Daily Skiff

Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Skiff Archives TCU fans often dress in purple for athletic games. However, TCU was ranked No. 2 for ugliest school colors by a sports writer for The Associated Press.

Mix 52 parts red, 42 parts green, 123 parts blue, and you might get something any TCU student will recognize: TCU purple.

The color has been a part of the university's image since 1896, the same year the university played its first football game against Toby's Business College.

One hundred and ten years later, the color choice is drawing some criticism from The Associated Press national sports writer Nancy Armour.

Armour classified colleges and universities on their football teams' fashion sense, and TCU came in at No. 2 in her "really ugly" category.

Director of Athletics Media Relations Mark Cohen, whose office monitors TCU's media attention, said he read the article but didn't get any feedback from fans or others in the athletics department.

"I think that people read it and shrugged their shoulders, and that was it," he said.

Armour began by criticizing the university's color choice along with the team's mascot.

"Purple is never a good color choice," Armour writes, "and the mascot is ugly."

The Horned Frog, like the color purple, has also been part of TCU for over a century.

Colby Hall, longtime dean of TCU, wrote about TCU's association with the lizard in his 1947 book "History of Texas Christian University."

The creature was first associated with the school's yearbook, The Horned Frog, published for the first time during the 1897-1898 school year, he wrote.

The lizard's association with the university grew over the years and was eventually adopted as the official mascot, according to Hall.

Chancellor Victor Boschini said he didn't see Armour's article until he was asked about it by the Skiff.

"Obviously, I disagree with everything this person's saying," he said.

Boschini said he appreciates the school's mascot because it's so unique.

"I knew who the Horned Frogs were before I came here," he said. "I might not have known we were purple and white, but I definitely knew the Horned Frogs were Texas Christian University."

Armour's criticism didn't end with the mascot.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools