WAHOO is gone. The Cleveland Indians are dropping the Chief Wahoo logo from their uniforms next year after following another volley of political correctness. This begs the question, “how long can the Washington Redskins hold on?” What about those Minnesota Vikings? Is that not a slur against rough and tough white people with horns on their helmets? How about the immigrant/settlers of Celtic heritage? Shouldn’t they be offended with the Boston Celtics? Oh my gosh, and the “Fighting Irish” of Notre Dame? History too? Personally I am offended that not one school, not one organization has picked me as their mascot!
We’ll not here go into the silliness of this political correctness madness about team mascots. Instead, I would like to go down another avenue, that of team mascots. Nicknames and mascots of schools and teams can take on the bizarre. Right here in Big 12 country we have the TCU “Horned Frogs”. Rhinelander, Wisconsin High School features the “Hodag” . What the heck is that?
The U. of North Carolina School of the Arts proudly proclaim to be the “Fighting Pickles”. That could sour anyone! Concordia College (Minnesota) blasts out in their cheers that they are the “Cobbers”, short for “Corncobbers”. I assume that competitive schools have reminded them many times of what their ancestors used corncobs for!
HUH? That’s the response to the “Blugolds”, the nickname for the U. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I get it that their colors are blue and gold but, hey guys, can’t you be a little more original than that? Ditto for the “Blue Hose” of Presbyterian College (South Carolina) referring to the color of socks their players wear.
How about the “Moundbuilders” of Southwestern College right here in Kansas. So you build a mound. How the heck does that help you win a ball game? Maybe it’s a version of “King of the Mountain”! Staying here in Kansas, one of the best mascots belongs to Hill City. The “Ringnecks” is a descriptive part of the western Kansas culture as the flying pheasant depicts grace and beauty, not the collar of a shirt that needs laundering!
Another favorite comes to us courtesy of Evergreen State College (Washington). Their mascot is called “Geoducks”, pronounced “gooey-duck”. It is the world’s largest burrowing clam and has survived as their mascot for over 150 years. “GO GOOEY-DUCKS”!
My candidate for the “Least desired mascot name” has to go to Heidelberg University (Ohio) who has tagged their team with “Student Princes”. All I can say is that their football team better be damn good and tough because they are going to catch a lot of jeers and cheers from the opposition! Your defensive tackle is a “Student Prince”?
Here we are at Super Bowl weekend with two boring mascots battling it out. The Eagles vs.The Patriots. Nothing exciting there. By the way, put your money on the Patriots.
So, whether you are a “Banana Slug” from the U. of California at Santa Cruz or a “Gorlock” at Webster University (Missouri), you’ve got an edge on those folks in Cleveland. You’ve still got your mascot and CHIEF WAHOO has gone off to that happy hunting ground in the sky!
Buddy Tabler is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at budtabler@gmail.com.
