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UND Fighting FLICKERTAILS?!?


WPoS

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Did you just learn that? I don't think the fighting part was ever apart of it.

I believe our school colors are/were pink also. :glare:

actually yes, I did just learn that! A co-worker went to UND and we were talking about the games and he told me about it and how the Sioux actaully had a pow-wow to officially rename to the Sioux...

Still think it is funnier than heck! Didn't know if that was still taught up there or buried in a vault under a lead shield...

WPoS

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I spent quite a bit of time a few years ago doing research on UND hockey in the Special Collections Section at the Chester Fritz Library.

Looking back in the old yearbooks and Dakota Student newspapers, it's clear that the Flickertail name was never very popular with students or athletes. American Indian themes were quite common in the university's songs, cheers and graphics long before "Fighting Sioux" was adopted as the official nickname.

It's true that the official colors of UND are green and pink. The UND flame logo -- shown below -- uses the school's official colors, although the pink flame seems to have morphed into an orange flame.

However, as with the Flickertail nickname, the official school colors were also not popular with athletes and students. Over the years, various combinations of green, white and black have been used instead (thank goodness).

John Noah (a.ka. Johnny Apollo), who played at UND in the late-40s and was the school's first All-American player, likes to talk about the pink T-shirts the athletic department issued to UND players.

flamelogo.gif

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If you need more useless information: tomorrow morning Tim and Swyg will be taking predictions for total goalie saves for this weekend series -- I bring that up because yesterday their quiz was "who was the first US president born west of the Mississippi" and seeing PCM's Truman comment it sparked this nonsense tangent, and no, it wasn't Truman.

Total goalie saves: 109

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Back in the late 40's and early 50's the athletic department also issued pink socks to their athletes, apparently thinking that no one would wear them for other than athletic purposes.

WRONG!!

Most folks wore them for everything but, and those were the days when pants legs seemed a bit shorter than today.

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If you need more useless information: tomorrow morning Tim and Swyg will be taking predictions for total goalie saves for this weekend series -- I bring that up because yesterday their quiz was "who was the first US president born west of the Mississippi" and seeing PCM's Truman comment it sparked this nonsense tangent, and no, it wasn't Truman.

Total goalie saves: 109

Based on history, the rest of you need not enter. :glare:

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Ahem. Who's Truman comment? (Suddenly I feel like Rodney Dangerfield.)

BTW - Hoover was the first born west of the Mississippi.

Well, ah, see, I was just testing everyone's reading comprehension .... yah, that's it .... actually maybe because you (tSicatoka) and PCM and JimDahl are so omnipotent and omnipresent I think of you all as the 3 in 1 (sort of a trinity in a non-Matrix way) -- or something close to that ... :glare:

oh yeah, you're also omniscient -- Hoover is correct ...

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John is quite a character. What is the story behind the Johnny Apollo moniker?

That's what the sports editor of the Dakota Student called him. Why, I don't know. I asked Noah if he remembed that nickname and he said he'd never heard it. But he did remember the name of the editor who called him Johnny Apollo.

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As for WpOS or whatever his name is. Your school's nickname is the Gophers!

I still remember the first time I heard of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. I thought it was a joke. Who in the heck would call their sports teams the Golden Gophers -- on purpose? :D:glare:

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Golden Rodent History.com

More proof that I have too much time on my hands...I dug this stuff up on this goofer website (okay, I made up the name of that link):

The Gopher Nickname

The Gopher mascot is a tradition as old as the state. Minnesota was tabbed the “Gopher State” in 1857 after a satirizing cartoon, depicting nine Gophers with the heads of local politicians pulling a locomotive, was published. The story was over legislative action for a $5 million railroad proposal in western Minnesota. Later, the University picked up the nickname.

So, the Goofs are basically named after some type of land grab deal whipped up by crooked politicians and railroad barons? :p Gotta be proud of that!

The “Golden” Gophers

The “Golden” adjective has not always been a part of the Gopher nickname. During the 1930s, the Gophers wore gold jerseys and pants. Legendary KSTP-AM radio announcer Halsey Hall coined the term “Golden Gophers” in reference to the team’s all-gold attire on the field.

The only thing that I can think of that is golden need to be flushed, not worn on a playing field. :glare:

The Legend of Memorial Stadium

On Thursday, March 6, 1924, in spite of snow and cold wind, 500 Minnesotans gathered at the corner of Oak Street and University Avenue to watch University President L.D. Coffman pitch the first spadeful of dirt, which marked the official start to the building of Memorial Stadium. The stadium was ready for the opening game of the 1924 season, 42 days ahead of schedule. The first official game in the stadium was against North Dakota, in which the Gophers won 14-0 after “playing far below expectations.”

"far below expectations"?? :D Jeez, arrogance is a long standing tradition out of gooferville. I know, it's a 79 year old quote, but it's just another reason to get fired up to beat the varmits. Kick those flea infested hole digging pests butts! ;)

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