cto can correct me on this but a few of the board admins got together a long time ago to brainstorm a logo for the board for something people on the board wanted to buy. I think it was t-shirts but I could be wrong on that.
We were doing War Damn Otto at the end of our posts a lot at the time. Maybe not we. Maybe just me. That was inspired by visits to the site from Auburn fans, who all seemed to end their posts here with
'Damn Damn Eagle!'
Anyway, 'War Damn Otto' got me thinking about what Otto would look like if he went to war. We talked about that and ended up with a version of Otto with a Viking helmet, a big axe in one hand and a beer stein in the other.
cto knew a guy on the Boneyard who would draw up the concept and make a proper graphic, which was needed to create the merchandise we will going to brand with this. His name was Tom something. Maybe Tom Dwyer. He created the graphic for us then and it lives to this day.
I believe this was the first time anyone designed an angry version of Otto.
As to when it happened...we played a home and home with Auburn in the early 2000s. The game at Syracuse was played on September 22, 2001 and the game at Auburn was played on September 28, 2002.
The Auburn game at Syracuse was the first game played at the dome post 9/11 and it was a very emotional time for for Syracuse fans and the entire country.
Anyway, the logo was designed in this time frame, which means it is well over 20 years old. That is pretty scary.