MORGANTOWN —
The burning question this week as West Virginia University readies itself for its opening game against Coastal Carolina is a simple one:
What the heck is Chanticleer?
Coastal Carolina has taken on the nickname the Chanticleers (pronounce it SHONT-ti-clear). It is taken from Chauncer’s Cantebury Tales, being a proud and fierce rooster who dominates the barnyard in the Nun’s Priest tale.
Here’s what Chaucer wrote: “For crowing there was not his equal in all the land. His voice was merrier than the merry organ that plays in church, and his crowing from his resting place was more trustworthy than a clock. His comb was redder than fine coral and turreted like a castle wall, his bill was black and shone like a jet, and his legs and toes were like azure. His nails were whiter than the lily and his feathers were like burnished gold.”
This is what Coastal Carolina tells us on line about how the mascot came to be:
“In the mid-1960’s, a group of Coastal students and their English professor brought up the idea of a new mascot. At the time, Coastal’s athletic teams were known as the Trojans. With Coastal Carolina serving as a two-year branch of the University of South Carolina at the time, many people began to push for a nickname that was more closely related to USC’s Gamecock. Thus, Chanticleer was born as one of the most unique mascots in collegiate athletic history. Chanticleer gave Coastal a mascot which resembles the Gamecock, but still gave the University its own identity.”
It is a touching story, to be sure, and because of its poetic roots in Chaucer, we have penned the poor man’s lyrical version of the Canterbury Tales, entitled “What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
“What’s in a name?” asked the poet Shakespeare
And that’s a philosophy to which I adhere
Now, with the opener drawing ever so near
It must be asked
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
It’s only one week until they are here
When out of the tunnel they will appear
And as they do, an angry crowd will sneer
Mockingly shouting
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
Of course, moments later, the crowd will cheer
When out of nowhere comes the Mountaineer
He’ll raise his musket,
No need to fear
Unless you happen to be a Chanticleer
It is opening day, a time we revere
But let me make this very clear
To make it a wonderful atmosphere
Raise your voice loud and clear
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
Forty-five to three, predicted this seer
Trying to sound, oh, so sincere
But even those sitting in the upper tier
Wondered what the heck is a Chanticleer?
It’s lost to history, but even old Paul Revere
While approaching a forgotten Boston pier
Said “It’s time for the British to disappear”
And what the heck is a Chanticleer?”
To win the game, Devine ran like a deer
Behind Ryan Clarke, who ran like a steer
And as they did, the fans would jeer
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
Using the spread, never the veer,
Wearing the normal gold and blue gear
Coastal Carolina was left far to the rear
As the echoes roared
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
The game is over, the field now clear
The mood somber and quite austere
Into the tunnel did they disappear,
Mumbling out loud
“What the heck is Chanticleer?”
It was back to Shakespeare
Back to King Lear
But it won’t be long ‘til
There’s plenty of beer
And no professor on hand to say
“What the heck is a Chanticleer?”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
WVU Sports
HERTZEL COLUMN: What the heck is a Chanticleer?
- WVU Sports
-
-
Orlando, Pastilong highlight ’12 WVU Hall of Famers
Retired athletic director Ed Pastilong and safety Bo Orlando of the 1988 football team that played Notre Dame for the national championship lead a class of seven into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Patrone finally gets his due
Lee Patrone says he remembers it vividly, even though more than 50 years have passed, and while it was the greatest accomplishment in his life it has nothing to do with the West Virginia University basketball career that has lifted him into the Class of 2012 that will be inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in September.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: No doubt WVU made out well
There was a cold, ill wind blowing in from the north on Friday.
It was the kind of wind that blows whenever a Pitt man opens his mouth, as the Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson did. -
Tears and memories: VIDEO
It was mid-Thursday afternoon at the Morgantown Event Center and the crowd stood mostly silently in line that wound out of the Events Hall and into the hallway toward the staircase.
A young lady was there holding a singular golden rose
“I wish,” Rebecca Durst said, “it could be gold and blue.” -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Stew fondly remembered by players
The tributes have poured in all week for Bill Stewart, the former West Virginia University football coach whose sudden and unexpected death from a heart attack at age 59 on Monday stunned the state, but it wasn’t the administrators or executives or politicians who really knew him.
-
Friends, fans mourn loss of Stewart
Condolences streamed in from as far as Texas and Massachusetts as fans and friends gathered Thursday in Morgantown to pay tribute to former West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart.
Stewart died Monday of an apparent heart attack at age 59 while on a golf outing with former athletic director Ed Pastilong. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: White right there with Hall of Famers
Back on New Year’s Eve, 2008, shortly after West Virginia University had edged North Carolina, 31-30, to win the Meineke Car Care Bowl, an attempt was made to put Mountaineer quarterback Patrick White into his proper historical perspective.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Pat Beilein follows in father’s path
In a day filled with the sorrow of former West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart’s sudden and unexpected death, there was a ray of sunshine that managed to slip through, a happening that shows us all that even in death there is life and as one son grieves, as does Stewart’s son, Blaine, somewhere else a father basks in pride over his son.
-
Bill Stewart services scheduled
Visitation and funeral arrangements for former West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart have been announced.
There will be public viewing from 2-9 p.m. Thursday, at the Morgantown Event Center, 2 Waterfront Place. -
HERTZEL COLUMN - Stewart’s gift was giving
It was the kind of cosmic happening that defies description. We all come across them from time to time, leaving us in a state of disbelief.
- More WVU Sports Headlines
-
Orlando, Pastilong highlight ’12 WVU Hall of Famers
