Favorite College Traditions

1BadBobcat · Post by **1BadBobcat** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:39 am

After watching most, if not all, the bowl games I wanted to pose this question to BNers. It is more a two part question. I love all the gala and spectacle surrounding college football and there are some fantastic traditions. What are your favorite college traditions? Here are some of mine:

-- Ohio State's band dotting the "i" in their formation (Jack Nicklaus got to dot the i earlier this year)
-- Army cadets doing the push ups in their dress uniforms
-- Colorado's cheer squad running Ralphie out onto the field
-- Florida State's Indian chief riding into the stadium and throwing the flaming war spear into the field
-- Florida fans and the two-armed "Gator clap"
-- Washington's band when they perform "Tequila"
-- Alabama fans' chants of "Roll Tide Roll" before kickoffs
-- Oklahoma and the Boomer Schooner
-- Texas' Hook 'em Horns symbol
-- Running through the "T" at Tennessee

The second part of the question is: Can anyone really put their finger on something special like that we do at MSU? I can't think of one off the top of my head that stands out just for the Bobcats. Maybe we should get a bobcat and let him prowl on the field before the game and on the sidelines during the game like Georgia's bulldog "UGA" does.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:04 pm

During the 50s and 60s, we always ended the National Anthem with: "Kick Ass Cats!" We still use "Eat sheet (whoever we're playing), Go Cats Go," that is unique to our school. For whatever reason, we've become very politically correct of late and appear to have lost some of our common identity as a school (not to mention swagger and pride although I'll admit it's returning.)

One would assume this has to have the blessings of the cheerleaders

I know most Montana girls wouldn't have a problem leading the student body in the above mentioned cheers.

Post by **rtb** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:53 pm

I love pretty much any college tradition. There are way too many out there for me to list.

I agree that MSU needs that thing that is unique. Not sure what the right answer is. A live Bobcat would be awesome! We need to bring more tradition to the walk from the fieldhouse to the stadium. That should be a BIG event where everyone tailgating gathers to be part of the walk.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:00 pm

rtb wrote:I love pretty much any college tradition. There are way too many out there for me to list.

I agree that MSU needs that thing that is unique. Not sure what the right answer is. A live Bobcat would be awesome! We need to bring more tradition to the walk from the fieldhouse to the stadium. That should be a BIG event where everyone tailgating gathers to be part of the walk.

It could become something very special; can't remember which SEC game I went to (Alabama maybe?) where the team marched into the stadium and then they broke out into their position groups for warm-ups. Especially if they ever get the fieldhouse parking lot paved

1BadBobcat · Post by **1BadBobcat** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:31 pm

rtb wrote:I love pretty much any college tradition. There are way too many out there for me to list.

I agree that MSU needs that thing that is unique. Not sure what the right answer is. A live Bobcat would be awesome! We need to bring more tradition to the walk from the fieldhouse to the stadium. That should be a BIG event where everyone tailgating gathers to be part of the walk.

I have always noticed that our guys walk over to the stadium from the fieldhouse with very little fanfare. A handful of folks will walk along yelling out encouragements, but it would be cool if we could make that something like the "Cat Prowl" or the "Cat Trak" and have it lined on both sides with fans. Maybe our band could come up with something as well. The Ohio State dotting the "i" and the players running through the band's "Block T" at Tennessee is really cool.

catatac · Post by **catatac** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:50 pm

The Great Falls Booster Club tailgate hangs and burns a Griz bear before EVERY home game, regardles of who we're playing. It has turned into quite a little tradition and the number of people that stopped by to watch grew significantly throughout the year...

WORM · Post by **WORM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:21 pm

Few other off the top of my head

Any Ohio State grad in the NFL - THE OHIO STATE

or for that matter miami grads - THE U

Penn State - WE ARE - PENN STATE

Notre Dame - play like a chamion today sign hit before every game.

LTown Cat · Post by **LTown Cat** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:50 pm

UNC piss-pounding Duke in b-ball. That is pretty much tradition isn't it?

theblackgecko · Post by **theblackgecko** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:13 pm

Booing the officials.

WORM wrote:miami grads - THE U

Does that go with the tradition of Miranda rights?

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:38 pm

catatac wrote:The Great Falls Booster Club tailgate hangs and burns a Griz bear before EVERY home game, regardles of who we're playing. It has turned into quite a little tradition and the number of people that stopped by to watch grew significantly throughout the year...

Furman fans enjoyed this event. Pretty good and I hope it grows into a rich, institution honored tradition along with our favorite acronym...perhaps the spire could be surrounded with FTG signs?

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:51 pm

Cat Grad wrote:
catatac wrote:The Great Falls Booster Club tailgate hangs and burns a Griz bear before EVERY home game, regardles of who we're playing. It has turned into quite a little tradition and the number of people that stopped by to watch grew significantly throughout the year...
Furman fans enjoyed this event. Pretty good and I hope it grows into a rich, institution honored tradition along with our favorite acronym...perhaps the spire could be surrounded with FTG signs?

What's FTG mean?

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:30 pm

Auburn's War Eagle!

Before kickoff at Auburn they release an eagle from the upper deck of Jordan-Hare Stadium. The bird circles slowly around the stadium until it lands at mid-field and pounces on some sort of lure (looks like a piece of fur) put there by its handler. As the eagle lands the crowd shouts War Eagle-Hey! in unison. It was very cool.

WORM · Post by **WORM** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:54 am

theblackgecko wrote:Booing the officials.

WORM wrote:miami grads - THE U
Does that go with the tradition of Miranda rights?

O yeah i forgot THUG U!!!

raincat · Post by **raincat** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:24 am

Louisiana State--The football stadium was built during the depression, and to get the funds necessary it was agreed an apartment complex would be built right into the stands. When the opponent's team bus arrives, the tenants come out and form a gauntlat from the bus to the stadium. As the players make their way to the stadium the fans repeat in unison, in a low and menacing voice, "tiger bait--tiger bait--tiger bait. It's a bit intimidating.

CatfaninGA · Post by **CatfaninGA** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:31 am

I'd have to vote for Clemson and the players entrance to the stadium dubbed "The most exciting 25 seconds in College Football"

Running Down the Hill

What has been described as, “the most exciting 25 seconds in college football from a color and pageantry standpoint,” actually started out as a matter-of-fact entrance, mainly because of necessity.

The first 20,000 seats in Memorial Stadium were built and ready for use before the 1942 season, less than a year after Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States was drawn into World War II.

The shortest entry into the stadium was a short walk down Williamson Road from Fike Fieldhouse’s dressing rooms to a gate at the top of the Hill, which is located behind the east endzone. There were no dressing facilities in the west endzone - there was only a big clock where the hands turned and a scoreboard, which was operated by hand.

The team would dress at Fike, walk down Williamson Road, come in the gate underneath where the big scoreboard now stands and jog down the Hill for its warm-up exercises. There was no fanfare, no cannon shot fired, no Tiger Paw flag, no Tiger Rag played...just the team making its entrance and lining up to do the sidestraddle hop.

That’s pretty much the way things went for the next 25 years.

Either in 1964 or 1965, S.C. Jones, a member of the class of 1919, made a trip to California. He stopped at a spot in Death Valley, CA and picked up this white flint rock. He presented it to Coach Frank Howard as being from Death Valley, CA to Death Valley, South Carolina.” The rock laid on the floor in Howard’s office in Fike Fieldhouse for years. One day, he was cleaning up his office and he told Gene Willimon, who was executive secretary of IPTAY, to “take this rock and throw it over the fence, or out in the ditch...do something with it, but get it out of my office!”

Willimon didn’t think that was the way a rock should be treated. After all, it had been brought 3,000 miles by a very sincere Tiger fan. By the mid-1960s, Memorial Stadium was pretty well living up to its moniker, Death Valley, because of the number of victories that had been recorded there. Actually, the name was first used by the late Lonnie McMillian, head coach at Presbyterian College in Clinton in the 1940s.

McMillian and the other Blue Hose coaches before him used to open the season each year by coming to Clemson. Seldom scoring (24 shutouts in 39 games) and with only three wins and four ties to show for it, his teams were getting killed by the Tigers regularly. In 1948, McMillian made the comment to the press that he was taking his team to play Clemson in Death Valley. An occasional reference to Memorial stadium by that name could be heard for the next three or four years, but when Howard started calling it “Death Valley” in the 1950s, the name took off like wildfire. The Tigers celebrated the 50th season in the ”Valley in 1991. But getting back to Howard’s Rock.

The rock was mounted on a pedestal at the top of the Hill. It was unveiled September 24, 1966, on a day when Clemson played Virginia. The Tigers were down 18 points with 17 minutes to play and came back to win (40-35) on a 65-yard pass play from Jimmy Addison to Jacky Jackson in the fourth period. That was quite a spectacular debut for that rock.

The team members started rubbing the rock prior to running down the Hill September 23, 1967, a day when Clemson defeated Wake Forest, 23-6. Prior to running down the Hill that day, Howard told his players: “If you’re going to give me 110 percent, you can rub that rock. If you’re not, keep your filthy hands off it.” Howard told of the incident the next day on his Sunday television show and and the story became legend.

When Hootie Ingram succeeded Howard as head coach prior to the 1970 season, Ingram decided that the team would make its final entrance on the field out of the dressing room in the west endzone. In all home games in 1970 and 1971 and the first four games of 1972 when the Tigers did not run down the Hill, their combined record was 6-9. The team decided it wanted to come down the Hill once prior to the South Carolina game in 1972. The result, in a cold, freezing rain, was a 7-6 victory when Jimmy Williamson knocked down a two-point conversion attempt which preserved the win.

The Tigers have made the entrance for every home game since 1942, except for the seasons mentioned above - 307 times heading into the 2005 season.

After final warmups, the team goes back into its dressing room under the west endzone stands for final game instructions. About 10 minutes before kickoff, the team boards two buses, rides around behind the north stands to the east endzone, and debarks to the top of the Hill behind Howard’s Rock.

At the appointed time, the cannon booms and led by a high-flying Tiger Paw flag, the band forms two lines for the team to run between and strikes up “Tiger Rag”...the frenzy starts in all sincerity and usually lasts for three hours. It is a tradition that has inspired Clemson players for many years.

Cat in NC · Post by **Cat in NC** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:42 am

Excellent ideas from all. I have 4 ideas to add to the mix (2 from the same game). I'll let you guess which three are serious and which one is a little disturbing:

1. Army/Navy: First, the "March On" of the Middies and the Cadets. Truly awesome. Tailgating actually ends well before it does for most games so that everyone can get into the stadium to see the students (although they're much more than students) enter. Second, the end of the game. When the Midshipmen and Black Knights stand together facing all academy students (first the losing academy's, then the winning academy's), it's amazing.

2. Texas A&M: The tradition of everyone in the crowd making out after every A&M touchdown. I just threw up in my mouth a little. Ugh, the less of that we see at the beginning of next football season, the better.

3. Tiger Walk at Auburn: I think they were the first to do this. The team walks down a human tunnel (of sorts) down Donahue Drive.

bcats · Post by **bcats** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:26 pm

I would think that a real bobcat in the stadium and sideline would be great. I know that bobcats aren't house cats but I am sure they can be trained and raised when they are kittens. Can you imagine a bobcat on leash parading around the stadium through the tailgates and then running through the tunnel with the football team behind it. Then leave it on the sideline like the bulldog for the game.

When college mascots are real animals at the stadium it takes it to a new level. Think about it. A lot of schools have a live mascot at the game. Texas even has a large grass field in one of the end zones for the longhorn to roam. I just don't think a bobcat would be that hard or costly to have at the home games. Any animal trainers out there?

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:17 pm

[quote="bcats"]I would think that a real bobcat in the stadium and sideline would be great. I know that bobcats aren't house cats but I am sure they can be trained and raised when they are kittens. Can you imagine a bobcat on leash parading around the stadium through the tailgates and then running through the tunnel with the football team behind it. Then leave it on the sideline like the bulldog for the game.

When college mascots are real animals at the stadium it takes it to a new level. Think about it. A lot of schools have a live mascot at the game. Texas even has a large grass field in one of the end zones for the longhorn to roam. I just don't think a bobcat would be that hard or costly to have at the home games. Any animal trainers out there?[/quote]

If my just turned 2 yr. old malamute feels it isn't an inconvenience he will sit on command (especially if there's a treat or food involved). So much for my training abilities.

Seriously, I think a Bobcat would be really cool, but I don't know what the state laws ( Fish, Wildlife & Parks, etc.) are. It would require a dedicated trainer/caretaker though.

MTBobcatFan · Post by **MTBobcatFan** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:16 pm

KU's "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU" is the one of the coolest things I've heard. It's so eerie, it's unbelievably cool.

catwiththehat · Post by **catwiththehat** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:46 pm

bcats wrote:I would think that a real bobcat in the stadium and sideline would be great. I know that bobcats aren't house cats but I am sure they can be trained and raised when they are kittens. Can you imagine a bobcat on leash parading around the stadium through the tailgates and then running through the tunnel with the football team behind it. Then leave it on the sideline like the bulldog for the game.

When college mascots are real animals at the stadium it takes it to a new level. Think about it. A lot of schools have a live mascot at the game. Texas even has a large grass field in one of the end zones for the longhorn to roam. I just don't think a bobcat would be that hard or costly to have at the home games. Any animal trainers out there?

My neighbor back home in WA has a pet bobcat. It is so cool.