In the great world of college sports one is introduced to many mascots. Many seem simple enough, you have bears, cougars, pirates, wildcats and tigers galore. Then there are those that seem a little more unique. How did colleges get nicknames like “tarheels”, “volunteers”, “jayhawks”, “sooners” and many others? As it happens, many unique (and some more mainstream) nicknames have come from history.
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, one roots for the tarheels. Why? As it happens, the entire state of North Carolina is considered the “Tar Heel State”. This nickname harkens back to the good ole’ days of the Civil War. According to some, the North Carolinians held their ground so well in battle that the Confederates called those who hailed from North Carolina, “tar heels”. (The implication being that tar had been stuck to their feet, thereby making them immovable.) I have also heard the opposite. According to others, North Carolinian patriots in the American Revolution were so prone to run away from battle that their officers threatened to put tar on their heels. Which story is correct, I don’t know for sure.
One state west, in Tennessee, the Volunteers play. Although not quite as unique as “tar heels”, one wonders why a college would pick “volunteer” as their nickname. It just so happens that there is a very logical, historical reason for that. Back in the War of 1812, when the call to arms was made, Tennesseeans responded enthusiastically, thus earning the name the “volunteer state”. The nickname stuck and was later used for the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
The Jayhawks hail from Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence happens to be a particularly gruesome site of a Civil War catastrophe: the burning and looting of Lawrence by William Quantrill. The Jayhawk nickname also hails from the Civil War, where people who moved to Kansas during “Bleeding Kansas” to sway the vote on slavery were called “jayhawkers”. Incidentally, the Missouri Tigers supposedly have origins in the Civil War. (Pro-Confederate guerilla fighters from Missouri were called “tigers”.) The nicknames of the Mississippi Rebels and LSU Tigers also have origins in the Civil War.
There are countless other historical nicknames in college sports. Take the Oklahoma Sooners for example. Their nickname comes from pioneers who moved to the Oklahoma Territory before official land grants were established, thereby getting to the land “sooner” than the mass of pioneers. The Massachusetts Minutemen get their nickname from…you guessed it, the minutemen who fought the British at Lexington and Concord in 1775. All in all, history can make for some interesting nicknames and even more interesting stories behind them!
Interesting Fact of the Week-While writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson played his fiddle at night when he faced writer’s block.
Inspiring Quote of the Week-“The free man cannot long be an ignorant man.” -William McKinley