30 years ago tonight - TCU vs BYU The Cricket Game

[82Frog]

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/520899/BYU-TCU-REMEMBER-1987-CRICKET-GAME.html

As the warm September day dawned, thousands in San Antonio reveled in the Papal visit, world leaders fumed over growing tension between Iraq and Iran and a small group of protesters organized for a march against the expansion of the Fort Worth Zoo.

But most went about their day as they normally would, unaware of the pending invasion.Years later, those most personally involved describe their reaction to the hordes of invaders in various ways - but all expressing their horror and revulsion.


"Slippery, mushy. Almost obscene," recalled David Rascoe.

"Wild, disgusting," Clint Hailey said.

"Crazy, weird, strange," Kent Tramel recalled.

 

[NNM]

I was there, in all my undergrad glory, with my Wacker Clacker, watching the girls with their frumpy Laura Ashley outfits (not the daisy dukes and boots get ups of today) shake the crickets out of their teased up, sprayed up big hair. It was epic.

 

[Punter1]

I was there as a 14 year old huge TCU fan...I remember piles of dead crickets sweeped up 3 feet high on the ramps on the west side. Was unreal.

And we won the game against Robbie Bosco I think...

 

[Deep Purple]

A few things wrong with that Mormon folklore. In the first place, Mormon crickets aren't true crickets, they're katydids. As such they have no wings and are flightless. When they do swarm, they do so entirely on the ground, advancing little more than about a mile per day. So they do not appear suddenly in an airy "dark cloud" as the Mormon story describes. Their progress is slow and easily detectable well in advance, even with mid-19th-century observation and technology.

We don't know exactly what triggers the swarm, but what triggers the constant advance is that Mormon crickets are highly cannibalistic. Those in the lead ranks who don't constantly advance risk getting overwhelmed and eaten by hungrier crickets in the following ranks, who are never the first to reach the food sources. So these insects don't subsist entirely on the wheat crops of Mormon farmers.

Then there's the seagull part of the story. Gulls live in very large colonies and do regularly swarm, but only in coastal areas, where they feed mainly on small fish and crabs.. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat insects (and worms, slugs, and snails) when available, and they will even fly hundreds of miles inland in search of food. But none of the nearly 30 species of gulls swarm in large numbers more than 700 miles inland (as in Salt Lake City) to feed on insects they have no way of knowing are also swarming. Insects are not a gull's primary food source. They are an occasional supplement, like grain to grass-feeding animals.

Almost every aspect of the 1848 Mormon cricket folk tale is suspect.

 

[Limey Frog]

Surprised this story wasn't somehow turned into a rant about how mean and bigoted the Big 12 is not to immediately invite BYU.

 

[Frog-in-law1995]

Then there's the seagull part of the story. Gulls live in very large colonies and do regularly swarm, but only in coastal areas, where they feed mainly on small fish and crabs.. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat insects (and worms, slugs, and snails) when available, and they will even fly hundreds of miles inland in search of food. But none of the nearly 30 species of gulls swarm in large numbers more than 700 miles inland (as in Salt Lake City) to feed on insects they have no way of knowing are also swarming. Insects are not a gull's primary food source. They are an occasional supplement, like grain to grass-feeding animals.

Almost every aspect of the 1848 Mormon cricket folk tale is suspect.

I don't believe stories like that either, but there are gulls all over the place at the Great Salt Lake.

 

[Tom Brown]

The university got complaints from fans, mostly olds, about the crickets. They wanted to know how the problem would be corrected.

Dead serious. So in all this time our fans are still the same.

 

[Brog]

A few things wrong with that Mormon folklore. In the first place, Mormon crickets aren't true crickets, they're katydids. As such they have no wings and are flightless. When they do swarm, they do so entirely on the ground, advancing little more than about a mile per day. So they do not appear suddenly in an airy "dark cloud" as the Mormon story describes. Their progress is slow and easily detectable well in advance, even with mid-19th-century observation and technology.

We don't know exactly what triggers the swarm, but what triggers the constant advance is that Mormon crickets are highly cannibalistic. Those in the lead ranks who don't constantly advance risk getting overwhelmed and eaten by hungrier crickets in the following ranks, who are never the first to reach the food sources. So these insects don't subsist entirely on the wheat crops of Mormon farmers.

Then there's the seagull part of the story. Gulls live in very large colonies and do regularly swarm, but only in coastal areas, where they feed mainly on small fish and crabs.. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat insects (and worms, slugs, and snails) when available, and they will even fly hundreds of miles inland in search of food. But none of the nearly 30 species of gulls swarm in large numbers more than 700 miles inland (as in Salt Lake City) to feed on insects they have no way of knowing are also swarming. Insects are not a gull's primary food source. They are an occasional supplement, like grain to grass-feeding animals.

Almost every aspect of the 1848 Mormon cricket folk tale is suspect.

Thanks for clearing this up.

 

[RollToad]

I was there, in all my undergrad glory, with my Wacker Clacker, watching the girls with their frumpy Laura Ashley outfits (not the daisy dukes and boots get ups of today) shake the crickets out of their teased up, sprayed up big hair. It was epic.

I was there too, with my Wacker Clacker (which I still have somewhere) and I remember the crickets. But I was only 3.

 

[West Coast Johnny]

I was there. Bench clearing at the end of the game. BYU players back then had a bad reputation for being racists.

 

[JogginFrog]

I don't believe stories like that either, but there are gulls all over the place at the Great Salt Lake.

The California Gull is, in fact, the Utah state bird.

 

[2314]

I was there as a 14 year old huge TCU fan...I remember piles of dead crickets sweeped up 3 feet high on the ramps on the west side. Was unreal.

And we won the game against Robbie Bosco I think...

Wrong. Boscoe had already left.

 

[2314]

A few things wrong with that Mormon folklore. In the first place, Mormon crickets aren't true crickets, they're katydids. As such they have no wings and are flightless. When they do swarm, they do so entirely on the ground, advancing little more than about a mile per day. So they do not appear suddenly in an airy "dark cloud" as the Mormon story describes. Their progress is slow and easily detectable well in advance, even with mid-19th-century observation and technology.

We don't know exactly what triggers the swarm, but what triggers the constant advance is that Mormon crickets are highly cannibalistic. Those in the lead ranks who don't constantly advance risk getting overwhelmed and eaten by hungrier crickets in the following ranks, who are never the first to reach the food sources. So these insects don't subsist entirely on the wheat crops of Mormon farmers.

Then there's the seagull part of the story. Gulls live in very large colonies and do regularly swarm, but only in coastal areas, where they feed mainly on small fish and crabs.. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat insects (and worms, slugs, and snails) when available, and they will even fly hundreds of miles inland in search of food. But none of the nearly 30 species of gulls swarm in large numbers more than 700 miles inland (as in Salt Lake City) to feed on insects they have no way of knowing are also swarming. Insects are not a gull's primary food source. They are an occasional supplement, like grain to grass-feeding animals.

Almost every aspect of the 1848 Mormon cricket folk tale is suspect.

who cares?

 

[Frog-in-law1995]

The California Gull is, in fact, the Utah state bird.

I wish they all could be California Gulls.









I'll show myself out now.

 

[Punter1]

Wrong. Boscoe had already left.

Hahahaha!! You seem to be in a wonderful mood as always today.

 

[narly1]

Hard to make out on this image, but the black dots are the invading subject of discussion.

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

We had cricket? Another victim of Title IX?

 

[Peacefrog]

We had cricket? Another victim of Title IX?

If we did TCU couldn't get rid of it because the first game started is still underway. Maybe when someone gets enough overs or whatever the game will finally end. But I dont think that has happened in any cricket game ever.

 

[ShadowFrog]

I wish they all could be California Gulls.









I'll show myself out now.

How the history teacher puts up with you is beyond me.....

 

[HToady]

A few things wrong with that Mormon folklore. In the first place, Mormon crickets aren't true crickets, they're katydids. As such they have no wings and are flightless. When they do swarm, they do so entirely on the ground, advancing little more than about a mile per day. So they do not appear suddenly in an airy "dark cloud" as the Mormon story describes. Their progress is slow and easily detectable well in advance, even with mid-19th-century observation and technology.

We don't know exactly what triggers the swarm, but what triggers the constant advance is that Mormon crickets are highly cannibalistic. Those in the lead ranks who don't constantly advance risk getting overwhelmed and eaten by hungrier crickets in the following ranks, who are never the first to reach the food sources. So these insects don't subsist entirely on the wheat crops of Mormon farmers.

Then there's the seagull part of the story. Gulls live in very large colonies and do regularly swarm, but only in coastal areas, where they feed mainly on small fish and crabs.. They are opportunistic feeders who will eat insects (and worms, slugs, and snails) when available, and they will even fly hundreds of miles inland in search of food. But none of the nearly 30 species of gulls swarm in large numbers more than 700 miles inland (as in Salt Lake City) to feed on insects they have no way of knowing are also swarming. Insects are not a gull's primary food source. They are an occasional supplement, like grain to grass-feeding animals.

Almost every aspect of the 1848 Mormon cricket folk tale is suspect.

dum dum dum dum dum