One of my favorite parts of my visit to the Gamma Rho chapter was getting to go to a football game (they were ranked #2 at the time)! Auburn has a lot of really cool traditions and TONS of school spirit. Two of the best things were "War Eagle" and how they toilet paper Toomer's Corner after any Auburn victory. Here's the story on each:
War Eagle is the battle cry of fans of the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University, and fans of other Auburn teams and sometimes Auburn University in general. It is also the title of the university fight song.. It is a common phrase in the city of Auburn in general, along with the variation "War Damn Eagle". Since 1930, and continuously since 1960, Auburn University has also kept an actual eagle as a second mascot for Auburn athletics. However, the official mascot is Aubie the tiger, and Auburn does not have teams called "eagles" or "war eagles".
The mythical War Eagle I has the most colorful story of all of the "War Eagles". War Eagle I's story begins in the Civil War. According to the legend, a soldier from Alabama was the sole Confederate survivor of a bloody battle. Stumbling across the battlefield, he came across a wounded young eagle. The bird was named Anvre, and was cared for and nursed back to health by the soldier. Several years later the soldier, a former Auburn student, returned to college as a faculty member, bringing the bird with him. For years both were a familiar sight on campus and at events. On the day of Auburn's first football game in 1892 against the University of Georgia, the aged eagle broke away from his master during the game and began to circle the field, exciting the fans. But at the end of the game, with Auburn victorious, the eagle fell to the ground and died.
This legend was originally published in 1960 in the Auburn Plainsman and was conceived by then-editor Jim Phillips. Though apocryphal, this tale is most often told as the beginning of the association of "War Eagle" with Auburn.
(from Wikipedia)
Now, a golden eagle flies around the stadium during the opening of every home football game!
Toomer's Corner:
The intersection of Magnolia and College streets in Auburn, which marks the transition from downtown Auburn to the university campus, is known as Toomer's Corner. It is named after Toomer's Drugs, a small store on the corner that has been an Auburn landmark for over 150 years. Hanging over the corner are two massive old-growth oak trees, and anytime anything good happens concerning Auburn, toilet paper can usually be found hanging from the trees. Also known as "rolling the corner," this tradition is thought to have originated in the 1950s and until the mid 1990s was relegated to only to celebrating athletic wins. However, in recent years it has become a way to celebrate anything good that happens concerning Auburn.
(From Wikipedia)
This was such a cool sight to see!! I did not get to take a picture- I found this one online :)
No comments:
Post a Comment