University of Denver mascot controversy.

[roxfan00]

A Boone to the Beavers? (Or Something Like That)

By Elliot Olshansky - May 30, 2007

We've got a bit of everything going on today: a new schedule, a mascot issue, a new head coach in the women's game and a tad of rivalry debate fodder as we hop from Bemidji to Denver to Boston.

Now, having mentioned Denver, I'd like to point out a very interesting survey being taken at DU right now. The school's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment is actually polling website visitors as to their preference between former mascot Boone and new (since 1999) mascot Ruckus. I know the change has long bothered Pioneer fans, and it was interesting that an April article in DU's student paper, the Clarion, didn't mention real political correctness issues with Boone, other than, "his portrayal of the Western stereotype of a guy. After all Denver Boone was a male pioneer and that could be awkward for the women's lacrosse team."

Is that the best they can do? Really? Well then, I guess we had ought to find a different mascot other than Jonathan Husky Dog to appear at UConn women's sporting events. Let Miami's women's teams know that Sebastian the Ibis won't be stopping by, and cancel Sam the Minuteman's reservations at the Mullins Center for women's basketball while we're at it. Heck, maybe Baldwin should stop going to BC women's games. After all, while we've never been officially told the gender of BC's lovable eagle mascot, "Baldwin" is the term Alicia Silverstone uses to describe attractive guys in Clueless (oops, there goes my hockey credibility again), so Baldwin's got to go, too.

But seriously, I don't think it's that big an issue. I mean I could see this if the all the DU teams were the Denver Boones - to be honest, I've wondered how female athletes at Fairfield (Stags), South Carolina (Gamecocks), etc. feel about their teams' gender-specific nicknames - but the team is the Pioneers, and Boone just happens to have been the mascot. And as far as I'm concerned, he should be again. But then, it's not really my business. It's up to the Denver students and alumni - and any other interested parties - to vote on this one.

CSTV

Here is the old logo/mascot Denver Boone

and the new mascot/logo

and a link to the survey for which logo people want to see.

former mascot Boone and new (since 1999) mascot Ruckus

[Brian in Boston]

I'm going with Ruckus.

Boone's either a four-year-old with a beard or an adult dwarf with a tremendously effective anti-aging skin-care regimen.

[Avenger]

It's high time they bring Boone back... maybe modernize him a touch, but get rid of the hawk imagery.

I know DU went that route because they have concerns that a guy in a coonskin cap doesn't help paint the university as being as prestegious as it is, but there are marketing solutions around that.

Using a hawk for "Pioneers" is counter-intuitive, and honestly, that logo is pretty rough. Anything to get rid of that and reclaim a little bit of their identity is cool in my book.

[roxfan00]

It's high time they bring Boone back... maybe modernize him a touch, but get rid of the hawk imagery.

I know DU went that route because they have concerns that a guy in a coonskin cap doesn't help paint the university as being as prestegious as it is, but there are marketing solutions around that.

Using a hawk for "Pioneers" is counter-intuitive, and honestly, that logo is pretty rough. Anything to get rid of that and reclaim a little bit of their identity is cool in my book.

Yeah I never understood why they have Ruckus the Hawk as a mascot since they are called the Pioneers.

[-kj]

I always through it was a stylized cap.

That old logo is awful, really. The new one isn't that great, either.

[Gothamite]

I always through it was a stylized cap.

That's what I thought when I saw it here.

The old logo might be a little goofy, but it's a darn sight better than the bird.

[leopard88]

I always through it was a stylized cap.

That's what I thought when I saw it here.

The old logo might be a little goofy, but it's a darn sight better than the bird.

. . . which looks like it is hatching from a strange looking tan egg.

At least now we know what it is supposed to be. I wasn't sure for a while.

Bring back Boone. Just clean him up a little and make him look less like a bearded toddler.

[doafhat]

Boone looks like he belongs in a 1940's Disney propaganda film advising us about the importance of timber to the war effort, and the Ruckus logo looks more like an axe blade or Cylon fighter from the old Battlestar Galactica series than a hawk.

If I were to make a choice between the two, I'd go with Boone but I think they should try modernizing him a bit. Hopefully they can update him without turning him into a gray-skinned axe-wielding maniac in the process.

[reppact]

I've wondered how female athletes at Fairfield (Stags), South Carolina (Gamecocks), etc. feel about their teams' gender-specific nicknames...

I just had to laugh. We know that most women's temas get the monkier the Lady "insert mascot here". I REALLY feel bad for the SC women though. The South Carolina Lady 'Cocks.

I sure hope they DON'T go by that though.

[roxfan00]

Why Denver Boone got the boot at DU

Former mascot's story sheds light on why Ruckus is new mascot

Kenna Gair

Issue date: 4/17/07

So what does a red-tailed hawk have to do with the DU Pioneers?

In 1999 the university changed its mascot from a coonskin-capped mountaineer named Denver Boone to a Ruckus, whose red cape supposedly looks like the feather of a red-tailed hawk that used to make its home on the prairie and the in the foothills during the pioneer era.

Denver Boone, the official DU mascot since 1968, was unceremoniously retired. At that time the reasons for dropping Denver Boone ranged from his obvious lack of sophistication to his portrayal of the Western stereotype of a guy. After all Denver Boone was a male pioneer and that could be awkward for the women's lacrosse team.

But Denver Boone had some pretty special antecedents. Walt Disney drew him and this cute, smiling guy in a lopsided coonskin cap had adorned everything from DU bulletin boards to hockey memorabilia.

He did not fit in with the sophisticated branding DU was about to undertake. The same company that designed the logos for Colorado Avalanche and Nuggets teams also designed the DU logo featuring the hawk.

In a Sept. 17, 1984 Clarion article by Rachelle Scott, the then Director of University Relations Harry Spetnagel raised both the un-sophistication and the gender problem of Denver Boone.

"This is, after all an urban and sophisticated city and the people at this campus are sophisticated young people. I can't imagine they would think the little Boon character would represent them," said Spetnagel.

He also went on to say that the school would prefer a mascot that did not have a gender, like a bird (although there are male and female birds).

Others thought the mascot should be changed because little, coon-capped Boone was not "manly" enough. In an Oct. 1, 1985 Clarion column, writer Steven Liebman noted that new mascots that the students were polled on by the administration were more aggressive male.

"All of the choices were rough tough ragged men. All had muscles, weapons, but no personality," said Liebman.

In 1999 Boone was dispatched to the archives in the basement of Penrose Library and Ruckus, the red-tailed hawk, was presented by the Department of Athletics at a rally near the Schwayder Art Building. Former Athletic Director M. Dianne Murphy said in a Sept. 9, 1999 story in the Denver Post by Mike Chambers that the red-tailed hawk had more of the traits DU wanted in a mascot.

"We also believe that when the settlers came west, red-tailed hawks [frequented] this area," said Murphy.

Should DU dust-off the coonskin cap and bring Denver Boone Back? Send an e-mail to duclarion@du.edu.

[EatSleepJeep]

I hate that new DU logo. Even more I hate trying to explain what it is to people that can't see through the muddled mess to a bird. I had no idea the red thing was a cape. It's terrible, clumsy and needs to go. A coonskin cap on a DU would be leaps and bounds ahead of that vomit stain.

[obiwantok]

In my ignorance I always assumed the new(er) logo was a turkey. Not that it has anything more to do with a Pioneer, but the scalloped edges reminded me of a turkey's plumage.

[Burkell007]

i allways thought the new logo was a old wagon end just really different type, till i saw the hawk one day, def bring back boone!!!!

[hecticbro]

A hawk isn't a pioneer.

A midget in a coonskin cap isn't much of a mascot.

Why don't they just start from scratch?

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

he kinda reminds me of the browns elf logo.

as for ruckus, give him the pink slip or rename the team the Denver Hawks. Same thing with the Vols. Since going with the bulldog imagery, they really should be renamed the Tennessee Bulldogs.

[Mings]

Um, its not a bulldog.

[Viper]

he kinda reminds me of the browns elf logo.

I, for one, had to do a double take to be sure I wasn't looking at Bucky Badger.

[spyboy1]

I can't believe they never figured out how to make a "covered wagon at speed" logo or a strong looking dude with long shotgun in his hand to be a Pioneer.

Here, give this guy a new hat and you're ready to go!

A bird? For "Pioneers"? Does any logo have less to do with it's name than that one?

JeffB

[Joe]

"The same company that designed the logos for Colorado Avalanche and Nuggets teams also designed the DU logo featuring the hawk."

Well that's not true.

I designed the Avalanche logo and I'm fairly certain that SME is responsible for the Nuggets.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

I can't believe they never figured out how to make a "covered wagon at speed" logo or a strong looking dude with long shotgun in his hand to be a Pioneer.

Here, give this guy a new hat and you're ready to go!

A bird? For "Pioneers"? Does any logo have less to do with it's name than that one?

JeffB

I got one, this one for the Volunteers:

I do think though this is a tad bit more relevant:

I do stand corrected on the bulldog/volunteer. They don't use a bulldog but a dog none the less. How its relevant to the Tennessee Volunteers is beyond me.