Monthly Archives: June 2016

Wednesday, June 29, 2016 – What is a Chanticleer?  By Buddy T. Cat

Buddy T. Cat

Tonight either the Arizona Wildcats or the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will have a dogpile. One college baseball team will become Division I College Baseball National Champions. A dogpile for the sports challenged signals the final out, game over and the winning players all pile on top of one another near the pitcher’s mound. I am not real sure how that tradition began.

Until the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers pitched and hit their way to Omaha and the College World Series, few people knew the noun chanticleer. This is because they did not pay attention in high English literature or college literature classes. Until the 1960’s the mascot of Coastal Carolina was a Trojan – the warrior, not the condom. An English professor and his students suggested the mascot be changed and the Chanticleer was born.

“Chanticleer comes from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. More specifically, he comes from the Nun’s Priest Tale, a story within Canterbury Tales. The Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster who dominates the barnyard. For the best description of Chanticleer, we turn to Chaucer’s words.

“For crowing there was not his equal in all the land. His voice was merrier than the merry organ that plays in church, and his crowing from his resting place was more trustworthy than a clock. His comb was redder than fine coral and turreted like a castle wall, his bill was black and shone like a jet, and his legs and toes were like azure. His nails were whiter than the lily and his feathers were like burnished gold.”

With all of his splendor and great looks, Chanticleer is also greatly feared and mightily respected by all.”http://www.goccusports.com/trads/WhatisaChanticleer.html

Wouldn’t it be fun if the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers played the Delaware Blue Hens?

Go Chanticleers. Feel the teal.