It kind of symbols a sign of 'we made it, let's finish this.' It's just a small little tradition that not a lot of people know about probably. Big Al wears a white jersey for the fourth quarter of football games. Then all your gestures get swallowed since it's such a big suit. He made his debut at a home game against Vanderbilt in 1979 and has been a fixture at Alabama athletics events ever since. Dickey: "That's actually a really funny story. There are many reasons why the Crimson Tides mascot is an elephant. The third quarter we do box visits. Bryant was very easy to talk to and teased them about having a real elephant on the field and the mess it would make. We also have 'Elephant Stomp' which is at Gorgas Library. Bulls use their tusks aggressively while fighting; elephants also use them for tasks such as moving trees and stripping bark from trees for food. "We get it a lot from people not familiar with Alabama. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. That gets divvied up through cheerleaders and Big Al. Big Al never stops moving, and so that is a huge aspect of who he is.". 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. The elephant mascot even has its own name: Big Al. 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. Both sexes have tusks, which are modified upper incisors. It's definitely not the reason to be Big Al. LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball site that regularly contributes to Dr. Saturday. You have to fast-forward 23 years to come upon the first mention of elephants to describe Alabama football. 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. What Is The Difference Between Bonding And HardWall. I never felt like I was going to be dropped. You have to go all the way back to 1930 to find the origin of Alabama's elephant. The tradition of using an elephant as a mascot has continued ever since. This mirrors the close bond that exists between members of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team and its fans. "Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. Another theory is that it was inspired by a 1903 news article about then-Alabama head coach Mike Donahue, who was said to have a huge and strong team that was unstoppable like an elephant.. Can he throw a football? 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. In 1907, a live elephant was brought to campus as a mascot for the universitys football team. It takes all five of us. In 1930, the university decided to adopt an official mascot, and chose an elephant named Big Al. Big Al made his debut at the Sugar Bowl that year, and has been a fixture at Alabama football games ever since. "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, he wrote, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Henry "Zipp" Newman, who became the sports editor of the Birmingham News at the age of 25, helped popularize the nickname. In 1896, a sportswriter for the Birmingham Age-Herald came up with the nickname Crimson Tide to describe the University of Alabamas football team. Pregame, you're in charge of marching the band out on to the field. That's a lot of weight on your neck. [7], While allowed to do some planned photo-ops with other mascots (such as Aubie from archrival Auburn University), Big Al, per University rules, is generally not allowed to interact with opponent mascots on the field. Since then, the Crimson Tides elephant mascot has been represented in a variety of ways, from costumed mascots to cartoon characters. After a few rounds, he got dropped. That person is in charge of the first quarter and third quarter, because in the third quarter we do box visits. "Some of the mascots they're afraid of, but they're just drawn to Big Al.". They play 'Tusk' and it's just kind of a cool little tradition we have. Then we as the judges have to guess what he's trying to do with the props. Cloudflare is unable to establish an SSL connection to the origin server. The first elephant to represent the Crimson Tide was actually a live animal, brought to games to lead the team onto the field. We have five different assignments for every game day split between all five of us. The nickname stuck. The expiration date also labeled Arew is the go-to source for all your home improvement, gardening, cooking, and family needs. I've always had good experiences with it. And in the early 1960s, Alabama student Melford Espey went the extra mile and dressed up as the animal to cheer on his beloved team. 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]. ", Webster: "It's definitely crazy hot. [7] The scripted fight suddenly became unscripted after Seymour deviated from the set rules, and a raucous fight on the sidelines between the two ensued. The tradition of an elephant mascot continued for many years, with various live animals appearing at games and even marching in parades. Q: What was the process of becoming Big Al? Over time, showerheads can become clogged with deposits of calcium, magnesium, lime, silica, and other minerals. The Crimson Tides mascot is an elephant because the UA spirit committee began hiring elephants from travelling circuses or Tuscaloosa to attend every homecoming. Dickey: "There definitely is. That was not the image of his players he wanted to portray.". "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. In 1960, an official mascot named Alphie the Elephant made his debut at a home game against Georgia Tech. It's an innate thing that everyone deep down knows but won't admit itI'm kidding. Two species are traditionally recognized, the African elephant and the Asian elephant. It doesn't look very good. He actually does 500 activities outside of the sporting events that he attends, so he's a very busy guy. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. A self-taught DIYer, Tammy loves nothing more than tackling a new project in her own home. What does a blinking blue light on a smoke detector mean? Dickey: "We try to keep it a secret for the most part, because we don't want to be on the Quad as Big Al and there be a bunch of kids around us and some drunk college student come and be like, 'Is that trey in there?' This is where they are scored for going in public in a non-athletic event setting and interacting with the public. 1 Big Al's name used to be Alamite. and out stamped this Alabama varsity. Why is Alabama's mascot an elephant? Whatever its origins, the elephant quickly became a popular symbol for the Crimson Tide, appearing in newspaper cartoons and on team merchandise. It appears that the SSL configuration used is not compatible with Cloudflare. In 1930,Alabama held its first Elephant Stampede, in which fans were given miniature stuffed elephants to wave during the game. Trey Dickey is a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, studying creative media and communications studies. The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. It shut out eight opponents and allowed only 13 points all season while scoring 217. It just runs deep. What that is is we'll have a room with three random props in it. Instead, the UA spirit committee started hiring elephants, often from traveling circuses passing through or by Tuscaloosa, for every homecoming. In its place, costumed mascots have filled the role of the Crimson Tides elephant mascot. How big is a mammoth compared to an elephant? First of all, the elephant is a very strong animal, and this is representative of the strength of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. The first elephant to be associated with the team was actually a live animal, brought to games in the early 1900s. Although Big Al . 4 Oklahoma square off in Orange Bowl for national title bid. The Million Dollar Band, the University of Alabama's marching band, was founded in 1912 with 14 members under the direction of Dr. Gustav Wittig. [Related: PHOTO: Alabama fan gets massive $1,700 elephant back tattoo]. Every player is instantly thinking, 'Oh, I'm not here to make it to the NFL. That's kind of where the trunk and the nose is. By the 1950s, keeping a live elephant year round proved to be too expensive for the university. And with new content being added every day, there's always something new to discover. The final announcement of the next year's mascot team happens immediately following the spring game. The school still refused, however, to acknowledge the elephant as an official mascot. This tradition continued for many years and eventually, Melford Espey Jr., a student at UA, became the Crimson Tides official mascot by wearing an elephant head costume. This isn't just something that people come to the tryout to be Big Al for two days. That's what helped me the most in my tryout.". We were up for all of those morning shows. The Elephant Story. Crowd surfing is kind of a five minute lay-down-catch-your-breath situation. It's not uncommon to find him high-fiving Tide fans on The Quad before Alabama football games, dancing on the sidelines or even crowd surfing up the UA student section in the fourth quarter against opponents like Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas. Tusks grow throughout an elephants lifetime; an individuals tusk length is a useful criterion for age determination as elephants reach physical maturity at around 15 years old. The "Big Al" mascot officially debuted at the 1979 Sugar Bowl, when the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks. 1 Alabama, No. 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.. Which isn't to say that elephants didn't factor in prominently to gameday tradition. Despite their large size and weight, elephants are capable of running at up to 25 km/h (16 mph). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. ", VIDEO: Ole Miss streaker gets leveled by security, PHOTOS: 2012 college football uniform tracker & grader, PHOTO: Passed out Georgia football fan becomes infamous, Alabama fans' family portrait includes baby as football, PHOTOS: Top 10 ugliest college football helmets ever, WAGS of college football players ft. USC's Matt Barkley, PHOTOS: Insane H.S. The African elephant is larger than its Asian counterpart and has larger ears. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. A majority of the fan base is actually caring about the game, so you can focus on the little kids and the people who really want to see Big Al. Nothing about No. Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. [Related: VIDEO: Ole Miss streaker gets leveled by security]. Q: How does being Big Al work with multiple people? There are several reasons why this is so. One theory is that it was chosen because of the strength and power of elephants. "Once that's over, he runs the team out. That was definitely the most challenging event, but it was definitely the most rewarding because I think I got the most out of that one. Why Did Alabama Pick an Elephant as a Mascot Alabama, like most universities, chose an animal as their mascot to represent their school. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The first shift is Quad. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. And then second quarter is kind of their own thing and that will bleed into halftime depending on how long it takes to set up props for the person doing the halftime skit. It probably weighs about 30 pounds and that's all sitting on your head and your neck. Additional troubleshooting information here. We both went to the tryout together. Another theory is that elephants are widely considered to be lucky animals, and thus choosing one as a mascot would supposedly bring good luck to the Crimson Tide. Thankfully part of Big Al's character is being clumsy. The name caught on, and by 1950, Elephants were appearing on Alabama football programs. First and foremost, elephants are strong and powerful animals that convey a sense of strength and power. Here's the story from Alabama's official website,rolltide.com: 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. The maximum amount of time Big Al can spend at your special day: one hour. Dickey: "Oh yeah, Big Al is one of my best friends. Well, the story goes all the way back to the 1930 National Championship team. So that's a cool thing that we get the respect from the university. The students were really involved in the game. All rights reserved. He is one of the most popular mascots in college sports and was even named national champion by the Universal Cheerleaders Association in 2003. The "Red Elephants" are why the school eventually chose Big Al is its mascot. It usually means they are about to get trampled. He'll also drop in on your nuptials, if youre willing to pony up his $400 wedding appearance fee. [3] By the 1950s, keeping a live elephant year-round proved to be too expensive for the University. The elephants regal nature underscores this fact. The History of the Alabama Crimson Tide's Elephant Mascot. They play the Green Day song ["Basket Case"]. 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. There is a story that Alabama got its colors from a ball on campus when UA was still a military school, wearing gray, black and white uniforms. 2 The Big Al costume was first officially worn in 1979. We'll get all of our equipment over, all of our props for the day over to the stadium. Big Al, Alabama's elephant mascot, has roamed the sidelines for more than 30 years. The elephant in the room going into the Arkansas Razorbacks' 1 p.m. Saturday showdown with No. ", Webster: "I think it's on the website too but if a corporate company wants Big Al its $400 to the university. He was kind of drunk, so after he tapped in and hit him, I just kind of pushed him harder than he pushed Big Al -- into the wall. 1 Alabama's nickname of "Crimson Tide" brings to mind the school's costumed elephant mascot, Big Al, no matter how hard you try. The fact that he's an elephant, it's just not something you see very often. 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