I've wondered this for like a year or so, but watching the Wisky-Bama game tonight I keep seeing those elephants on the court and it's really bugging me trying to figure out what an elephant has to do with Crimson Tide.
Why is Alabama's mascot an elephant?
- Thread starter bjfinste
- Start date
"The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season when Coach Wallace Wade had assembled a great football team.
On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. Strupper wrote, "That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes.
"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big and they went right to their knitting scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against one of the best fighting small lines that I have seen. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground.
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size."
Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions. "
............................................................................................
KOD
On October 8, 1930, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal wrote a story of the Alabama-Mississippi game he had witnessed in Tuscaloosa four days earlier. Strupper wrote, "That Alabama team of 1930 is a typical Wade machine, powerful, big, tough, fast, aggressive, well-schooled in fundamentals, and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen. When those big brutes hit you I mean you go down and stay down, often for an additional two minutes.
"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big and they went right to their knitting scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against one of the best fighting small lines that I have seen. For Ole Miss was truly battling the big boys for every inch of ground.
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
"It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size."
Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions. "
............................................................................................
KOD
Why a Crimson Tide and an elephant?
Dateline Alabama sheds a little light onto why Alabama is known as the Crimson Tide, and why they use an elephant as their mascot.
Rachel Telehany, staff reporter
Crimson Tide fans may cheer when the football team runs onto Bryant-Denny Stadium field, but even the most devoted fans may not know the true story of the elephant mascot, or why Alabama is even called the ?Crimson Tide.?
Homecoming Week is in full force as campus organizations decorate floats, the Homecoming Queen election approaches, and the traditional homecoming football game against Southern Miss looms ahead on Saturday. But while students, faculty, family and friends come to the Capstone to celebrate the Homecoming tradition, not everyone knows exactly what is being celebrated.
The first Alabama football game was played in Birmingham on Nov. 11, 1892 at Lakeview Park. But in 1896 the University?s board of trustees banned athletic teams from playing off campus. Football was cancelled in 1898, but resumed in 1899 as a result of overwhelming protest by students.
While dates and obscure facts about the football team may be lost to many students, the origins of the name ?Crimson Tide,? and the elephant mascot should not be.
The story of the elephant mascot dates back to Oct.8, 1930, when sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal covered the Alabama-Mississippi game on October 4. Strupper wrote that the football team ?is?a machine, powerful, big, tough?and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen.? When the Alabama football team ran from the tunnel onto the field, Strupper reported that an excited fan said, ?Hold your horses, the elephants are coming.?
In his article Strupper continued to comment on the size and stature of the Alabama players. After Strupper?s article was printed, Strupper and other sports writers began to refer to the Alabama players as ?Red Elephants,? referring to the red jerseys.
But many Alabama students may not know the elephant story.
?I didn?t know there even was a story,? sophomore and international marketing major JoAnna Smitherman said. ?I just thought the mascot was named randomly.?
Other students know there is a reason for the elephant mascot, but aren?t sure what it is.
?I know it has to do with something about the sound of the players running into the stadium back in the day,? sophomore and undecided major Lauren Batchelor said.
But for alumni like Margaret Johnson from Montgomery, Alabama, the story of the elephant mascot is a known fact. Johnson attended the University in 1938, only eight years after the Tide acquired the elephant mascot.
?I wouldn?t expect UA students to know the story of the mascot now after all these years, but I know it because it was during my time,? Johnson said.
The name ?Crimson Tide" predates the elephant story. In 1906 the Alabama football team was called the ?Thin Red Line,? by sports writers because of their red jerseys. This was taken from a line in a Rudyard Kipling poem that says,
"Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll."
But Hugh Roberts, former sports editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald, used the nickname the ?Crimson Tide? to describe the way Alabama played against Auburn in a ?sea of mud? in 1907.
While Homecoming Week is about tradition, decoration, and excitement, the origins of the Crimson Tide and elephant mascot should not be forgotten since they are part of the reason for all of the celebration.
Dateline Alabama sheds a little light onto why Alabama is known as the Crimson Tide, and why they use an elephant as their mascot.
Rachel Telehany, staff reporter
Crimson Tide fans may cheer when the football team runs onto Bryant-Denny Stadium field, but even the most devoted fans may not know the true story of the elephant mascot, or why Alabama is even called the ?Crimson Tide.?
Homecoming Week is in full force as campus organizations decorate floats, the Homecoming Queen election approaches, and the traditional homecoming football game against Southern Miss looms ahead on Saturday. But while students, faculty, family and friends come to the Capstone to celebrate the Homecoming tradition, not everyone knows exactly what is being celebrated.
The first Alabama football game was played in Birmingham on Nov. 11, 1892 at Lakeview Park. But in 1896 the University?s board of trustees banned athletic teams from playing off campus. Football was cancelled in 1898, but resumed in 1899 as a result of overwhelming protest by students.
While dates and obscure facts about the football team may be lost to many students, the origins of the name ?Crimson Tide,? and the elephant mascot should not be.
The story of the elephant mascot dates back to Oct.8, 1930, when sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal covered the Alabama-Mississippi game on October 4. Strupper wrote that the football team ?is?a machine, powerful, big, tough?and the best blocking team for this early in the season that I have ever seen.? When the Alabama football team ran from the tunnel onto the field, Strupper reported that an excited fan said, ?Hold your horses, the elephants are coming.?
In his article Strupper continued to comment on the size and stature of the Alabama players. After Strupper?s article was printed, Strupper and other sports writers began to refer to the Alabama players as ?Red Elephants,? referring to the red jerseys.
But many Alabama students may not know the elephant story.
?I didn?t know there even was a story,? sophomore and international marketing major JoAnna Smitherman said. ?I just thought the mascot was named randomly.?
Other students know there is a reason for the elephant mascot, but aren?t sure what it is.
?I know it has to do with something about the sound of the players running into the stadium back in the day,? sophomore and undecided major Lauren Batchelor said.
But for alumni like Margaret Johnson from Montgomery, Alabama, the story of the elephant mascot is a known fact. Johnson attended the University in 1938, only eight years after the Tide acquired the elephant mascot.
?I wouldn?t expect UA students to know the story of the mascot now after all these years, but I know it because it was during my time,? Johnson said.
The name ?Crimson Tide" predates the elephant story. In 1906 the Alabama football team was called the ?Thin Red Line,? by sports writers because of their red jerseys. This was taken from a line in a Rudyard Kipling poem that says,
"Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll."
But Hugh Roberts, former sports editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald, used the nickname the ?Crimson Tide? to describe the way Alabama played against Auburn in a ?sea of mud? in 1907.
While Homecoming Week is about tradition, decoration, and excitement, the origins of the Crimson Tide and elephant mascot should not be forgotten since they are part of the reason for all of the celebration.
My bad scott didn't realize you had posted it already, just left the original post window open.
Your web searching skills are superior to mine by 3 minutes :142hail:
Your web searching skills are superior to mine by 3 minutes :142hail:
"Coach Wade started his second team that was plenty big
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions
.......................................................................................
After the game Coach Wade was approached by
the Old Miss teams cheerleaders and they wished him luck.
I WANT TO KISS YOU ..!!!!! screamed Coach Wade.
Wasn't Joe Namath a elephant ?
KOD
"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity.
The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. The "Red Elephants" rolled over Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl and were declared National Champions
.......................................................................................
After the game Coach Wade was approached by
the Old Miss teams cheerleaders and they wished him luck.
I WANT TO KISS YOU ..!!!!! screamed Coach Wade.
Wasn't Joe Namath a elephant ?
KOD
