Chicago Maroons

Chicago Maroons
University University of Chicago
Conference University Athletic Association
Midwest Conference
NCAA Division III
Athletic director Erin McDermott
Location Chicago, Illinois
Football stadium Stagg Field
Basketball arena Ratner Athletics Center
Other arenas Henry Crown Field House
Mascot Phoenix
Nickname Maroons
Fight song Wave the Flag
Colors Maroon and White[1]
         
Website athletics.uchicago.edu

The Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray,[2] and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA's Division III, mostly as members of the University Athletic Association. The University of Chicago helped found the Big Ten Conference in 1895; although it dropped football in 1939 (as inconsistent with its academic vision), its other teams remained members until 1946. Football returned as a club sport in 1963, varsity sport in 1969 and began competing independently in Division III in 1973. The school was part of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference from 1976 to 1987, and its football team expects to be part of the Midwest Conference beginning in 2017. Stagg Field is the home stadium for the re-instated football team.

Men's athletics

Women's athletics

Big Ten Conference

The Maroons helped establish the Big Ten Conference (then known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, and commonly called the Western Conference) at a follow-up meeting on February 8, 1896.[3] The league initially consisted of Chicago, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern.

Jay Berwanger was awarded the first Heisman trophy in 1935. [4]

Hall of Fame coach Amos Alonzo Stagg coached the football team from 1892-1932, the basketball team from 1920-1921, and the baseball team from 1893-1905 and 1907-1913.[5] He encouraged players to adopt vegetarianism, believing it supported both athleticism and a "gentle and gentlemanly" sportsmanship.[6]

The football team was dropped following the 1939 season.[7]

In explaining the reason to drop football, Robert Maynard Hutchins, the university’s president, had written acidly in The Saturday Evening Post “In many colleges, it is possible for a boy to win 12 letters without learning how to write one.” [8]

On March 7, 1946 the University of Chicago withdrew from the Big Ten Conference.[9] On May 31, 1946 the resignation was formally accepted by the Big Ten Conference.[10]

Championships

National and NCAA championships

University Athletic Association championships

Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference championships

Big Ten Conference championships

Chicago Pile-1

[11]The Chicago Pile Was constructed out of graphite blocks underneath the football stands in the Racquetball and tennis court during World War II for the Manhattan Project. It was the first Nuclear reactor to hit critical mass.

Fight song

Wave the Flag (For Old Chicago) is the fight song for the Maroons.[12] Gordon Erickson wrote the lyrics in 1929. The tune was adapted from Miami University's "Marching Song" written in 1908 by Raymond H. Burke, a University of Chicago graduate who joined Miami's faculty in 1906.

The song is traditionally sung by the players at midfield after all home victories.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Color Palette | University Communications". Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ http://communications.uchicago.edu/identity/color-palette
  3. ↑ Canham, Don (1996). From The Inside: A Half Century of Michigan Athletics. Olympia Sports Press. p. 281. ISBN 0-9654263-0-0.
  4. ↑ "Heisman trophy winners". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Alonzo Stagg Profile". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Shprintzen. The Vegetarian Crusade. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-1-4696-0891-4.
  7. ↑ "Chicago gives up football as major sport". Gettysburg Times. December 22, 1939. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "At the University of Chicago, Football and Higher Education Mix". New York Times. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Chicago Withdraws From Big Ten Because of Weak Athletic Teams". New York Times. March 8, 1946. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "No changes voted by Big Ten group". Champaign, Illinois: New York Times. June 1, 1946. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  11. ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/genrel/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/b1gupdatedrecordsbookfront.pdf
  12. ↑ Archived December 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ "Chicago Traditions" Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. at University of Chicago official website (accessed 2012-12-29).
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