Midwestern State Mustangs????
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:04 pmMidwestern 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
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
