Ute Fans... Questions about your mascot and traditions?

[TOMMY TROJAN]

1. I noticed your mascot is also an Eagle? Explain...

2. What is the history of the Ute Colors, Mascot and how did they both come about?

3. What is the history of the Ute Tribe?

4. What kinds of traditions if any during pre-game, during the game and post game does Utah have such as Marching Band, Cheers by fans, tailgaiting, etc.... should we all be educated about? Most of us are not too familiar with your traditions.

5. Does your entire cheer regiment, mascot and band travel to all away games?

5. Explain the alcohol situation in bars and restaurants when visiting Salt Lake. Do you have to have some sort of card?

Thanks and Again Congratulations. Lets hope everyone, players and fans, can compete in the most respectful and friendly manner.

 

[sope777]

Some can answer these questions better, but I will give you a few quick answers.

Our Mascot is actually a Red-Tailed Hawk. The Red-Tailed Hawk is tied in very closely to the Ute Indian Tribe. I believe it is sacred to them. The Utes used to have an Indian as a Mascot, but they switched to the Hawk in the early 90s I think.

The Utah Utes also have the permission of the Ute Tribal Counsel to use their name.

There are a couple of areas designated for tailgaiting, but the main lot is located to the Southeast of the Stadium. Tailgaiting has gotten bigger every year since about '03.

The Stadium is on campus, so there is no alcohol allowed in the stadium, but the tailgait lots are ok. If I were visiting Utah for a game, I would stay in Downtown Salt Lake and ride the Trax train up to the stadium. There are a lot of good bars downtown (Lumpys Downtown and The Green Pig, are some of my favorites)and plenty of good restaurants to eat at.

I'm sure more Ute fans will add to this thread and give some better info.

 

[goyoots]

Private bar memberships requiring cards has ended and bars in Salt Lake are open to everyone. Drink up and enjoy downtown SLC. The downtown area is undergoing a major face lift right now, so pardon our dust, but it should be a lot better than what we had before...hopefully the LDS church allows streets to be more like Denver's 16th street.

 

[dhisatake]

The alcohol laws in Utah although getting better are still a little weird.

There used to be memberships required to some bars/clubs but that was more of a smoking law than alcohol.

You still cannot get served a drink while you have a drink.. in otherwords you can't have two drinks in front of you at the same time.

Restaurants cannot verbally offer you alcohol or a alcohol menu so it will either be displayed on the table in a display card, regular menu or you will have to ask for it specifically.

Beer is watered down unless you go to a mini-brewery and the legal limit is .08.

As far as travel: The cheerleaders do.. not sure if the Crimson Line does(more of a choreographed dance squad). The band does. I don't recall if the mascot does.

The mascot "Swoop" is a red-tailed hawk which is indigenous to Utah. Swoop replaced a generic "Ute warrior" in the 90's when there was a push to remove all university mascots with native american ties.

Post home game traditions include the team and coaches grouping in front of the MUSS (Student section) and singing the school fight song.

 

[sope777]

I forgot about my favorite tradition that is something within the team.

The Ute warriors used to wear feathers on their heads, and they only got to wear feathers once they earned them. On the Utah Utes helmets is a drum and feather with a block U inside the drum. When a freshman comes in (this might go for transfers also, but I'm not sure) his helmet will only have the drum and the block U, they have to earn the feathers. They are given their feathers by the team in a team get together.

 

[Tube Rider]

Bully did not know this, thanks for the post my friend.

To add on the move away from permanent links with native American ties, we do have the tribes support but money wise our admin has had concerns ergo the Block "U" on the 50 and on the center court of our basketball arena.

I actually think the tribe is excited as their name will even be more prominent given the coverage the PAC 10 will supply.

My work had done some investing with the Ute tribe. The tribe does have oil and gas reserves that generate funds for its members.

Also pre-game, we have started a fledgling Ute walk from our tailgating area to Rice Eccles stadium. It is a very recent tradition, within the last 3 or 4 years, still gaining traction, some games well attended others not so much.
This post was edited on 6/19 3:41 PM by Tube Rider

 

[Utah MUSS Guy]

1. Our mascot, Swoop, is a red-tailed hawk. I believe we used to have a "Ute Warrior" mascot but got rid of it when the NCAA started cracking down on Native American mascots.

2. I'm a young fan, unsure on this one. School was founded in 1850, I believe we have always used the color Red/Crimson. Pretty sure we have always had some sort of native american mascot.

3. The Ute tribe is native to most of Utah, Colorado and parts of New Mexico and Wyoming. The state is named after their tribe. I've heard that the word "Ute" or "Utah" means "Top of the Mountains" in their language.

4. Pregame we have tailgating across campus but the hot spot is in the Guardsman Lot near the stadium. We have a "Ute Walk" where the players walk through a crowd of fans before they enter the locker rooms before the game. The MUSS (Student section) has its own tailgate as well which is kind of like a carnival.

During the game one of our best traditions is the "3rd down jump," where the MUSS and quite a few other fans jump and get loud on third downs. In between the 3rd & 4th quarter the "crazy lady" (old crazy woman) dances to a song played by the band.

The "MUSS Bus" is a fun tradition with the student section and you'll probably see us eventually on your campus for a game. The students travel to one road game each season. Last year we took 2 buses full of students to Oregon. in the MWC we usually hit UNLV or SDSU because our road trips suck, thank god that's no longer the case. Students can take the trip with all expenses paid on the bus for about $250 each.

5. The cheerleaders travel, sometimes the band, the Crimson Line (dance team) usually only travels to in-state games. The MUSS will travel to a road game each year on the "MUSS Bus."

6. Alcohol regulations have been loosened in the state quite a bit over the last few years. You used to have to buy a "membership" to get drinks in a bar but that is no longer the case. I'm not 21 yet but I've heard good things about Lumpy's which is supposed to be a good sports bar.

 

[hanzelka]

If you make it up to Utah, stop by the Pirate ship to meet the best fan group up there. We are welcoming to most visitors. You will learn what a "shotski" is first hand.

 

[area 51]

I assume the "Pirate Flag" will still be "in" for flag waving although the Utes are now BCS.

 

[TOMMY TROJAN]

Where does the word MUSS come from? I have to hand it to you other than Cal, it sounds like your student section is the only one who jumps up and down. Is there a real bird that flies through the stadium before the game like Auburn's War Eagle named Tiger?
This post was edited on 7/1 2:58 AM by TOMMY TROJAN

 

[Ute Dawg]

We don't have an actual eagle or hawk that flies through the stadium, although that would be awesome!

As for the MUSS, as far as I know it is derived from our fight song which says "We're game for any fuss. No other gang of college men dare meet us in the muss" and is stands for Mighty Utah Student Section.

 

[NittanyUte]

Muss comes from our Fight Song "Utah Man", in the original context the word Muss comes from a game where prizes were thrown into a circle and men would scramble to get as many as they could, this often turned into crazed scrum, which turned the word "muss" into a slang word for a confusing disorderly brawl.

More recently the school saw the importance of creating a student body identity, using the fight song words to create an acronym MUSS or (Mighty Utah Student Section)

After every game the players go to the MUSS to sing Utah Man


One other tradition is the "U", Utah has been used the moniker "The U" from at least the mid 30's (I have a couple old program the reference Utah as "The U". We have a giant Block U painted on the side of the mountains to the north of the campus it has been there since the turn of the twentieth century, currently it is lit up on game days and blinks after wins and is steady after loses. The "U" hand gestures are thrown up by the team and the fans. I know Miami likes to call themselves the "U" but the real "U" is the University Of Utah