Ohio State's last loss to an in-state school came in 1921, when Oberlin nipped the Buckeyes 7-6. The campus traditions at Ohio University make every football game a celebration of University spirit. Instead of executing a Ray Lewis-style blowup tackle, Rufus flails meagerly to the side, wrapping himself around Stazen's hips like a scared child. Jason Fitz and Christine Williamson discuss the true backstory behind Ohio University mascot Rufus the Bobcat's attack on Ohio State mascot Brutus just before kickoff on Sept. 18, 2010. Sean's bona fides as a Buckeyes nut are easily verified on his Facebook page: a family portrait (complete with PBR tallboys) outside Columbus' infamous Little Bar. The Bobcats finished 10-0 that year and were voted the NCAA National College Division Champion. The Bobcat mascot has changed its appearance many times since 1960 but remains a beloved representative of Ohio Athletics. The Bobcat mascot first appeared at Ohio's Homecoming game against Miami on Oct. 22, 1960. "There's football and then there's everything else," Smith says. "After a year of being a mascot, it was instinct to try to keep the head on.". The sandwich is a 21-oz. "It's never been anything in the middle.". "There was a premeditated assault with a lot of foresight and malice attached to it, and that shouldn't be celebrated," says Mass, the former Mr. Met. Ohio University unveiled its new mascot, Rufus, during a ceremony prior to the Bobcats' victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006. Brutus, however, is still bound by a higher calling -- and a partial scholarship. See more ideas about college logo, mascot, logos. Ohio University's fight song, entitled "Stand Up and Cheer," has been sung as an "athletic song" since the early 1900s. About. It's just this crazy, hilarious thing that happened before a football game that has lived on for a long time. Finish the meal in 30 minutes and you’re added to the Wall of Fame. Former student Hal H. Rowland of Athens earned the $10 first prize for proposing the winning entry. Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and FlemFile columnist for ESPN.com. Bryan. Ohio State’s mascot — the aptly named Brutus Buckeye — actually predates the buckeye sticker tradition. The storm killed one resident and destroyed several homes along with the Athens High School football stadium, which was rebuilt and recently renamed Joe Burrow Stadium. Oral Roberts' Golden Eagle, Three generations later, the secrets of Wichita State's devastating plane crash are still unfolding, The true story of Sebastian the Ibis, a fire extinguisher and a near arrest. "After I said to myself, 'OK, I guess this is happening,' I kinda lower my shoulder and sidestep him, and we hit, but I'm able to get my one arm over the top of him and throw him down to the ground," Stazen says. "So I was like, hmmm, strange, OK, maybe he's just a very punctual guy or whatever. Potential Bruti must endure an intense two-day tryout that includes gauging how candidates work and move inside the giant, awkward nut head; performance of an original skit; various hypothetical practice scenarios Brutus might face; and a formal job interview conducted by a panel of coaches and Brutus alumni. It just comes with the territory. An overlooked subplot to the saga is that two days before the game, Athens was hit by a tornado. The Green and White above the rest. "At the time," Smith says, "people around here really needed something to laugh about.". 5 out of 5 stars (693) $ 34.99 FREE shipping Only 1 available and it's in 1 person's cart. "I'm sitting there watching myself on TV, wondering, 'Is this real life right now?'". A month before school started, the Bobcats' cheerleading coach called Hanning. At the same time, there was a string of wild mascot donnybrooks -- Coastal Carolina's Chauncey the Chanticleer vs. James Madison's Duke Dog; IUPUI's Jawz the Jaguar vs. Official Mascot of The Ohio University Bobcats The Campus Affairs Committee decided that the Bobcat mascot would be a permanent member of the cheerleading squad and would cheer at all football and basketball games. also marched in the 2000 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and has performed in numerous college and professional football stadiums. (103) $16.99. Hanning: "Neither of us said anything, but I could definitely tell he was pretty pissed off about it. We've got the steam,  "He goes to children's hospitals here in Columbus and visits kids who are fighting some crazy battles, and helping to bring smiles to those kids' faces -- that's the No. The original Brutus did not last long, in fact it only lasted two weeks. It would become a life-changing experience. Rah! ", In the end zone, between a line of Ohio State cheerleaders and a row of players solemnly praying at the goal line, the mascots clash one last time as boos begin to rain down from the crowd. Cheer loud and long for old Ohio,  And I had another buddy who renamed his fantasy football team Rufus Haymaker. Smartly clad in a bright green sweater and a baseball cap on top of its paper mache head, the Bobcat was a gift to all of Ohio University from the men of Lincoln Hall. For this is old Ohio's day! "It's just like if people hate the Yankees or people hate the Lakers -- the more success a team has, the more, naturally, you're just gonna have haters that want to see you fail," says Adam Widman, the Chicago Bears' director of media relations and an OSU graduate who was an assistant sports information director at the school in 2006 and '17. The ensuing scrum is supposed to create a natural roadblock -- like the marching band scene in "Animal House" -- turning the Buckeyes' glorious, grand entrance into one massive, chaotic human car crash. 45 College Mascots: Ohio Valley ideas | eastern illinois, tn state, mascot. "So we've always had this kind of weird, underlying superiority. His Rufus head starts to fall off, and without realizing it, Hanning's mascot training kicks in. ", As a freshman at OU, Hanning not only secured the Rufus duties, he even attempted a dry run during a game in Buffalo. This mascot is a student that’s dressed in buckeye colors. "But this time, when I went in to get changed, Rufus had already been in there, changed and made his way out to the field," Stazen says. He lunges wildly at Brutus, nearly taking him, the cheerleader and the giant Ohio State flag down to the turf. He organized the first meeting about such a group at Ewing Hall where over 40 musicians were in attendance. Perhaps that's true. He reattached his head and took off in pursuit of the cowardly nut "to finish what I started. Brutus made his debut in 1965 when students Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber, suggested a buckeye as the school’s mascot. The name "Marching 110" originally referred to the number of band members in 1967 but the band has since expanded. In the spring of his freshman year at OSU, Stazen was riding a campus bus and saw an ad for Brutus tryouts. The 110 now stands for the 110% effort expected of all members at all times. The University's biggest football weekend of the year is the annual Homecoming Game. Played in the afternoon, it follows a parade that winds through uptown and ends in the Peden Stadium parking lot. 2 Vanderbilt's win, Ex-UCLA coach sentenced for admissions scam, Parents want answers from Oregon St. president, Everything you need to know about the NCAA's NIL debate. This community will champion your ambition, equipping you for your career and beyond, actively supporting you every step of the way, forever. I didn't want to hurt the guy inside. How you interpret the mascot melee -- whether you think it was (A) awesome, or (B) an assault -- depends almost entirely on your feelings about Ohio State and the untouchable (and sometimes unscrupulous) powerhouse level of college football it represents. Ohio University unveiled its new mascot, Rufus, during a ceremony prior to the Bobcats' victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006. Every Friday afternoon of home game weeks, the park across from Peden Stadium is transformed from its traditional use as a site for picnics, frisbee-playing and the Marching 110 practice field to become Pepsi Tail-Great Park. University intercollegiate athletics include six men's squads and eight women's squads. Coastal Carolina's Chauncey the Chanticleer vs. James Madison's Duke Dog, IUPUI's Jawz the Jaguar vs. He was just playing around, acting like he was charging me. (Mascot fights are supposed to be staged and agreed upon by both parties beforehand, with the explicit understanding that the home mascot always wins.) At the national level, Ohio University defeated 4th-seeded Michigan in the 2012 NCAA D… "I was thinking I should go ahead and try out tackling another mascot," Hanning said. A FEW DAYS after the most infamous mascot fight in college football history, Sean Stazen (aka Brutus Buckeye) sat down in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment and opened his laptop, hoping to get some homework done. Later that night, back in Athens, Hanning finds an open door at the school's arena. "The Most Exciting Band in the Land!" The proposal was put before the student body for a vote and green and white became the colors of the school's uniforms in the fall of 1896. Nothing beats the pomp and circumstance of a Saturday afternoon during college football season as fans from across the state and region converge in Athens, Ohio, to support their Bobcats. A graduate of Ohio University’s Master of Sports Administration program in 2010, Justin Hunt is a licensed attorney, certified sports agent, sports consultant and author. The mascot community is downright appalled, to say the least. As you may be aware, in March 2019 the Mascot Study Group began a process to consider the use of the nickname and mascot as a representation of Capital University, its mission and its values. From Brutus' perspective, after all the buildup and bravado, when Hanning arrives at midfield, he appears to lose his nerve. "And then all of sudden, I feel someone jump on my back and I'm, like, not angry or anything, just annoyed, like, 'Dude, come on, what are you doing? "That's why I let go," he said. "Instead, Rufus got a tackle but Brutus got a beheading. And the photo of him socking Brutus in the puss was already being printed on T-shirts, displayed in Ann Arbor bars and used as screen savers across the college football landscape. And the way Rufus sees it, it was Brutus who fled. Previous Next. One of the finest marching bands in the country, the Marching 110 represents Ohio University at athletic events, parades and festivals around the nation. More than 500 people submitted nominations for the name of the new Bobcat in May. Rufus was a popular choice for many Ohio fans because Lynx rufus is the species name for the bobcat. It was pretty funny and no one got upset because it wasn't Ohio State.". There's a black-and-white silhouetted portrait of Rufus pounding Brutus next to the caption "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything" and the hashtag #LegendsNeverDie. It soon became apparent, however, that these colors would be unacceptable for the new football team to wear. T-shirts at their Friday walk-through, the Bobcats came aggravatingly close to shocking the world, leading 14-12 in the fourth quarter before eventually falling 26-14. Rah! Ohio State is one of the largest universities in the nation. I can't believe it's been 10 years already. For quite some time, Ohio State had a hard time settlingon a design for Brutus. The Bobcats would have to wait until 2010 for another shot at the Buckeyes. Ohio was graced by a special guest in 2000 as "Today Show" co-host and Ohio alum Matt Lauer returned to campus to film a special segment. He is the founder of J.H. Home. Our teams are fighting  "I remembered seeing the Oregon Duck beating up another mascot, and I thought it would be really funny if Rufus beat up Brutus," Hanning told ESPN in 2010. For today we raise  The school originally enrolled seventy-five students and had eight faculty members. "Hanning did the only thing that could possibly allow OU to escape Columbus with some self-respect. The park features entertainment areas for children, live music, the smells of charcoal grills and, of course, tailgating. Author of "Noah's Rainbow" (a father's memoir) and "Breaker Boys" (stolen 1925 NFL title). Oral Roberts' Golden Eagle; the Oregon Duck vs. the Houston Cougar -- making the rounds on a rapidly growing video site called YouTube. I tackled him and put him on the ground. 1 thing I'll remember from being Brutus, not the big games or Rufus but that stuff with the kids.". The study group was created in response to concerns raised about the nickname and mascot during the strategic planning process and in a petition signed by more than 500 members of the Capital community. Add to. 38 likes. "If it was a better tackle, it could have been a lot worse, with all these players piling up behind us," Stazen says. Waddis replaced "Sir Winsalot" with a new cat named "Paws," who can be found in the North America section of the Columbus Zoo. And the pinned tweet on Hanning's Twitter profile is a play on the Colin Kaepernick Nike campaign. We've got the team,  "I was way up in the press box when it happened," Widman says, "and all I remember is one of my student workers yelling out, 'Whoa, Rufus is going after Brutus!' Could adding athletic programs decrease financial woes for some schools? "He's gonna be able to tell his grandkids someday, 'I took down Brutus Buckeye. Rufus Bobcat- Ohio University Mascot. Nov 8, 2017 - College mascots and logos. Nowadays, the Bobcat can be seen at numerous varsity athletic events and visits countless special events in the community. An exasperated Rufus pulls Brutus down from behind and begins punching him in the face. And just in case Stazen wasn't fully aware that he had been unwittingly thrust into one of the first great viral moments in sports -- one that divides college football fans to this day -- there were links to Ohio State coach Jim Tressel joking that Brutus was "probable" for the No. LISTEN: ESPN senior writer David Fleming discusses the legacy of Rufus' ambush on the ESPN Daily podcast. After wearing O-S-Who? Has written more than 30 cover stories for SI and ESPN. This relationship, which spans more than 40 years, exists within a larger historical context. ", Says Stazen: "All I can picture is this guy's dorm room looking like Ray Finkle's bedroom wall in 'Ace Ventura,' with diagrams everywhere of his master plot and pictures everywhere with Brutus with devil horns. And I don't blame them one bit. At that time, however, the school's athletic board decided the teams needed a nickname and a campus-wide contest was initiated. "I think Rufus panicked and was like, 'I can't go out like this.' After not making the cut as a freshman, Stazen reapplied the following year and made the team. To add insult to injury, Hanning then commits the cardinal sin of mascotting by allowing his head to pop off, the mascot equivalent of getting pantsed in gym class. The next summer, however, Hanning decided to drop out of OU to work and attend a local community college. In addition to the Bobcat costume, which merely symbolizes Ohio's mascot, a live Bobcat was introduced to Ohio University's fans in 1983. The University's then-newly hired football coach, Samuel McMillen, suggested that Ohio adopt as its colors olive green and white, which were worn at McMillen's alma mater, Dartmouth College. At the iconic Ohio Stadium, opposing mascots actually share a locker room near the Buckeyes' entrance to the field. I brought a red square cape thing, like in a bullfight. Before the start of the game, Ohio State mascot Brutus attacked by Ohio University Mascot. "But they're the most interesting ones, unfortunately. "My first thought with the way he's positioned is to flip him hard over my head, but I realize he can probably grab my head and pull it off, and Brutus Buckeye losing his head in front of 110,000 people at Ohio Stadium is not what we want.". The song's words and theme were adapted from a previous melody, originally composed by Paul McNeely. "I'm not going to equate it to a terrorist attack, but it had that kind of planning attached to it. That left Hanning with no choice. Mascot3D. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. THE Ohio State Pilots Win or lose, after shaking hands with the visiting team, Ohio University football players head for the student section to thank them for attending. There was talk of a statue. Stazen always tried to use this time to play gracious host. ", No one outside of Columbus cares if he makes the tackle. "We never spoke. "The people who get dragged into the mascot world, there's performers, there's professional gymnasts, there's right-place, right-time kind of people and then there's guys who are just 'look at me, look at me,'" Mass says. After a dismissive shoulder wipe, Brutus continues undaunted, leading the Buckeyes down the field to the north end zone. Ohio University's alma mater, entitled "Alma Mater, Ohio," was created by a special contest. I mean, come on. Behind these are mountains, symbolizing strength and grandeur, and the rising … $restriction.code /information/traditions, NCAA Eligibility and Student-Athlete Success. An Ohio State official steps in and escorts him away, telling him to stay away from Brutus the rest of the game, which the Buckeyes win easily 43-7. "So now it's like, 'I gotta get this guy off me,'" Stazen says. He launched a surprise attack, and brought down one of the sacred symbols of Ohio State University, that ridiculous Buckeye. Even Michigan fans were having fun with memes and GIFs and whatnot. In the end, the Rufus-Brutus brawl became the most reliable litmus test in college football. The Ohio football team has released its 2021 regular season schedule today in conjunction with the Mid-American Conference office. ", As if Rufus hasn't embarrassed himself enough already, as the lame wrestling match in the end zone fizzles, a gassed, desperate Hanning attempts one final low blow that, thankfully, doesn't land. Rah! The next day, OU bans Hanning from all athletic events in perpetuity. "Brutus does a lot of events on top of just games," Stazen says. There is talk of a "Send Brandon Hanning to Jail" Facebook page. Decided the teams needed a nickname and a partial scholarship best access point with same! Photo from the Ohio State ’ s mascot that 's kinda what we there... 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