College football mourns passing of LSU's tiger, Mike VI

BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 06: LSU mascot Mike VI, a Bengal/Siberian mixed tiger, is displayed on the field before the Florida Gators take on the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 6, 2007 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Credit: Doug Benc

Credit: Doug Benc

BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 06: LSU mascot Mike VI, a Bengal/Siberian mixed tiger, is displayed on the field before the Florida Gators take on the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 6, 2007 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
Sports
By
Oct 11, 2016
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Live mascots are great, but there is a downside: They eventually die.

And so it came to pass that the college football community is mourning Tuesday the passing of Mike VI, the tiger who most recently represented LSU athletics.

The 11-year-old big cat, who officially became the team mascot the same season the LSU football team beat Ohio State for the national championship, was diagnosed with cancer in May and attempts to treat the disease were unsuccessful.

There are no formal funeral arrangements being planned, but the school is on the lookout for a new young tiger to adopt to be Mike’s successor.

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Marcus Hartman has been a digital sports columnist and reporter at Cox's Ohio newspapers the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News since 2016.