Championship Week

It's championship week in college basketball. It's the week when most teams play their conference tournaments. It all leads up to Selection Sunday, when the teams are picked for the NCAA Tournament. Here's the next installment in the crazy college nicknames article.




Loyola University in Chicago has the unfortunate distinction of being the "Ramblers." Yeah, my grandparents drove one of those, a red 1963 Rambler Classic.



But someone thinks a Rambler is the same thing as a husky:




Hah, what do they know!


Here's one that makes no sense when you hear it, but then it does make sense when you think about it. The Murray State Racers. "What," you say? Racers? Well, Murray State is located in Kentucky. And then when you see their logo, you get it. Three cheers for being different, AND making sense at the same time!






Hey, is this a cool mascot, or what? The Richmond Spiders. I like it. It's different, it's dangerous, it's edgy. Go Spiders!



Utah's college teams have plenty of identity problems. The University of Utah is (are?) the Utes. What the *#$% is a Ute? I guess it's some sort of Native American. Gee, let's see….how many Native Americans are left in Utah now? Compared to Mormons? It doesn't even look right when you see it print: Utah Utes. It looks like a typo that the spell checker didn’t catch. And Utah State isn't much better: The Aggies. Oooooh, now I'm frightened. I can just imagine their opponents before the big game:
"Yeah, we're going up against the Aggies tonight."
"Aggies. Yeah, that reminds me – I need to call my grandma after the game."

Have you ever looked at Southern Utah University's mascot, the T-Bird?:

Did you look at it. Ok. Now, is it me, or does SUU need to add a zoology class to its curriculum? Isn't that an eagle? Looks like an eagle to me.

Jeez, I guess if you just add a bolt of lightning to any old bird you can have a "Thunderbird."
Plus, SUU plays in the Mid-Continent Conference. Eh? Mid-continent?. That's kind of generic. You just have to be located somewhere in between the edges of the continent to be included? (Another team in the Mid-Continent Conference is IUPUI, but that's a whole 'nother story!)


The University of Idaho has the Vandals, New York University has the Violets, Sweet Briar College has the Vixens, and the University of Akron has the Zips. Those are at least worth an honorable mention. Pacific University has the Boxers, which makes me think of boxer shorts, until you realize it's just a cuter name for a bulldog.

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.

The Big Dance

On Sunday, March 14, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will announce the 65 teams participating in the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament. March Madness begins!


I get a kick out of the teams' nicknames and mascots in college sports. In fact, I wrote an article a few years ago about the wacky world of nicknames. I found a link to it, but none of the images were still there.

In the next few days I shall re-print the article in its entirety, complete with full-color illustrations and up to date links. With permission of the author, of course.

Hyphenated Americans

I try not to be overtly political in this blog, but occasionally it seeps into my keyboard, and - well, it just comes out.

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all... The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic... There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

This is a quote from an American President. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a moment.


Theodore Roosevelt said it in a speech in 1915. His reasons had more to do with alliances forming in World War I than anything.

He said this almost 100 years ago, and yet, in some ways parts of it still ring true.

I am: Resolute

I set up my cell phone e-mail so that I can directly add entries to my blog. This is a blatant attempt at meeting one of my new years resolutions - to blog more. O.K., to just blog. It has been almost a year (again) since my last blogging episode.

Today, I came home from work and my wife was writing a children's book. Not thinking about writing a children's book, not writing down ideas for a children's book, but actually writing a book.

That's where I need to be.

So the blog entries may not be long; they may not make sense; they might not be the best writing. But the idea is just to get in the habit again of writing everyday.


I actually do write a blog everyday. In my head. Usually while I'm in the shower. That sort of makes it difficult to produce it electronically. Maybe with all the advances in technology they can come up with the waterproof laptop and cell phone.

Some blog topics I have already written in my head: (Perhaps these will appear in this blog.)

• Portland Trailblazer updates/trade rumors / rants / raves / etc.
• My son's 15 minutes of fame on the local news, and what that exposure resulted in.
• The loss of another family member (not long after Sam).
• The phone call every parent dreads.

Test

This is a test.  I'm testing my mobile blogging skills!

Ram-Sam-sam

March 9, 2009.

This is Sam. Sam is a Flat-coated Retriever. Sort of a cross between a black lab and a Golden Retriever. Sam, like many humans, turned prematurely grey. I have better pics of him, but they are on my other computer. He started turning grey around the muzzle and eyes at about 5 years. About six weeks ago, he began losing weight. A lot of weight. Then he wouldn't eat. Then we found some things he would eat. Like soup, leftover pasta, eggs. One of his favorite things is to go for a ride in the car.

This morning, Sam took his last ride in the car. You see, Sam passed away last night, peacefully at home, with his family by his side. Sam had cancer. He was 12.

Sam had a gruff exterior, but he was a big softie at heart. He was a good cuddler. He liked to go for walks. He was grumpy sometimes, but he got over it quickly. To me, he was kind of a "plain" looking dog, nothing fancy. Black with a little grey. But anywhere we went with Sam, people always commented on how beautiful he was. I'll never forget the older man at Home Depot (Sam loved to go inside Home Depot) that went out of his way to come up and speak to Sam, and tell him what a beautiful dog he was. He asked a bunch of questions and petted him. He wanted to know how old he was and what breed. He was a very nice man and was completely enamered with Sam. Of course, Sam ate it up. He wasn't always well behaved, but when he entered Home Depot, he sort of knew he was on display, and was on his best behavior. Once, when we had to have a lengthy discussion at one of the service desks, he simply sat next to us, put his head down and watched the people go by.

We have six other dogs, in various sizes and shapes and ages. With all those dogs, and with Sam being a little bit quiet and reclusive, he didn't always get the attention he deserved. But he compensated for this by hanging out in our downstairs bathroom. That way, he always had the undivided attention of whoever happened to have to "go." We called him the "potty dog." Some of our friends even got used to having him stay in there with them when they did their business!

You would think that having one less dog in a 7-dog house wouldn't make much of a difference. But we notice it. It seems like we have a lot fewer dogs. There's definitely an emptyness in the air.

Don't worry, Sam. Grandpa will be there to greet you when you get to the other side, just as you will be there to greet each of us when the time comes.

We miss you, Sam.