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Post by agibson on Nov 24, 2010 9:52:04 GMT -5
Also, I think the spelling of Valparaiso was supposed to be a way of keeping members of the VUCRU from using the "We're gonna beat the hell out of you" chant? Ah, OK- I wondered what stlvu was talking about. I thought he was going to complain about the coarse "beat the hell out of you" language. Which is, well, yeah, perhaps a bit uncomfortably coarse. It was the standard chant from the pep band and students in the late 90's. I did think the cheerleaders were chanting something else at the PNC game, but couldn't quite make it out. Spelling Valparaiso does sound a bit odd. Maybe I'd have to hear it in rhythm.
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Post by crusadermoe on Nov 24, 2010 10:09:41 GMT -5
Rink is right. The mascot is an embarrassment. The VU web statement about the mascot gives you a clue on the convoluted process that might have created it. Peace and love and ultra serious PC lingo just does not mix well with mascot image decisions. Mascots are fun.
What name did these students choose? In the spirit of the "Pat" character on SNL, I was thinking "Chris Crusader" would have been a good choice. Hopefully, by January someone wakes up and just ditches both the name and the costume. Why not create a mascot like Sparty or the USC Trojan for Pete's sake. The old one was at least fun.
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Post by jerome1 on Nov 24, 2010 11:42:15 GMT -5
It's just a mascot. Ignore it. I thought the old mascot was too cartoonish but never threatened to withhold financial support. Actually before jj posted about it I never even thought about financial support being connected to athletics at all. It sounds rinky dink over dramatic if you ask me.
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Post by stlvufan on Nov 24, 2010 14:15:41 GMT -5
It's just a mascot. Ignore it. I thought the old mascot was too cartoonish but never threatened to withhold financial support. Actually before jj posted about it I never even thought about financial support being connected to athletics at all. It sounds rinky dink over dramatic if you ask me. Exactly. I don't mind the mascot because I don't care about the mascot. It's just not that important in my world. Give me something to care about and I might climb on board. From what I've heard, rink's description of the politically correct contortion the new mascot represents is entirely plausible in this day and age. We've all seen plenty of examples of stuff that's so generic and bland because somebody tried to appeal to every constituency all at once. I just don't the mascot is the place to start your protest. I'd be aiming for a higher target myself. As for the song, I've heard plenty of clean but inventive filler for that part of the song from other schools that play it. Standing there clapping my hands and spelling the name of the school just feels juvenile. Did the VuCru insert this spelling bee as if to say, "well, admin, if you won't let us use the line we want to use, we're going to think of something really stupid to make the school look bad?" That'd be pathetic if true. Look, the answer to political correctness is *not* rampant political incorrectness, just as two wrongs don't make a right. The answer is to treat it as a challenge (which is what college is supposed to be about, I seem to recall, even though I was horrible at meeting challenges when I was a college student). The other possibility is that they tried to make the mascot so complex that it just "looks" like a big blob of nothing. That can happen too. There are concepts that just don't translate well as mascots, I suspect. You may say, Lighten up, it's just a mascot, and basically, I'm right there with ya. As a fan, a mascot is not a serious situation, it's an occasion for entertainment. But if you expect everybody to lighten up, you have to meet them halfway, and if the old mascot was not doing that, then a new one is needed. Then again, if they just got rid of it altogether, I'd be fine with that too. A mascot is not a necessity in my world. On the other hand, maybe we should give rink a break. After all, he's doing exactly what those who designed the new mascot seem to want him to do: take the mascot seriously. If you put a new mascot out there and build it up as some great and serious representation of the university's mission in the world, you can't be upset that someone takes it seriously and thinks it's an embarrassment. You can disagree, but you can't dismiss them.
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Post by vuweathernerd on Nov 24, 2010 15:02:37 GMT -5
Also, I think the spelling of Valparaiso was supposed to be a way of keeping members of the VUCRU from using the "We're gonna beat the hell out of you" chant? Ah, OK- I wondered what stlvu was talking about. I thought he was going to complain about the coarse "beat the hell out of you" language. Which is, well, yeah, perhaps a bit uncomfortably coarse. It was the standard chant from the pep band and students in the late 90's. I did think the cheerleaders were chanting something else at the PNC game, but couldn't quite make it out. Spelling Valparaiso does sound a bit odd. Maybe I'd have to hear it in rhythm. V-A-L / P-A-R / A-I-S-O
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Post by vu72 on Nov 24, 2010 15:03:21 GMT -5
The issue I have with rink is that he specifically said he would contribute to the ValpoFund, which primarily supports scholarships for students and faculty salaries. It has nothing to do with athletics. The mascot doesn't show up at physics class, it shows up at sporting events.
So if he said "I'm not giving any more money to the "Crusader Fund" then I guess, even though I don't agree, it would make more sense. That's all my beef is about.
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rink
Bench Warmer
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Post by rink on Dec 5, 2010 1:13:00 GMT -5
stlvufan, I appreciate the final bit of pardon in your post, but FYI you are completely misrepresenting my position by affiliating political correctness with my protest. While typically I would be #1 cheerleader against PC infiltration amongst us, that's not my issue at all -- and I'm confident that if you look through my posts you will see no mention of anything related to political correctness. My one and only complaint -- and obviously it's a mammoth one -- is that the new mascot is just so homemade and subpar. It's not principle, it's the result. It makes us look awful to the general public.
And to those that say it's just a mascot, I don't get it. To any of us connected to the univerisity, especially those of us with VU stamped on our resume as well as our heart, it's the broadcast and advertised images like this that contribute to the perception of our institution that's seen by many others. A visible symbol that clearly cuts down our prestige and calls into question the quality of the school. I just can't apologize for so strongly objecting and somehow, someway wanting the university to know.
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Post by okinawatyphoon on Dec 5, 2010 1:23:04 GMT -5
On December 8th, there is apparently some type of dinner/forum with IMC and certain invited students to address the rebranding and other issues. They have heard of complaints through "social media channels." This information came from facebook, so I'm not sure how legitimate or publicized this will be.
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mj
Bench Warmer
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Post by mj on Dec 5, 2010 2:20:03 GMT -5
Yea my brother is going to some dinner tomorrow night with IMC regarding the new mascot. Anyone have any questions they want him to ask? Besides the obvious ones.
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Post by stlvufan on Dec 5, 2010 2:30:19 GMT -5
stlvufan, I appreciate the final bit of pardon in your post, but FYI you are completely misrepresenting my position by affiliating political correctness with my protest. While typically I would be #1 cheerleader against PC infiltration amongst us, that's not my issue at all -- and I'm confident that if you look through my posts you will see no mention of anything related to political correctness. My one and only complaint -- and obviously it's a mammoth one -- is that the new mascot is just so homemade and subpar. It's not principle, it's the result. It makes us look awful to the general public. And to those that say it's just a mascot, I don't get it. To any of us connected to the univerisity, especially those of us with VU stamped on our resume as well as our heart, it's the broadcast and advertised images like this that contribute to the perception of our institution that's seen by many others. A visible symbol that clearly cuts down our prestige and calls into question the quality of the school. I just can't apologize for so strongly objecting and somehow, someway wanting the university to know. My apologies for misrepresenting your position. It was an obvious guess, but obviously it was wrong. My only question now is: wasn't last year's mascot just as silly looking in the eyes of many? Maybe it doesn't matter what outsiders think of it, but I seem to recall lots of mocking thrown our way for the previous mascot. Does this new one really make things worse?
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Post by valpo10 on Dec 5, 2010 2:49:54 GMT -5
On December 8th, there is apparently some type of dinner/forum with IMC and certain invited students to address the rebranding and other issues. They have heard of complaints through "social media channels." This information came from facebook, so I'm not sure how legitimate or publicized this will be. Oh its legit because I will be giving them a piece of my mind at this dinner
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Post by rlh on Dec 5, 2010 10:51:00 GMT -5
The problem with the new mascot isn't necessarily the mascot itself, although I don't prefer it myself, but the costume looks homemade and not professionally made. i don't know who made it, but the university should get their money back
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Post by vuweathernerd on Dec 5, 2010 13:03:41 GMT -5
stlvufan, I appreciate the final bit of pardon in your post, but FYI you are completely misrepresenting my position by affiliating political correctness with my protest. While typically I would be #1 cheerleader against PC infiltration amongst us, that's not my issue at all -- and I'm confident that if you look through my posts you will see no mention of anything related to political correctness. My one and only complaint -- and obviously it's a mammoth one -- is that the new mascot is just so homemade and subpar. It's not principle, it's the result. It makes us look awful to the general public. And to those that say it's just a mascot, I don't get it. To any of us connected to the univerisity, especially those of us with VU stamped on our resume as well as our heart, it's the broadcast and advertised images like this that contribute to the perception of our institution that's seen by many others. A visible symbol that clearly cuts down our prestige and calls into question the quality of the school. I just can't apologize for so strongly objecting and somehow, someway wanting the university to know. My apologies for misrepresenting your position. It was an obvious guess, but obviously it was wrong. My only question now is: wasn't last year's mascot just as silly looking in the eyes of many? Maybe it doesn't matter what outsiders think of it, but I seem to recall lots of mocking thrown our way for the previous mascot. Does this new one really make things worse? in my work at the bookstore, i have the good fortunes to talk with many of the alumni that come back to campus and want to buy more valpo swag. one of the most frequent comments that i've heard throughout the semester (and my coworkers have mentioned it too) is that they preferred the old mascot. i've had customers ask if we had anything left with the old mascot because they refuse to buy things that show the new-look crusader. (granted, this is a small minority of the disgruntled.) so to answer your question, stl, yes i really do think it makes things worse. i'm not anti-imc by any stretch. in fact, i think a lot of what they've tried to do makes sense. and i'm sure we'll hear the response once again that students designed it. i don't care. while they are seemingly more creative/design oriented and more talented than me (which isn't hard for anybody that's seen me draw anything), i have to agree with the previous folks who have said that it comes across as amateur-looking. because that's what it is apparently. if vu is going to spend millions of dollars creating an integrated marketing department and restyling the university's branding and image, then they should have incorporated a professionally designed new-look crusader into the campaign. /rant.
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Post by stlvufan on Dec 5, 2010 13:44:37 GMT -5
I wasn't thinking of alumni, I was thinking of outsiders (conference rivals both in the HL and the Mid-Con). Seems like we got a lot of mockery thrown our way from those sources, but I could be wrong.
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Post by okinawatyphoon on Dec 5, 2010 14:01:51 GMT -5
The problem with the new mascot isn't necessarily the mascot itself, although I don't prefer it myself, but the costume looks homemade and not professionally made. i don't know who made it, but the university should get their money back Exactly! I love the new logos and new marketing campaign, but the costume is just awful.
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