FAU would be decent if it wasn't for the crazy eyes. A tad bit too realistic (and shiny)

The temple one doesn't look like an owl at all. Looks like the Louisville mascot got whacked really hard on the head and resulted in being flattened.

(01-22-2015 01:54 PM)NoodleOwl Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 01:19 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  So what do the sideline mascots at FAU, temple, Kennesaw
State, and other Owl schools look like?

Seems like this could be a project for the Art Department.

FAU:

Temple:

KSU:
I'm not a fan of any of these (though FAU is probably the least bad). I agree we should go back to something that looks like the Sammy in the OP.

There's also:

1) Ollie the Owl ... always with a gavel ... from Brandeis:

This mascot was named in 1955 for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., an ally of the university's namesake, Louis Brandeis.

2) Keene State College (New Hampshire):

This owl dates from 2011 ...

... and looks a lot better than this one from 2003:


3) Southern Connecticut State's Otus the Owl:

This one looks a lot better than ...

... the first Otus, which was named in 2010:


4) Westfield State's Nestor the Owl:


5) Bryn Mawr's mascot is Predator D. Owl,

... which in 2002 replaced the unfortunate moniker for this elite women's school's sports teams, the "Mawrters." (Former Sammys can relate to the experiences of this Predator.)

6) Footsie the Owl, mascot of Foothill Community College (Los Altos, Calif.), looks like Predator's twin:


Owl mascots not associated with sports teams include:

a) KC the Owl from Kresge College at UC-Santa Cruz has eyes, eyelids and eyelashes that are very similar to those of our latest Sammy:


b) MET Owl of the Michigan Education Trust:


c) Sage the Night Owl, from the online institution, Western Governor's University:

The Temple Owl looks more like Henery Chickenhawk.

Here's Sammy at a Rice Hoops game in a kid-friendly moment. Again, I get what they want with not scaring the kids, and that is a good thing--here in this photo with the kids next to him Sammy doesn't look quite as bad as when he's by himself straight up. (But look over his shoulder at the Athletic Owl painted on the wall of the student section in Tudor. That's too great a difference. Sammy needs to go under the knife again for some "work.")



Maybe there could be a Sammy, Jr. for the kids:


and a Sammy Daddy for the adults:


and a Sexy Samantha for THRILL, from Hooters?


Then everybody wins!

Good gawd ... thank you previous owl generations for not naming our mascot "Predator"

(01-22-2015 04:37 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  5) Bryn Mawr's mascot is Predator D. Owl,

Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

(01-22-2015 08:11 PM)75src Wrote:  Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

From Rice's online archive, here's a photo from 1958, which looks like the Sammy I recall from 1966:



And here's a link to the Sept. 25, 2014, Rice History Corner post about this and an earlier Sammy.

(01-22-2015 08:32 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:11 PM)75src Wrote:  Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

From Rice's online archive, here's a photo from 1958, which looks like the Sammy I recall from 1966:



And here's a link to the Sept. 25, 2014, Rice History Corner post about this and an earlier Sammy.

Wow look at the stands of HRS crammed full of fans!

(01-22-2015 08:58 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow look at the stands of HRS crammed full of fans!

This photo was probably taken at either our 34-7 sellout win over Texas on October 25 (attendance = 72,000) or our Homecoming 14-7 loss to Army on November 8 (attendance = 69,000).

Attendance at our other home games that year were:

45,000 -- September 20: Loss to LSU, 26-16.
41,000 -- October 4: Loss to Purdue, 24-0.
57,000 -- November 15: Loss to Texas A&M, 28-21.
55,000 -- November 22: Loss to TCU, 21-10.

Rice was 1-5 at home that year ... and 4-0 on the road (Stanford, Arkansas, SMU & Baylor).

(01-22-2015 10:08 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:58 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow look at the stands of HRS crammed full of fans!

This photo was probably taken at either our 34-7 sellout win over Texas on October 25 (attendance = 72,000) or our Homecoming 14-7 loss to Army on November 8 (attendance = 69,000).

Attendance at our other home games that year were:

45,000 -- September 20: Loss to LSU, 26-16.
41,000 -- October 4: Loss to Purdue, 24-0.
57,000 -- November 15: Loss to Texas A&M, 28-21.
55,000 -- November 22: Loss to TCU, 21-10.

Rice was 1-5 at home that year ... and 4-0 on the road (Stanford, Arkansas, SMU & Baylor).

No Oilers. No Astros. No Rockets.

(01-22-2015 10:08 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:58 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow look at the stands of HRS crammed full of fans!

This photo was probably taken at either our 34-7 sellout win over Texas on October 25 (attendance = 72,000) or our Homecoming 14-7 loss to Army on November 8 (attendance = 69,000).

Attendance at our other home games that year were:

45,000 -- September 20: Loss to LSU, 26-16.
41,000 -- October 4: Loss to Purdue, 24-0.
57,000 -- November 15: Loss to Texas A&M, 28-21.
55,000 -- November 22: Loss to TCU, 21-10.

Rice was 1-5 at home that year ... and 4-0 on the road (Stanford, Arkansas, SMU & Baylor).

I was at the game, since I graduated in '60. In those days there was almost no TV (maybe one game a week) and the games in September and early October were in the evenings because of the heat in Houston. Afternoon games were mid-October and later. So the game was probably the Aggie or TCU game.

(01-22-2015 10:35 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 10:08 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:58 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Wow look at the stands of HRS crammed full of fans!

This photo was probably taken at either our 34-7 sellout win over Texas on October 25 (attendance = 72,000) or our Homecoming 14-7 loss to Army on November 8 (attendance = 69,000).

Attendance at our other home games that year were:

45,000 -- September 20: Loss to LSU, 26-16.
41,000 -- October 4: Loss to Purdue, 24-0.
57,000 -- November 15: Loss to Texas A&M, 28-21.
55,000 -- November 22: Loss to TCU, 21-10.

Rice was 1-5 at home that year ... and 4-0 on the road (Stanford, Arkansas, SMU & Baylor).

No Oilers. No Astros. No Rockets.

I know, Rick. I'm just saying it's impressive. Hope we can do it again someday soon, that's all.

I am guessing that it was the Army game as the UT games were at night during the SWC in those days.

(01-22-2015 08:32 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:11 PM)75src Wrote:  Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

From Rice's online archive, here's a photo from 1958, which looks like the Sammy I recall from 1966:



And here's a link to the Sept. 25, 2014, Rice History Corner post about this and an earlier Sammy.

That's the same one I was bowing to in 1963.

(01-22-2015 10:41 PM)grOWLer Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 10:08 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  This photo was probably taken at either our 34-7 sellout win over Texas on October 25 (attendance = 72,000) or our Homecoming 14-7 loss to Army on November 8 (attendance = 69,000).

Attendance at our other home games that year were:

45,000 -- September 20: Loss to LSU, 26-16.
41,000 -- October 4: Loss to Purdue, 24-0.
57,000 -- November 15: Loss to Texas A&M, 28-21.
55,000 -- November 22: Loss to TCU, 21-10.

I was at the game, since I graduated in '60. In those days there was almost no TV (maybe one game a week) and the games in September and early October were in the evenings because of the heat in Houston. Afternoon games were mid-October and later. So the game was probably the Aggie or TCU game.

Good point on the starting times. I looked them up and the Texas game started at 8 p.m., so that's out. The Army game, Homecoming, was in the afternoon, as was the A&M game.

If you zoom in close, you can see a white-clad person with short blond hair behind and to the right of Sammy and beneath the outstretched right arm of an Owl-bowing Rice freshman. Letters on the back of his white shirt start with an "A" ... if it says "AGGIE" or "A&M" he could be an Aggie yell leader. Or could the Army cheer leaders have worn white, too, and it spells "ARMY"?

To me, the crowd looks too densely packed -- up into the highest corners of the upper deck -- for just 57,000, which was the Aggie game's attendance.

(01-23-2015 12:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:32 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:11 PM)75src Wrote:  Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

From Rice's online archive, here's a photo from 1958, which looks like the Sammy I recall from 1966:



And here's a link to the Sept. 25, 2014, Rice History Corner post about this and an earlier Sammy.

That's the same one I was bowing to in 1963.

Anyone know what became of him?

(01-25-2015 01:41 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(01-23-2015 12:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:32 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 08:11 PM)75src Wrote:  Anyone have photos of the fiberglass owl that Owl bowing was done to in the 1960s?

From Rice's online archive, here's a photo from 1958, which looks like the Sammy I recall from 1966:



And here's a link to the Sept. 25, 2014, Rice History Corner post about this and an earlier Sammy.

That's the same one I was bowing to in 1963.

Anyone know what became of him?

i don't remember that one after my freshman year. Then again, I don't remembermuch about any of those years.

Looking at the picture, was there a raised section in the end zone?

I have no knowledge of its present whereabouts, but here's info on its creation:

An article in the May 3, 1957, Thresher (p.3) reported that the Student Council "had some discussion of a live Sammie vs. the 'same old dead one'—after which it was decided to have a completely new Sammie made of fiberglass at the cost of $85."

Then in the first issue of the fall (Sept. 12, 1957, p. 8), the new mascot was announced:

Quote:Old Sammy Rests
In Garbage Dump;
New Sammy Reigns

The Rice Owls have a new mascot ... actually it's just the
same song, second verse.

It's the same. old Sammy the Owl but then it isn't ... that is,
he has been recreated. The William Wiese studio of Houston
built the new five-foot high, differently-designed Sammy in
accordance with a decision of the Student Council.

This Sammy is made of reinforced fiberglass which makes it
practically unburnable and unbreakable. (Cougars take notice.)

The old beat up Sammy has (to put it mildly) had it. He was
hauled away to an obscure cremation on an unknown garbage
heap of Houston.

At the present the new Sammy is occupying the old position ...
that of the library foyer.