T-Bear's Official Home Page
History of the Bear
Wait a second, what's this about a Bear? I thought the Williams College mascot was the Purple Cow. So why do the Williams College Men's Cross-Country teams throw a stuffed bear into the sky before every race? The Bear has come to be a good luck symbol for the teams as the spirit of The Bear propels them towards victory.
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T-Bear inspires the Ephs at
2001 Nationals |
In 1978, a Williams College freshman won a raffle at a North Adams road race. While pawing through the possible prizes, the freshman was "encouraged" by his teammates to select a huge stuffed bear and ran back to them. Immediately, The Bear, as it was named, became a good luck symbol for the team as they upset MIT at the very next meet, bringing him along for support. MIT decided to get even with the Williams harriers by pulling a little prank th next time they met. They "barely" snuck the bear away from an unsuspecting Coach Farwell, and it took an exchange of pun-filled letters to get the bear returned at the next meeting of the teams. The Techies took the chance to put their own mark upon the good luck mascot by sewing a varsity "T" upon his bare chest. Precedent was set--teams could steal the Williams bear, but they should return him soon after, leaving some new fashion
statement upon the bear.
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Tim Austin '03 guards T after rescuing
him from Bowdoin at NESCAC 2001 |
Since then, many teams, including Amherst, Wesleyan, MIT, Colby, Bowdoin, and even the Williams women's team, have taken the opportunity to try and stop the Williams harriers by 'knapping the bear. Each attempt has generally been a major undertaking, as have successive bear rescues, though recently some teams have resorted to more forceful means to obtain the bear. "Advanced Bearknapping 401" has included such lessons as camouflage, escape car drivers, bribes, and other devious methods. During periods of bear-withdrawal, the Williams harriers have been known to wear black armbands, plant beartrap signs on courses, and even toss "surrogate bears," though it has not stopped them from winning a National Championship while bear-less.
During the Fall 1996 season, the Bear fell into the hands of the Bates cross-country team after the ECAC meet. His trip to Bates involved a furious e-mail exchange between the two campuses reminiscent of the original letter campaigns. The Bates team took great care of him, including stitching some paws and a replacement nose for him (evidently they have some future plastic surgeons). The return occurred the next week at the 1996 Division III New England XC Championships as Bates tossed the bear before handing off to the Williams team.
The Bear is still going strong, about to enter his 24th season. He is anxiously awaiting his B.A. degree from Williams in the spring of 2004. If you run or ran for Williams Cross Country and have any ideas of what you want to see on T-Bears home page, email 07djd@williams.edu