many of the bests. So we have to pass a conditioning test to prove we have the athletic stamina to be Big Al. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground. Big Al is the costumed elephant mascot of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That gets divvied up through cheerleaders and Big Al. [Related: VIDEO: Ole Miss streaker gets leveled by security]. LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball site that regularly contributes to Dr. Saturday. Why is alabama's mascot an elephant? Despite their large size and weight, elephants are capable of running at up to 25 km/h (16 mph). From that point, Strupper started calling Alabama the Red Elephants, and the association stuck. There are several reasons why this is so. That's just Big Al.' The birthday parties we can keep. Since then, the Crimson Tide has had several live elephants as mascots, the most recent of which is named Big Al. "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow," wrote Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal when describing the Tide's domination of Ole Miss on Oct. 8, 1930. But if you wanted Big Al for a private event that would be like $100. So Big Al's suit is different from a lot of other mascots. This is due to a 2002 incident between Big Al and Seymour of Southern Miss during a game in Tuscaloosa. Even the Alabama Crimson Tide's elephant mascot, Big Al, is considered the GOAT when it comes to the big, furry friends that roam college football's sidelines. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. Big Al, Alabama's elephant mascot, has roamed the sidelines for more than 30 years. Espey later became a university administrator, and football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant asked him to take responsibility when student groups asked to resurrect the costumed mascot in the late 1970s.[4]. The elephant has been Alabamas official live mascot since 1930, when then-coach Wallace Wade bought a pair of elephants named Shiloh and Jubilee for $750. Everyone puts their fours in the air. ", Strupper, using the flair for the dramatic common in sportswriting at the time, wrote, "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. [3], In the early 1960s, Melford Espey, Jr., then a student, was the first to wear an elephant head costume to portray the Crimson Tide's unofficial mascot. 167.114.26.66 Roll tide. Two species are traditionally recognized, the African elephant and the Asian elephant. A "fight" was scripted before the game, in which the rules were that Big Al loses the fight in front of the visitors section, and Big Al dominates in front of his student section. William Webster spent four years as Big Al from 2018 to 2021. Don't miss a story! Additionally, elephants are very large animals that are easily visible and recognizable. [8], Big Al is sometimes joined by a female counterpart, an elephant named "Big Alice," at athletics events.[9]. Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. Your IP: The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. The History of the Alabama Crimson Tide's Elephant Mascot. Performance & security by Cloudflare. how big is a woolly mammoth compared to an elephant. Q: What's the story behind the white jersey tradition? The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. Why is the Alabama mascot an elephant? He's a very unconventional mascot in general. 2 The Big Al costume was first officially worn in 1979. Since funding for the costume would have to come from the athletic department, Tart and Paige set up a meeting with Coach Bryant, who was the football coach and athletic director of the University. They play 'Tusk' and it's just kind of a cool little tradition we have. Most of our traditions happen in the fourth quarter. The first elephant to be associated with the team was actually a live animal, brought to games in the early 1900s. However, elephants featured prominently to gameday tradition long before this point. Auburn has two mascots. The "Why did the elephant paint its toenails" joke has the elephant painting its nails different colors to hide in different places. (He was portrayed by a different student, of course, as Espey had long since graduated.). That would go to us. No. Do you trip a lot? The gray, anthropomorphic elephant has been the team's official mascot since 1979, when Bear Bryant finally approved the trunked animal despite a history that dates back to 1930. Henry "Zipp" Newman, who became the sports editor of the Birmingham News at the age of 25, helped popularize the nickname. If there are enough students in the student section and we're ahead by enough points, Big Al will body surf up the student section, and that's always a fun experience. Nothing about No. The team went on to be named National Champions, according to rolltide.com. Q: Who's the best mascot in college football? In 1917, the band became a military band and was led . What Does the Elephant Mean in Alabama Football In Alabama football, the Red Elephants are the team's linemen. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant. That's what helped me the most in my tryout.". elephants are also known for their loyalty, which is another trait that makes them well-suited to being a mascot for the Alabama Crimson Tide. So within that sort of height. "It's special to the kids that relate to him," Gaddy said. I don't think our team performs as well if Big Al doesn't get the fans into it. Take a trip to Tuscaloosa and you'll find Nick Saban, who is undoubtedly the greatest college football coach of our generation. The biggest thing is that we're viewed as student-athletes. The biggest thing to look for in someone who wants to be a Big Al is are they creative enough to think on the spot and are they animated enough? 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'S elephant mascot be like $ 100 species are traditionally recognized, African., as Espey had long since graduated. ) Red elephants are very animals!

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