(07-27-2015 02:37 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 10:08 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 11:08 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  The nickname "49ers" derives from the fact that the university's predecessor—Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina (CCUNC - established in 1946) was saved from being shut down by the state in 1949 by Bonnie Cone, when the Charlotte Center became Charlotte College. Due to this "49er spirit" that Cone felt embodied the University, referring to the settlers that endured much hardships in traveling across the United States to seek fortune in the California Gold Rush, students of the fledgling UNC Charlotte chose "49ers" as the school's mascot. The fact that the site of the U.S.'s first major gold discovery, Reed's Gold Mine, is located nearby may also be a contributing factor to the nickname. The fact that the University's Main Campus front entrance is located on North Carolina Highway 49 is pure coincidence.

Prior to the "49ers" moniker, the athletic teams were known as the "Owls" due to CCUNC's beginnings as a night school.

Should have keep the Owl. Why would you want to name your mascot after the people that left for California?

Yeah, it's stupid.

I love the narrative of our school being saved from the state in 1949.

Quite honestly, I feel like the inclusion of the gold mining theme and the stretch to the 49ers who left for California muddles up a very interesting back story that really tells folks a great deal about who we are and why our fans are the way we are.

We've all got a bit of an anti-authority rebellious streak in us. It all started when the state of NC said "okay, time to shut it down" and we simply said, "no."

That in and of itself is much more bad ass than modeling our mascot after the folks who were lucky enough to not get cholera.

(09-29-2015 11:46 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  #2! Congrats Hilltoppers! You beat the Stanford Tree!

http://www.rantsports.com/clubhouse/2012.../#slide_30

Big Red might be "ridiculous" but I bet it's also top 10, maybe top 5 well known in college sports. And since nothing matters any more other than TV (we push our games on week nights for it) I would guess Big Red probably has more TV time than any mascot in the G5 and top 1-3 overall.

But most importantly....KIDS LOVE IT. They don't run away, they run to it.

(07-31-2015 07:52 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 11:30 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 06:46 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  "Golden Eagles" was voted upon by the student body in 1972. I assume it's a nod to the school colors of black and gold. I've never seen another reason given anywhere.

Is there really such a thing as a "Golden Eagle"? I've never heard of one that was golden.

Just kidding ya.

Believe it or not there are and USM used to have a real one.. Story goes that the SGA president was in charge of feeding and watering it, and one SGA President decided to go out of town and left the chore to a friend of his. His friend forgot and the eagle died.. USM got in a heap of trouble over it.. Or that's the story I heard, it was before my time as a USM student.

We actually have 2 of them now with the Hattiesburg Zoo serving as our "surrogate" to house and care for them since the university cannot.

Hattiesburg Zoo and USM Partnership

(07-27-2015 12:31 PM)NoodleOwl Wrote:  

http://explore.rice.edu/explore/Rice_Traditions.asp Wrote:Rice Academic Seal and Logo Rice Academic Seal
The academic seal of Rice University was designed in 1912 by Mr. Pierre de Chaignon la Rose of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who combined the main elements of the arms of sixteen prominent families bearing the names "Rice" or "Houston." Owls of Athena-symbolic of wisdom-were chosen for the charges. The Athenian owls on the Rice seal were patterned after a design found on a small, silver tetradrachmenon coin dating from the middle of the fifth century B.C. And because Rice University was dedicated by its founder to the advancement of "letters, science, and art," these words also were incorporated into the seal.

Rice Colors: Blue and Gray
In 1912, Rice's first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, chose as the school colors "a blue still deeper than the Oxford blue" and "the Confederate gray, enlivened by a tinge of lavender." It has been suggested that blue and gray were chosen in recognition of the fact that Rice's founder amassed much of the fortune that formed the initial endowment of the Rice Institute by trading with both the North and the South during the Civil War.

Rice Mascot: Owl
When athletic activities began at the Rice Institute in 1912, the teams adopted as their mascot the owl from the Rice seal. Over the years, Rice's various mascots have included students dressed in owl costumes, live Great Horned Owls, and large owl statues of fiberglass and of canvas, the latter being particularly famous in Rice lore (see below).

Mascot Name: "Sammy"
An early symbol of Rice's athletic teams was large canvas owl, a tempting target for the Institute's rivals. In 1917, when students from Southwest Conference football rival Texas A&M kidnapped the owl, Rice students pooled their resources and hired a private detective to go to College Station to find the missing mascot. When the detective, having recovered the owl, sent a coded telegram to Houston that read "Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o'clock," the Rice mascot had a name.

Yeah but, I mean explain THIS:


I'd rather not.

I'd rather have this owl again like when we won the 2003 NCAA Div-I National Baseball Championship:


Although our current "friendlier" owl is a better fit for our current "nice guy" football coach.

(09-29-2015 12:00 PM)49erlew Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 02:37 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 10:08 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 11:08 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  The nickname "49ers" derives from the fact that the university's predecessor—Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina (CCUNC - established in 1946) was saved from being shut down by the state in 1949 by Bonnie Cone, when the Charlotte Center became Charlotte College. Due to this "49er spirit" that Cone felt embodied the University, referring to the settlers that endured much hardships in traveling across the United States to seek fortune in the California Gold Rush, students of the fledgling UNC Charlotte chose "49ers" as the school's mascot. The fact that the site of the U.S.'s first major gold discovery, Reed's Gold Mine, is located nearby may also be a contributing factor to the nickname. The fact that the University's Main Campus front entrance is located on North Carolina Highway 49 is pure coincidence.

Prior to the "49ers" moniker, the athletic teams were known as the "Owls" due to CCUNC's beginnings as a night school.

Should have keep the Owl. Why would you want to name your mascot after the people that left for California?

Yeah, it's stupid.

I love the narrative of our school being saved from the state in 1949.

Quite honestly, I feel like the inclusion of the gold mining theme and the stretch to the 49ers who left for California muddles up a very interesting back story that really tells folks a great deal about who we are and why our fans are the way we are.

We've all got a bit of an anti-authority rebellious streak in us. It all started when the state of NC said "okay, time to shut it down" and we simply said, "no."

That in and of itself is much more bad ass than modeling our mascot after the folks who were lucky enough to not get cholera.

That's just what I always tell people when they ask why we're called the 49ers.

I miss FIU's Bumble:

(07-26-2015 11:51 AM)HarborPointe Wrote:  I guess in a parallel universe, UTSA is the Armadillos, and Texas State in Necessary Roughness is the Roadrunners.

BLUE 32! BLUE 32!
SET
HUT! HUT!

jeez. the bulldogs and owls we get. but some of the dual mascots are real head scratchers; the red thing in kentucky and the green thing in texas could probably use some background. I originally thought that "hilltopper" must have an interesting story behind it, but then I was told that it's literally just "the people on top of the hill".

imagine my disappointment.

Ours was a bird who was either shot or starved, depending on who you ask. Nowadays, his ghost angrily haunts EaglePost.net, terrorizing Ace Barker, the Dog-Slaying Hero of Canebrake Trail, etc. with his shiteposts.

(07-27-2015 11:30 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 06:46 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  "Golden Eagles" was voted upon by the student body in 1972. I assume it's a nod to the school colors of black and gold. I've never seen another reason given anywhere.

Is there really such a thing as a "Golden Eagle"? I've never heard of one that was golden.

Just kidding ya.

several other interesting notes; bald eagles aren't bald. king cobras aren't really royalty. jelly fish aren't really made of jelly, and they aren't even fish.

although there does seem to be a lot of bull in some bulldogs.

I always wondered about Marshall's Herd. When I think of West Virginia, wide open spaces with herds of buffalo just doesn't come to mind.

Obviously, we're the Miners because our founder was a heavy drinker as a teenager.

(07-27-2015 12:16 PM)SApuro Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 12:56 PM)GreenSteve Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 11:00 AM)Saint Greg Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 10:05 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 09:27 AM)SApuro Wrote:  Fightin' Armadillos would have been awesome!

I agree. UTSA should have gone with Armadillos.

That thing resembles Alice Cooper....

That's one heavy eyeshadow wearing Armadilla.