oh, this was just too good to pass up!
The steer's embarrassed student handlers, in turn, soon came up with a clever way to save face for their school, though it was a little hard on their mascot. The UT partisans converted the 13 into a B, the hyphen into an e and inserted a V in front of the zero. That spelled Bevo, the brand name of a popular near beer.
But that was all history three years later when UT students and supporters gathered to honor their twice-branded mascot, now well known as Bevo.
After that, the celebrants were treated to rope tricks, a wild Indian act and music. Where was Bevo while all the speechifying in his honor went on? Well, to paraphrase the modern beef industry, Bevo...he's what's for dinner.
The headline in the next day's Austin newspaper pretty well summed it up: "Famous Longhorn Steer Is Eaten By Varsity Students: Bevo of Fond, But Sometimes Unpleasant, Memories, Served At Barbeque."
The newspaper story went on to say that the demise of the steer (why Bevo was available to barbecue was not explained) marked the end of a tradition, which just goes to show the importance of not believing everything you read in the newspapers.
Bevo I's descendant, Bevo XIII currently reigns as one of college football's most notable mascots. But so far as is known, the gathering that winter evening in 1920 marked the only time Bevo ended up in a barbecue pit.
