re: Tusk III makes debut

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Any tiders care to tell us about the origin of the elephants?

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The elephant's association with Alabama dates back to the 1930 football season when the Crimson Tide was led by Coach Wallace Wade. There are two stories about how Alabama became associated with the elephant.

Officially, following the 1930 game versus Ole Miss, Atlanta Journal sports writer Everett Strupper wrote:

"At the end of the quarter, the earth started to tremble, there was a distant rumble that continued to grow. Some excited fan in the stands bellowed, 'Hold your horses, the elephants are coming,' and out stamped this Alabama varsity. It was the first time that I had seen it and the size of the entire eleven nearly knocked me cold, men that I had seen play last year looking like they had nearly doubled in size."

Sports writers continued to refer to Alabama as the "Red Elephants" afterwards, referring to their crimson jerseys. The 1930 team shut out eight of ten opponents, allowing a total of only 13 points all season. The "Red Elephants" rolled up 217 points that season, including a 24-0 victory over Washington State in the Rose Bowl.

Another account attributes the Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk Company for the elephant association. Alabama used the Birmingham Trunk Company's luggage to travel to the 1930 Rose Bowl. The luggage company's trademark was a red elephant standing on a trunk. When the football team arrived in Pasadena, the reporters greeting them associated their large size with the elephants on their luggage.

Despite these early associations of the elephant to the University of Alabama, the university did not officially accept the elephant as university mascot until 1979.

Alabama's elephant mascot is known as "Big Al.

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