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Post by alum on Jan 10, 2019 14:52:05 GMT -5
Best mascot story I know: The local regional technical high school had an animal name for a mascot for many years. As the female enrollment and their participation in athletics grew some complained that they did not enjoy being referred to as small builders of dams. They are now Mighty Tigers (but two other nearby schools kept the name the local girls found offensive.)
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Post by gks on Jan 10, 2019 15:01:47 GMT -5
Best mascot story I know: The local regional technical high school had an animal name for a mascot for many years. As the female enrollment and their participation in athletics grew some complained that they did not enjoy being referred to as small builders of dams. They are now Mighty Tigers (but two other nearby schools kept the name the local girls found offensive.) There is one such school in Central Massachusetts with said nickname.
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Post by Ray on Jan 10, 2019 15:34:29 GMT -5
This post stands out in this thread, for all the wrong reasons. Be better than this.
Perhaps the problem are those that find offense in things that are not offensive and wish to ban harmless mascots that 99% of the people have no issue with. The people that want to erase history and ban everything need to be better. Or maybe you could be self-aware enough to understand that people with different world views and life experiences might be offended by different things than you are, and there's no reason why you should be the sole arbiter of what's offensive and what isn't.
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Post by Wormtown Railers Fan on Jan 10, 2019 15:42:44 GMT -5
Perhaps the problem are those that find offense in things that are not offensive and wish to ban harmless mascots that 99% of the people have no issue with. The people that want to erase history and ban everything need to be better. Or maybe you could be self-aware enough to understand that people with different world views and life experiences might be offended by different things than you are, and there's no reason why you should be the sole arbiter of what's offensive and what isn't. No, the nickname Mountaineer is in no way offensive. If your world view causes you to be offended by a hillbilly with a musket then you need to do some serious reflection on your world view. Every time we cave in to these people they lower the bar as to what is offensive.
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Post by timholycross on Jan 10, 2019 16:34:10 GMT -5
Best mascot story I know: The local regional technical high school had an animal name for a mascot for many years. As the female enrollment and their participation in athletics grew some complained that they did not enjoy being referred to as small builders of dams. They are now Mighty Tigers (but two other nearby schools kept the name the local girls found offensive.) As far as I know Babson College's male and female teams still carry the nickname made famous by Ward Cleaver's son.
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Post by timholycross on Jan 10, 2019 16:36:28 GMT -5
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 10, 2019 16:36:49 GMT -5
How soon will it be before PETA demands that every school that has an animal mascot find a new one because using a tiger or bulldog or wildcat is denigrating or exploiting animals?
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Post by bringbackcaro on Jan 10, 2019 16:52:53 GMT -5
Pretty simple solution: people need to stop being so freaking sensitive and actively seeking out things to be "offended" about.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 10, 2019 17:15:31 GMT -5
Perhaps the problem are those that find offense in things that are not offensive and wish to ban harmless mascots that 99% of the people have no issue with. The people that want to erase history and ban everything need to be better. Or maybe you could be self-aware enough to understand that people with different world views and life experiences might be offended by different things than you are, and there's no reason why you should be the sole arbiter of what's offensive and what isn't. Quite right...and neither should they. Trying to be fair to all parties here, not just those who claim to be PC.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 10, 2019 17:23:06 GMT -5
From what I gather from speaking with friends in Holden the name "Mountaineers" will remain, its just the musket-toting barefoot hillbilly image that certain people want gone.
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Post by cmo on Jan 10, 2019 18:00:09 GMT -5
What’s offensive is Wachusett’s lack of offense in football and basketball. 😃
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Post by Wormtown Railers Fan on Jan 10, 2019 18:50:57 GMT -5
Quite right...and neither should they. Trying to be fair to all parties here, not just those who claim to be PC. Bob, I think that you are presenting a false equivalence. Those who are personally offended by these mascots/monikers are looking for action, namely removal of the offensive images. Don't you think that their opposition to these mascots is based on their sense of decency as these images are offensive to them. It seems to me that those who argue for retention do not do so out of a sense of decency but out of a feeling that since they are not offended some believe no one has the right to be offended. (see Wormtown.) or others at the very least see no good reason to end the mascots.Decency has nothing to do with it. Moreover, I think that they are just fed up with changing values and find the whole thing ridiculous. As I wrote I at times feel the some of the attempts at removal may be over the top, (But, I try to listen and understand.). Please rest assured that many who are calling for removal of mascots do so not out political correctness or virtue signaling. In fact they may be personally offended. and not out of a feeling of being politically correct.Maybe this example will clarify my point: I don't have to be Jewish to be offended by the Holocaust or anti semitism. My feeling of being offended comes from a place of true pain, hurt in my heartas I know you share these same feelings. PC has absolutely nothing to do with it. We are not acting PC. There are non-Catholics who are personally upset at anti Catholic discrimination in the workplace. Should their upset be dismissed as PC posturing? I think not. My point is that it is incumbent for all of us not to paint everything with the broad brush of PC but to be discerning and recognize that there are times that PC has nothing to with it. Can't we love one another? Stay well, my dear frriend. LoveHC 1. Don’t try and pretend you understand my reasoning for being against those that try to ban inoffensive cartoon mascots. 2. Are you really putting the holocaust in the same light as those trying to ban a cartoon hillbilly mascot with a musket? Now that is something I find offensive.
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Post by gks on Jan 10, 2019 18:52:29 GMT -5
What’s offensive is Wachusett’s lack of offense in football and basketball. 😃 Ha.! Outstanding.
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Post by gks on Jan 10, 2019 18:54:58 GMT -5
What’s offensive is Wachusett’s lack of offense in football and basketball. 😃 Ha.! Outstanding. Oops...just found this guy on the internet....another offensive weapon.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 10, 2019 18:58:53 GMT -5
Hey Tom - thanks a million for this thread.
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Post by Tom on Jan 10, 2019 20:11:37 GMT -5
Let me preface my comment by saying that in general I am more difficult to offend than most people.
I find it amusing that some people are actually so wound up about a cartoon that they would actually make it an issue. Unfortunately, when leadership acts to assuage a small but vocal minority by doing something like removing crucifixes from Georgetown, it might create that space safe from ideas that might be disturbing, but only prepares people for life in a fantasy world. I will continue to poke at people who get wound up by things I consider trivial, but that's a long list because I'm irreverent and poke fun at lots of things. I'll also be a little bit saddened every time we sterilize ourselves from anything could potentially be offensive to somebody
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 10, 2019 20:13:03 GMT -5
Quite right...and neither should they. Trying to be fair to all parties here, not just those who claim to be PC. Bob, I think that you are presenting a false equivalence. I AM SURE YOU BELIEVE THAT, BUT I DISAGREE WITH YOUR OPINION - WHICH SEEMS TO BE A DOUBLE STANDARD. Those who are personally offended by these mascots/monikers are looking for action, namely removal of the offensive images. Don't you think that their opposition to these mascots is based on their sense of decency as these images are offensive to them. YES. THEIR PERSONAL FEELINGS ARE BEHIND THIS. I RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO PROTEST. HOWEVER, THEY ALSO DO NOT IN ANY WAY RESPECT THOE WHO FEEL DIFFERENTLY. THAT IS NOT A FALSE EQUIVALENCE - IT IS A DOUBLE STANDARD. ONE THAT OFTEN IGNORES HISTORY (OR INTERPRETS IT WITH PERSONAL CHANGES). It seems to me that those who argue for retention do not do so out of a sense of decency HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT JUDGEMENT? but out of a feeling that since they are not offended some believe no one has the right to be offended. (see Wormtown.) or others at the very least see no good reason to end the mascots. Decency has nothing to do with it. Moreover, I think that they are just fed up with changing values and find the whole thing ridiculous. DON'T THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO BELIEVE THAT? As I wrote I at times feel the some of the attempts at removal may be over the top, (But, I try to listen and understand.). Please rest assured that many who are calling for removal of mascots do so not out political correctness or virtue signaling. In fact they may be personally offended. and not out of a feeling of being politically correct. Maybe this example will clarify my point: I don't have to be Jewish to be offended by the Holocaust or anti semitism. My feeling of being offended comes from a place of true pain, hurt in my heartas I know you share these same feelings. PC has absolutely nothing to do with it. We are not acting PC. There are non-Catholics who are personally upset at anti Catholic discrimination in the workplace. Should their upset be dismissed as PC posturing? WELL A HOSTILE WORKPLACE IS ADDRESSED BY CURRENT LAW, SO THAT IS MORE THAN OPINION. OF COURSE, THOSE LAWS ARE OFTEN APPLIED SELECTIVELY. I think not. My point is that it is incumbent for all of us not to paint everything with the broad brush of PC but to be discerning and recognize that there are times that PC has nothing to with it. Can't we love one another? OF COURSE. DO THOSE WHO OPPOSE MASCOTS AND DEMAND THEIR VIEW BE RESPECTED LOVE THOSE WHO DISAGREE? OR, DO THEY USE TERMS LIKE "DOG WHISTLE" TO TRY TO LIMIT THE VOCABULARY OF OPPONENTS BY DECLARING IMAGES, ARGUMENTS AND EVEN VOCABULARY RACIST? Stay well, my dear friend. ...AND YOU AS WELL. LoveHC CLEAR AGREEMENT HERE.
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Post by thecrossisback on Jan 10, 2019 22:12:36 GMT -5
What’s offensive is Wachusett’s lack of offense in football and basketball. 😃 I could not agree more. Have been calling for the firing of Dubzinski and Gibbons for years.
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Post by hc87 on Jan 10, 2019 22:49:34 GMT -5
Late to the discussion...I wondah if much of the animus toward the Mountaineer is somewhat "class based" i.e. makes the residents of the Wachusset district look like rubes etc?
I didn't know that the high school was that big...ovah 2K kids...that would be one of the biggah schools in EMass.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 10, 2019 23:14:49 GMT -5
As I mentioned earlier, the name isn't the problem for anyone, it's the logo that's the concern of some.
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Post by hc87 on Jan 10, 2019 23:27:53 GMT -5
As I mentioned earlier, the name isn't the problem for anyone, it's the logo that's the concern of some. That's my gut impression as well....someone who dropped down a pretty penny for a home in Holden, Princeton etc doesn't want his kid wearing a Moutaineer Hillbilly t-shirt when they go to Nantucket in the Summah or when they visit their cousins in Wellesley.
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Post by timholycross on Jan 11, 2019 10:01:11 GMT -5
As I mentioned earlier, the name isn't the problem for anyone, it's the logo that's the concern of some. That's my gut impression as well....someone who dropped down a pretty penny for a home in Holden, Princeton etc doesn't want his kid wearing a Moutaineer Hillbilly t-shirt when they go to Nantucket in the Summah or when they visit their cousins in Wellesley. Speaking of Wellesley, they took the Colgate route and dropped "Red" from their nickname. Considering there weren't a lot of Indian connotations with their school; and their colors were more black than red, maybe there was a different reason other than political correctness, but I doubt it. Cambridge in the Patrick Ewing era were the Warriors, at some point they became the Falcons. Most Warrior nicknames have survived the onslaught.
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Post by WCHC Sports on Jan 11, 2019 10:02:52 GMT -5
Did you just assume the mascot's gender?
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Post by timholycross on Jan 11, 2019 10:28:21 GMT -5
Late to the discussion...I wondah if much of the animus toward the Mountaineer is somewhat "class based" i.e. makes the residents of the Wachusset district look like rubes etc? I didn't know that the high school was that big...ovah 2K kids...that would be one of the biggah schools in EMass. They do well in a lot of sports, soccer (both), girls basketball; but from the other comments apparently not in the so-called "revenue" sports (not that anyone makes a dime out of high school football or basketball in Massachusetts). The Dubzinskis and Gibbonses get around don't they?
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Post by gks on Jan 11, 2019 11:50:35 GMT -5
Late to the discussion...I wondah if much of the animus toward the Mountaineer is somewhat "class based" i.e. makes the residents of the Wachusset district look like rubes etc? I didn't know that the high school was that big...ovah 2K kids...that would be one of the biggah schools in EMass. I believe at one time Wachusett was the largest regional HS in Massachusetts. Not sure if it still is.
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