OK, so my buddy and I are hanging out with some friends. Somehow something about Ivy League mascots come up. He starts talking about someone being the "Pilgrims." I say I'm 100% sure no one in the Ivy League is the "Pilgrims," then he responds with "I'm 100% sure that Harvard are the Pilgrims." At this point I say, "I'll pay for all of your beer tonight if Harvard are the Pilgrims. They are the Harvard Crimson." Well, of course, at the bar, there's no way to settle the bet. So my buddy calls a "friend who's sister goes to Harvard" after he gets home and I'm back at my place. He leaves me a voice message proclaiming "I win! I called my friend who has 'BEEN TO HARVARD!!!!!!!!!' (meaning she visited her sister there) and says they are the Crimson but they are the Pilgrims too!!" or something to that effect. Something like everyone dresses up as pilgrims. Now, I think he's full of ****. I've searched all over the web about something regarding Harvard and pilgrims as their mascot. Of course it's 100% sure they are the Harvard Crimson, but I started thinking that there's a remote possibility that they are something like Alabama who are the "Crimson Tide" but have an Elephant as their mascot. Again, I couldn't find anything about Harvard and having a Pilgrim as a mascot on the internet. Has anyone here attended school at Harvard that can give me some sort of explanation? Furthermore, who would you judge to be the winner of the bet?
Was your friend drunk? On their official site it says they are the Crimson. EDIT: Actually, its not on the main site, but go to the athletics section, then go to Ivy League site, and it says Crimson. Or better yet, just go here http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/schools/index.asp?intUID=5
They are the crimson but their mascot is a big pilgrim. The pilgrim is supposed to look like their founder, John Harvard. Here's a picture of their douchebag mascot, Either way, you won the bet. No one calls them the Pilgrims. For example, Stanford is called the Stanford Cardinal but their mascot is an ugly tree. No one calls them the Stanford Trees. They're the Cardinal. Both Stanford and Harvard just decided to name themselves after colors for whatever reason.
Harvard sports teams etc. are known as the Harvard Crimson. Their mascot however is a pilgrim-like figure. I suppose if I had to lean one way or another, I'd say you're right. Nobody knows them as the "Harvard Pilgrims" even though their mascot is dressed like one.
One of my best friends got his MBA from Harvard. Damn, I'm glad this was cleared up before I had to ask him about this!
psh, like any harvard student would know what their mascots were. They'd be too busy working on their presidential inauguration speech, or looking at pictures of people in other schools on facebook, telling themselves how much better they are than them because they go to Harvard. Being on a sports team at harvard is like being in the Model UN club in Florida.
Interesting fact which I have read and may not be true: One of the first presidents of Harvard was deposed in part because he could not procure enough fresh beer for the student body. Subsequently a brewery was built on campus.
i bought a harvard shirt when i was in boston but i hate wearing it now bc it makes me feel so pretentious. its a nice shirt though.
Tell your friend that they are the Harvard Pilgrims just like Houston's pro basketball team is the Houston Giant Teddy Bears.
I finally got in contact with my buddy that has been attending Harvard Law for the past two years. He said no way my buddy wins the bet, that he's never heard any mention of being Pilgrims in his two years. He acknowledged the John Harvard mascot, but said no way that qualifies my friend for a victory.
That makes me feel extra pretentious for buying a Harvard t-shirt at Steve & Barry's in Garland and wearing it all the time.
Here's a good example: Texas Tech are the Red Raiders. Yet we have two mascots. A masked rider, which is a matador (the schools original namesake) and we have a yosemite sam look alike. Why? Because nobody knows what the hell a Red Raider is. Are the Aggies also known as the "Thumbs?"
My friend has a couple of old Harvard t-shirts buried in his closet. When he lived in Austin and ticked me off, I'd dig one out and sit on it. Sometimes, it took him an hour or two to figure it out. (my friend likes his single malt) He's back in Boston now, having married a girl from up there that he met while going Harvard. They divorced and she finally moved back to be near her family. Being a standup guy, he moved there to be near his kids. Really misses Texas a lot. I miss sitting on his Harvard t-shirts.
Many moons ago my brother got his bachelor's there and always kept me well-stocked with Harvard sweatshirts and stuff.
One of my brothers is doing his medical residency at Harvard. I can ask him, but he is an idiot when it comes to these things.
its all about Yale. That is where the real privilege is at. Most people at Harvard really deserve to be there more so than people at Yale.
I'm a graduate student at Harvard. The name is definitely Harvard Crimson. Maybe your friend is confused because Harvard Pilgrim is an insurance company.
Add University of Chicago to the list. They aren't Ivy because they're a newer school than the Ivy League, but they wish they were. So, they are the Maroons. The logo is a phoenix. I doubt they have a mascot; they hardly have a football team. If they do have a mascot, no one's ever seen it because no one has ever attended a game.
