Mascot madness has landed at Notre Dame University. An unscientific survey from a logo products company has the legendary school fighting to defend its Fighting Irish Leprechaun mascot.
The two-fisted, shamrock-green Leprechaun seen at Irish sporting events is the fourth-most-offensive college team logo in the country, the Quality Logo Products blog reported. The company surveyed nearly 1,300 people.
Ahead of the Leprechaun are three of the usual “offensive” college mascots: two Indians and a native Hawaiian.
Though the little fellow is white and Christian, even he is unsafe from the woke crowd that’s trying to suck the enjoyment out of everything that’s fun.
No Comparison to Indian Mascots
Just for grins, apparently, the company wanted to find out just which college mascots were the most popular and most hated. Thus the survey. It picked 128 mascots from NCAA Division 1 football teams and asked 1,266 people with nothing better to do, such as find a job if they’re unemployed, to rate them.
The best college mascot is Northwestern University’s Willie the Wildcat; the worst is the Oklahoma State’s Pistol Pete. The survey includes the sexiest mascot, also Willie the Wildcat, and the “creepiest, Purdue University’s Purdue Pete.
As for the most offensive, “at the top of the list is Osceola and Renegade,” the company reported:
The Florida State University mascots appear at home games, riding into Doak Campbell Stadium with a burning spear before planting it into the ground. While the school says the act serves as “a tribute to the great Seminole Tribe of Florida,” many outsiders have taken issue with the act, often calling it racist.
However, it’s important to remember that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has endorsed the school’s use of the name and representation.
In second was San Diego State’s Aztec Warrior, whose regalia is a conch shell, a spear and shield, and a loincloth, and headdress. It too is “culturally insensitive.”
But “he won’t be at the top of the list for much longer,” the company reported, because he won’t be a “mascot” much longer. Instead, he will be a “spirit leader” who “will behave with dignity at all times and not partake in any behavior that misrepresents Aztec culture.”
Presumably, that behavior did not include the Aztec custom of human sacrifice.
Next up: the University of Hawaii’s Vili the Warrior. He’s offensive because of his “sideline hakas and traditional warrior uniform.”
A haka is a Maori ceremonial dance.
Notre Dame defends its familiar mascot on two counts. It’s not the same as offensive Indian mascots, and it represents the school’s Irish heritage.
“It is worth noting … that there is no comparison between Notre Dame’s nickname and mascot and the Indian and warrior names (and) mascots used by other institutions such as the NFL team formerly known as the Redskins,” the school said:
None of these institutions were founded or named by Native Americans who sought to highlight their heritage by using names and symbols associated with their people.
Our symbols stand as celebratory representations of a genuine Irish heritage at Notre Dame, a heritage that we regard with respect, loyalty and affection.
The survey isn’t the first time the Leprechaun got in Dutch.
In 2018, ESPN’s Max Kellerman announced the Leprechaun had to go. “Many Irish-Americans are not offended, but many are,” Kellerman said. “Should that also change? The answer is yes. Unequivocally yes. Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people that offend, even some among them, should be changed.”
For the record, most Irish-Americans don’t care what Kellerman thinks or that some Irish-Americans are offended. Indeed, after a few drinks, most Irish-Americans would probably punch Kellerman in the nose.
Landshark Must Go
The latest on mascot madness comes a month after the Cleveland Indians, a name venerated by fans and among the most storied in baseball lore, became the Cleveland Guardians.
That silly name ran into trouble because the city’s roller derby team is also the Guardians.
So changing mascots is not without difficulty.
When Ole Miss dumped Colonel Reb for the toothless Landshark, humiliation ensued. A Change.org petition with more than 5,600 signatures seeks return to the colonel. Landshark arose from the antics of a player who died of a drug overdose and has invited sneering ridicule.
In 2019, the mascot was “seen and photographed on the football field against Texas A&M wearing a diaper and bib labeled ‘Baby Shark,’” the two-year-old petition says. Students Against Social Injustice labeled the sea creature “Trans Non-Binary.”
Landshark, the petition notes, also describes a sexual practice typically undertaken under the influence of alcoholic beverages.
Colonel Reb, a Confederate mascot, had to go because he was, of course, “offensive.” Ole Miss also dropped Dixie as its fight song.
H/T: Fox News, The Indy Star
