Chief Illiniwek, 1926-2007
February 22nd, 2007 by Tank
Lest you think the NCAA has nothing more important to do than ensure students don’t earn too much beer money during summer break, the august body has found additional ways to distinguish itself. Last night marked the final appearance of the University of Illinois’ 81-year old mascot, Chief Illiniwek, the result of a long and misguided campaign of political correctness to rid the academy of native American nicknames, emblems and mascots. For the time being, the NCAA appears willing to tolerate the University retaining the name of the state that chartered it, notwithstanding its identical etymology to that of the deposed mascot.
Well, as they say (sotto voce) at Dartmouth - wah hoo wah!
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:48 am
I live in a town called Agawam - which is named for the Native American tribe, the Mawagas (spelled backwards, for those who didn’t catch on). I guess I’m being insensitive… living here, when the town is so named. It’s a good thing we don’t have an NCAA university in town… or we’d be in big trouble.
I came upon this site that attempts to list all the college nicknames:
http://www.smargon.net/nicknames/
I can only assume that the NCAA will soon take issue with Lock Haven University, as their Bald Eagle mascot is clearly an affront to all the Folically-Challenged Americans amongst us.
And of course the University of Sciences in Philadelphia can expect a phone call to get rid of “Devils”, as the name implies satanic worship which is an affront to all right-minded Americans. And in case there was any doubt as to their true inspiration, Dickson College and Eureka College had to specifically worship Red Devils. Duke isn’t the only NCAA instituion trying to circumvent the issue by calling themselves “Blue Devils”, as if that mitigates the offensiveness of the image. And yes Fairleigh Dickinson (NJ), its both offensive *and* redundant to call yourselves the Jersey Devils. Arizona State University tries to worship both the sun and the King of Hades with “Sun Devils”. Pfft. How long before Wake Forest has to remove “demon” from its Demon Deacon mascot - forcing it to join Northwestern State University as just another group of “Deacons”.
And, don’t the folks at California State University-Long Beach realize that their mascot “Dirtbags” is an affront to all the white trash… er, I mean, well… Caucasian Refuse Americans amongst us. A little sensitivity please?
And what does Williams College think their doing, calling themselves the Ephs. Do they think they can flip the bird at proper decorum and we won’t do anything about it? I’m outraged, and offended. Oh, and the Hardrockers at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. We all know that “Hardrockers” are the ones that use offensive lyrics in their music… we just can’t have that.
Did anyone check with our marsupial friends Down Under before both Austin College and the Univeristy of Missouri-Kansas City choose to call themselves the Kangaroos, or before Columbia College hijacked the Koalas? I don’t think the kangaroos or the koalas themselves would approve of this association.
Western Illinois University is the Leathernecks - isn’t that a racist term used to describe people of Mexican descent? What is *with* these people in Illinois?
I still can’t believe that the University of South Carolina and Jackson State University are both allowed to continue as the Gamecocks. Not to mention both Upper Iowa University *and* St. Peter’s College retaining the Peacocks as their mascot. The nerve. But is that really any worse than the Nads over at the Rhode Island School of Design?
You know, alcoholism is a disease, it’s not a joke. Somebody should tell that to the University of Findlay who have the audacity to celebrate themselves as Oilers.
And finally, would someone tell the folks at Trinity Christian College that Trolls are people too? They should not be mocked as mascots, for everyone else’s perverse pleasure. And what of the Vulcans. The folks in charge at California University of Pennsylvania and the University of Hawaii-Hilo may want to live long and prosper, but must they degrade an entire alien race in the process?
Really… how disgraceful.