That's when it really hit me. The next person's assignment is pregame and halftime. He actually does 500 activities outside of the sporting events that he attends, so he's a very busy guy. The gray, anthropomorphic elephant has been the team's official mascot since 1979, when Bear Bryant finally approved the trunked animal despite a history that dates back to 1930. It's definitely not the reason to be Big Al. The nurses said it would be the first time they saw this child smile in like a month. With Bryant's support, the university made an elephant. ", Strupper, using the flair for the dramatic common in sportswriting at the time, wrote, "At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Webster: "You can. Thankfully I never had any problems with it. The tradition of an elephant mascot continued for many years, with various live animals appearing at games and even marching in parades. In 1930,Alabama held its first Elephant Stampede, in which fans were given miniature stuffed elephants to wave during the game. 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. If there's not enough students like if it's super hot one day and there's not a lot of students left and it's a blowout game, he won't body surf because that's just kind of tacky. after a little pleading with Coach Bear Bryant tojump on board with anon-field mascot, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. That's just Big Al.' "Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. Although Big Al . He looked at me like we were gonna start something, but then I grabbed Big Al and said, 'Let's go!' He told Paige that several schools in the Southeastern Conference had obtained mascot costumes and proposed that the University of Alabama should get one as well. The origin of the mascot dates back to 1930. 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.. Bryant was very easy to talk to and teased them about having a real elephant on the field and the mess it would make. The first elephant to represent the Crimson Tide was actually a live animal, brought to games to lead the team onto the field. [Related: Top 10 college football live mascots ft. Auburn's "War Eagle"]. 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. An excited fan yelled "The elephants are coming!" & the title stuck. While there is no official explanation for why an elephant was chosen as Alabamas mascot, there are a few theories. 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. 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. If there are enough students in the student section and we're ahead by enough points, Big Al will body surf up the student section, and that's always a fun experience. Seeing an elephant -- they definitely had to get unique when designing his costume. Big Al walks in to the room and he has to interact with the props in multiple different ways, but he can't use any of the props for their intended purpose. The nickname stuck. Our head is actually larger than most university mascots. Usually, if you're a first-year on the team you get a little bit less than everyone else on the team. 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. What does a blinking blue light on a smoke detector mean? Dickey: "Big Al has a very unconventional suit. Nothing about No. We put people in suit for different rounds. They feel like they'd like to invest back into us, which really means a lot that the university would give money to the cheer program. I don't think our team performs as well if Big Al doesn't get the fans into it. Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. According to the school, the relationship between elephants and University of Alabama football dates back to 1930, when Atlanta Journal sportswriter Everett Strupper relayed a story from an Alabama-Ole Miss game. William Webster poses with a fellow Big Al during the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on January 7, 2019. Why does Alabama use an elephant as a mascot? It's kind of like is a parent every gonna say someone else in his kid's class is the best kid? Q: Something tells me Big Al is pretty busy on Saturdays. 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. In the 1960s, student Melford Espey would wear an elephant costume to games, much to the delight of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. When Bryant shot down the elephant mascot idea, that was that. What is cardinal color? In the late 1940s, student humor magazine The Rammer Jammer began referring to the Crimson Tide as Thrift Shop Elephants, a reference to the thriftiness of Alabamians. In 1896, a sportswriter for the Birmingham Age-Herald came up with the nickname Crimson Tide to describe the University of Alabamas football team. "We get it a lot from people not familiar with Alabama. They play the Green Day song ["Basket Case"]. 1 Alabama, No. Since then, Alphie has been a fixture at Alabama sporting events, accompanying the football team onto the field before every home game. Q: Are people allowed to know that you're Big Al? Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, told Yahoo Sports in 2012. Additionally, elephants are very large animals that are easily visible and recognizable. Finally, elephants are social animals that live in close-knit herds. We do have a roster on rolltide.com. 3y ago. Q: What was the process of becoming Big Al? "Some of the mascots they're afraid of, but they're just drawn to Big Al.". Dickey: "The tryout for Big Al -- he's a very creative guy. The team went on to be named National Champions, according to rolltide.com. [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. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. And Big Al's been an omnipresent fixture on the Crimson Tide sidelines ever since. Crowd surfing is kind of a five minute lay-down-catch-your-breath situation. Q: What was your favorite game or moment as Big Al? He wasn't fat. Big Al is just the best. A sportswriter named Everett Strupper wrote about how head coach Wallace Wade's Alabama team's big and aggressive linemen resembled elephants after pounding Mississippi, 64-0. Finally, elephants have long memories, which is a fitting metaphor for university alumni who remember their time at UA fondly. That's kind of where the trunk and the nose is. According to the school, the relationship between elephants and University of Alabama football dates back to 1930, when Atlanta Journal sportswriter Everett Strupper relayed a story from an Alabama-Ole Miss game. However, elephants featured prominently to gameday tradition long before this point. We have a round that is just the walk. Strupper and other writers continued to refer to the Alabama linemen as "Red Elephants," the color referring to the crimson jerseys. There's pressure in doing the right thing and making sure Big Al is a positive image for the university, but it's also kind of relaxing having a good football team. In any case, elephants have long been associated with both Alabama athletics and the state of Alabama as a whole. The first day consists of an interview and clinic, where the candidates learn to emulate the character and walk of Big Al. This could happen for a several reasons, including no shared cipher suites. Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, told Yahoo Sports in 2012. Why does Alabama use an elephant as a mascot? It's just kind a fun way to be creative on game day. He has a signature, so we practice the signature and teach it to other people. Q: Who's the best mascot in college football? Today it explains the meaning behind Alabama's elephant mascot. Nonetheless, a student in a doe-eyed elephant costume struts his stuff at every Bama home game, having become a fixture at one of the states proudest institutions. The Crimson Tide's mascot is an elephant because the UA spirit committee began hiring elephants from travelling circuses or Tuscaloosa to attend every homecoming. It was a regular on gamedays, and for several years it would carry that year's homecoming queen onto the field prior to the game. ", Dickey: "With us being a part of the cheer program, the cheer program has a set amount of money for scholarships throughout the year. We had College Gameday in the morning. Since its inception in the early twentieth century, the Alabama Crimson Tides elephant mascot has been a source of pride and joy for the teams fans. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. 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. They always get us to the top.". If it's a close game he won't body surf, because we don't wanna count our chickens.". Additional troubleshooting information here. As part of their efforts, they decided to hire . The mascot known as "Big Al" today was the brainchild of University of Alabama student Walt Tart, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He'll also drop in on your nuptials, if youre willing to pony up his $400 wedding appearance fee. In 1907, a live elephant was brought to campus as a mascot for the universitys football team. We had SEC Nation. So Quad is everything that happens before Big Al even arrives in the stadium. 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