Aubie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aubie | |
 |
|
| University | Auburn University |
|---|---|
| Conference | SEC |
| Description | Anthropomorphic tiger |
| First seen | 1979 |
| Official website | Aubie |
| Hall of Fame 2006 | |
Aubie is Auburn University's award-winning costumed tiger mascot. Aubie has won a record six mascot national championships, more than any other mascot in the United States. Aubie was among the first three college mascots inducted to the Mascot Hall of Fame, inducted on August 15, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] History
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
A popular character among Auburn fans and one of the more animated mascots in the country, Aubie has been on the job since 1979. Aubie's existence began as a cartoon character that first appeared on the Auburn/Hardin-Simmons football program cover on October 3, 1959. Birmingham Post-Herald artist Phil Neel created the cartoon Tiger who continued to adorn Auburn program covers for 18 years. Aubie's look changed through the years. In 1962, he began to stand upright and the next year, 1963, wore clothes for the first time--a blue tie and straw hat. Aubie's appearances on game programs proved to be somewhat of a good luck charm for head football coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan's teams. The Tigers were victorious in the first nine games Aubie graced the cover and in his first six years, Auburn posted a 23-2-1 home record. Auburn's home record during the eighteen years Aubie served as Cover Tiger was 63-16-2.
Aubie's regular appearance on the game program cover ended on October 23, 1976, when Auburn downed Florida State, 31-19, but Aubie returned to Auburn’s cover in the Iron Bowl against the Alabama on Nov. 30, 1991, Auburn's last home game at Birmingham's Legion Field. In 1979, Aubie came to life at the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. James Lloyd, Auburn spirit director for the Student Government Association, with help from the Auburn Alumni Association, contacted Brooks-Van Horn Costumes in New York City. The suit was made by the same seamstress who made the JKiller Bees costume for John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd of Saturday Night Live fame.
The company was provided with copies of the 1961 Auburn-Alabama and 1962 Auburn-Georgia Tech game programs to use for reference in creating a costume of the cartoon character. The firm, which also provided costumes for The Walt Disney Company, designed and produced a Tiger costume for $1,350. Individual contributions from various Auburn clubs, alumni and friends helped pay for the first costume.
Aubie proudly marched into the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center on February 28, 1979, and helped lead first-year Auburn coach Sonny Smith's Tigers to an upset of Vanderbilt. The following day, Aubie returned to the arena and the Tigers surprised Georgia in the longest game in SEC tournament history, four overtimes. Before the weekend was complete, Aubie helped lead the ninth-place team in the regular season to the semifinals of the tournament.
In the Spring of 1979, the Student Government Association (SGA), and James Lloyd as Spirit Director, held a two-day tryout among the student body to see who would be selected as Auburn's first official Aubie. 31 Students tried out for the role. Barry Mask was selected as Aubie along with Vicki Leach and Bob Harris as first and second alternates respectively. All three got plenty of "Aubie-time" in the costume as there were plenty of appearance demands. In 1982 it was decided to call all three winners "Aubie" with one "head-Aubie" selected.
Aubie's football debut came in the opening game of the 1979 football season at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Kansas State Wildcats. Barry Mask, Auburn's first "official" Aubie, came up with a clever idea to debut the new mascot. Shortly before kickoff, the Auburn cheerleaders brought a giant "gift box" out to the 50-yard line logo at midfield. Aubie exploded out of the box, danced with the Auburn band and a new Auburn tradition was born. Auburn won the game 26-18. This led to a tradition for several years for Aubie to make a "grand and funny" entrance for each game.
Several former Aubies have gone on to careers as professional sports mascots. No collegiate mascot has won as many national mascot Championships as Aubie.[citation needed]
The names of the students who serve as Aubie are not released to the public during the season. Also, only the students who serve as Aubie are allowed to wear the costume, which explains why Lee Corso never wears an Aubie head when he picks Auburn on ESPN College Gameday.
[edit] Former Friends of Aubie
| Year | Head Aubie | Aubie |
|---|---|---|
| 1979-80 (I) | Barry Mask | Bob Harris, Vicki Leach McGinty |
| 1980-81 (II) | Jim Mayo | Danny Richards, J.T. Thomas |
| 1981-82 (III) | Danny Richards | Mike Loncono, Greg O'Neil |
| 1982-83 (IV) | James Taylor | Mike Irwin, Bart Harmon |
| 1983-84 (V) | Mark Loveless | Jimmy Graves, Greg Stone |
| 1984-85 (VI) | Ken Cope | David Barrett, Carl Gleghorn |
| 1985-86 (VII) | Jack Clark | Warren Weeks, Jef Arnold |
| 1986-87 (VIII) | Randy Davis | Rob Jameson, Laurence Cartledge |
| 1987-88 (IX) | Rob Jameson | Troy Howard, Andy Sokol |
| 1988-89 (X) | Troy Howard | Michael Jernigan, Walter Ownbey |
| 1989-90 (XI) | Bob Short | Chris Wood, David Derrer |
| 1990-91 (XII) | Chris Wood | Michael Jernigan, Rob Thompson |
| 1991-92 (XIII) | David Reynolds | David Harvey, Tim Jordan |
| 1992-93 (XIV) | Harry Heigl | Tim Arnold, Eric Langley |
| 1993-94 (XV) | Eric Langley | Tim Arnold, Trey Humphreys |
| 1994-95 (XVI) | Trey Humphreys | Mike Murphy, Billy Stephens |
| 1995-96 (XVII) | Billy Stephens (Metairie, LA) | Mike Griffin (Auburn, AL), Josh Agerton (Auburn, AL) |
| 1996-97 (XVIII) | Josh Agerton | Eric Krausse, Brannon McKim |
| 1997-98 (XIX) | Eric Krausse | Brannon McKim, J.G. Carver |
| 1998-99 (XX) | J.G. Carver (Huntsville, AL) | Jeff Holoman (Dallas, TX), Justin Moore (Oxford, AL) |
| 1999-2000 (XXI) | Jeff Holoman (Dallas, TX) | Joel Darby, JD Simpson |
| 2000-01 (XXII) | Joel Darby | Damian Shepard, Drew Rodgers |
| 2001-02 (XXIII) | Drew Rogers | Taylor Griswold, Jeremy Legg |
| 2002-03 (XXIV) | Taylor Griswold (Las Vegas, NV) | Jeremy Legg (Franklin, TN), Trey Mock (Marietta, GA) |
| 2003-04 (XXV) | Trey Mock (Marietta, GA) | Matt Grainger (Homewood, AL), Chris Keenan (Spanish Fort, AL) |
| 2004-05 (XXVI) | Chris Keenan (Spanish Fort, AL) | Matt Grainger (Homewood, AL), Evan Thomas (Dothan, AL), David Smith (Ozark, AL) |
| 2005-06 (XXVII) | Evan Thomas, (Dothan, AL) | David Smith (Ozark, AL), Chris Delvizis (Brentwood, TN) |
| 2006-07 (XXVIII) | Chris Delvizis (Brentwood, TN) | Shelton Tate, Justin Shugart |
| 2007-08 (XXIX) | Justin Shugart | TBA |
| 2008-09 (XXX) | TBA | TBA |
[edit] National championships
Aubie won his first Universal Cheerleaders Association mascot national championship in 1991 and has won an unmatched six overall.
| Year | "Friends of Aubie" |
|---|---|
| 1991 | Michael Jernigan, Chris Wood and Rob Thompson |
| 1995 | Trey Humphreys, Mike Murphy, and Billy Stephens |
| 1996 | Billy Stephens (Metairie, LA), Mike Griffin (Auburn, AL) and Josh Agerton (Auburn, AL) |
| 1999 | J.G. Carver (Huntsville, AL), Jeff Holoman (Dallas, TX), and Justin Moore (Oxford, AL) |
| 2003 | Taylor Griswold (Las Vegas, NV), Jeremy Legg (Franklin, TN), and Trey Mock (Marietta, GA) |
| 2006 | Evan Thomas, (Dothan, AL), David Smith (Ozark, AL) and Chris Delvizis (Brentwood, TN) |
[edit] External links
- Aubie's official website at Auburn.edu
- Aubie at AuburnTigers.com
- http://www.ocm.auburn.edu/news_releases/aubiehof.html
- Aubie's Myspace
- Aubie's bio from the Mascot Hall of Fame
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
