Bevo the Bull

I ran into a classmate who happens to be a Texas "Ex" (an alumnus). My friend has had Longhorn season tickets since he graduated, and I was invited to take his extra ticket to watch the Longhorns take on Missouri.



The Longhorns won a fairly tough game. Never before had I seen a game with so many spectators. 82,981 fans were crammed into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. 99.5% of them were wearing the classic burnt-orange hallmark color. The remainder were Missouri fans, who were shoehorned into a small section near the North end zone.



Pictured above is the famous Longhorn mascot, Bevo. Why "Bevo?" The legend goes something like this:

During a late night visit to Austin, a group of Texas Aggie pranksters branded the University's first longhorn mascot "13-0," the score of a football game won by Texas A&M. In order to save face, UT students altered the brand to read "Bevo" by changing the "13" to a "B," the "-" to an "E," and inserting a "V" between the dash and the "0." For years, Aggies have proudly touted the stunt as the reason the steer acquired his name. But was the brand really changed? And is that why he's called Bevo?



Sorry. Wrong on both counts.

The real story is much less exciting. The bull actually got it's name from a sports reporter covering the Longhorns' 1916 victory over the school then known as "A&M College," now Texas A&M.



More photos from my first Longhorn game can be seen here.