RIP, Tech XX

We spent some time in Ruston this past spring without meeting Tech XX, but Louisiana Tech’s bulldog mascot has our favorite origin story in sports. The legend begins in 1899, with a stray bulldog who saved some students from a house fire:

The old dog became alarmed and ran from room to room tugging at the sheets of the bed to wake the students and the owner. Once the owner and the students had assembled outside, they were horrified to discover that one boy was still in the house. By this time, the house was almost completely full of smoke. Before the boys had time to react, they saw the bulldog run back into the burning house. Moments later, the final student ran out to safety. They all waited for the bulldog to come back out, but it never did. [...] When they reached the tree where they had met the bulldog only the day before, they began to dig a grave. Not wanting the bulldog to lie uncovered, two of the students took off their jackets and wrapped the bulldog. One jacket was red, the other blue.

We are therefore deeply saddened to pass along news of the latest Tech’s passing, owing to a very hot day and a negligent veterinary employee (who then reportedly attempted to cover up Tech’s death). The dog had been missing since Sunday, with a $2,000 reward offered for his safe return. Our best wishes to the LaTech community and very worst wishes to the responsible party.