College athletics identity changes

[Sykotyk]

22 hours ago, -Akronite- said:

 

"Go Bucks!" is common but OH-IO would be considered the main cheer/slogan/whatever.

 

I guess I'd take no nickname over another bulldogs or eagles, but I do love the diversity and uniqueness of college nicknames generally.

If you see someone wearing Ohio State gear you almost always have "O - H!" as the call out and expect them to reply "I - O!" 

 

I always have to remember I'm even wearing my OSU shirt sometimes. Very rarely ever does someone say "Go Bucks". Funny Go Bucks is probably much more common in Ohio. Outside Ohio is almost exclusively OH. 

[gosioux76]

On 2/25/2023 at 5:25 AM, chcarlson23 said:

As a Gophers fan and someone who’s lived my whole life in Minnesota up until a couple of months ago, yes, I do say Ski-U-Mah to anyone wearing Gophers stuff haha. I mean it’s part of the school fight song, “Rah Rah Rah for Ski-U-Mah” and the U uses it in a lot of branding. So most Gopher fans should know it, and even people who go to the U of M, who don’t care for sports are probably familiar with Ski-U-Mah. 

 

That's interesting. I know the Ski-U-Mah thing goes back generations, but has it always been so widely used? I grew up two hours north of the Twin Cities, in central Minnesota, where we were obviously familiar with the Gophers but I don't think I ever heard Ski-U-Mah. I was a big fan of some of the late '80s, early '90s men's basketball teams and would watch their broadasts, and I don't ever recall the slogan being identified with the team in the way that it is today.

 

Could also be a proximity thing, where it was more common in the metro than outstate, I guess. Long story short, if I saw someone wearing U of Minnesota gear and was inclined to say something, it would be "Go Gophers" rather than Ski-U-Mah for the reasons I outline above. 

[eastfirst107]

On 2/24/2023 at 6:35 PM, WestCoastBias said:

 

While most people do say "I'm a {college name} fan", I can only think of two schools (Roll Tide and War Eagle) that don't say "Go {team nickname}!" as their main cheer/slogan/whateveritscalled

Duke fans lean towards using the school name rather than "Go [team nickname]" -- you'll hear "Go Duke!" more than "Go Devils" or "Go Blue Devils" -- but I'm sure they're not unique in this.

[chcarlson23]

2 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

That's interesting. I know the Ski-U-Mah thing goes back generations, but has it always been so widely used? I grew up two hours north of the Twin Cities, in central Minnesota, where we were obviously familiar with the Gophers but I don't think I ever heard Ski-U-Mah. I was a big fan of some of the late '80s, early '90s men's basketball teams and would watch their broadasts, and I don't ever recall the slogan being identified with the team in the way that it is today.

 

Could also be a proximity thing, where it was more common in the metro than outstate, I guess. Long story short, if I saw someone wearing U of Minnesota gear and was inclined to say something, it would be "Go Gophers" rather than Ski-U-Mah for the reasons I outline above. 

I’ve been going to Gopher hockey games and following along  since the late 2000’s and the saying has gotten more and more prevalent. It even took me a while to even figure out it was pronounced “Sky-U-Mah” rather than “Skee-U-Mah”. But it feels like it’s really ramped up in the last several years. They’ll flash it on signs and the scoreboard during hockey games, and the football team has even put it on their helmets. I’m not sure about any other sports usage of it, but I’ve heard it on radio ads, TV bits, and on social media as well. 

[Germanshepherd]

The Huskers use neither, it’s all “Go Big Red!”

[stumpygremlin]

Southland Conference Navigates Its Path with Dynamic Rebrand - Southland Conference

[Mingjai]

On 2/23/2023 at 10:38 AM, 8BW14 said:

Here’s my little stump speech: Colleges and universities really don’t need nicknames for their athletics teams, IMO. We are much more tied to the colors and university than the nickname. People will say “I’m a cowboys fan or a Yankees fan”, but more often than not when we are talking about college it’s “I’m an Illinois fan or “Go USC!” There are exceptions, of course,  but I don’t think it would be that weird if college athletics didn’t have official nicknames. 

I don’t really agree with you about nicknames, especially with all the great nicknames out there.

 

Maybe this falls under one of your exceptions, try living in Minnesota and telling people you’re going to the Minnesota game. You could be referring to the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Loons, Wolves, Linx, or any one of many University of Minnesota sports teams. So in the state of Minnesota it’s always the Gophers in general or Gopher hockey, Gopher football, etc., in particular.

 

On 2/25/2023 at 5:25 AM, chcarlson23 said:

As a Gophers fan and someone who’s lived my whole life in Minnesota up until a couple of months ago, yes, I do say Ski-U-Mah to anyone wearing Gophers stuff haha. I mean it’s part of the school fight song, “Rah Rah Rah for Ski-U-Mah” and the U uses it in a lot of branding. So most Gopher fans should know it, and even people who go to the U of M, who don’t care for sports are probably familiar with Ski-U-Mah. 

I think you’re in the minority though in saying “Ski-U-Mah” to folks, though it might be increasing since the school has started using more in its branding. They school didn’t really use it as much in branding before when I was there in the 00s.

In Chicago, I get “Go Gophers” by at least a 10:1 ratio, and I almost exclusively say “Go Gophers” to fellow fans. I guess next time I get a Ski-U-Mah on the street, I’ll know it’s you! (Or PJ Fleck, but he’d say Row the Boat first… )

[chcarlson23]

3 hours ago, Mingjai said:

I don’t really agree with you about nicknames, especially with all the great nicknames out there.

 

Maybe this falls under one of your exceptions, try living in Minnesota and telling people you’re going to the Minnesota game. You could be referring to the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Loons, Wolves, Linx, or any one of many University of Minnesota sports teams. So in the state of Minnesota it’s always the Gophers in general or Gopher hockey, Gopher football, etc., in particular.

I mean any area (which is going to be mostly large cities) that has numerous sports teams with the same regional identifier would have this. It would be the same for Chicago, Arizona, New York, Boston, etc. But in more rural or smaller market areas, the college name is probably used more that the mascot name. Saying you’re going to an Oregon game is easier to figure out vs saying you’re going to a Boston game. 

 

3 hours ago, Mingjai said:

I think you’re in the minority though in saying “Ski-U-Mah” to folks, though it might be increasing since the school has started using more in its branding. They school didn’t really use it as much in branding before when I was there in the 00s.

In Chicago, I get “Go Gophers” by at least a 10:1 ratio, and I almost exclusively say “Go Gophers” to fellow fans. I guess next time I get a Ski-U-Mah on the street, I’ll know it’s you! (Or PJ Fleck, but he’d say Row the Boat first… )

I would believe that I am I’ve just always liked saying it. 
 

And the next time I’m in Chicago I’ll wear my skating Gopher hat so you know it’s me 

[gosioux76]

10 hours ago, Mingjai said:

I don’t really agree with you about nicknames, especially with all the great nicknames out there.

 

Maybe this falls under one of your exceptions, try living in Minnesota and telling people you’re going to the Minnesota game. You could be referring to the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Loons, Wolves, Linx, or any one of many University of Minnesota sports teams. So in the state of Minnesota it’s always the Gophers in general or Gopher hockey, Gopher football, etc., in particular.

 

Growing up, I recall referring to the University of Minnesota as "U of M" more often than not, and that's still the most common reference when I go back home. But as I've moved across the country in the past 30 years, I've learned that nearly everybody has a "U of M," it seems. 

 

(As an aside, I went to the University of North Dakota, so when I see people with Gophers gear, I don't reference it, but I do use it as an opportunity to ask if they're from in Minnesota. So if someone does that to you in Chicago, it could very well be me.  )

[sportsfan7]

14 hours ago, Mingjai said:

In Chicago, I get “Go Gophers” by at least a 10:1 ratio, and I almost exclusively say “Go Gophers” to fellow fans. I guess next time I get a Ski-U-Mah on the street, I’ll know it’s you! (Or PJ Fleck, but he’d say Row the Boat first… )

Personally, I'd say that nowadays I hear Row the Boat about as often as Go Gophers

[Mingjai]

9 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

Growing up, I recall referring to the University of Minnesota as "U of M" more often than not, and that's still the most common reference when I go back home. But as I've moved across the country in the past 30 years, I've learned that nearly everybody has a "U of M," it seems. 

 

(As an aside, I went to the University of North Dakota, so when I see people with Gophers gear, I don't reference it, but I do use it as an opportunity to ask if they're from in Minnesota. So if someone does that to you in Chicago, it could very well be me.  )

I’m an adopted Minnesotan—went to Minnesota for grad school and never really left (even now I split time between Chicago and Minnesota). I say still U of M when I’m in the state, especially instead of “the U,” because as a third generation BYU grad, “the U” refers to something much more heinous than the U of M (either Minnesota or Miami)… 

[Mingjai]

6 hours ago, sportsfan7 said:

Personally, I'd say that nowadays I hear Row the Boat about as often as Go Gophers

It’s funny, I refuse to use “Row the Boat” except when specifically referring to Coach Fleck himself: “Ol’ ‘Row-the-Boat’ should have gone for it on 4th down there…” 

[chcarlson23]

20 minutes ago, Mingjai said:

It’s funny, I refuse to use “Row the Boat” except when specifically referring to Coach Fleck himself: “Ol’ ‘Row-the-Boat’ should have gone for it on 4th down there…” 

I feel the same way. I hate the whole Row the Boat thing. I wish more people felt that way too haha
 

And people in Minnesota definitely use both the U of M and the U interchangeably for Minnesota. I feel like I use U of M when referencing it the first time to someone, but otherwise I’ll just say the “U”

 

And then of course there’s UMD, and then most of the other schools I’ve only ever heard by their location or full name, kinda like St. Cloud or St. Cloud State rather than some acronym. (Except for my alma mater UNW )

[MilSox]

On 3/1/2023 at 9:54 PM, Mingjai said:

I don’t really agree with you about nicknames, especially with all the great nicknames out there.

 

Maybe this falls under one of your exceptions, try living in Minnesota and telling people you’re going to the Minnesota game. You could be referring to the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Loons, Wolves, Linx, or any one of many University of Minnesota sports teams. So in the state of Minnesota it’s always the Gophers in general or Gopher hockey, Gopher football, etc., in particular.

 

I think much of this is tied directly into how unique a school's nickname is. In Wisconsin, if you said you were going to the Wisconsin game, most people would probably assume you meant the Badgers. But 9 times out of 10, people are still gonna refer to the Badgers game rather than the Wisconsin game. 

In Chicago, I've heard Illinois/Illini used more or less interchangeably... which makes linguistic sense seeing that one was derived from the other. But the next time I hear someone refer to the "Wildcats game" when they're going to see Northwestern will literally be the first time. Even DePaul and Loyola are referred to more by the school name than their fairly unique nicknames... even if they're referring to sports.

[The_Admiral]

This is correct, though no one's referring to much college basketball in the state of Illinois by any name these days.

[BC985]

My alma mater released this today. It was designed in-house, and I cannot imagine a more bland and unimaginative cougar logo. 
 

 

This is what it replaced, and while very bad, the Siue word mark was much better than its replacement.

 

[panthers_2012]

1 hour ago, BC985 said:

My alma mater released this today. It was designed in-house, and I cannot imagine a more bland and unimaginative cougar logo. 
 

 

This is what it replaced, and while very bad, the Siue word mark was much better than its replacement.

 

I agree, it's bland, but WAY BETTER than the last one.

[8BW14]

Yeah i always thought the former looked like a possessed beaver. The new logo is unremarkable in every way

[WestCoastBias]

I like the new one

[Discrim]

The old one...without the Cougars text, I don't think I'd be able to figure out what it was supposed to be.  The new one is much more apparent...but runs into the problem of looking like every other cougar logo ever. 

Conundrums...