OT - Ole Miss chooses black bear
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5684400
score one for 'meh'.
October 14th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^
Damn, I obviously took too much time typing...
October 14th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^
Why pick an animal that has nothing to do with Mississippi?
October 14th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^
Actually, black bears used to be indigenous to this region (the Mississippi Delta) and its surrounding areas, especially northern Louisiana. For reference, read William Faulkner's "The Bear". Until the 1920s bear hunts were still common in this part of the South. There was a particular variety even called the "Louisiana Black Bear" and it is making a mild comeback in certain rural parts of the state.
Texas wildlife and fisheries report on it:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_louisiana_black_bear.pdf
October 14th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
Just to be clear, I too think the shunning of Admiral Ackbar is lame on a massive scale.
October 14th, 2010 at 12:59 PM ^
Mississippi back when and the association of the state with bears at one time was pretty strong. Google the words black bear and Mississippi and you strike fairly serious pay dirt.
October 14th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^
Note the caption: "Drawing the line in Mississippi."
October 14th, 2010 at 1:41 PM ^
Thanks. Is this by chance, you?
October 14th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^
Only if it will get me a non-lawyer job.
October 14th, 2010 at 1:49 PM ^
Thanks for that. FWIW I checked out a map before I posted and thought it was ironic that Mississippi was one of the few states in the country to have no indigenous black bears and the only state in the south. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Black_bear_map.png
October 14th, 2010 at 2:05 PM ^
I mean, can we quit it with the references to obscure William Faulkner stories?
October 14th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^
That's pretty boring. The Rebel Land Shark would've been interesting, although I don't exactly know what that is. The best option was clearly Admiral Ackbar. Damn you George Lucas.
October 14th, 2010 at 12:52 PM ^
Admiral Ackbear.
or even Admiral blACKBeAR
October 14th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
Wow! Ole Miss allowing anything black to represent their school shows just how far it has come over the last 140 years.
What's more shocking is that the Black Panther came in a close second
October 14th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
I was about to make a "black bear...Ole Miss...racism" comment, but I couldn't figure out how to fill in those ellipses. Cheers to you!
Also, the Ole Miss Black Panthers would have been far and away the best (after Ackbar, of course).
October 14th, 2010 at 2:18 PM ^
The Black Panther came in second?!?
Does Ole Miss have a Department of Cultural Insensitivity that gets to choose these things?
October 14th, 2010 at 12:51 PM ^
if Ackbar had won, at least one school would have been justified in playing the imperial march during games....
October 14th, 2010 at 12:57 PM ^
Hm wouldn't it have actually justified every opponent of Ole Miss playing the Imperial March?
The Ole Miss band could play like....Duel of the Fates or something
October 14th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
you didn't just reference a orchestral arrangement from the trilogy that shall not be named.
If anything, you could have sugggested
- mos eisley band remix
- ewok victory song
- award march from the end of Ep IV
October 14th, 2010 at 1:24 PM ^
October 14th, 2010 at 2:19 PM ^
"Bear is driving? How can that be?"
October 14th, 2010 at 2:26 PM ^
I just realized that I know exactly what song you were referring to. This is not good for my self esteem.
October 14th, 2010 at 12:56 PM ^
Black Bear
Anagram for...
Able Ackbar!
October 14th, 2010 at 1:00 PM ^
under there.
October 14th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
No one has said it yet?!
IT"S A TRAP!!!
October 14th, 2010 at 1:05 PM ^
makes his grand entrance on a rotating bridge chair and white tunic, then we shall all bow down to the Ole Miss secret Rebel Alliance and applaud their trickeration.
October 14th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
I enjoy that the bear has Tailgating attire and that it is in the Ole Miss tradition.
October 14th, 2010 at 1:06 PM ^
shouldn't he be cooking squirrel gumbo out of a fire in the trunk of his '74 Charger while drinking Coors?
October 14th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
who thought, "It would be hilarious if the bear had the Confederate flag in the picture?
October 14th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
I prefer the:
October 14th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
I was really really hoping for "Hotty Toddy"
October 14th, 2010 at 1:36 PM ^
I thought Hotty Toddy could be the most douche-tastic mascot of the land. Such unrealized potential there.
Land Shark would have also been good, but like everybody predicted, the bear won because it is the most PC and therefore least interesting of the 3.
October 14th, 2010 at 2:03 PM ^
"Hello 'Ol Miss? This is Maine calling. We want our mascot back."
October 14th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^
Should have been the Wildcats...or Tigers. Not enough of those.
October 14th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
bears. beets. battlestar galactica.
October 14th, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^
That's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought...
October 14th, 2010 at 3:07 PM ^
Why did they need a mascot? I don't understand their allure. I see mascots as something that appeals mainly to small children, and it doesn't seem like that many kids go to college sporting events. Does their adult fanbase really get a kick out of seeing a guy in a big furry suit?
October 14th, 2010 at 3:44 PM ^
the South is just a weird place sometimes.
October 14th, 2010 at 3:50 PM ^
Except that this is a nationwide phenomenon. Eight of the 11 Big Ten schools have mascots, and one of the other three (Illinois) had a mascot until the NCAA forced them to get rid of it. And Nebraska actually has two mascots.