origin of cy

[theyork]

i remember looking this up way back in undergrad but have a terrible memory. i vaguely recall reading about us going and playing at NW and beating their heavily favored team and some newspaper headline made reference to a cyclone tearing through their city or something.

but then i read recently a different story about actual tornadoes in the area long ago

can someone post a link with the true story. i looked on Iowa State University and this is all they had (which is kind of pathetic).

An industrious group of Iowa State University students, which included pep council president Chuck Duncan, brainstormed in 1954 about ways to build school spirit. The Pep Council got the go-ahead from ISU alumni director “Redâ€￾ Barron, sports information director Harry Burrell and Cyclone Club director Ray Donels to pursue the creation of a mascot.

Since a cyclone was difficult to depict in costume, a cardinal was selected from the cardinal and gold of the official school colors. A cardinal-like bird was introduced at the 1954 homecoming pep rally. A contest was conducted to select a name for the mascot, and the winning entry of Cy was submitted by 17 people. The first to submit the name, Mrs. Ed Ohlsen, won a cardinal and gold stadium blanket

 

[Cyclonus]

the cardinals were the previous name of our athletic teams... or so i think i read somewhere

 

[CyBer]

They "Cyclone" headline is the truth, and our old mascot was a cardinal, hence the color Cardinal, and "Cy".

 

[Bader]

Iowa State University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CyCrazy]

I seem to remember ISC going to play Northwestern back in the early 1900's and the media claiming we went to Northwestern and whipped them around like a cyclone. So Cyclones stuck.

 

[everyyard]

the cardinals were the previous name of our athletic teams... or so i think i read somewhere

I think this is a myth. I'd love to see a link to something official on the "cardinals.". It was one of school colors in the 50s when mascots were catching on and they had a contest to design a mascot and someone came up with the cardinal. A local factory, maybe textiles or something, either sponsored the contest or agreed to make the mascot. The "cyclones" name came much earlier and was indeed a reference to isu northwestern game in which Chicago tribune or some Chicago paper stated something to the effect of it was like an Iowa cyclone blows through.

 

[Cyclonus]

I think this is a myth. I'd love to see a link to something official on the "cardinals.". It was one of school colors in the 50s when mascots were catching on and they had a contest to design a mascot and someone came up with the cardinal. A local factory, maybe textiles or something, either sponsored the contest or agreed to make the mascot. The "cyclones" name came much earlier and was indeed a reference to isu northwestern game in which Chicago tribune or some Chicago paper stated something to the effect of it was like an Iowa cyclone blows through.

i'd buy that... weren't the original colors silver and gold or something along those lines?

 

[Ry4Cy]

I think this is a myth. I'd love to see a link to something official on the "cardinals.". It was one of school colors in the 50s when mascots were catching on and they had a contest to design a mascot and someone came up with the cardinal. A local factory, maybe textiles or something, either sponsored the contest or agreed to make the mascot. The "cyclones" name came much earlier and was indeed a reference to isu northwestern game in which Chicago tribune or some Chicago paper stated something to the effect of it was like an Iowa cyclone blows through.

The Stories Behind 10 Weird College Mascots

 

[CyBer]

Since a cyclone was difficult to depict in costume, a cardinal was selected from the cardinal and gold of the official school colors. A cardinal-like bird was introduced at the 1954 homecoming pep rally. A contest was conducted to select a name for the mascot, and the winning entry of Cy was submitted by 17 people. The first to submit the name, Mrs. Ed Ohlsen, won a cardinal and gold stadium blanket.[1]

 

[theyork]

Iowa State University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

so both are true? the article does not state it specifically, but is one to assume that isu played NW in 1895, the year of the tornadoes? or is that just coincidentally around the same time?

"The "Cyclones" name dates back to 1895. That year, Iowa suffered an unusually high number of devastating cyclones (as tornadoes were called at the time). In September, the Iowa State football team traveled to Northwestern University and defeated its highly-regarded team by a score of 36-0. The next day, the Chicago Tribune's headline read "Struck by a Cyclone: It Comes from Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town."[63] The article reported that "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." The nickname stuck and the Iowa State team had made a name for itself."

 

[everyyard]

i'd buy that... weren't the original colors silver and gold or something along those lines?

Yes, prior to that we had silver and gold, but at the time cy came out in the 50's cardinal and gold were the colors. I have NEVER seen isu referee to as the cardinals, and I believe this to be a propagated urban legend among isu fans. It makes enough sense that it is easy to believe and pass on, but it is untrue.

 

[Ry4Cy]

This one is kind of interesting
Mascot Monday: Cy | KC College Gameday - In Austin

 

[everyyard]

Also, because this question always turns up next: no, tornadoes and cyclones aren't the same weather phenomena today, but back when this name came to U's the weather terminology wasn't standardized and tornadoes were often called cyclones.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I forget where I read this, but the official colors of IAG/ISC were once black, gold, and silver, but were ditched in favor of cardinal and gold because they found it extremely difficult to make letterman sweaters with the old colors. This was more than likely done prior to the game with Northwestern. The unanswered question (and thus the urban legend) would be if Iowa State was known as the Cardinals prior to that game.

 

[Clone83]

Here's Cy, circa 1957, getting friendly with the Drake cheerleaders:

From 1957: In honor of the upcoming football season, we bring you Cy the Cardinal from 1957. Here's what the caption says: "20-year-old **** Mead of Davenport, all dressed up to serve as Iowa State College mascot, gets a close examination from a pair of pretty Drake cheerleaders before Iowa State's 92-71 basketball victory Thursday night at Ames. The co-eds are Karen Campbell (left), 18, of Clarion and Betsy Bonner, 19, of Grafton, Wis."

Old-time photo of the day Aug. 27 :: dmJuice.com

 

[CyBer]

Hello mizz ladys.

Also that seems to be the Armory, when they used to play B-ball in it.

 

[Clone83]

Here's the original "Cyclone" football team, including Coach Pop Warner:

The original Cyclones team in 1895. At far left, standing in back row is "Pop" Warner who later became a famous coach. From 1895 through 1899, he came from an Ivy League School for a month each year to coach ISC new team. He was offered a full-time position as ISC coach for $750/year, but position was vetoed by a member of the ISC Board of Trustees because he considered the salary too much to pay a coach. The football team became known as the Cyclones in 1895 when they trounced Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, 36-0; a sportswriter wrote in "The Chicago Tribune" of September 29, 1895, that the ISC team "struck like a cyclone" and the name stuck. Photo is from the Iowa State College "Bomb" of 1896, opposite page 130; last names only are given for all those men who are pictured.

Courtesy of the Ames Public Library (many other photos here):
Keyword(s)

 

[everyyard]

I forget where I read this, but the official colors of IAG/ISC were once black, gold, and silver, but were ditched in favor of cardinal and gold because they found it extremely difficult to make letterman sweaters with the old colors. This was more than likely done prior to the game with Northwestern. The unanswered question (and thus the urban legend) would be if Iowa State was known as the Cardinals prior to that game.

If you go read the oLd Bomb year books...the really old ones...not once have I seen ISUrecalled the as the cardinals. Cardinals in black gold and silver would be pretty strange.

 

[Clone83]

Here is the early history of the football program (more at link):

Cyclone Football Through the Years
Untitled Document

In 1894, a terrible tornado hit the Iowa town of Grinnell. During the summer and early fall of 1895, a number of "cyclones" continued to wreak havoc on the state of Iowa. Hence, when the Iowa State (then called Iowa Agricultural College) football team blew away highly touted Northwestern that fall, the winners were likened to a cyclone. The name stuck as this group of Cyclones helped propel Iowa State into the world of big-time football.

An organized group of athletes first represented Iowa State in 1892. In 1894, college president William M. Beardshear spearheaded the foundation of an athletic association to officially sanction Iowa State athletic teams. The 1894 team finished with a 6-1 mark, including a 16-8 victory in a bitter battle against what is now the University of Iowa. A college football legend was the next catalyst in the growth of Iowa State's fledgling program. Glenn S. "Pop" Warner, later to become famous as coach of the Carlisle Indians, University of Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Temple, and also as the inventor of the double wingback system of offense, came to coach the Ames team for the first time. Warner, just beginning a coaching career that would span 44 years and 313 victories (which still ranks on the all-time NCAA coaching list), came to coach the team in the late summer before heading to Georgia where he had been named head coach. This arrangement was followed each year through the 1899 season. Before he left for his jobs in the east, Warner turned the 1895 reins over to Bert German, who was the team manager, one of the star backs and during the regular season, a mentor. Warner's pre-season drilling soon paid big dividends.

Iowa State's team opened the season with a game against the Silver Bowl Athletic Club of Butte, Mont. The Ames team traveled to Montana on a train that included a combination tourist sleeper and dinner car. The team had its own chef along. That luxury lost its glitter when the train became snowbound and ran out of food. The team had to subsist on raw berries purchased at a sold-out general store for the balance of the trip. The game was even rougher. The Butte team, comprised mostly of former eastern collegiate stars and a few hardy mountaineers, scored two touchdowns in the game's first 15 minutes. Warner, a gridiron standout himself at Cornell University, suited up for the second half. Iowa State closed the gap to 12-10. The game got rougher and a third Ames touchdown was negated by the local official. He may have been intimidated by miners who were shooting their guns off amidst the crowd of over 3,000. Iowa State's players left the field in disgust.

Most observers didn't expect Iowa State's reception to be much better two weeks later when the Ames team traveled to highly-regarded Northwestern for that school's home opener on Sept. 28. But the home team was in for a big shock. Iowa State rolled to a 36-0 victory. Right halfback Joe Meyers was the offensive star, making several long runs, including a 70-yard scoring jaunt. Iowa State led 30-0 at half-time. The final outcome was so decisive that the Chicago Tribune reported the next day that "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." The article's headline read "Struck By A Cyclone." The nickname stuck and the Iowa State team had made a name for itself, literally.

The "Cyclones" left immediately for Madison, Wis., where they dropped a 12-6 contest against Wisconsin two days later. The fact that this team played every game on the road underscored its effort. IAC beat an athletic club in Sioux City, 26-4 on Oct. 12. Minnesota thrashed the Cyclones, 24-0, on Oct. 19 in Minneapolis, Minn., before the Iowa Staters shut out Iowa, 24-0, on Oct. 28 to end the season. German explained the Cyclones' erratic play.

"I'm afraid some of us got a bit stuck up after that Northwestern game," German would recall 50 years later. "Some of the boys didn't train too well either."

But Warner, German and the rest of this 1895 team had put Iowa Agricultural College on the football map. As IAC grew into Iowa State College and then Iowa Stat University, its athletic teams carried the same name the 1895 unit had earned on that cold afternoon against Northwestern. . . . .

 

[Clone83]

Here is more on the origin of Cy (and other things Cyclone). And here you go everyyard (re: the "cardinals"). This is an old website, a shame IMO if the same info isn't available at cyclones.com (click Cyclone Traditions to the left):

Cyclone Traditions
Iowa State University Cyclone Football

In 1954, a group of students that included pep council president Chuck Duncan, brainstorming on how to build more school spirit, approached Collegiate Manufacturing of Ames on creating a school mascot. Since the consensus was that you couldn't "stuff a Cyclone"; a bird figure using the school colors (cardinal and gold) was the eventual choice.

Duncan and the Pep Council then got a green light from ISU alumni director Baron, sports information Director Harry Burrell and Cyclone Club director Ray Donals. A cardinal-like bird was introduced at the 1954 Homecoming pep rally.

A contest was held to determine the cardinal's name. The entry "Cy" won. Cy is short for Cyclones, and the cardinal figure represents the school colors as well as the original Iowa State nickname.