Midwestern State Mustangs????

[MrMustang1965]

Midwestern State (Div. II - Lone Star Conf.) is in Wichita Falls, TX.

By Ann Work/Times Record News
October 27, 2005

Dr. Jesse Rogers wants a new mascot name that flows easily with Midwestern State University's name.

He wants a mascot that's easily pictured and marketable.

And alliteration - repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words - is important to him, he said Wednesday.

Even though Rogers won't divulge the names of the three mascots that made the finalist list, a little detective work might solve the mystery.

A committee recently whittled down a list of 80 or more suggestions to five: Mustangs, Stallions, Golden Thunder, Golden Eagles and Armadillos.

No one's telling which three suggestions made the final cut - not Rogers, not mascot committee chairman Keith Lamb and not MSU publicist Janus Buss.

Rogers will pick one that he will recommend to MSU's Board of Regents during a regularly scheduled board meeting next week.

MSU was forced to abandon its "MSU Indians" identity when the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled that the old nickname was offensive to American Indians. MSU was given until Feb. 1 to come up with a new mascot and nickname.

The university has identified itself with Indians for as long as anyone can remember, Buss said. "In 1925 when the newspaper and yearbook were started, they were named The Wichitan (newspaper) and the Wai Kun (yearbook)," both Indian names, she said.

Rogers said he wanted to "save the fun" of unveiling his choice to the board of regents.

But he openly discussed his concerns about the name.

"I've had so many people say, 'Please don't give us a mascot like The Heat. What does that look like when we put it on the side of a football helmet or a uniform?' They said to be sure it's something alive that can be marketed. I think that's important."

Nix Midwestern State Golden Thunder.

The sound of the words with Midwestern State "is important to me," Rogers said. "We couldn't have a name where the alliteration would be poor. That's important to me that it flows."

Delete Midwestern State Golden Eagle.

Rogers wants the mascot to portray a positive image of the school. It doesn't take much sleuthing to infer that armadillos, frequently found dead on the side of the road, don't carry the positive image MSU wants for its sports teams.

Drop Midwestern State Armadillos.

That leaves two choices - the Mustangs or the Stallions.

Another clue from Rogers: "We want an object or something that is relevant to our culture, traditions and the history of this region of Texas . . . Something that would deal with our earlier history of oil, gas and ranching traditions."

That comment may favor "Mustangs," defined by Webster's as a "small wild or half wild horse of the SW plains of the United States."

The only problem there: Mustangs has already been snapped up by the City View Junior/Senior High School and by Southern Methodist University.

That doesn't bother Rogers, he said.

"We're perfectly happy for other schools to share our mascot with us. Almost any mascot that's attractive, there's one out there at a college or a high school," he said.

He's considered that carefully, though.

"As long as it's not someone in our Division 2 Lone Star Conference, people should be flattered if they share mascots."

Buss also said she didn't worry about taking a name already in use by another school. "Obviously, if we used SMU's icon, the Mustangs, we would not be using that look. We'd have to come up with our own Mustang look. We're not in the same conference athletically. I just don't see it as a problem."

Stay tuned: The mystery will be solved next week.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/loca ... 67,00.html

[LawSchoolPony]

Still think its absolutely [deleted] they had to change their mascot...geez.

[Dooby]

Still think its absolutely [deleted] they had to change their mascot...geez.

The in-laws went to Miami (Ohio); they detest anything with the name "Redhawks" on it.

[Diamond Girl]

If they do go with Mustangs, maybe we can offer them our new logo.

[Nacho]

The Mavs stole their name from UTA. They stole the horse from us. A horse is not a mav; a runaway calf is a mav.

I take it as a compliment that a d-2 school wants to name themselves after us. Maybe one day we will be in the same conference.

[that's great raplh]

If they do go with Mustangs, maybe we can offer them our new logo.

right on - that blohs

[jtstang]

Hey Fla St got to keep their name when the Seminole tribe endorsed it, Maybe these guys should appeal to the people of India.

[couch 'em]

This indian mascot stuff is stupid. If I were rich I'd sue Notre Dame. I mean, seriously, their logo is a drunken irishman. You'd have to go back 50 years to find an indian mascot that blatantly offensive. And unlike most indian mascots, Notre Dame became the fighting irish because they were mostly catholic - it was originally an insult. They just embraced it.

[LawSchoolPony]

But couch'em...that would require the NCAA to actually learn history - they are too ignorant and incompetent to do that!

They would rather bow to the powers-that-be and "political correctness" (whatever that happens to be at the time), than actually learn history and make a thoughtful, educated decision.

I went to Ole Miss, you'll have to excuse my cynicism after the "Col. Reb" mascot fiasco my senior year. That has nothing to do w/ the NCAA administration, but I have a few beefs w/ the NCAA admin. on other similar issues.

[SMU Football Blog]

Wichita Falls, eh? How about:

[Billy Joe]

Mid Western State v. SMU in football. The winner gets the name Mustangs. I am tempted to just give them the name. We sure don't deserve it. By the way, why is Bennett still the football coach after no improvement since he became coach? How many more years are we stuck with this crap? I feel like I am living in a third world country under the rule of an incompetent dictator. I guess I can do what most of the SMU students and fans have done...not show up to the games.

[PK]

That's the spirit Billy Joe...we all know that the size and enthusiasm of the crowd has no effect on the players or the out come of the game...so enjoy your Saturdays with the other no shows. Honestly...we won't blame you personally for the lack of team support, after all we don't want to spoil your day.

[jtstang]

That's the spirit Billy Joe...we all know that the size and enthusiasm of the crowd has no effect on the players or the out come of the game...so enjoy your Saturdays with the other no shows. Honestly...we won't blame you personally for the lack of team support, after all we don't want to spoil your day.

Eureka! That's it PK, we've won 5 games in 3 years because our crowds are too small. How could I not have realized this sooner?

[PK]

That's the spirit Billy Joe...we all know that the size and enthusiasm of the crowd has no effect on the players or the out come of the game...so enjoy your Saturdays with the other no shows. Honestly...we won't blame you personally for the lack of team support, after all we don't want to spoil your day.

Eureka! That's it PK, we've won 5 games in 3 years because our crowds are too small. How could I not have realized this sooner?

I can tell already that you and Billy Joe will have a good time together. You two would obviously never be good White Sox or Cubs fans or any number of other teams fans. So hone up your sarcasm skills because I'm going to give you plenty of opportunities to use it.

[DiamondM75]

That's the spirit Billy Joe...we all know that the size and enthusiasm of the crowd has no effect on the players or the out come of the game...so enjoy your Saturdays with the other no shows. Honestly...we won't blame you personally for the lack of team support, after all we don't want to spoil your day.

Eureka! That's it PK, we've won 5 games in 3 years because our crowds are too small. How could I not have realized this sooner?

Large crowds make noise and impress recruits. Yes, small crowds hurt this program. So get off your butts, turn off the BCS cr@p games and go to Ford every time the Mustangs are playing.

I am sick of the Dallas "support a winner" mentality. There is a lot more to sports than just Wins and Losses.