Mascot watch

[mfoster]

From this morning's Chronicle of Higher Education... not sure there's anything here we don't already know, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Marc

Mascot Watch - By STU WOO

Scottsdale Community College

Mascot: Artie Artichoke

What's happening: The Arizona college is beefing up the logo image of its favorite vegetable.

The details: The team's nickname is the Fighting Artichokes, and Doug Madoski, head football coach at Scottsdale, says redoing Artie's old logo is intended to "toughen him up a little, and make him stronger, a little meaner, and a little more athletic."

Artie was born in 1972, when the students shocked the administration by electing the artichoke as the college's sports mascot.

In conjunction with the forthcoming logo change, the college is also changing the school colors ? the third such revision in five years ? prompting Coach Madoski to tell a local newspaper his opinion of the move: "Expensive."

"A football jersey costs about $100 and add another $50 or so for pants, and we're doing it for 100 guys," he told The Arizona Republic. "I'm going down the path of, let's keep these colors for a while."

Mr. Madoski backed off those comments when The Chronicle called him, saying that football jerseys need to be frequently replaced anyway, at least "if we're playing the kind of football we want to be playing."

***

Ohio University at Athens

Old mascot: the Bobcat

New mascot: Rufus the Bobcat

What's happening: The old Bobcat had grown long in the tooth and wide in the middle.

The details: The chubby, harmless-looking bobcat was not unpopular with fans, but it wasn't exactly something to rally around, either.

"People thought it looked more like a mouse than a bobcat," says Dan Hauser, associate athletics director, "and it was kind of frumpy around the waist."

Looking to complement the university's new "Attack Cat" logo, athletics officials worked with a costume designer to create a slimmer, more athletic-looking mascot that could pump up fans. The result was Rufus, a scrappier bobcat who rolled into Peden Stadium astraddle a Harley-Davidson for this month's home football opener. The change apparently worked: The Bobcats won, 29-3.

***

The University of Louisiana at Monroe

Old mascot: Chief Brave Spirit

New mascot: Ace the Warhawk

What's happening: Another American Indian caricature bites the dust.

The details: To comply with an NCAA rule forbidding "hostile and abusive" references to American Indians, Monroe retired its Indians nickname and mascot and will no longer refer to its campus as "the Reservation."

The Indians are now the Warhawks, a reference to a red hawk indigenous to the Monroe area, says Judy Willson, an athletics-department spokeswoman.

The new name also pays tribute to Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, who was raised in Louisiana and who flew a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk as head of the legendary Flying Tigers during World War II. The new mascot, Ace, is a maroon hawk clad in a bomber jacket and flight goggles.

Also in response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's ruling, Southeastern Oklahoma State University has changed its team name from the Savages to the Savage Storm.

***

Coastline Community College

New nickname: the Dolphins

What's happening: Coastline students now have a mascot to root for ? via laptop.

The details: Coastline may have picked its first-ever mascot, but don't expect its students to be cheering for the Dolphins at football games ? or basketball games, baseball games, or any games. There is no athletics program at the Southern California college, where most of the students take courses online.

Coastline officials say the mascot ? which, for now, is actually just a logo ? will appear on college stationery and is intended to give students a sense of unity.

"People remember their mascots," says Michelle Sutliff, Coastline's spokeswoman. "I remember mine from elementary school."

After asking students to submit ideas for the new mascot, the college held an election in which students could vote for one of 10 coastline-related mascots, including a whale and a starfish. After the dolphin prevailed, the college held a logo-design contest. An art student, Kimberly Salt, won $500 for her rendering of the marine mammal holding a diploma.

The student government is considering buying a dolphin costume so the mascot can entertain at college events.

[Gothamite]

In conjunction with the forthcoming logo change, the college is also changing the school colors ? the third such revision in five years

So what's the point of having school colors, then?

USC is cardinal and gold. Notre Dame is navy and gold. Michigan is navy and maize (not gold, fortunately). Wisconsin is cardinal and white.

Those are school colors. They don't change. They are the one constant in an institution's history.

Even a community college should respect that.