[CompSci87]

You would think an article devoted entirely to the origin of nicknames would devote or sentence or two to where the "Stanford Tree" comes from, especially given that it is now more or less an official symbol of the university, e.g. on the player's helmets, etc.

Yes, the article has quite a non sequitur instead. It carefully explains where Cardinal came from,  then says that's why there is a tree roaming the sidelines. Say what?

[CompSci87]

You would think an article devoted entirely to the origin of nicknames would devote or sentence or two to where the "Stanford Tree" comes from, especially given that it is now more or less an official symbol of the university, e.g. on the player's helmets, etc.

Yes, the article has quite a non sequitur instead. It carefully explains where Cardinal came from,  then says that's why there is a tree roaming the sidelines. Say what?