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9-450: In 1889–90 Professor James Parkhill (Occidental College’s fourth president, from 1896–97) organized intramural games for interested College men and Academy boys. His enthusiastic leadership laid the groundwork for establishing the nickname (Tigers) and school colors (orange and black) after his undergraduate alma mater, Princeton. The school dropped football in 2020. Every year Occidental played two football games for rivalry trophies. One game

18-512: A few of the SCIAC titles that Oxy has won: For the last decade, under alumnus and winningest coach in school history Brian Newhall, the Tigers have found great success on the court. In that time span the program has compiled a 146–59 (.712) record and have won a pair of SCIAC conference championships (2006–07, 2007–08). Furthermore under Newhall, the Tigers have earned regional and national rankings, produced

27-646: A seating capacity of 1,800. Occidental%E2%80%93Whittier football rivalry The Occidental–Whittier football rivalry was a college football rivalry between the Occidental College Tigers and the Whittier College Poets, both members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . The rivalry has been played 108 times, renewed annually since 1907, except for interruptions during

36-572: The Oxy sideline and reclaimed his shoes. After the Second World War, Claxton's shoes were bronzed by Whittier College's Franklin Society and became a trophy that the winner of the game maintains possession of for a year. In anticipation of winning this trophy, both teams have been known to shout "Shoes!" as a rallying cry. The Shoes were featured on a 2013 episode of ESPN 's College Gameday broadcast from

45-609: The World Wars and in 2017. By 1935, the Los Angeles Times was already referring to the Tigers and Poets as "old rivals". The schools met twice in the years of 1913, 1984, and 1989, the latter two due to the SCIAC's doubling up of one opponent per season in the 1980s. The game is often referred to as the Shoes Game , as the winner maintains possession of Myron Claxton's bronzed shoes as a trophy. Over its more than 100-year history,

54-408: The coronavirus pandemic, and Whittier's discontinuation of football following the 2022 season. Prior to the 1939 game between the two schools, Occidental decided to steal the shoes of Little All-American tackle (and future Whittier mayor) Myron Claxton in an attempt to hinder his performance. Claxton played in his work boots, and Whittier went to Oxy and won 36–0. Following the game, Claxton went to

63-725: The only perfect 14–0 record in SCIAC history and triumphed in two NCAA playoff games to reach the NCAA III Elite 8 in 2003. Some Oxy players have pursued professional careers overseas, including four players from Oxy's 25–3 Elite 8 team, have gone overseas. One example is Oxy alumnus Blair Slattery, the all-time career scoring and rebounding leader who signed on with the Munster Basketball Club in Germany in 1993. The program plays its games in Frank Neill Rush Gymnasium with

72-413: The rivalry has been relatively even, with Oxy maintaining a 57–52–2 edge. Whittier dominated the rivalry from the 1950s through the 1970s, but Oxy has won 27 of the last 35 games since 1983. Following the abandonment of Occidental's 2017 football season, no game was played in 2017, but the series resumed in 2018. The series is on hiatus following Occidental's discontinuation of its football program amidst

81-576: Was against Pomona-Pitzer and the winner awarded "The Drum." The Drum rivalry is the oldest rivalry game in Southern California, having been contested since 1895. Oxy leads Pomona-Pitzer all time in the series 65–54–3. The other game was against Whittier College and the winner awarded " The Shoes ," which are a pair of bronzed cleats from a 1940 graduate from Whittier named Myron Claxton. The Tigers have 10 varsity men's teams and 11 varsity women's teams. They also have six club sport teams. Here are

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