What is Spiriki ?

[greenjoe]

I started at North Texas in 1969.  At that time, there was an independent fraternity, the Geezles, located  in an old house about where Lucky Lou’s ( 1206 W. Hickory) is today.  The Geezles were made up of athletes and  partied hardy, as I understood.  I never was in the house.  
 

During my years attending NT and my many more years supporting NT, I never heard of Spiriki until Apogee Stadium opened.  I never saw the Spiriki likeness or heard the word Spiriki.  
 

Where did it come from ?  Who paid for it ?  How did it get such a place of prominence just behind the south end zone ?  Why  Spiriki instead of the Eagle style that is cast near the Administration Building ?

GO MEAN GREEN 

[ipd054]

Spiriki, a bronze eagle statue, was unveiled in 2011 at UNT's Apogee Stadium. As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game. The statue by renowned wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg was commissioned by the Geezles, a campus fraternity from the 1920s to the 1970s that includes many former athletes and coaches. The name "Spiriki" comes from an old fraternity greeting believed to be the combination of the words "spirit" and "kee," the cry of an attacking eagle.

Edited November 3, 2021 by ipd054

[El Paso Eagle]

[SilverEagle]

I recently saw a wild life show on PBS where they showed how a Bald Eagle really sounds like.  Here is a good example.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=How+a+Bald+Eagle+sounds+in+the+wild&docid=608005431830146295&mid=624F463D383DC3A33494624F463D383DC3A33494&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

What most people think of as the cry of the Bald Eagle is actually the cry of the Red Tail Hawk. Here they are side-by-side.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=How+a+Red+Tail+Hawk+sounds+in+the+wild&&view=detail&mid=7222218AB521E26AFAC57222218AB521E26AFAC5&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DHow%2Ba%2BRed%2BTail%2BHawk%2Bsounds%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bwild%26qs%3Dn%26form%3DQBVR%26sp%3D-1%26pq%3Dhow%2Ba%2Bred%2Btail%2Bhawk%2Bsounds%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bwild%26sc%3D0-38%26sk%3D%26cvid%3DC0858F8942A5447B87F94A04FB8BDEC7

 

[Stix]

1 hour ago, ipd054 said:

..."kee," the cry of an attacking eagle.

Not "caw"

[Hunter Green]

18 minutes ago, Stix said:

Not "caw"

Which is, as I thought we all knew, is the sound of a crow.

Good grief.

[ipd054]

"As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game."

I noticed during the last home game that only 2 players touched Spiriki.  In the first few years with Seth most made it past the statue.   Maybe we are under the curse of the Spiriki since they have abandoned the tradition....

...I am sure the illuminati is involved as well...  I need to put on my foil hat hold on...

[UNTLifer]

1 minute ago, ipd054 said:

"As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game."

I noticed during the last home game that only 2 players touched Spiriki.  In the first few years with Seth most made it past the statue.   Maybe we are under the curse of the Spiriki since they have abandoned the tradition....

...I am sure the illuminati is involved as well...  I need to put on my foil hat hold on...

Better get this squared away.

[emmitt01]

46 minutes ago, ipd054 said:

"As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game."

I noticed during the last home game that only 2 players touched Spiriki.  In the first few years with Seth most made it past the statue.   Maybe we are under the curse of the Spiriki since they have abandoned the tradition....

...I am sure the illuminati is involved as well...  I need to put on my foil hat hold on...

I heard they were waiting for JFK Jr to touch the statue so we could win out and hire a new coach

[Greenrex]

3 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I heard they were waiting for JFK Jr to touch the statue so we could win out and hire a new coach

One laugh emoji was not enough for this.😄😁😅

[Moobs]

1 hour ago, ipd054 said:

I noticed during the last home game that only 2 players touched Spiriki.  In the first few years with Seth most made it past the statue.   Maybe we are under the curse of the Spiriki since they have abandoned the tradition....

 

Did you happen to notice whether or not Seth touched Spiriki?  I feel like it's been a while since we've seen him pledge his "best efforts" on game day.

[Hunter Green]

26 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I heard they were waiting for JFK Jr to touch the statue so we could win out and hire a new coach

Greatness!

[tmjerm]

2 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

Which is, as I thought we all knew, is the sound of a crow.

Good grief.

You guys don't stress out too much over birds of prey linguistics, it'll be alright! 

[rcade]

3 hours ago, ipd054 said:

The statue by renowned wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg was commissioned by the Geezles, a campus fraternity from the 1920s to the 1970s that includes many former athletes and coaches.

UNT has a former fraternity called the Geezles that was around for 50 years and still has money to spend promoting the school and I'm just now hearing about them 33 years after I arrived at school?

What next? Is Delta Lodge still throwing keggers and making tie-dyed tees somewhere?

[Hunter Green]

4 hours ago, tmjerm said:

You guys don't stress out too much over birds of prey linguistics, it'll be alright! 

Not stressed, just embarrassed for those who don't know the difference. 

[9299]

8 hours ago, ipd054 said:

Spiriki, a bronze eagle statue, was unveiled in 2011 at UNT's Apogee Stadium. As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game. The statue by renowned wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg was commissioned by the Geezles, a campus fraternity from the 1920s to the 1970s that includes many former athletes and coaches. The name "Spiriki" comes from an old fraternity greeting believed to be the combination of the words "spirit" and "kee," the cry of an attacking eagle.

I have a complete History Of SPIRIKI, where it came from, who was responsibile for it being at Apogee, where the money came from etc. if you will send me your email I will get all that information to you and then I think you will understand why Spiriki is so important to UNT Athletics and to the GEEZLE Fraternity. 

C. Dan Smith - dan@cdsresources.com

 

[Marty]

According to this , it’s pronounced Spiri-kee. Seems like I heard McCarney say Spiri-kye several times.

[MeanGreenTexan]

3 hours ago, Marty said:

According to this , it’s pronounced Spiri-kee. Seems like I heard McCarney say Spiri-kye several times.

I always thought it was called SpiREEkee.   Is that not right?

@9299 how is it pronounced?

Edited November 4, 2021 by MeanGreenTexan

[Harry]

I had always heard it pronounced Spiri-keye.

[9299]

SPIRIKI

[ADLER]

Odd coincidence: in Botswana, more specifically their indigenous Setswana language, the word for Eagle is Ntsu.

[DeepGreen]

On 11/3/2021 at 10:58 AM, ipd054 said:

"As Mean Green players take the field, they touch the statue to pledge their best efforts in the game."

I noticed during the last home game that only 2 players touched Spiriki.  In the first few years with Seth most made it past the statue.   Maybe we are under the curse of the Spiriki since they have abandoned the tradition....

...I am sure the illuminati is involved as well...  I need to put on my foil hat hold on...

What?  Entering the field some players did not touch Spiriki?  That's some bad "mo jo" right there.

[DeepGreen]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:36 AM, greenjoe said:

I started at North Texas in 1969.  At that time, there was an independent fraternity, the Geezles, located  in an old house about where Lucky Lou’s ( 1206 W. Hickory) is today.

This was during my time at UNT.  If I remember correctly, didn't the Geezles have athletes in their organization?  I lived fairly close to their house.  One thing I distinctly remember was that those guys partied really hard.  All the time.

[Eagle71]

Established on campus in 1928.  The Geezles celebrated their 40th anniversary in the spring of '68 as the oldest NTSU fraternity.  For many years their activities included helping children at the Denton State School.

[97and03]

They paid for so they can call it whatever they want.