Rowdy the Roadrunner

Rowdy
Rowdy
	Rowdy the Roadrunner
University	University of Texas at San Antonio
Conference	The American
Description	Anthropomorphic roadrunner
Origin of name	Student election
First seen	1977

Rowdy (officially Rowdy the Roadrunner) is the mascot of the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners.^[1] He appears at athletic events, such as football and basketball games, and other university sponsored events. An anthropomorphic roadrunner, Rowdy is based upon the Greater Roadrunner.

History

The origin of Rowdy dates back to 1977, when the Student Representative Assembly (SRA, the forerunner to the modern Student Government Association) was openly debating the university's mascot.^[2] An original vote, which favored "Armadillos" and "Stars" was declared null and void by the SRA, making way for a second campus-wide poll.^[2] The second election was hotly contested between "Roadrunners" and "Armadillos"—with vigorous support on either side.^[2] Supporters of "Roadrunner" made t-shirts depicting the cartoon road runner from Warner Bros.^[3] After the final vote, the roadrunner was announced as the official mascot of UTSA at a bonfire celebration later that year.^[2]^[4]

On March 1, 2008, UTSA unveiled the new Rowdy and UTSA logos at the homecoming men's basketball game vs. Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Many students and administrators at UTSA thought the previous Rowdy bore too much resemblance to the Kansas Jayhawk.^[5]

In 2013 UTSA unveiled a statue of Rowdy.^[6]^[7]

References

^ "Bird Watching: You've Come a Long Way, Rowdy". The University of Texas at San Antonio. Sombrilla. Spring 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Peters, Anne (December 19, 2008). "Go…Dillos?: How UTSA's Mascot Became the Roadrunner". The Top Shelf. UTSA Libraries Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21.
^ Pinkard, James (December 21, 2005). "UTSA Uncovered: Folklore". UTSA. The History of Rowdy. Archived from the original on 2005-12-30.
^ "Roadrunner Days: UTSA Roadrunner Spirit". UTSA. August 18, 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23. The roadrunner, a bird representative of the Texas Hill Country and the Southwest, was voted the UTSA mascot in 1977.
^ Stephens, Kyle (February 29, 2008). "UTSA Athletics unveils new logos, word marks". UTSA.
^ "The Rowdy statue — a tradition yet to come". The Paisano. May 27, 2014.
^ Davis, Vincent T. (September 27, 2013). "UTSA swift mascot statue took a while". mySA.

[1] "Bird Watching: You've Come a Long Way, Rowdy". The University of Texas at San Antonio. Sombrilla. Spring 2015.

[Go_Dillos-2] Peters, Anne (December 19, 2008). "Go…Dillos?: How UTSA's Mascot Became the Roadrunner". The Top Shelf. UTSA Libraries Special Collections. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21.

[3] Pinkard, James (December 21, 2005). "UTSA Uncovered: Folklore". UTSA. The History of Rowdy. Archived from the original on 2005-12-30.

[4] "Roadrunner Days: UTSA Roadrunner Spirit". UTSA. August 18, 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23. The roadrunner, a bird representative of the Texas Hill Country and the Southwest, was voted the UTSA mascot in 1977.

[5] Stephens, Kyle (February 29, 2008). "UTSA Athletics unveils new logos, word marks". UTSA.

[6] "The Rowdy statue — a tradition yet to come". The Paisano. May 27, 2014.

[7] Davis, Vincent T. (September 27, 2013). "UTSA swift mascot statue took a while". mySA.

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v t e UTSA Roadrunners football
Venues	Alamodome (2011–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Texas State: I-35 Rivalry
Culture & lore	Rowdy "Go Roadrunners, Go!" The Spirit of San Antonio
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e UTSA Roadrunners men's basketball
Venues	Convocation Center (1981–present)
Rivalries	Texas State
Culture & lore	Rowdy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1999–2000 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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25