The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. This is where they are scored for going in public in a non-athletic event setting and interacting with the public. They play the Green Day song ["Basket Case"]. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. "He thought that elephants were big, slow and clumsy. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. We have to divvy that up between us.". "Some of the mascots they're afraid of, but they're just drawn to Big Al.". It usually means they are about to get trampled. No. 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. Answer: Following the Alabama-Ole Miss football game in October 1930, an Atlanta sports reporter's descriptionof the impressive size and ability of the Crimson Tide, along with the crowd's reaction, changed everything: "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow," he wrote. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant. 4 Oklahoma square off in Orange Bowl for national title bid. It's something that people do for like a scholarship. In 1896, a sportswriter for the Birmingham Age-Herald came up with the nickname Crimson Tide to describe the University of Alabamas football team. Bryant was very easy to talk to and teased them about having a real elephant on the field and the mess it would make. It's just a small little tradition that not a lot of people know about probably. [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. Why does Alabama use an elephant as a mascot? 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. Q: What was your favorite game or moment as Big Al? Every April during the weekend of the A-Day spring football game, there is a three-day tryout process for UA students who want to become Big Al. The mascot is largely attributed to one man: sportswriter Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal. Most of our traditions happen in the fourth quarter. In 1907, a live elephant was brought to campus as a mascot for the universitys football team. The band will form an elephant on the field and Big Al will march them down the field. 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. He's fun. Of course, Big Al has very rigorous training to make sure that we're not going to do anything questionable.". The expiration date also labeled Arew is the go-to source for all your home improvement, gardening, cooking, and family needs. 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. Bulls use their tusks aggressively while fighting; elephants also use them for tasks such as moving trees and stripping bark from trees for food. Auburn has two mascots. How big is a mammoth compared to an elephant? Compared to its more fearsome mascot counterparts around the country like LSU's live tiger, Mike, Big Al looks like a big stuffed animal. When Bryant shot down the elephant mascot idea, that was that. Each candidate performs their skits for a score, and then there is a final cut before A-Day. Big Al, Alabama's elephant mascot, has roamed the sidelines for more than 30 years. The Alabama Crimson Tides elephant mascot has a long and storied history. William Webster spent four years as Big Al from 2018 to 2021. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Cloudflare is unable to establish an SSL connection to the origin server. The Alabama elephant is the state animal of Alabama. There are several reasons why this is so. Roberts used the term to describe crimson-and-white-clad Alabama's surprising performance during a rain-soaked 6-6 tie with heavily favored Auburn in 1907. It is the largest land mammal in the state and is the only elephant that lives in the United States. From that point, Strupper started calling Alabama the Red Elephants, and the association stuck. The origin of Roll Tide as a rallying cry can be traced to the Alabamaor 'Bama as it's often abbreviatedfootball team. Crimson Tide fans are okay with that. 1 Answer ANSWER 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. Click to reveal He became Big Al in the spring of 2019 and is currently one of five students on the Big Al team. When she's not blogging or spending time with her family, you can usually find her rooting around in the garden or at the hardware store. The history of the Alabama Crimson Tide's elephant mascot is a long and storied one. Ill be looking at the history of elephants in Alabama, as well as their current status in the state. "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.". Why Is An Elephant Alabamas Mascot? The nickname stuck. The team went on to be named National Champions, according to rolltide.com. He'll come out and do the fourth quarter things, the traditions. The fourth quarter is kind of important to Alabama fans in general. Big Al is the costumed mascot of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. Even though the elephant served as a symbol for the team, it took decades for the Big Al mascot to come to fruition. The "Big Al" mascot officially debuted at the 1980 Sugar Bowl, when the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks. Thankfully part of Big Al's character is being clumsy. The origin of Alabama's elephant mascot. We have different people we have to go through to post things on social media. Big Al walks into the room and everyone lights up. 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. The best experience I ever had as Big Al was when I was at a children's hospital. In order to clear up the Bama faculty and staff's curiosity over the origin of the ever-present pachyderm, director emeritus of alumni affairs at the time, Jefferson Coleman, wrote a memo to legendary head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in 1977. 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." Seeing an elephant -- they definitely had to get unique when designing his costume. I had a roommate at the time that was trying to convince me to go to it. Finally, elephants have long memories, which is a fitting metaphor for university alumni who remember their time at UA fondly. Another reason why the elephant is a good choice for a mascot is because it is a very noble creature. That's a lot of weight on your neck. Like the team's nickname, it was the brainchild of a sports writer . You have to fast-forward 23 years to come upon the first mention of elephants to describe Alabama football. The more you return and the more you dedicate to the program, the more you get in scholarship money. The president came to the football game. Aubie (a tiger) and an eagle. In addition to leading the football team onto the field before each game, Big Al also participates in community outreach programs and makes appearances at university functions. Velyrhorde. Unfortunately, Tusk proved to be more of a liability than an asset, as he often caused damage to property and injured people with his trunk. ANSWER. "Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. After this, they perform for 1015 minutes each during the game, mimicking a normal gameday atmosphere. As a result, the live elephant mascot was eventually retired. Webster: "You can. [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. We're actually athletes at the university just as much as a cheerleader is. The tradition continues to this day, with fans often bringing their own elephants to games or buying them from vendors outside the stadium. [Related: PHOTO: Alabama fan gets massive $1,700 elephant back tattoo]. Most popular on LostLettermen.com: 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. That would go to us. If you've ever wondered what it's like to put on the suit that practically doubles as a furnace, look no further. Henry "Zipp" Newman, who became the sports editor of the Birmingham News at the age of 25, helped popularize the nickname. At the time of the vote, there was a popular DJ on campus by the name of Al Brown, who DJ'd many of the largest campus parties, including those hosted by members of the football team. That was probably one of the coolest experiences I had as Big Al. As the Crimson Tide does not feature a prominent logo on their helmets or uniforms, Big Al's likeness appears on much of the merchandise. Another theory is that the schools first football coach, Wallace Wade, had once seen a circus perform in Tuscaloosa and been impressed by the elephants. It's pretty much a part-time job. Q: Are people allowed to know that you're Big Al? Since then, Alphie has been a fixture at Alabama sporting events, accompanying the football team onto the field before every home game. I've always had good experiences with it. Q: Take me through a game day as Big Al in Tuscaloosa. As a result of DJ Al's popularity, a campaign was started on campus to name the mascot after him, and that campaign succeeded at the polls. What Is The Difference Between Bonding And HardWall. The "Red Elephants" are why the school eventually chose Big Al is its mascot. The 1930 team posted an overall 10-0 record. [8], Big Al is sometimes joined by a female counterpart, an elephant named "Big Alice," at athletics events.[9]. 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. So that's a cool thing that we get the respect from the university. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons. 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. (He was portrayed by a different student, of course, as Espey had long since graduated.). In 1979, he was meeting with the homecoming chairman, Ann Paige, as they were trying to come up with something different for the school's homecoming parade. 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.. That's what helped me the most in my tryout.". Even though the elephant served as a symbol for the team, it took decades for the Big Al mascot to come to fruition. This is due to a 2002 incident between Big Al and Seymour of Southern Miss during a game in Tuscaloosa. 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. Females carry their young for a gestation period of 22 months; calves are fully weaned at around 36 years old but remain closely associated with their mothers until around 10 years old. Q: So you have to have a certain height and weight to be Big Al? The mascot made its debut in the 1980 Sugar Bowl, but the first student to don the elephant costume was Melford Espey Jr.22 Sept 2021. That's really the payment. Over time, showerheads can become clogged with deposits of calcium, magnesium, lime, silica, and other minerals. But there is a little bit of pressure about image. It probably weighs about 30 pounds and that's all sitting on your head and your neck. 167.114.26.66 An elephant is a large mammal of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Q: Who's the best mascot in college football? 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 live elephant that originally served as the Crimson Tides mascot was named Tusk. Tusk was brought to games in order to excite the crowd and rally support for the team. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped the Alabama varsity. On October 8, 1930, a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal, Everett Strupper, wrote about the previous weekend's Alabama-Ole Miss football game. Q: What's the story behind the white jersey tradition? The two assured him that it was just a person in an elephant costume and not a real elephant, to which Bryant grinned and said he knew all along. The mascot represents the strength and power of the Crimson Tide, and its presence on the sidelines is a source of inspiration for the teams players. Is Alabama's mascot an elephant? (He was portrayed by a different student, of course, as Espey had long since graduated.). The students were really involved in the game. The story of how Alabama became associated with the "elephant" goes back to the 1930 season. Ill also be discussing why an elephant was chosen as the Tides mascot, and what it represents for the team and its fans. We had SEC Nation. It just runs deep. 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 most famous of these is probably Big Al, who has been representing the team since 1979. 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. 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