Episode 1: “Right On, Bevo Snatchers” (originally aired Fall 1972)

“Somebody’s yelling, ‘Bevo’s in the quad!’” Karen McNeely said.

McNeely and the rest of the sleeping campus woke up to yelling, chaos and a familiar face — University of Texas mascot Bevo, kidnapped in the middle of the night by anonymous A&M students. Even now, alumni compare rumors, featuring details that grow more outlandish with each passing year.

“Part of the story goes that the Aggies got stopped by a Texas highway patrolman,” Chuck Friesenhahn said. “He was going to arrest them, but then he saw what was going on and he happened to be an Aggie. So he just said, ‘Y’all be careful,’ and sent them on their way.”

Those in the know always call over Griff Lasley, former-Head Yell Leader, to the conversation. Lasley said he remembers the kidnapping fondly — as a spectator, of course, since the university never pinpointed who did it.

“I was never formally accused,” Lasley said.

He did, however, want to set the story straight on what the night looked like. Theoretically.

“Let’s say it was a U-Haul trailer — a U-Haul truck,” Lasley said. “That might have had a flat on that road where you get off to Giddings and La Grange. And the tire was actually fixed — could have been actually fixed — by the U-Haul people because they don’t put tire tools in U-Haul trucks. That could have happened.”

Lasley claimed to not know for sure. But what seems to be the case is that Bevo, despite being from t.u., was a good sport throughout his adventure.

“I’ve heard from people that have had hands-on experience with Bevo it’s a very good animal,” Lasley said. “Just has bad ownership.”