speaking of Auburn

[Full Quiver]

Are they the Tigers or the War Eagles? Let me guess, both.

I prefer War Eagles but what is the history there?

[fezzik]

Tigers are their mascot, War Eagle is their 'battle cry'...whatever that means. Their Eagle that flies down before games on to the field is named "Tiger". They yell "war eagle!", but they say, "go tigers!"

[dolfan]

I've always been flummoxed about that, too. It just makes no sense.

Well, that dependable source, Wikipedia, has the following entry, FWIW.

"War Eagle" is a battle cry and symbol of Auburn University. There are several stories about the battle cry, but the most popular myth was originally published in 1960 in the Auburn Plainsman and was conceived by then-Editor Jim Phillips. Phillips told the story of the first time Auburn met Georgia on the football field in 1892 and centered the story around a fictional spectator who was a veteran of the Civil War.

In the stands with him that day was a golden eagle the old soldier had found on a battlefield during the war. He had kept it as a pet for almost 30 years. According to the story, the eagle suddenly broke free and began majestically circling the playing field. As the eagle soared, Auburn began a steady march toward the Georgia end zone for a thrilling victory. Elated at their team's play and taking the bird's presence as an omen of success, Auburn students and fans began to yell "War Eagle" to spur on their team ("war eagle" was once the common term for golden eagles). At the game's end, the eagle took a sudden dive, crashed into the ground, and died, giving his spirit to the Auburn fans. The battle cry "War Eagle" lived on to become a symbol of the proud Auburn spirit.

The 1914 contest with the Carlisle Indians provides another story. The toughest player on the Indians' team was a tackle named Bald Eagle. Trying to tire the big man, Auburn began to run play after play at his position. Without even huddling, the Auburn quarterback would yell "Bald Eagle," letting the rest of the team know that the play would be run at the imposing defensive man. Spectators, however, thought the quarterback was saying "War Eagle," and in unison, they began to chant the resounding cry.

Another version of the War Eagle story comes from Indian lore. Legend says "War Eagle" was the name given to the large golden eagle by the Plains Indians because the eagle furnished feathers for use in their war bonnets. The rarest but most historically likely version of the origin of the "War Eagle" cry grew from a 1913 pep rally at Langdon Hall where students had gathered the day before the Georgia football game. Cheerleader Gus Graydon told the crowd, "If we are going to win this game, we'll have to get out there and fight, because this means war." During the frenzy, another student, E. T. Enslen, dressed in his military uniform, noticed something had dropped from his hat. Bending down, he saw it was the metal emblem of an eagle that had been loosened while he cheered. Someone asked him what he had found, and Enslen loudly replied, "It's a War Eagle!" History was made as the new cry echoed throughout the stadium the next day as Auburn battled Georgia.

Another version is that two students shouting at each other at a pep rally said something that was misinterpreted to be "War Eagle" thus the birth of the battle cry.

This quote, by the way, is taken verbatim from AU's own website that discusses the rather nutty history of their cry.

Either way, it happened on accident, which is the story of their football program as far as I'm concerned.

Notice, again, the reverence with which they speak of UGA. You folks in Athens should be proud to have a little kid sister like Auburn to do your bidding. They worship you. I like the way y'all just beat 'em and they like the beating. Funny, year in and year out.

Now, take a perfectly good cry like "Roll Tide". Makes sense, its even poetic. It's so good, you can add the extra "roll" on the end of it for emphasis. Auburn has to put they "Hey!" on the end to do that, and that's even more nonsensical. Listen to them this weekend on kickoffs. Hopefully, they won't have more than one, and hopefully, they'll be drowned out by Bama's own "Roll Tide Roll", but you'll hear them saying "Waarrrrrrrr Eagle Hey!" Yeah, whatever. Couldn't expect them to say "Warrrrr Eagle War!" or "Warrrr Eagle Tigers, Whoever We Are, ... Go!" That'd be funny, now.

And, our mascot goes well with our team name. No, we're not the Elephants. But, it is okay to have an animal mascot like an elephant with a perfectly flexible name like "Crimson Tide". A tide is large, overwhelming. So is an elephant. See? A little history, also from Wikipedia:

Officially, following the 1930 game versus Ole Miss, Atlanta Journal sports writer Everett Strupper wrote:

"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."

They went on to beat Washington in the Rose Bowl that year.

This brings me to my one beef, or semi-beef. Our fight song, "Yea, Alabama!" says "Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win!" Now, I know that has deep historic roots and was penned when the Rose Bowl was, well, THE bowl game. Alabama made several trips and won several. Personally, I wouldn't mind if somehow we made it this year to play Penn State there in some crazy, whacked BCS result. But, I digress. We haven't been to the Rose since Truman was president (1946, we beat USC). Our aspiration now is the Sugar Bowl, the bowl for SEC Champions. It has been for decades. I just wish we'd say "Sugar Bowl" instead of "Rose Bowl".


BY THE WAY, IF we win against Auburn and either Florida OR our bowl opponent, we will reach 800 wins in the history of the program. Only Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Nebraska and Penn State have more. Alabama is currently tied with Ohio State at 798. Penn State got 800 last week. Roll Tide!

[Full Quiver]

Yes I read the Wiki after I made the post.

Seems they became known as the Tigers not all that long ago even after the War Eagle came about.