Albert and Alberta Gator

Albert and Alberta
The University of Florida's mascots, Albert and Alberta
University	University of Florida
Conference	SEC
Description	Anthropomorphic American alligators
First seen	1970 (Albert), 1984 (Alberta)

Statues at the Alumni Affairs Building

Albert E. Gator and Alberta Gator are the official mascots of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Costumed in plush, Albert and Alberta are anthropomorphic representations of American alligators, which are commonly found throughout the state of Florida.

History

The University of Florida fielded its first official intercollegiate sports team (football) in the fall of 1906. It adopted orange and blue as its official colors, combining the orange and black of the former Florida Agricultural College in Lake City with the blue and white of the former East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the university's two oldest predecessor institutions. The football team did not initially have an official nickname or mascot, and was often referred to as the "Orange and Blue" or "Pee Wee's Boys," after the team's first head coach, Jack "Pee Wee" Forsythe.

In 1908, local merchant Phillip Miller and his son Austin Miller, with no official sanction from the university or athletic association, selected the alligator as an emblem to represent the university on pennants offered for sale in Miller's Gainesville store. With the state of Florida being home to millions of alligators, the 'gator proved a popular choice among members of the student body, and the Florida football team began to refer to itself as the "Gators" during the 1911 fall season.

A live alligator named Albert first appeared at football games during the 1957 season, and served as the mascot of the football team on the field before the costumed version of Albert became the mascot in 1970.^[1] He was joined by a female version, Alberta, in 1984.^[2] They often appear as a couple, but also appear alone. They both cheer on the football team, but Albert appears solo at Gators baseball and men's basketball games, while Alberta cheers on the women's basketball and gymnastics teams, among others.^[3]

In 2015, UF announced that Albert and Alberta would receive new costumes. As far as cosmetic changes, the Gator pair's eyes were "opened more."^[4] The primary focus, however, was to design costumes that were more lightweight. The end result was a set of costumes more suitable for a student performing in the hot Florida weather.^[4]

In popular culture

Like many college mascots, Albert and Alberta have made appearances in the highlights of national sports and highlight shows. The most notable appearance of either was in early 2006, when Albert was featured in a This is SportsCenter commercial. He walked out of an elevator and became the object of Steve Irwin's reptile wrangling tendencies.

In June 2007, Sports Illustrated On Campus ranked Albert as the No. 1 mascot in their "Mascot Power Rankings." ^[5]

Mascot Books has published three children's books featuring Albert and Alberta, entitled Hello, Albert!, Albert's Journey Through the Sunshine State and Albert and Alberta's Game Day Rules.

References

↑ History of the Gator University Athletic Association
↑ Top 10 traditions every UF football fan must know Independent Florida Alligator
↑ "University of Florida Mascot Program" University of Florida Athletic Department.
1 2 Hutchins, Andy. "Florida Gators mascots Albert, Alberta getting new costumes". Alligator Army. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
↑ "Mascot Power Rankings" Sports Illustrated On Campus.

External links

Albert wrestles with Steve Irwin in a retired Sportscenter commercial
"The Evolution of Albert". Florida Magazine (University of Florida). March 8, 2012.

Florida Gators

Arenas and stadiums	Alfred A. McKethan Stadium (Baseball) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Football) Donald R. Dizney Stadium (Lacrosse) James G. Pressly Stadium (Soccer, Track and field) Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium (Softball) Mark Bostick Golf Course (Golf) Scott Linder Stadium (Tennis) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (Multipurpose)

Sports	Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's gymnastics Women's lacrosse Women's soccer Softball Swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Track and field Women's volleyball

Athletic director	Jeremy Foley

Athletic association	University Athletic Association

Current head coaches	Becky Burleigh (Women's soccer) Amanda Butler (Women's basketball) J. C. Deacon (Men's golf) Emily Glaser (Women's golf) Mike Holloway (Cross country, Track and field) Jim McElwain (Football) Amanda O'Leary (Women's lacrosse) Kevin O'Sullivan (Baseball) Jenny Rowland (Women's gymnastics) Bryan Shelton (Men's tennis) Roland Thornqvist (Women's tennis) Gregg Troy (Swimming and diving) Tim Walton (Softball) Michael White (Men's basketball) Mary Wise (Women's volleyball)

Athletes	Baseball players Men's basketball players Women's basketball players Football players Men's golfers Women's golfers Tennis players Olympians UF Athletic Hall of Fame

National championships	1968 Men's golf 1973 Men's Golf 1979 Women's swimming 1982 Women's gymnastics 1982 Women's swimming 1983 Men's swimming 1984 men's swimming 1985 Women's golf 1986 Women's golf 1992 Women's indoor track 1992 Women's tennis 1993 Men's golf 1996 Women's tennis 1996 Women's soccer 1996 Football 1998 Women's tennis 2001 Men's golf 2003 Women's tennis 2006 Men's basketball 2006 Football 2007 Men's basketball 2008 Football 2010 Men's indoor track 2010 Women's swimming 2011 Men's indoor track 2011 Women's tennis 2012 Men's indoor track 2012 Women's tennis 2012 Men's outdoor track 2013 Women's gymnastics 2013 Men's outdoor track 2014 Women's gymnastics 2014 Softball

Conference championships	Baseball (13) Men's basketball (7) Men's cross country (3) Women's cross country (6) Football (8) Men's golf (15) Women's golf (8) Women's gymnastics (9) Women's lacrosse (4) Women's soccer (13) Softball (4) Men's swimming (35) Women's swimming (17) Men's tennis (9) Women's tennis (27) Men's indoor track (6) Women's indoor track (8) Men's outdoor track (4) Women's outdoor track (5) Women's volleyball (20) Wrestling (1)

Conference affiliations	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1912–1921) Southern Conference (1922–1932) Southeastern Conference (1933– ) American Lacrosse Conference (2011–2014) Big East Conference (2015– )

Culture and lore	Albert and Alberta "The Orange and Blue" "We are the Boys" Gatorade Gator Chomp The Pride of the Sunshine Robert Cade

University of Florida Gainesville, Florida

Florida Gators football

Venues	University Athletic Field / Fleming Field (1906–30) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (1930–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Auburn Florida State (Florida Cup) Georgia LSU Miami (Florida Cup) Tennessee

Culture & lore	Albert and Alberta Gator "The Orange and Blue" "We are the Boys from old Florida" The Pride of the Sunshine Gator Chomp Gatorade Mr. Two Bits

People	Head coaches Ring of Honor All-Americans UF Athletic Hall of Fame Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL players Mick Hubert

Seasons	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

Florida Gators men's basketball

Venues	University Gymnasium (1919–1927) New Gymasium (1927–1949) Florida Gymnasium (1949–1980) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (1980–present)

Rivalries	Florida State Kentucky

Culture & lore	Albert and Alberta "The Orange and Blue" "We Are the Boys from Old Florida" Florida Gators Dazzlers

People	Head coaches NBA players UF Athletic Hall of Fame

Seasons	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Mascots of the Southeastern Conference

Eastern Division	Albert and Alberta (Florida) Hairy Dawg and Uga (Georgia) The Wildcat, Scratch, and Blue (Kentucky) Truman the Tiger (Missouri) Cocky and Sir Big Spur (South Carolina) Smokey (Tennessee) Mr. C (Vanderbilt)

Western Division	Big Al (Alabama) Big Red, Sue E. Pig, Pork Chop, Boss Hog, and Tusk (Arkansas) Aubie and War Eagle (Auburn) Mike the Tiger (LSU) Bully (Mississippi State) Rebel Black Bear (Ole Miss) Reveille (Texas A&M)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.