I'm confused.

Stanford's University's team name used to be "the Indians," but was changed to "The Cardinals" in 1972. Their mascot is now a tree. Seen in the Cardinal's picture above, the dollies (dancers) walk with their Tree mascot down to the field, led by by the leader of their band in an astronaut costume. Hmmm.
Another team name that was considered was the Thunder Chickens, and two other considered mascots were the French Fry and the Manhole.
Anonymous explains: "Just so you know - It's the Stanford Cardinal. It's the color, not the bird.
And the tree is derived from the Stanford logo and Palo Alto city seal, both of which prominently display a lone tree."
I still love it. I wish my school had an interesting mascot.

To read the full story, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Tree