Name-a-Day Calendar, September 27: USC Trojans

Page 325 of 365

Chosen in: 1912

Chosen by: Los Angeles Times sports editor Owen Bird

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The University of Southern California was founded as a Methodist school in 1880. They began playing football in 1888, their teams usually known either as the Methodists or the Wesleyans, sometimes with “Fighting” tacked onto the beginning. Less often, they were known as the Cards.

These makeshift nicknames suited the university for a couple decades, but in 1912, university administration wanted something better. Athletics director Warren Bovard reached out to Los Angeles Times sports editor Owen Bird and asked him to come up with a fiercer symbol for the university.

The symbol Bird came up with was the Trojan. To hear him tell it:

“At this time, the athletes and coaches of the university were under terrific handicaps. They were facing teams that were bigger and better-equipped, yet they had splendid fighting spirit. The name ‘Trojans’ fitted them. I came out with an article prior to a showdown between USC and Stanford in which I called attention to the fighting spirit of USC athletes and named them ‘Trojan’ all the time, and it stuck.

“The term ‘Trojan’ as applied to USC means to me that no matter what the situation, what the odds or what the conditions, the competition must be carried on to the end and those who strive must give all they have and never be weary in doing so.”

Bird debuted this nickname on February 24, 1912, in a preview of a track competition against Stanford. Then he lived a long and winding life that included a prison stint and ended in tragedy. At least his chosen nickname lives on.

USC severed all ties to religious institutions by 1952 and today operates as a private nonsectarian university. They have two mascots: a costumed Trojan named Tommy Trojan and a white horse named Traveler (who appears at all football games with a Trojan Warrior on its back).

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