Horned Frog Born and Bred !

 Lewis Grizzard often wrote of his Georgia heritage that he was "Bulldog born and Bulldog bred and when I die, I'll be Bulldog dead!". Well scoot over Lewis, cause I am Horned Frog born and bred and when I die, I'll be Horned Frog dead. I have been a horned toad fan since I was 9 years old in Sweetwater Texas. In 1952 we didn't even have a TV, but we listened to TCU play on the Humble  Southwest Conference football network every week during football season. We also watched or listened to the Sweetwater Mustangs play in the Mustang Bowl. Many of my friends were SMU fans because of the Mustangs, but my Dad loved the Frogs , so we did too.

We moved to Fort Worth in 1955 and my Uncle Jack took us to a TCU-Rice Southwest Conference game at Amon Carter Stadium, the Frogs won 35-0. I fell in love with the stadium and I have made many trips back over the years. The old Southwest Conference was magical and competitive with all other conferences across the country. In 1957 an Abe Martin coached team was led by half backs Jim Shofner and Marvin Lassiter to a 5-4-1 season. Ironically two of those victories were against Alabama and Ohio State who finished the season as the number one team in the national rankings.(TCU was their only loss). That year I watched the Horned Frogs destroy the Crimson Tide 28-0 in Fort Worth.

 They have a rich football tradition that makes a fan appreciate the way they get back up and start over again every year. From number one national rankings in the late 1930's to strong seasons in the mid 1950's, to the dismal swamps of despair in the 1960's through the 1980's. A strong resurgence in the 1990's and then the glory years with head coach Gary Paterson. What a jewel of a coach, a rare combination of tenacity and teaching that turns 3 star recruits into competitors with the best of them. Leadership of the highest caliber that leads to increasing achievements over a period of years. Even after disastrous injuries ruined their entrance to the Big Twelve Conference, the Horned Frogs under Paterson came back with a vengeance and tied for the conference title. Got to love 'em for playing in almost every bowl that exists, including the Cotton, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Peach and Rose Bowls.

Coach "P"

ODE TO THE TOAD

I am an old man with a story to tell
I have been around, so I know it well.
There is a little critter that crawls on the ground,
He’s not very big, and hardly makes a sound.

To those in his world he seems a mighty brute,
His head is filled with horns, none would call cute
A double row of spikes venture down his back,
And the end on his tail will give you quite a whack.

His tongue is mighty quick, when he gobbles up his prey,
He spits blood from-his-eyes, his foes to keep away.
I’m talking about horned toads man, horned toads,
Not a frog, but a lizard, found on Texas roads.

Cousins dressed in purple, can be found in the town,
With spikes-of-a-different sort, they make their rivals frown.
They run down the middle, they pass around the end,
They kick it through the goal posts, few can ere’ defend.

Many have their doubts, think they’re out of their league
And predict they will fail, at the end in fatigue.
Many teams have traveled to this cow town abode,
Horns and Bears and Badgers have fallen to the toad.

Razorbacks and Raiders have succombed to this critter,
Sooners and Buckeyes have stumbled in a twitter.
Look into your history and it may seem a load,
But the Rolling Crimson Tide, lost three to the toad.

So hearken all you nay-says, and read your history well,
The toad that lurks within your sights may ring your final bell.
When the season has been ended, with the last tick of the clock,
The purple frogs are sure to win, and none will dare to mock.

So fasten up your helmets, put on some extra fat,
Cause the boys dressed in purple, ‘gonna take you to the mat.
Talking about horned frogs man, the purple strength of will,
The ones who wind up champs, at the top of the hill.

By David L Warbritton Sr

Beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl

 The stadium was rebuilt in recent years and it is now a beautiful place to watch the games.

If you love football, why not be like me and pick a team with a remarkable legacy of overcoming failures and bouncing back to be a winner. The TCU Horned Frogs are all that and more and the future is amazingly bright. Last season, 2014, they finished 12-1 and won the Peach Bowl. The final national coaches poll ranked them number three. Hang around me for a while and I will teach you how to be Horned Frog born and bred.

 

The HORNED FROG (actually a lizard) has been TCU's mascot longer than TCU has been the University's name. Four students helped make the decision in 1897, when AddRan Christian University (renamed TCU in 1902) was located in Waco. Here are some other facts about the horned frog, one of the country's most distinctive mascots: The scientific name for this Texas reptile is Phrynosoma cornutum; in Greek, phrynos means "a toad" and soma means "body" in Latin, cornutus means "horned." 

A HORNED FROG's primary diet is red harvester ants; they'd like 80 to 100 a day. Unfortunately, red ants are falling victim to insecticides and to more aggressive fire ants in much of Texas. The typical HORNED FROG is three to five inches long.
HORNED FROGS are cold-blooded animals and have an unusual pineal gland, resembling a "third eye" on the top of the head, which zoologists believe is part of their system of thermoregulation. When angered or frightened, horned frogs can squirt a fine, four-foot stream of blood from their eyes. 

The HORNED FROG was named the State Reptile of Texas in 1992. In stories of Native Americans in the Southwest, horned frogs are depicted as ancient, powerful and respected. Archaeologists find horned frogs on petroglyphs, pottery and other crafts painted hundreds of years before Columbus set sail for America. In some parts of Mexico, folklore persists that these creatures which weep tears of blood are sacred.