Busch III and was two years old when he came to LSU in August 1976. Mike IV, originally called Jerry, was born at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida in 1974. Sheldon Bivin, said he would never allow another tiger to die on campus. The mascot's death affected the students and faculty so greatly that the vet at the time, W. Mike III died of old age in 1976 after the only losing LSU football season of his lifetime. During Mike III's 18-year reign, LSU won three Southeastern Conference football championships (1958, 1961, 1970) and eight of 13 bowl games. Mike III was born on November 26, 1957, and arrived from the Seattle Zoo just in time for LSU's 1958 National Championship football season. On May 15, 1958, however, less than two years after his debut, Mike II (or his impostor) died at the Audubon Zoo due to pneumonia, while recovering from multiple fractures to his left rear leg. All rumors of Mike II's death and replacement were denied, and the school claimed that he had finally adjusted. To explain Mike's absence, and after much rumor, the LSU student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, printed a statement that the young tiger needed time alone to adjust to his new home and position as mascot, with its attendant excitement. Legend has it that less than a month after his arrival at LSU, Mike II died of pneumonia, at only eight months of age, during a six-game losing streak and that a second Mike II was secretly brought in as a ringer. He was unveiled on September 29, 1956, during the opening game of the new football season. He was born on February 28, 1956, at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and was chosen because his paws were larger than those of the other cubs. Mike II had a short but somewhat mysterious life. He has been displayed in LSU's Natural Sciences Museum in Baton Rouge.Ī few days after Mike I's death, a resolution endorsing the purchase of another tiger was introduced in the Louisiana legislature and a fund was set up by LSU students to underwrite the cost.
The original Mike lived 20 years before dying of kidney disease in 1956. He was found, and returned safely in New Orleans-he and his cage had been sprayed Tulane green. In the 1950s, Mike was kidnapped by Tulane fans before a Tiger-Green Wave football game. (It was later discovered that "Sheik" may have been fond of his original name, because even years later, handlers could get him to roar just by calling "Sheik!") Mike assumed his duties as the living symbol of LSU only three days after arriving on campus on October 21, 1936. Originally named Sheik, the new mascot was renamed in honor of Mike Chambers, LSU's athletic trainer at the time, who was the person most responsible for bringing him to the school. History of Mike the Tiger Mike I (1936–1956) īorn on October 10, 1935, the first Mike was purchased from the Little Rock Zoo with money raised by collecting 25 cents from each LSU student for a total of $750. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia became known as the Tigers during the Civil War after two New Orleans brigades, the Tiger Rifles and the Washington Artillery (whose logo featured a tiger's head since 1838). The moniker references Confederate era military regiments the Louisiana troops of Robert E. LSU first adopted its "Tigers" nickname in the fall of 1896. LSU teams are called the Fighting Tigers and Lady Tigers, with "Lady Tigers" used only for women's teams in sports that are also sponsored for men, and the university's football team plays its home games in Tiger Stadium. Mike V was a Bengal- Indochinese mix, Mike VI was a Bengal- Siberian hybrid, and Mike VII is also a Bengal–Siberian mix. Mike is the name of both the live and costumed mascots.īy tradition the tiger is a live Bengal tiger, although the current mascot and his two immediate predecessors are mixed-breeds. Mike the Tiger is the mascot of Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and serves as the graphic image of LSU sports.
0 kommentar(er)
