So how did Alabama's mascot turn out to be an Elephant?

SanctionII

And other than in the circus and the zoo, do any Elephants live in Alabama?

Did the student body choose the Elephant to be the mascot years ago?

I remember that when UC Santa Cruz opened for business [in the 1960's if I recall], the then student body voted on choosing a school mascot. The students voted to have the "Banana Slug" be the school mascot. Still is to this day and I am sure that all alumni from that school are very proud to be a Banana Slug.

Same thing with UC Irvine. The student body voted to have the "Anteater" be the school mascot. Better than a Banana Slug, more intimidating also [since I would not want an Anteater to slash me with its claws].

bking

<< <i>And other than in the circus and the zoo, do any Elephants live in Alabama?

Did the student body choose the Elephant to be the mascot years ago?

I remember that when UC Santa Cruz opened for business [in the 1960's if I recall], the then student body voted on choosing a school mascot. The students voted to have the "Banana Slug" be the school mascot. Still is to this day and I am sure that all alumni from that school are very proud to be a Banana Slug.

Same thing with UC Irvine. The student body voted to have the "Anteater" be the school mascot. Better than a Banana Slug, more intimidating also [since I would not want an Anteater to slash me with its claws]. >>



Wiki is your friend...

The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. On October 8, a sportswriter wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game. The writer, using the flair for the dramatic common in sportswriting at the time, wrote that an anonymous fan yelled out "Hold your horses, the elephants are coming!" upon hearing the rumble of the first team coming on the field. The name stuck throughout what became a national championship season and beyond.

WTCG

[qI remember that when UC Santa Cruz opened for business [in the 1960's if I recall], the then student body voted on choosing a school mascot. The students voted to have the "Banana Slug" be the school mascot. Still is to this day and I am sure that all alumni from that school are very proud to be a Banana Slug.

Same thing with UC Irvine. The student body voted to have the "Anteater" be the school mascot. Better than a Banana Slug, more intimidating also [since I would not want an Anteater to slash me with its claws]. >>



My best friend is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz. The normals in the student body are not proud.

Leave it up entirely to the student body to decide and humiliation is almost inevitable. Years ago the student body at Stanford wanted to call themselves the Stanford Salamanders. Good thing reason ultimately prevailed.

SanctionII

Good point Wei.

When I was a college student I probably would have thought that "Banana Slug" would be a perfectly fine school mascot.

Of course, when I was a college student in the 1970's I thought that Saturday Night Live's comedy skits [i.e. Dan Ackroyd's "Bassomatic" blender, Weekend Update, etc.] were actually funny and highly sophisticated humor. When I watch reruns of these early SNL skits I wonder why I ever thought they were funny.

Most people eventually outgrow their youth.

coinkat

Because they are copying CSUF?

57loaded

students rooted for their slugs since about 1980 when the school joined NCAA division III and needed an "official" mascot

UCSC's official mascot was a sea lion until 1986

sure beats a tree