What's In A Name?:
The Tribulations Of A College Mascot.
"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Keep dreamin' Romeo.
Strapping up your equipment before the big game and marching onto the gridiron to battle the opponent will not intimidate anybody as the Fighting Camels. Campbell University apparently thinks this is a good school name.
A school or university's nickname is just as important as rich alumni. As an avid sports fan, this is the first question I ask when looking into a college: What's their mascot?
There are thousands of colleges in this country alone, and all have nicknames. One angle colleges turn to is an animal mascot.
Wildcats, Cougars, Mustangs, "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!" These names all have special purposes.
One is the attraction to young people. When you have a member of the student body runnin around in a bear outfit with a big smile implanted on his face, the kids love it.
Without knowing it, the kid is now rooting for that school and will start watching their athletic program. Now, the university is one of their choices for attending college.
The Wildcats are a very popular mascot and one of the most widely used in the nation. It's a tough sounding name.
If you don't agree with me, try calling yourself the Pussycats and see how tough you are. Wear pink and white uniforms and skirts for gamepants. Add high-heeled spikes and you're ready to play.
The approach that takes the most effort is coming up with a relevant name for your school and still sounding tough. The Southwest Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns is not only appropriate for Louisiana, but sounds great too. Schools like the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Texas Longhorns, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers brings the city together.
Other schools cannot take their mascot without everyone knowing where they got it. It also brings that toughness every school needs.
The problem with uniqueness is that some schools take it too far. The Hawaii Rainbows is unique, but they also don't have to worry about someone wanting the name. Their success in athletics is the only benefit to their precious name.
Other schools like the UC-Irvine Anteaters, Missouri-KC Kangaroos, and those Campbell Fighting Camels need some help.
The significant issue is when a nickname is "inapropriate." Native Americans have constantly protested schools like the Florida State Seminoles and professional teams like the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs.
One issue, "the Chop," that was started in Atlanta to get the entire crowd into the game, was fiercely protested and finally stopped.
Another pro team, The Washington Bullets, changed their name last year to the Washington Wizards. Bullets are related to guns and violence, and Washington D.C. did not want that constant reminder of their crime problem.
Their is no relation with wizards and Washington, but I think everyone in D.C. is happy.
As far as the Viking of West Valley is concerned, it's very different from the other protests.
Native Americans were the first people to live in this great country. Everyone learns in school how they were the first ones here and how we constantly pushed them off their land for our own benefit.
We have treated the Native Americans badly for centuries and they would like to see teams have a little more respect.
Vikings, on the other hand, you hear about just before you head to recess and most people don't even know what a Viking is.
It is true that most of the things that Vikings did were not very considerate, to say the least, but I haven't met any either.
If you get rid of the Vikings, you might as well get rid of the Radiers, Buccaneers, and anyone who lived before politically correct-mania erupted in the '90's.
Nicknames are very important and should not be taken lightly. It is a school's identity and creates a school image. So let's go to the ballgame rooting for the Crimson Tide, not the Anteaters.
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