Why is it that I only come around to add new entries to this blog during March Madness?!? Weird coincidence? Some kind of strange karma? I dunno. Can't explain it.
Did someone mention March Madness? (Should that phrase have a little trademark symbol next to it?) How about some of those games, huh? There's been some great ones so far! Some nail-biters. Some supposedly controversial calls by the refs. For the most part though, I think the referees have done a spectacular job with some pretty weird plays. They are under as much pressure as the players and coaches, and I think they do an amazing job. For the most part.
Not as many weird nicknames this year. Lots of bears. Several Wildcats. A couple of Aggies. The Zips - they're always great. There are some strange ones, though. Bison. Terriers. Monarchs. Blackbirds - you gotta love that one. I'll make fun of them a little later.
Showing posts with label nicknames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nicknames. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Madness of March
They don't call it March Madness for nothin'!
The NCAA Tourney started today and already there have been some mild upsets. That's what makes it so entertaining. Also entertaining is the next installment of the nickname article. If you'd like to see the original article in it's entirety (minus the pics!), you can visit my old blog called Moniker, man.
One of the weirdest (and believe me, the competition is tough!) is the Southern Illinois Salukis. What the hell is a Saluki? Apparently, I am not the first one to ask this question. When Walt Frazier was leading the So. Illinois team to an NIT championship in 1967, sportswriter Jerry Isenberg wrote the following:
Princeton has its Tiger. B.C. has its Eagle,
Rutgers is the Queensmen, a title truly regal.
But from frigid New York City to Kentucky's old Paduchee,
There's just one burning question – what the hell is a Saluki?
Ok, for the record, please note that Rutgers used to be the Queensmen?!? Ugh.
Well, the short answer is, a Saluki is nothing more than a fancy name for a dog. For the long answer, you can visit SIUC's website. Basically, it's an Egyptian dog, and Salukis were accepted as the finest animals a family could possibly possess. Known for their speed and hunting skills, Salukis are the oldest pure-breed dogs in the world with records dating back to 3600 B.C. That's great. And very historical. Not to mention very biblical. And much better than their former name – the Maroons! But, don't you think they could have come up with a better looking representative of that fine animal?
This reminds me of the dog on the Simpsons. Hellooo Santa's Little Helper!
As a resident of Oregon, I cannot, in all good conscience, have a blog such as this without mentioning the University of Oregon Ducks. Ducks. How is that supposed to intimidate another team? Has anyone lately been mauled by a duck. I know it's a Northwest animal, but for pete's sake, there are bears and mountain lions here. It's n
ot like all of the good names were taken by other schools in the state (Oregon State Beavers). It's bad enough to have a wimpy nickname like Ducks, but then they used a symbol ripped off from Walt Disney of Donald Duck.
Yeah, they tried to make him look tough, but what do you expect from a mascot that doesn't wear pants?
Fortunately, they've made amends by:
b) finding a meaner duck:
and c) getting cool looking helmets:
Go Ducks!
Next weird one: The Manhattan Jaspers. While it has a nice ring to it, I caught myself wondering again, what the hell is a jasper? Oddly enough, the fine folks at Manhattan College, just as at SIUC, have found it necessary to explain the whole thing. (Yeah, that's where I want to go to college – someplace where you have explain the nickname!?)
It's not even as exciting as the Saluki, because, ah-hem, it was named after, uh-hmm , a, errr, a person. Named Jasper. They don't even have a symbol, just the words:
There's the Liberty Flames:
(Hey, that's not a flame, that's an eagle. They need to take the same zoology class as the students at Southern Utah!)
And
there's the University of Illinois – Chicago:
Yeah! That's more like it – now that's a flame!
The NCAA Tourney started today and already there have been some mild upsets. That's what makes it so entertaining. Also entertaining is the next installment of the nickname article. If you'd like to see the original article in it's entirety (minus the pics!), you can visit my old blog called Moniker, man.
One of the weirdest (and believe me, the competition is tough!) is the Southern Illinois Salukis. What the hell is a Saluki? Apparently, I am not the first one to ask this question. When Walt Frazier was leading the So. Illinois team to an NIT championship in 1967, sportswriter Jerry Isenberg wrote the following:
Princeton has its Tiger. B.C. has its Eagle,
Rutgers is the Queensmen, a title truly regal.
But from frigid New York City to Kentucky's old Paduchee,
There's just one burning question – what the hell is a Saluki?
Ok, for the record, please note that Rutgers used to be the Queensmen?!? Ugh.
Well, the short answer is, a Saluki is nothing more than a fancy name for a dog. For the long answer, you can visit SIUC's website. Basically, it's an Egyptian dog, and Salukis were accepted as the finest animals a family could possibly possess. Known for their speed and hunting skills, Salukis are the oldest pure-breed dogs in the world with records dating back to 3600 B.C. That's great. And very historical. Not to mention very biblical. And much better than their former name – the Maroons! But, don't you think they could have come up with a better looking representative of that fine animal?
As a resident of Oregon, I cannot, in all good conscience, have a blog such as this without mentioning the University of Oregon Ducks. Ducks. How is that supposed to intimidate another team? Has anyone lately been mauled by a duck. I know it's a Northwest animal, but for pete's sake, there are bears and mountain lions here. It's n
ot like all of the good names were taken by other schools in the state (Oregon State Beavers). It's bad enough to have a wimpy nickname like Ducks, but then they used a symbol ripped off from Walt Disney of Donald Duck.Yeah, they tried to make him look tough, but what do you expect from a mascot that doesn't wear pants?
Fortunately, they've made amends by:
a) coming up with a much better symbol:
b) finding a meaner duck:
and c) getting cool looking helmets:
Go Ducks!
Next weird one: The Manhattan Jaspers. While it has a nice ring to it, I caught myself wondering again, what the hell is a jasper? Oddly enough, the fine folks at Manhattan College, just as at SIUC, have found it necessary to explain the whole thing. (Yeah, that's where I want to go to college – someplace where you have explain the nickname!?)
It's not even as exciting as the Saluki, because, ah-hem, it was named after, uh-hmm , a, errr, a person. Named Jasper. They don't even have a symbol, just the words:
There's the Liberty Flames:
(Hey, that's not a flame, that's an eagle. They need to take the same zoology class as the students at Southern Utah!)And
there's the University of Illinois – Chicago:Yeah! That's more like it – now that's a flame!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What's in a nickname?
As promised, here is part one of my article about college team nicknames. The introduction that accompanied the original article is no longer valid or appropriate, so if it seems like it starts after the beginning, it's because, um, it does.
One of the first nicknames that springs to mind is from Texas Christian University. TCU is known as the "Horned Frogs." Hah. While other colleges get to be the Tigers or the Spartans or something else tough, these guys get to be…erm….toads. Horned ones at that. I'm sure there really is an animal named the horned frog, and it may be very feisty and tough, but this one just leads us down the freeway of making fun.
Next up are some of those smaller schools that got put at the back of the line when it came to handing out names.
The Dayton Flyers. Look, they don't even get a mascot. Just the words. Now, personally, I like the name "Flyers." It gives the impression of speed and action. But come on, can't one of their art design students come up with some sort of flying lightning bolt so they can at least have a symbol?
The Temple owls. Ok, it's bad enough to be an owl, but do they have to be such a dorky looking owl?
How about the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes? Their logo looks like someone spilled cornbread mix on it and forgot to clean it up. To make matters worse, look at their mascot:
You could be the Tulane Green Wave. Green Wave? Have you ever seen a green wave? (I
hear the Atlantic Ocean sometimes looks green, but Tulane University is located in New Orleans, which is not on the Atlantic Coast.) Is the Gulf Coast green? I just know I wouldn't want to get hit by a green wave!
Hey, there's a pattern here: Temple, Tulsa, Tulane. Maybe if your small college starts with a "T" you're obligated to have a weird nickname.
If you went to Syracuse University you'd be an Orangemen. Like the Dayton Flyers, they don't even have a mascot or symbol. In fact, they don't have the words, they just have a color.
St. John's University, like it's fellow New York school Syracuse, has a nickname that isn't really anything. They used to be the Redmen, but the PC police pulled them over and made them change it to… the Red Storm.
At least they have a lightning bolt!
That's it for now. More tomorrow.
One of the first nicknames that springs to mind is from Texas Christian University. TCU is known as the "Horned Frogs." Hah. While other colleges get to be the Tigers or the Spartans or something else tough, these guys get to be…erm….toads. Horned ones at that. I'm sure there really is an animal named the horned frog, and it may be very feisty and tough, but this one just leads us down the freeway of making fun.
Next up are some of those smaller schools that got put at the back of the line when it came to handing out names.
The Dayton Flyers. Look, they don't even get a mascot. Just the words. Now, personally, I like the name "Flyers." It gives the impression of speed and action. But come on, can't one of their art design students come up with some sort of flying lightning bolt so they can at least have a symbol?
The Temple owls. Ok, it's bad enough to be an owl, but do they have to be such a dorky looking owl?
How about the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes? Their logo looks like someone spilled cornbread mix on it and forgot to clean it up. To make matters worse, look at their mascot:
You could be the Tulane Green Wave. Green Wave? Have you ever seen a green wave? (I
hear the Atlantic Ocean sometimes looks green, but Tulane University is located in New Orleans, which is not on the Atlantic Coast.) Is the Gulf Coast green? I just know I wouldn't want to get hit by a green wave!Hey, there's a pattern here: Temple, Tulsa, Tulane. Maybe if your small college starts with a "T" you're obligated to have a weird nickname.
If you went to Syracuse University you'd be an Orangemen. Like the Dayton Flyers, they don't even have a mascot or symbol. In fact, they don't have the words, they just have a color.
St. John's University, like it's fellow New York school Syracuse, has a nickname that isn't really anything. They used to be the Redmen, but the PC police pulled them over and made them change it to… the Red Storm.At least they have a lightning bolt!
That's it for now. More tomorrow.
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