re: How many National Championships does Alabama really have?

quote:

---

What is a crimson tide, and why does it have a trunk and tusks? I want to know this more than titles. TIA Bama fans.

---

From the Bryant museum website

quote:

---

In early newspaper accounts of Alabama football, the team was simply listed as the "varsity" or the "Crimson White" after the school colors.

The first nickname to become popular and used by headline writers was the "Thin Red Line." The nickname was used until 1906.

The name "Crimson Tide" is supposed to have first been used by Hugh Roberts, former sports editor of the Birmingham Age-Herald. He used "Crimson Tide" in describing an Alabama-Auburn game played in Birmingham in 1907, the last football contest between the two schools until 1948 when the series was resumed. The game was played in a sea of mud and Auburn was a heavy favorite to win.

But, evidently, the "Thin Red Line" played a great game in the red mud and held Auburn to a 6-6 tie, thus gaining the name "Crimson Tide." Zipp Newman, former sports editor of the Birmingham News, probably popularized the name more than any other writer.

---

quote:

---

What is a crimson tide, and why does it have a trunk and tusks?

---

"Crimson Tide" was the way a sportswriter described Alabama (red jerseys) and the name stuck. Before that, we were just the Alabama Varsity.

In a separate game, we started the 2nd string because we were so much better. Later in the game, the enormous 1st-string ran on the field and a fan said, "Hold your horses! The elephants are coming!" The association with elephants stuck.

It's actually quite similar to Auburn being the Tigers, and the War Eagles. Except that the Eagle has a story, and the tiger is totally arbitrary.