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Rufus The Bobcat

Rufus the Bobcat is the mascot for Ohio University. Ohio University revealed the new mascot during a ceremony before the Bobcats' victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006. The ceremony began with a video of the mascot interacting with the football team and Head Coach Frank Solich culminating with Rufus roaring into Peden Stadium on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

There were more than 500 submissions nominated for the name of the new Bobcat in May. Fans then participated in a naming contest on www.ohiobobcats.com from June through August, the name of the Bobcat's new mascot was Rufus.

Rufus was the popular choice for many fans becasuse Lynx rufus is the species name for the bobcat. Other fans made its connection with Rufus Putnam, who presided over the meeting to form the Ohio Company of Associates that resulted in the founding of Ohio University. Rufus Putnam was also on the first board of trustees at the University and was given the honor with the naming of Putnam Hall in 1926.

Ohio Bobcats and Mascots

In 1925, the members of the OHIO Athletic Board thought of an official nickname for Ohio University to replace “Ohio,” the “Green and White” and “The Nameless Wonders.” The board members decided to begin a contest soliciting name suggestions for the Athletic teams of Ohio University and offered a $10 prize (that would be $121 today!) for the suggestion that best showed the fighting spirit of OHIO. Hundreds of ideas poured in, but it was “Bobcat,” suggested by Hal H. Rowland, a former student and Athens resident, that suggested the winning name.

The Bobcat mascot first appeared at Ohio's Homecoming game against the Miami Redhawks (then the Redskins) on Oct. 22, 1960. That day, the OHIO football team overcame archrival Miami with a 21-0 victory. They went on to achieve arguably the university's greatest football season ever. The Bobcats finished 10-0 that year and were voted the NCAA National College Division Champion.

The task of designing the Bobcat mascot costume was given to Tom Schantz. The outfit he created included a very green hand-knit sweater with ‘Ohio’ emblazoned in white across the front, and was literally topped off by a large paper-mâché head made in France. The question of who would wear the costume was complicated by the fact that the suit was hot, confining and had awkward dimensions. Dan Nichols, class of '63, was the first Bobcat mascot and incepted the tradition that the person donning the costume must live in Lincoln Hall, a tradition that lasted for several decades. The Campus Affairs Committee decided that the Bobcat mascot would be a permanent member of the cheerleading squad and would be present at all football and basketball games.

Our Bobcat mascot has changed its appearance many times since 1960 but remains a beloved representative of Ohio Athletics. Nowadays, the Bobcat can be seen at numerous varsity athletic events and at special events in the community. He can even be hired for Athens’ campus weddings!

A History of Violence

On Saturday September 18, 2010 the Ohio University Bobcats played the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. While the final score may have been 43-7 with the Buckeyes over the Bobcats, Ohio University fans still had something to cheer about. It turns out that the man behind the mask of Rufus had more plans than just cheering for his team. "It was actually my whole plan to tackle Brutus when I tried out to be mascot," said Brandon Hanning, formerly known as Ohio University's Rufus Bobcat. "I tried out about a year ago, and the whole reason I tried out was so I could come up here to Ohio State and tackle Brutus." As the Buckeyes were running onto the field that's when Hanning made his move. He saw Brutus leading the team and he charged in on the field. The Bobcat sideswiped the Buckeye, who got back to his feet and continued his sprint toward the end zone. Hanning wasn't finished though. He ran after Brutus and jumped on his back and continued to hit the mascot in the head. Hanning was then pulled aside by security who told him to cut it out. Neither Rufus or Brutus were harmed during the event. Hanning faced some consequences following the game. "Ohio told me to never attend another one of their athletic events. Which is fine by me. I don't even go to the school anymore. I lived about 10 minutes away from campus growing up. So I'll still be a fan. I just won't go to their games." While he is no longer allowed to attend Ohio University sporting events, Hanning sticks by his actions. "I think I planned it pretty well ... and I definitely would have done it again." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5oA9_X7HWc&feature=related

While many thought this was Rufus' first offense against rival school's mascots, Hanning once again surprises. When asked if the attack on Brutus was the first mascot brawl he had been in he replied with, "Before this, I actually got in a fight with the Buffalo mascot. He's a bull. I started it. I was thinking I should go ahead and try out tackling another mascot. I brought a red square cape thing, like in a bullfight. He was just playing around, acting like he was charging me. I tackled him and put him on the ground. It was pretty funny. No one got upset because it wasn't Ohio State." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCm-d-FBOGQ

External Links

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/trads/ohio-trads.html http://www.ohioalumni.org/bobcats-mascots http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5596131 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hruby/100921_rufus_mascot&sportCat=ncf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCm-d-FBOGQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5oA9_X7HWc&feature=related http://kccollegegameday.com/2011/08/22/mascot-monday-rufus-the-bobcat/