OT: Notre Dame's Leprechaun The Fourth-Most Offensive Mascot
In a mascot study conducted by Quality Logo Products, Notre Dame's leprechaun was named fourth-most offensive. The top three most offensive mascots wear face paint, headdresses and are culturally insensitive to Native Americans (Osceola and Renegade of Florida State, the Aztec Warrior of San Diego State and Vili the Warrior of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
College mascot article from USA Today
In the same survey, Purdue Pete was named the creepiest mascot.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:39 AM ^
I don't have any dogs in these fights because I don't care enough...mostly about people clamoring to traditions in the face of people claiming they're offensive; I'll pretty much side with the latter. However, here, I was under the impression FSU has always been in talks with and gotten permission (encouragement even) from the Seminole (Florida) Nation about the 'usage' of Chief Osceola as a mascot, etc..
Now maybe the Oklahoma faction of Seminole is where the issue lie or even Native American Indians as a whole have issue with FSU's usage of them. Otherwise I'm confused as to how Chief Osceola, Renegade, and FSU top the list.
August 25th, 2021 at 2:15 AM ^
The Seminole Tribe of Florida had made a public statement of support in 2005, allowing the university to use the tribe's name, logos, and images.
https://unicomm.fsu.edu/messages/relationship-seminole-tribe-florida/
As far as I know, the Aztecs have not been around for hundreds of years so I'm not sure who could find that one offensive. Also, I couldn't find anything regarding support from a local tribe for the University of Hawaii's use of polynesian imagery.
From what I've read regarding Notre Dame's mascot, most people in Ireland have little knowledge of the university itself. Most don't know of it's existence.
None of this is to say that any of these universities are right or wrong, I'm just putting some info from a few quick google searches out there.
Personally, as long as the imagery used isn't cartoonish or exaggerated to a near comical/uncomfortable extent (re: the Cleveland Indians old logo), I find no problem with the use of historical figures/peoples in sports. Then again, I'm not Native American, polynesian, or Irish.
August 25th, 2021 at 3:32 AM ^
There are 30 million Americans of Irish descent.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
Are any of them leprechauns?
August 25th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
This is an important thing to remember. The Notre Dame mascot is a mythological magical creature who tricks people out of their hard earned money. Not exactly something sacred.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
Right? Good thing no one has a unicorn as a mascot. Can you imagine how pissed off all the females in their 30’s that wear pajamas all day would be?
August 25th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
Conor Mcgregor
August 25th, 2021 at 4:03 PM ^
Meh. I'm Irish-American and it doesn't offend me. I'm it's a kind of stupid mascot, as mascots are wont to be, but it doesn't offend me.
August 25th, 2021 at 6:11 AM ^
You don’t know who would be offended by the Aztecs? The same people who are offended by EVERYTHING in this country.
August 25th, 2021 at 7:02 AM ^
*looks at avatar
*sighs
*nods vigorously
*sighs, again
August 25th, 2021 at 7:07 AM ^
I find this statement offensive.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
morality gangsters. victimhood has become the highest virtue and emotion and feels rule the western world. its cancerous.
makes it more difficult to reach consensus when a legit grievance actually occurs. one can be a decent person without publicly emoting or one can make calculated, meaningful change without looking to score virtue points via social media - wild concepts, i know. parents do better. end rant
August 25th, 2021 at 8:58 AM ^
The same people that were offended by Hurons.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
to be fair,
they are offended by EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE
August 25th, 2021 at 2:00 PM ^
Regarding Aztecs, are you suggesting that the conquest of the mesoamericana groups during the 16th century (and later) resulted in their dna and cultural identity being lost forever amongst modern peoples of that region?
Personally I’ll err on the side of respecting the wishes of any group who can claim a legit lineage to any indigenous people… especially those dehumanized for natural resources.
August 25th, 2021 at 6:49 AM ^
Washington had numerous native Americans come out and say they had zero issue with their name and logo. The family of the man who their helmet was drawn from came out in protest of changing the logo. 41 high schools, all native American schools, still go by Redskins with same logo. It's not about the people that are supposedly being racially offended, it's about appearing woke and better than everyone else.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:58 AM ^
It's not about the people that are supposedly being racially offended, it's about appearing woke and better than everyone else.
Disagree with this, there were plenty of Native Americans that didn't like the term.
August 25th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
It's pretty easy for white guys to tell other people not to be offended by jokes or characterizations about race, gender, etc.
August 25th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
I tend to believe it's the other way around. Back in Oklahoma my wife's Indian friends would roll their eyes and mutter about "white people minding their own business" when asked about the old Northeastern State University nickname. And that one was nearly the same as Washington's.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^
It's about as easy as any random American logging on to a forum and talking about social justice while not ever volunteering at a soup kitchen or delivering Christmas presents to families who can't afford anything or feeding kids at summer camps who wouldn't otherwise eat because the only food they get is at school. For example.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:35 PM ^
Actually, the reality is the opposite. Numerous surveys of Native Americans found that the great majority simply did not care. It was unimportant to them. Consequently, the reality is that this is a matter of white guys (males and females) telling Native Americans that they should be offended.
August 25th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
The post you are responding to actually provided an example. You didn't.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
It also came to light that a few of the "grassroots" efforts/campaigns by Native american supporters in favor of keeping the name were run by PR firms paid by Snyder/WFT
And that some of the "native american" Redskins name supporters that the team paraded out turned out to be not actually native american. This includes the original person whom the original Redskins namen supposedly honored, "Lone Star" Dietz, who possibly lied about his heritage and probably lied about his identity
August 25th, 2021 at 6:59 AM ^
There's at least 1.5 million people who speak Nahuatl today. And a large number of Mexicans are descended from one of the groups that made up the Aztec empire. Probably most Mexicans outside the Yucatan (where you mostly have Mayans). But ethnicity in Mexico is complicated, even more so than in the US AFAIK.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
Cool.
August 25th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
Yeah, “Aztecs don’t exist” is kind of just willfully displaying your ignorance. You don’t get it, or why people find it a little strange. Just move along and save us all from reading how the most pressing national issue is “victim hood” and “outrage.” Like just say you’re white and unbothered and go.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
One thing that is interesting about the SDSU mascot is that they actually completely revised his appearance a little while back to appease demands to make him more authentic to what an Aztec warrior would have looked like. I believe that they worked with scholars and researchers to try and be as accurate as possible. This was maybe 15-20 years ago, and clearly the winds have shifted since then.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sd-san-diego-state-mascot-warrior-brief-history-of-debate-20180517-htmlstory.html
August 25th, 2021 at 9:16 AM ^
This one I find very offensive and the only redeeming quality is their food delivery skills, so I guess them being at #5 is pretty spot on....
August 25th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
I'm not sure why this would be offensive. It's post-grad Sparty in a typical line of work. It's either this or "do you want fries with that?"
August 25th, 2021 at 2:33 AM ^
A few quick observations from the study:
1. The fact that the Ragin' Cajun's mascot is a big ol' cayenne pepper with a face is hilarious to me.
2. I think a lot of Northwestern fans responded to this survey as Willie the Wildcat was voted best mascot AND most sexy! What the hell! He looks old! Where is his sex appeal? (unrelated: the Rutgers Scarlet Knight is number 9 but Sparty is nowhere to be found, even with multiple animals appearing on the list)
3. The only one of the top 4 most offensive mascots to make it into the top 10 worst mascots was Vili the Warrior. Proof that being offensive doesn't necessarily make people dislike you. lol
4. Also the Stanford Tree is easily the worst mascot in all of college sports for me. No contest. I mean it looks like they made it out of construction paper. The Nittany Lion would be 2nd, followed by Purdue Pete and Pistol Pete.
5. Why does everyone hate "Hey Reb!"? He looks pretty cool to me. He's an old prospector! The writing staff at MGoBlog would love him.
August 25th, 2021 at 2:50 AM ^
I thought the Stanford Tree wasn't an official Stanford mascot so often skates by on a technacality.
August 25th, 2021 at 5:32 AM ^
I didn’t know my feelings were so controversial but I actually like the Stanford Tree. Maybe I even prefer it to *any* college mascot
August 25th, 2021 at 8:17 AM ^
Same here. I like the marching band, too, even if they give off too much of a "We're cooler than you" vibe.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:41 PM ^
FYI. Stanford was known as the Indians until 1970!
Figures that California would lead the charge in finding anything related to any Indian as being offensive.
I only find the term "Redskins" offensive. Any other renaming of Native American team nicknames seems absurd. We used those nicknames to actually honor them.
August 25th, 2021 at 5:33 AM ^
The Stanford tree technically is not a sport mascot. It’s the bands mascot.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:21 AM ^
It is also a new costume made by the incumbent tree each year. Which is why it sometimes looks dilapidated.
Check out its history. it’s one of the best mascots
August 25th, 2021 at 7:11 AM ^
As I understand it, the Stanford Tree is ironic.
While other mascots are earnest attempts to energize fans, boost school spirit, sell merch, etc., the Tree is a joke making fun of all that.
As if to say, "Y'want mascots? Mascot this."
August 25th, 2021 at 7:26 AM ^
I thought Stanford’s mascot was a tech bro in a hoodie, but I suppose a tree is more entertaining
August 25th, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
This is something I can get behind. It's not so bad after all.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:55 AM ^
I'm not sure there's ever been a time where the Stanford tree is sober in public so that makes it ok by me.
August 25th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
I read a UNLV Twitter thread the other day and one user said it's the University President's axe to grind regarding Hey Reb.
Another interesting claim on the website of the "Honor the Chief Society": apparently the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma was open to starting a dialogue with Illinois about bringing back Chief Illiniwek or perhaps another approved logo a few years ago but their new president wouldn't even entertain the idea. No clue how true that is.
August 25th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
The Stanford Tree is objectively hilarious
August 25th, 2021 at 10:13 AM ^
The Stanford Tree is easily the best mascot. The annual contest to become the Tree is epic.
The only other mascots I'm a fan of are the ones the could possibly kill people is the stadium -- Mike (LSU), Bevo (Texas) Ralphie (Colorado). And maybe the idiots riding the Boomer Schooner at Oklahoma. That thing is a death trap.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
The Boomer Schooner should definitely be pulled by Bevo and Ralphie. Then Mike gets to eat any injured occupants.
August 25th, 2021 at 1:35 PM ^
Those mascots may be able to kill, but as far as I know, UGA is the only mascot that has literally bit an opposing player before.
August 25th, 2021 at 4:08 AM ^
Buddy, if you're offended by the leprechaun, you're looking for things to be offended about.
Let us not draw false equivalencies between Irish caricatures and those of indigenous people
August 25th, 2021 at 5:18 AM ^
I don't want to make light of what offends anyone, but I thought a leprechaun came from Irish folklore. Meaning it's not based on any real thing or person. Neg me, because I didn't read the article because I don't care one way or the other, but is a leprechaun a real thing, in some sort of way?
August 25th, 2021 at 6:54 AM ^
Per the article, Notre Dame notes that the leprechaun began in England — as a disparaging symbol of Irish people.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:22 AM ^
From doing a quick Google search, The only mention of this come from the article this story comes from.