| Sebastian the Ibis | |
|---|---|
 Sebastian the Ibis making the University of Miami's "U" sign in 2007 | |
| University | University of Miami |
| Conference | ACC |
| Description | Anthropomorphic white ibis |
| Origin of name | San Sebastian Hall |
| First seen | 1957 |
Sebastian the Ibis is the mascot for the Miami Hurricanes of University of Miami. He is an anthropomorphic white ibis with a Miami Hurricanes football jersey, number 0. [1]
The ibis was chosen as the University of Miami's unofficial mascot by Nathan Duncan in 1926, after the University of Miami student body chose the school's yearbook's name to be The Ibis. [2]
The first official mascot for the Miami Hurricanes was a 65-pound brown and white boxer dog named Hurricane I. Chosen in 1950, the canine wore a ceremonial orange and green blanket with his name lettered in white.
Sebastian was created in August 1957 by Norman A. Whitten, Director of the Student Union at UM, and was used as a homecoming competition entry. The next year, student John Stormont performed at Miami Hurricanes football games dressed up in a homemade ibis costume. The original costume was made from various materials: armolite insulation for the head, white terry cloth for the body to resemble feathers, ROTC spats for the feet, and toes made from burlap. "The whole costume took three weeks to complete and cost about $30", Stormont said in a Miami Herald interview. The most recent iteration of the costume dates back to 1984. [4]
The ibis was originally named "Icky", but was later renamed after San Sebastian Hall, where John Stormont was a resident. The building, now an apartment building, still stands at the intersection of LeJeune Road and University Drive in Coral Gables.
During the first national championship season for the Miami Hurricanes football team, the Ibis was portrayed by Bill Mooney, a senior at the university from Orangeburg, New York. This second generation Ibis costume was designed and made by UM alumnus and former Disney artist Randy Jacky (RJ) Ogren. Sebastian appeared in the 1983 National Championship victory parade riding with then head coach Howard Schnellenberger following the Hurricanes winning the 1983 NCAA national football championship. [5]
From 1984 to 1992, Sebastian was portrayed by John Routh, who also portrayed the Miami Maniac at University of Miami baseball games, and later portrayed Billy the Marlin for the Miami Marlins. Routh created Sebastian's signature C-A-N-E-S cheer in which Sebastian forms the letters with his body. [6]
Sebastian typically leads the University of Miami football team onto the field before games. During home games at Hard Rock Stadium, this scene is one of the most notable in all of college football, accompanied by the release of smoke as Sebastian leads the Hurricanes team onto the field at the game's beginning.
The identities of the students who portray Sebastian are not made public until they graduate and their identities are typically a hot topic of discussion amongst both students and faculty; as a University of Miami tradition, these students reveal their roles when they graduate by wearing the mascot's feet to their commencement ceremonies. [7] [8] [9]
The University of Miami is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. As of 2023, the university enrolled 19,593 students in two colleges and eight schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, including the Miller School of Medicine in Miami's Health District, the law school on the main campus, the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science on Virginia Key, and additional research facilities in southern Miami-Dade County.
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products.
The ibis are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the western cattle egret mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis.
The American white ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from the southern half of the US East Coast, along the Gulf Coast states and south through most of the Caribbean coastal regions of Central America. This particular ibis species is a medium-sized wading bird, possessing an overall white plumage with black wing-tips, and having the typical downward-curving bill of the ibises, though of a bright red-orange color, the same hue as its long legs. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.
Chief Illiniwek was the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), associated with the university's intercollegiate athletic programs, from October 30, 1926, to February 21, 2007. Chief Illiniwek was portrayed by a student to represent the Illiniwek, the state's namesake, although the regalia worn was from the Sioux. The student portraying Chief Illiniwek performed during halftime of Illinois football and basketball games, as well as during women's volleyball matches.
YoUDee is a mascot of the University of Delaware, along with Baby Blue. It is an anthropomorphic "fighting Blue Hen", and its species is the blue hen, as the state bird of Delaware. While YoUDee appears masculine and can have male or female performers, it is "officially androgynous", "neither female or male".
The HokieBird is the official mascot of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Gino Louis Torretta is an American former football player who was a quarterback for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1992 and was a member of the national championship teams of 1989 and 1991. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 1993 NFL draft and was a member of several NFL teams, but never became a regular starter as a pro. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of collegiate football in the nation. The team is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the five Power Five conferences in college football. The program began in 1926. Since then, it has since won five AP national championships in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 2001.
Billy the Marlin is the official mascot of the Miami Marlins baseball franchise. At 8 feet tall and 250 pounds, he is "a natural-born clown and good-natured prankster". He appears at every Marlins home game at LoanDepot Park, and performs his own routine in the middle of the 5th inning. Mascots drive cars, so Billy drives a 2023 Toyota Camry.
The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The team is currently coached by Mike Norvell, and plays home games at Doak Campbell Stadium, the 15th largest stadium in college football, located on-campus in Tallahassee, Florida. The Seminoles previously competed as part of the ACC Atlantic Division.
The 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 64th season of football. The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Dennis Erickson and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 11–1 overall. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl where they defeated Alabama, 33–25, to win the school's third national championship.
Cocky is the costumed mascot of the University of South Carolina athletics teams. He represents a cartoon version of a gamecock. Cocky has won several mascot national championships. In 2019, for the 150th anniversary of college football, Sports Illustrated selected him as one of the greatest mascots in college football history.
The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U,UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the highest level of collegiate athletics. The University of Miami's football team has won five national championships and its baseball team has won four national championships. Across all sports, the Hurricanes have won 21 national championships and 83 individual national championships.
The 2001 Sugar Bowl was a 2000–01 BCS game played on January 2, 2001. This 67th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Florida Gators, and the Miami Hurricanes, in an in-state rivalry game. Miami came into the game ranked 3rd in the BCS, 2nd in both the Coaches and AP Poll, at 10–1, whereas Florida came into the game ranked 7th in the BCS at 10–2. Sponsored by Nokia, the game was officially known as the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
The Florida State-Miami football rivalry is one of the most storied and intense rivalries in college football. It pits the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) against the Miami Hurricanes of the University of Miami, two of the most prominent and successful football programs in the state of Florida. Over the years, the rivalry has produced dramatic games, national championship implications, and countless memorable moments, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. The rivalry is fueled by geographical proximity, recruiting competition, and a history of high-stakes games.
Timeout is the official mascot at the Fresno State Bulldogs in Fresno, California, United States.
The Miami Maniac is the official mascot of the Miami Hurricanes baseball program at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
The 1989 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Located in: Coral Gables, Florida | |||||||||||
| Academics |  | ||||||||||
| Athletics |
| ||||||||||
| Places | |||||||||||
| Activities | |||||||||||
| Honors | |||||||||||
| Media | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||
| Events | |||||||||||
| Documentaries |
| ||||||||||
| |||||||||||