The Tiger (mascot)

The Tiger is the mascot of the Clemson Tigers, the athletic teams of Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. The anthropomorphized tiger is costumed in Acrylic/polyester fur, and in recent years wears a football, basketball, or baseball jersey or a T-shirt.[1] The Tiger has a smaller companion, The Cub, who wears shorts, oversized sneakers, and a jersey numbered ​1⁄2.

For other uses, see Tiger (disambiguation).
The Tiger
The Tiger at a 2009 football game
UniversityClemson University
ConferenceACC
DescriptionAnthropomorphic tiger
First seen1954
The Cub at a 2005 football game

History

Clemson's athletic teams have been nicknamed the Tigers since 1896, when coach (and later university president) Walter Merritt Riggs brought the name from his alma mater, Auburn University. The school's first costumed mascot was the Southern Gentleman, a student dressed in a purple formal suit with a top hat and cane. The name came from a Greenville News editor's nickname for Clemson students, and was discontinued in 1972. The first costumed tiger mascot appeared in 1954. A smaller, ostensibly younger, companion named The Cub was introduced in 1993.[2]

The Tiger's wide, yellow eyes are perceived by some as frightening. In 2014, CBSSports.com named The Tiger #4 on its list of ten scariest college football mascots.[3]

Traditions

In 1978, mascot Zach Mills began the tradition of doing a number push-ups after every score equal to the number of points Clemson had in the game.[4][2] Mills performed 287 push-ups in that game, a record that was later eclipsed by Ricky Capps, who performed 465 push-ups(including help from the Wake Demon Deacon) in an 82–24 victory over Wake Forest during the 1981 national championship season.[1] The tradition is now commonly emulated by other college mascots.

The university maintains four Tiger and Cub costumes.[5]

References
  1. "The Tiger & Tiger Cub Mascot Tradition". ClemsonTigers.com. August 1, 2012. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  2. Mills, Heath (November 7, 2003). "Tiger traditions: The Clemson mascots". The Tiger. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. Fornelli, Tom (October 31, 2014). "The Ten Scariest Mascots In College Football". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  4. Weiskopf, Herman (September 25, 1978). "The Week". Sports Illustrated. 49 (13): 60. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  5. Shain, Andrew (November 24, 2012). "Mixing, mingling with mascots of USC and Clemson". The State. Columbia, SC. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
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