Alabama fans have seen it all, just not an 800-pound red elephant head breathing fire and shooting lasers from its eyes. That actually might be a first.

Opened in 1988 and later renovated in 2008 -- and once listed as the No. 1 college sports bar in the U.S. by Sports Illustrated -- The Houndstooth remains an iconic fixture smack dab in the middle of the busy Strip in Tuscaloosa. The bar first opened in 1988 and was bought in 1999 by Leesburg, Va., native Doug Nelson, who attended the University of Alabama.

Often the site of pregame festivities or chaotic postgame celebrations, the Strip staple doesn’t require much anymore to lure rabid fans and keen out-of-towners. But now ... 800-pound elephant, lasers, etc.

The elephant, named AL-X, was designed and built by Mat the Maker (Mathew Sim

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