{"id":7327,"date":"2017-07-01T18:28:55","date_gmt":"2017-07-01T22:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=7327"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:17:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:17:52","slug":"how-kentucky-became-the-wildcats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2017\/07\/01\/how-kentucky-became-the-wildcats\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kentucky Became The Wildcats"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>How Kentucky Became The Wildcats<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As part of an ongoing series here at Last Word On College Football, we are focusing on college traditions. Today the focus is in Lexington and the University of Kentucky. Last time, the school&#8217;s fight song\u00a0was featured. If you missed that\u00a0post you can check it out <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/2017\/06\/14\/the-history-of-kentuckys-fight-song\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The History of Kentucky&#39;s Fight Song &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MqsCmPG1O3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/MqsCmPG1O3<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aYHMGsqmFU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aYHMGsqmFU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud83c\udfc8LastWordOnCFB\ud83c\udfc8 (@LastWordOnCFB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordOnCFB\/status\/874950122991489024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the next part of this series, the focus is on How Kentucky became the Wildcats.<\/p>\n<h3>It Took One Quote to Name the Team<\/h3>\n<p>While the history of Kentucky Football traces back to 1881, it wasn&#8217;t until 28 years later that the school got a nickname. The Kentucky State College, as it was known then, defeated\u00a0Illinois 6-2 on October 9, 1909.<\/p>\n<p>The next day,\u00a0<strong>Commandant Phillip W. Corbusier,<\/strong> head of the Military Department, told a group of students at a chapel service the team &#8220;had fought like Wildcats.&#8221; The name gained more and more popularity with students, fans and the media. As a result, the nickname &#8220;Wildcats&#8221; was officially adopted by the school.<\/p>\n<h3>Finally An Actual Mascot<\/h3>\n<p>It took some 67 years from the time the school adopted the name Wildcats before Kentucky had an actual mascot. During the 1976-77 season, student<strong> Gary Tanner<\/strong> donned the cat outfit to entertain the crowds at football and basketball games.<\/p>\n<p>During\u00a0the early 1980&#8217;s, Kentucky\u00a0Basketball had their\u00a0&#8220;Twin\u00a0Towers&#8221; in <strong>Melvin Turpin<\/strong> and <strong>Sam Bowie.<\/strong> To coincide with the team, the Wildcats unveiled a\u00a0mascot on\u00a0stilts who walked around both Commonwealth Stadium and Rupp Arena.\u00a0After they graduated in 1984, the\u00a0idea was quickly dropped.<\/p>\n<p>In later years, a new more child-friendly mascot &#8220;Scratch&#8221; debuted to great popularity. Scratch has even competed in the Capital One Mascot Challenge on several occasions. The mascot serves as the host of the Kentucky Junior Wildcat Club.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi\" src=\"https:\/\/s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com\/originals\/9f\/dd\/ff\/9fddff94749be6a7c6169e9da16dffeb.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for kentucky scratch mascot\" width=\"350\" height=\"288\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Wildcat and Scratch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kentucky does have one more mascot, a live bobcat named &#8220;Blue&#8221;, who lives at the Salato Wildlife Center in the state capitol of Frankfort. Fans can go and meet Blue there since he will never attend an actual game. Bobcats by nature are very shy and do not like crowds.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This week: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bobcat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bobcat<\/a> enrichment Weds 10:30am, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/groundhog?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#groundhog<\/a> training Thurs 3:30pm, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bobcat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#bobcat<\/a> training Fri 9:30am, Wild Encounter Fri 11am <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/wildlife?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#wildlife<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qipbZT5p7p\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qipbZT5p7p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Salato Wildlife Cntr (@fwsalatocenter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fwsalatocenter\/status\/879766473643872256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/fw.ky.gov\/Education\/PublishingImages\/Xylan.jpg\" alt=\"Related image\" width=\"312\" height=\"624\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you are visiting Central Kentucky, you should definitely plan a stop to Salato and see the Kentucky\u00a0Wildcat in person.\u00a0Log onto <a href=\"http:\/\/fw.ky.gov\/Education\/Pages\/Salato-Wildlife-Education-Center.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/fw.ky.gov\/Education\/Pages\/Salato-Wildlife-Education-Center.aspx<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for checking out this second history\u00a0installment on\u00a0how Kentucky became the Wildcats. In the final part of the history series, we will take a look at Kentucky&#8217;s signature colors and what they almost were. Hint: <em>it is not blue and white.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It is hard to believe, but there&#8217;s only about two months until football season begins. Previews of all the positions on the 2017 Kentucky team are forthcoming. Expectations are as high as they have been in a decade for <strong>Mark Stoops<\/strong>&#8216; fifth Wildcat squad.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading and for checking out all the content here at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordoncollegefootball.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on College Football<\/a><\/strong>. Have any comments or anything you would like to see featured? Send a tweet to @kevinmcguffey.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/624469250\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/624469250?et=B1xZZFo8TdtRkdAWNwg_jw&amp;tld=com&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=Aeson_SK9f8sJyVCvwf8Wk9jUUKA5UhWLSg48IAED64=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Kentucky Became The Wildcats As part of an ongoing series here at Last Word On College Football, we are focusing on college traditions. Today the focus is in Lexington and the University of Kentucky. Last time, the school&#8217;s fight song\u00a0was featured. If you missed that\u00a0post you can check it out here. The History of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":877,"featured_media":7358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35579],"tags":[184,1869,21,126,1871],"class_list":["post-7327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-kentucky-wildcats","tag-cfb","tag-college-mascots","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-ncaa","tag-salato-wildlife-center"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/877"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78736,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7327\/revisions\/78736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}