Nittany Lion

Nittany Lion
	250px The Nittany Lion mascot at the 2007 season opener
University	Pennsylvania State University
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Nittany Lion
First seen	1904

This article is about the Penn State mascot. For the Penn State fight song see "The Nittany Lion (song)".

The Nittany Lion is the mascot of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, USA and its athletic teams. It refers to the mountain lions that are thought to have once roamed Mount Nittany,^[1] a local landmark. There is a song played during sporting events on campus entitled "The Nittany Lion." Fans know this song as Hail to the Lion, even though that is not technically the name of the song.

The Nittany Lion mascot pumps up the crowd at the 2005 football game versus Cincinnati at Beaver Stadium.

The mascot was the creation of Penn State senior H. D. "Joe" Mason in 1907 since the Nittany Lion is not a real animal. While on a 1904 trip to Princeton University, Mason had been embarrassed that Penn State did not have a mascot. Mason did not let that deter him: he fabricated the Nittany Lion on the spot and proclaimed that it would easily defeat the Princeton Bengal tiger.^[2] The Lion's primary means of attack against the Tiger would be its strong right arm, capable of slaying any foes (this is now traditionally exemplified through one-armed push-ups after the team scores a touchdown). Upon returning to campus, he set about making his invention a reality. In 1907, he wrote in the student publication The Lemon:

Every college the world over of any consequence has a college emblem of some kind—all but The Pennsylvania State College . . .. Why not select for ours the king of beasts—the Lion!! Dignified, courageous, magnificent, the Lion allegorically represents all that our College Spirit should be, so why not 'the Nittany Mountain Lion'? Why cannot State have a kingly, all-conquering Lion as the eternal sentinel?

^[3]

Mountain lions had roamed on nearby Mount Nittany until the 1880s.^[3] The origin of the name "Mount Nittany" is obscure, the most commonly accepted explanation being that it is derived of Native American words (loosely pronounced as "neet-a-nee") named after the cougars that roamed the mountain or "single mountain" - a protective barrier against the elements.^{[citation needed]}. The "original" nittany lion can be seen in the Paterno Library as the only known mounted eastern mountain lion. It was killed in Susquehanna County by Samuel Brush in 1856.^[4] According to a July 1992 article in National Geographic by Maurice Hornocker titled "Learning to Live with Mountain Lions", "Courthouse records from Centre County, Pennsylvania, show that one local hunter killed 64 lions between 1820 and 1845. During those 25 years an estimated 600 cats were killed in that county alone."

References

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↑ This Is Penn State, An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus, pg. 74

External links

Nittany Lion Mascots
Esposito, Jackie R. and Steven L. Herb. The Nittany Lion, Penn State Press, 2001 ISBN 0-271-02115-2

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[4] This Is Penn State, An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus, pg. 74

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v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 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

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions basketball
Venues	Armory (1896–1929) Rec Hall (1929–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)
Culture & lore	Nittany Nation Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 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 Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Mascots of the Big Ten Conference
East Division	No mascot (Indiana) Sparty (Michigan State) Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State) Testudo (Maryland) No mascot (Michigan) Nittany Lion (Penn State) Scarlet Knight (Rutgers)
West Division	No mascot (Illinois) Herky the Hawk (Iowa) Goldy Gopher (Minnesota) Herbie Husker / Lil' Red (Nebraska) Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern) Boilermaker Special / Purdue Pete (Purdue) Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)

Nittany Lion

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