New Hampshire Wildcats
Encyclopedia
The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the athletic teams of the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...

. The wildcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

 is the school's official mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

, the colors are UNH Blue and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

. There are 21 varsity sports at the University, 25 sport clubs and 23 different Intramural sports
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...

.

The men's and women's varsity teams compete at the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Division I level; in football, it competes in the second tier of Division I, the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The football program plays in the Colonial Athletic Association
Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose full-time members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to Georgia. Most of its members are public universities, with five in Virginia alone, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond,...

, and the men's
New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey
The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East...

 and women's
New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey
The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats have never had a losing season in the 32-year history of the program. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to...

 hockey teams are members of Hockey East
Hockey East
Hockey East Association is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference....

. The other teams compete in the America East
America East Conference
The America East Conference is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located mainly in the northeastern United States. The conference was known as the ECAC North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from the fall semester of 1988 to the end of the spring...

, except for the ski teams and gymnastics team who compete in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) and Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) respectively.

Sports

UNH is a member of the America East Conference for basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 & diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

; and women's crew
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...

, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, lacrosse
Women's lacrosse
Women's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to wlax or lax, is a sport played with twelve players on each team. Originally played by the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the first tribe to play it was the Hauser tribe, of the Great Plains. The modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St...

, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

. They also compete in Hockey East
Hockey East
Hockey East Association is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference....

 in men's and women's ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, and at the Division I FCS level (formerly Division I-AA) in the Colonial Athletic Association for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

.

The ice hockey teams are both perennial national powerhouses, and the football program has consistently ranked as one of the stronger teams on the Division I FCS level. The Wildcats have one NCAA National Championship, won in 1985 in Women's Lacrosse. UNH won the national championship game 6-5 over Maryland.

The men's basketball program has a long-standing reputation for futility even though the team has improved significantly in recent years. UNH was one of the first schools to take up the sport, but since 1903, no Wildcats team has made it to the NCAA or NIT tournaments and no ex-Wildcat player has made it to the NBA. (However, a former Wildcats coach, Jim Boylan
Jim Boylan
Jim Boylan is an American basketball coach. He served as the interim head coach for the Chicago Bulls until he was dismissed on April 17, 2008. The Milwaukee Bucks hired him as an assistant coach on May 14, 2008.- Playing career :...

, eventually became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 for a while.) Perhaps the most famous ex-Wildcat basketball player is the former captain Blagoy Janev, who is now one of the stars of Australia's National Basketball League
National Basketball League (Australasia)
The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....

. The Wildcats' rivalry with the Maine Black Bears
Maine Black Bears
The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams which represent the University of Maine. They compete in NCAA Division I athletics, with the majority of the teams playing in the America East Conference...

 is the longest continuous basketball rivalry between any two non-Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 schools: the men's teams have played each other 107 seasons in a row, from 1904-1905 to the present season (2010-2011.) The University has invested greatly in both the men's and women's basketball programs since the hiring of Bill Herrion but they have yet to achieve the campus wide attention of the Hockey or Football teams.

The UNH men's soccer team has been coached since 1995 by the highly regarded Rob Thompson. Thompson is the program's all time wins leader and consistently turns out one of the nations best defensive teams. The Wildcats have come within a penalty kick shootout of making the NCAA tournament in the past few seasons and are poised to make steps in the future. Thompson routinely beings in the top recruits from the New England area and their recruiting has has expanded to the mid-atlantic, midwest, and west coast over the past couple years as well as a strong connection with foreign university students from Sweden. The UNH soccer programs boast both natural grass and Field Turf playing surfaces, a beautifully renovated locker room and lounge area, and a state of there art weight room. The men's and women's soccer programs have won the America East Conference academic team award numerous times. The soccer programs are sponsored by Nike and benefit from a strong Alumni association as well as a local and youth connection through the Soccer Dimensions soccer camps.

Former sports

In 1997, the University cut baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, and men's lacrosse from its program.

On January 31, 2006, Athletics Director Marty Scarano announced in the 2006 academic year the University was cutting women's crew, men's swimming & diving, and men's and women's tennis at the varsity level, and trimming the size of the men's ski team from 27 to 12. The reason given was the Athletic Department would save $500,000 towards a $1,000,000 budget shortfall, and be in compliance with Title IX for the first time.

Facilities

The university's athletic facilities are concentrated on the west side of the campus, near Durham's Amtrak station
Durham-UNH (Amtrak station)
The railroad station in Durham, New Hampshire, serves the Amtrak Downeaster and is situated west of downtown Durham on the campus of the University of New Hampshire . The station was originally built in 1896 in Lynn, Massachusetts, and was moved to the present site in Durham when the Boston and...

.

The football team plays on Mooradian Field in Cowell Stadium
Cowell Stadium
Cowell Stadium is a 8,000-seat open-air multi-purpose stadium in Durham, New Hampshire on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. It is home to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats football and track and field teams. The stadium, which runs west-northwest, consists of a FieldTurf...

, which is attached to the Field House. The Lundholm Gym
Lundholm Gym
Lundholm Gym is a 3,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Durham, New Hampshire. It is home to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats athletics program, including men's and women's basketball, volleyball and gymnastics....

nasium in the Field House is home to basketball, gymnastics and volleyball. The Field House also contains the Henry C. Swasey Pool, home to the swim teams, as well as the Paul Sweet Oval, which is home to indoor track an as a winter training facility for other sports. The outdoor track team holds its meets at Reggie F. Atkins Track & Field Facility in Cowell Stadium. Jerry Azumah Performance Center at the Field House is named after Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 player Jerry Azumah
Jerry Azumah
Jerry Azumah is a former professional American football cornerback for the Chicago Bears.Azumah was selected as the 147th pick of the 1999 NFL Draft out of the University of New Hampshire where he won the Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in Division I-AA football. He attended Saint...

 who played college football for UNH. Bremner Field, located behind Cowell Stadium, is the home to the soccer teams. The tennis courts where the tennis teams compete are also located behind Cowell Stadium.

Ice Hockey is played in the Towse Rink at the Whittemore Center Arena
Whittemore Center
Whittemore Center Arena or Whitt is a multi-purpose arena in Durham, New Hampshire on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. It was built for $30 million and opened in November 1995. It was dedicated to Frederick B. Whittemore and his family on May 5, 1996. It is adjacent to its...

, which is occasionally used for basketball. The hockey teams' former home, Snively Arena, was incorporated into the Hamel Recreation Center. Memorial Field, located in front of the "Whitt," is home to woman's lacrosse and field hockey.

Mascot & nickname

The official mascot and nickname is the Wildcats. The Athletic Department holds annual mascot try-outs for selecting male and females to wear the "Wild E. Cat" and "Gnarlz" costumes at various sporting events and occasional university functions. Those selected as the athletic department's icon are cheerleaders.

'Wildcats'

The Wildcat became the official college mascot and nickname in February 1926. Students cast their votes using a ballot which appeared in the February 26, 1926, edition of The New Hampshire
The New Hampshire
The New Hampshire, or TNH, is the "University of New Hampshire's student newspaper since 1911," published by the student organization of the same name. The newspaper is published weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays during the academic year, with a printed circulation 6,000...

. The "Durham Bulls," a nickname given to the Hockey team by the local media, was a close runner-up. Other votes for the mascot included a husky, an eagle and even a unicorn. It was argued in an opinion piece in The New Hampshire, in part that: The Wildcat is small and aggressive—like New Hampshire. The actions of the wildcat are more symbolic of a New Hampshire team on the field than those of the sluggish bull. Furthermore, the actual mascot, if a wildcat, could be more easily transported from place to place than a bull.

Former live mascots

The first live mascot of the University was "Mazie," a cat who was captured by a farmer in Meredith, New Hampshire
Meredith, New Hampshire
Meredith is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, USA. The population was 6,241 at the 2010 census. Meredith is situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee. It is home to Stonedam Island Natural Area and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad...

. Maizie made her first appearance at the 1927 Homecoming game, and died in 1929. The second mascot, "Bozo", was purchased in 1932 but disappeared in Spring 1933.

The third cat was purchased in 1934, and was to be named for the first New Hampshire player to score in the historical football game against Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...

. Charles scored the first touchdown, but Henry kicked the first field goal; neither name was chosen and the cat was named "Butch Watson." Butch Watson lived behind the Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...

 fraternity house in a cage and was the only mascot to be stolen by a rival school. Butch Watson was stolen in 1939, a week before a football game against Harvard and just after the Wildcats beat Tufts. There were no claims of responsibility, but the cat was found in a garage in Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...

 with "HARVARD 60, N.H. 0," written on the top of the cage.

"Butch Watson II" was the fourth mascot and was purchased in 1940, but lived only a week. In 1970, a fan's pet wildcat appeared at some football games.

"Wild E. Cat" and "Gnarlz"

Since 1940, the only live mascot has been "Wild E. Cat" and "Gnarlz," a cheerleader dressed in a wildcat costume. The Athletic Department "Gnarlz" made its debut at the football team's 2008 home opener against Albany on September 20. "Gnarlz" was named via an online poll and was designed to have a "more athletic physique" and "more student-friendly look."

Official colors

The official colors of the University and used by the athletic teams are UNH Blue and white. UNH Blue is a dark blue matching Pantone
Pantone
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...

 color 288.
New Hampshire is known as the "Granite State." White resembles the White Mountains
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...

 of New Hampshire, located an hour north of Durham
Durham, New Hampshire
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile...

. The University of New Hampshire campus is located about a mile from the Great Bay
Great Bay (New Hampshire)
Great Bay is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States. The bay occupies over , not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua...

 estuary, which runs out to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. Blue resembles the Atlantic Ocean.

New Hampshire Colors

written by E Y Blewett '26

We'll take our stand for New Hampshire

Loyal to colors true

White from ever lasting hill and

from the ocean blue

wherever college men gather

long her worth we'll tell

All your sons and your daughters stand to

Sing your praises Alma Mater Hail.

Throwing Out the Fish (Hockey)

UNH has a long history of successful hockey programs. Dating back to Charlie Holt in the ‘70's to present day coach Dick Umile, it has had great support and is a figurehead among the university community. A prominent tradition within the program has been the throwing of the fish. After UNH scores its first goal, all fans turn their attention to the opposing teams net. Up and over the boards, a fish is thrown onto the ice. The crowd erupts in excitement.

According to Bob Norton, a former UNH assistant coach, the fish-tossing tradition began in the early 1970s. "It goes back to when we were playing a Division II team, and our program had gone way past theirs. I remember (the UNH fans) threw out this little dinky thing and they called it a Division II fish. I guess they were trying to tell them they weren't worthy of a first-rate fish."

This tradition caught on as the Zeta Chi fraternity made it a ritual to throw out the fish after UNH's first goal. The fish was used to resemble the visiting team, "fishing the puck out of the net."

One of Umile's favorite fish incidents occurred in the early 1990s. At that time, the home team received a penalty if fans threw objects on the ice. "At all these different rinks people were throwing things—tennis balls, newspapers --and it was really holding up the game," Umile recalls. "It's the Maine weekend, and the cops won't let the kid in with the fish. I'm in the office before the game, and the students come to get me. So I go down there, get the fish from the cops, and we're walking in with the fish in the bag. The kids say, 'But coach, we're going to get a penalty.' I say, 'Don't worry about it. We'll kill the penalty. Just throw the fish.'"
Throwing The Fish

Fight songs

The recognized school fight song
Fight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...

 is "On to Victory," with the most current version arranged by former Director of Athletic Bands Tom Keck (1998–2003). In 2003, "UNH Cheer (originally "Cheer Boys")" was resurrected from the University archives by former Director of Athletic Bands Erika Svanoe (2003-2006). "UNH Cheer" currently serves as a secondary fight song and is often performed immediately following "On to Victory." It is based on the school song "Old New Hampshire", not to be confused with the New Hampshire state song
Old New Hampshire
"Old New Hampshire" is the original and official state song of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The words were written by Dr. John F. Holmes and music composed by Maurice Hoffmann in 1926. In "Old New Hampshire" was chosen to be the "official" state song first in 1949, then again in November 1977,...

 of the same name. "New Hampshire Hymn" is the official fight song, but generally goes unused (but the Wildcat Marching Band did incorporate the official song into their pre-game show beginning in the 2010 football season). The school also has another secondary fight song, "New Hampshire Colors" E. Y. Blewett '26.

Radio & Television

Currently the Wildcats are carried by a network of radio stations (Known as The UNH Sports Network
The UNH Sports Network
The UNH Wildcat Sports Network is an American radio network that carries New Hampshire Wildcats sports, the athletic division of the University of New Hampshire.- Sports coverage :*Football*Men's and women's Basketball*Men's and women's college Hockey...

) across New Hampshire, anchored by WGIR
WGIR (AM)
WGIR is a radio station in Manchester, New Hampshire with a news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-History:...

 in Manchester
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

 and WGIN
WGIN
WGIN is a radio station in Rochester, New Hampshire with a Sports radio from ESPN Radio simulcasting WMYF. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-History:...

 and WQSO
WQSO
WQSO is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk format. Licensed to Rochester, New Hampshire, USA, the station serves the Rochester-Portsmouth area. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications. The biggest local programming is the station's morning show, the New Hampshire...

 in Rochester
Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 29,752. The city includes the villages of East Rochester and Gonic. Rochester is home to Skyhaven Airport and the annual Rochester Fair....

. Games are also carried by student radio station WUNH
WUNH
WUNH is a non-commercial college radio station at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham, New Hampshire. The station broadcasts alternative music, news, sports, and more to the community on 6000 watts.-History:...

.

Games are seen on television on NESN
New England Sports Network
The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...

, and WBIN-TV. New Hampshire Public Television
New Hampshire Public Television
New Hampshire Public Television is a television company and public broadcasting state network in New Hampshire, licensed to the University System of New Hampshire and is part of the Public Broadcasting Service...

 broadcast UNH men's hockey games from the 1972/1973 season through the 2007/2008 season, but announced in June 2008 that they would no longer do so due to budgetary considerations. Some Wildcats telecasts have aired on WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...

in the past.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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