Ralphie VI has been selected

Rick George announced on Thursday that they have selected the newest Ralphie and she is beginning to train.

In the event that a football season occurs in 2020, the Colorado Buffaloes and the Ralphie Handlers have selected the next Ralphie, Ralphie VI. 

Although the new Ralphie might have an extra year to train before making her first public appearance on Folsom Field, Rick George went ahead and announced that a new Ralphie had been selected in an update about the CU athletic program. 

George wrote that she had been selected and was training at a pace a 14-month old is comfortable at. 

Whatever that means. If her speed similar to the other 2020 recruits they brought in this summer, that's likely some blazing speed. 

There is no word yet on what her name will be so we will refer to her as Ralphie VI but Ralphie's have historically had their own name as well. For example, Ralphie V was named Blackout. 

The tradition of a buffalo (bison) charging onto the field to lead the Buffaloes on the field started in 1966. Although, having a buffalo on the field actually goes all the way back to 1934 when CU voted to make the buffalo the official mascot. 

According to Ralphie History on CUBuffs.com, the old tale goes, "For the final football game of the 1934 season, a group of students paid $25 to rent a buffalo calf to stand on the sidelines. Along with a real cowboy caretaker, it took four students to keep the calf, the son of “Killer,” a famed bison at Trails End Ranch in Fort Collins, calm on the sidelines. As far as luck though, Colorado won 7-0 against the University of Denver on Thanksgiving Day."

In 1966, they invested and took care of the bison which officially started the tradition. 

There will be lots of reasons to celebrate when Ralphie VI leads the Buffs onto the field for the first time in front of fans. We just don't know when that will be.