(02-14-2021 09:23 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  What skin is it off your backs to not offend people?!

Its almost impossible to find something that somebody won't be offended by.

You should base it on rational people. Lots of rational people would get offended by Redskins. No rational person gets offended by Crusaders or Warriors.

If you are going to avoid offending anyone, you would have to get England to change their name. Because of Richard the Lionhearted's success in the Crusades (unlike many of the French and Germans), for centuries Arabs would tell their children to be good or the English would get them.

(02-14-2021 07:36 PM)bullet Wrote:  I think Redskins needed to go, but Redhawks is just a really awful replacement.

At least there are actual red-tailed hawks native to SW Ohio so there's some connection even if its pretty generic. The change committee had two other finalists under as well - Thunderhawks (not awful) or literally the Miamis (would've been hilarious).

Bullet: you're right that some people (an ifinitestimal minority) are LOOKING to be offended. IMO: Warrior is a perfectly neutral nickname, unlike Redman, which isn't much better than Redskins.

(02-14-2021 09:26 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  

(02-12-2021 12:15 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm likely one of the more socio-politically progressive posters on this board. But I must admit: Most of these name changes border on absurd.

I recall when Belmont changed its nickname to Bruins from Rebels. The latter offered (university officials contended) an Old South/Confederacy vibe. I get it. But not all "rebels" are Confederates. Belmont could have kept the Rebel nickname and created a new mascot and theme. Could have made it playful. Too late now.

Don't run away from your history (but don't embrace the ugly elements either). There is a compromise to be found. Sadly, many universities are failing to see that.

What "compromise" do you propose?

Generally speaking a "rebel" is a person who resists authority, control, or convention. The compromise is Belmont could have kept the Rebel name but with a non-Confederacy mascot. How about a female student mascot (that would have been something different) depicting an important rebellious historic figure?

If Belmont felt it had to change the nickname, I posted elsewhere on this board (can't fine at this moment) that the university could have chosen a music-themed nickname (for the nod to Nashville) that no other university has.

UCLA has the Bruins. Belmont could have opted for something distinctive and/or specific to Nashville. It did neither. It was a major missed opportunity, one that irks me to this day.

As a fan from a University that had a really good rebranding (Redmen -> Minutemen), I'm always a fan of them when they go from something generic to something much more fitting.

I think all generic nicknames should be changed to something more meaningful, with certain exceptions being grandfathered in. How many Bulldogs do we need in the SEC? Everything ends up just being this clip over and over again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XItRcMuraCI