What was alabama called before the crimson tide

Jan 4, 42 52 Birmingham. We started out as the "Fire Breathing Chimpanzees", but that name was scrapped in the ink shortage of '09 when it was learned that the amount of ink used in the name would greatly diminish the number of "Got Bananas?

You must log in or register to reply here. New Posts. Veterans Day Latest: Relayer 23 minutes ago. Get well soon, Cecil Hurt! Coaching or Players? What is problem in your opinion? Latest threads. Sportico: how much did your team make? Ticket Swap. Share this page Share this page Share. The phrase "crimson tide" was a fairly common descriptor back then in regards to life or blood, often in the context of war or poetry.

While I was unable to locate a digital copy of the Birmingham Age-Herald after the Alabama-Auburn game, I found a portion of his recap that was published in The Tuscaloosa News on the Tuesday following the game, published on Nov.

Where things get interesting, however, is that neither the words "crimson" nor "tide" appear in the story, which means either The Tuscaloosa News didn't publish Roberts' entire story remember, Roberts worked for the Birmingham Age-Herald, not The Tuscaloosa News , which meant the newspaper unknowingly left out the portion where Alabama would get its future nickname, or perhaps through the passage of time, the origin of "Crimson Tide" was credited to the wrong newspaper, writer, year or game recap.

If you look online about where the nickname came from, virtually every news outlet or resource recites the same story. Taylor Watson, curator of the Paul W. Bryant Museum , has worked for the museum for 28 years and for the last 15, he's been working on a book about things Alabama fans think they know but actually don't. The interesting thing about that game, the '07 Alabama-Auburn game, was the last game they played for 41 years and if you read the accounts from other newspapers, it was a clear, cool day.

I'm pretty sure that's not the first time Crimson Tide was ever used but this is how it goes. On the offensive, Alabama could not be checked, and on the defensive, save for one spot in the line, Alabama was Auburn's equal. It is true, taking the game as a whole, that Alabama covered more ground during the scrimmage. Alabama had a greater diversity of formations and kept the point of combat in opposing territory.

Prior to the adoption of the nickname of "Crimson Tide," newspaper accounts from the early s called Alabama simply the "Alabama football team," "Crimson," "Crimson and White," or "the Alabama football eleven," with "eleven" being a common refrain a century ago in reference to the number of players on the field for each team. Alabama's first nickname was the "Thin Red Line," another war reference which was used to describe Alabama teams, according to Alabama's website.

Especially considering that "Crimson Tide" entered the pantheon of Alabama traditions long before elephants did. After originally going by "varsity," "Crimson White" the school colors and "The Thin Red Line," Birmingham Age-Herald sports editor Hugh Roberts coined the term "Crimson Tide" to describe 'Bama's heroic effort in holding heavily favored Auburn to a 6—6 tie in a mud-soaked game in that had the 'Bama players looking like a red tidal wave.

The nickname stuck. You have to fast-forward 23 years to come upon the first mention of elephants to describe Alabama football. Like the team's nickname, it was the brainchild of a sports writer. More from LostLettermen. Strupper and other writers referred to the linemen on that team — which won the third of Alabama's 14 claimed national championships — as "Red Elephants.

But it would be nearly five decades until Alabama recognized the animal as its official mascot. Which isn't to say that elephants didn't factor in prominently to gameday tradition.

Auburn's "War Eagle" ]. During the s, the school kept a live elephant mascot named "Alamite. By the s, keeping a live elephant year round proved to be too expensive for the university. Instead, the school's "Spirit Planning Committee" started hiring elephants — often from traveling circuses passing through or by Tuscaloosa — for every homecoming. And in the early s, Alabama student Melford Espey went the extra mile and dressed up as the animal to cheer on his beloved team.

It was clear that Crimson Tide Nation's obsession with the pachyderm would not cease. So what took so long for the Alabama administration to adopt the animal as the school's official mascot?

That was not the image of his players he wanted to portray. Bryant was Alabama's football coach and athletic director, not to mention a legendary figure that Crimson Tide fans would never cross. When Bryant shot down the elephant mascot idea, that was that. But the same students that worshipped the Bear persisted, and he finally relented in the late s. The man who Bryant tasked with spearheading Big Al's creation was none other than Espey , who by that time was working as an Alabama administrator.