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Message
history question (settle a bet)
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:01 am
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:01 am
sorry if this has been done to death ... i'm a noob
auburn fielded their first football squad in 1892; LSU followed a year later. was auburn's squad called "tigers" from the outset?
i've read the history of lsu adopting "fighting tigers" as the nickname/mascot/moniker after a louisiana-based civil war regiment casually known as the louisiana tigers. i just want to know which school started calling their team "tigers" first.
old hat question, very sorry. less snark/ more answers appreciated.
auburn fielded their first football squad in 1892; LSU followed a year later. was auburn's squad called "tigers" from the outset?
i've read the history of lsu adopting "fighting tigers" as the nickname/mascot/moniker after a louisiana-based civil war regiment casually known as the louisiana tigers. i just want to know which school started calling their team "tigers" first.
old hat question, very sorry. less snark/ more answers appreciated.
4
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:21 am to tigerkge
quote:
less snark/ more answers appreciated.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:22 am to tigerkge
quote:
less snark/ more answers appreciated.
good luck with that one
I'm kind of interested in the answer here though.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:24 am to TigerBait45
yeah, seriously - who were "tigers" first? us or them?
the internet doesn't know, at least after a good drunken 10 minutes of searching.
the internet doesn't know, at least after a good drunken 10 minutes of searching.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:24 am to tigerkge
quote:
was auburn's squad called "tigers" from the outset?
They were called the Plainsmen.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:27 am to TxTiger82
quote:
They were called the Plainsmen.
ok, good ... progress ... when did they switch to tigers?
and do you know of a good source?
i'll lose money a/o get laughed at if all i can put up is "this dude on a message board said we were first" ...
Posted on 11/26/09 at 1:35 am to tigerkge
Can't find it.
I found that they have had that mascot (as in the guy who dresses up like a Tiger) since 1967.
I also read the Plainsmen was something of an informal nickname the newspapers gave the team back in the day, rather than the official mascot.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
I found that they have had that mascot (as in the guy who dresses up like a Tiger) since 1967.
I also read the Plainsmen was something of an informal nickname the newspapers gave the team back in the day, rather than the official mascot.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:12 am to tigerkge
You might post this on the SEC Rant - some of the Aubarns there may have an opinion on this.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:19 am to blueridgeTiger
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:25 am to BBATiger
Boy are they confused. Their mascot is a bird but they call it tiger. It would be like calling Mike an anteater or something. 
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:26 am to BBATiger
I prefer the history of the Fighting Tiger mascot.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:33 am to TxTiger82
Tigers became The Bengal Tigers in honor of the Bengal brigade a highly honored unit from St Gabriel, La. 
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:41 am to cajunjj
Sorry dude, it looks like Auburn was first. They've been Tigers since the first game.
But if it makes you feel any better, they were the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama Tigers. So you've been the LSU Tigers longer than they've been the Auburn Tigers. :-)
But if it makes you feel any better, they were the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama Tigers. So you've been the LSU Tigers longer than they've been the Auburn Tigers. :-)
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:46 am to Hanrendar
quote:
So you've been the LSU Tigers longer than they've been the Auburn Tigers. :-)
LSU was originally Louisiana A & M.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:49 am to TexasTiger89
But became LSU in 1877.
Auburn became Auburn in 1960.
So yeah. You've been LSU Tigers longer than they've been the Auburn Tigers.
Auburn became Auburn in 1960.
So yeah. You've been LSU Tigers longer than they've been the Auburn Tigers.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 9:56 am to Hanrendar
quote:
But became LSU in 1877.
Wow, I had no idea it was that long ago. I am 46 and had a Louisiana A & M notebook that I got from somewhere when I was kid. I used in elementary school. It probably got thrown out long ago. Wish I still had that thing. Probably a collectors item.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 10:04 am to TexasTiger89
From here (not exactly reputable.. but..)
quote:
Well, the answer is not an easy one in that the Alabama Polytechnic Institute was renamed Auburn University in 1960. The first game in the South was played between then Agriculture & Mechanical College of Alabama (renamed Alabama Polytechnical Institute in 1899) and Georgia in 1892 where Georgia lost 10-0. As I understand it Agriculture & Mechanical College of Alabama was using the Tiger as their mascot. So, Auburn can trace it's mascot roots back to the first game in the South. However, LSU was first established as a military institute and seminary in 1853. It opened and closed several times because of the Civil War and later a fire destroyed much of the complex. It offcially became LSU in 1870. LSU's nickname is the 'Fighting Tigers' derived from a military unit of the Civil War known as the Louisiana Tigers. After the Civil War the Cadets of LSU used this nickname. When LSU played its first football game in 1893 they were known as the Fighting Tigers. Therefore, I believe LSU's nickname as the Fighting Tigers is older than Agriculture & Mechanical College of Alabama's Tiger nickname. But if the question is whose football team's mascot is the oldest then Agriculture & Mechanical College of Alabama wins out.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 10:12 am to BBATiger
quote:
Looks like they were always the Tigers.
Note that no specific year is listed when they became the Tigers. Historically, most schools played several years but eventually got their name around the turn of the century from a newspaper columnist likening their style of play to something. Auburn's mascot story is clearly poorly-documented. Many write-ups about its origin mention that "legend has it" that the same war eagle that inspired a dying Civil War soldier then later flew on the field where their first game was being played and died on the spot, etc. What are the odds of that happening? Definitely a "legend." And no doubt that "legend has it" that they also had a tiger mascot already picked in time before their first-ever game. I'd like to know how many schools already had a mascot in place before their first-ever game.
Posted on 11/26/09 at 10:20 am to kicks
quote:
(not exactly reputable.. but..)
I guess that we will have to give Auburn a free pass because we cannot prove otherwise. LSU's mascot is known to appear physically in print in 1896 and always could have originated earlier, as you noted in your link, since it is based upon an entity from the 1860s. Likewise, Auburn's mascot is based upon a poem written decades beforehand...but when did it actually appear in print as their mascot? Anyone have access to any old newspaper articles written in Alabama in the early 1890s?
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