splitter
- and not Nebraska
Holograms of the legends of each sport. Best player hologram vs the current opponent. Playing Indiana at State Farm there appears Nick Anderson making that game winning shot.
The mascot debate/fandom thread
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
AyoDos11
- Southern Illinois
Did they promise you the mascot job or something?
We
LOL. I’m too old for that.
Honestly, I don’t understand what is so great about a white guy wearing a Native American costume and dancing around at half time. I don’t get it.
I have been to hundreds of games over the years…
Can’t we all move on and enjoy whatever the future brings with current student leadership?
I have been to hundreds of games over the years…
Can’t we all move on and enjoy whatever the future brings with current student leadership?
Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
A multi million dollar university sports enterprise doesn't need a mascot to thrive. But I could see why high schools and middle schools might want one for school spirit. The Kingfisher thing sounds like somebody is playing a joke...kinda like what some of us thought when initial reports about getting rid of the Chief first surfaced.
And then 15 years later it happens. Scary.
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mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Yes, that's why multi-billion dollar professional sports organizations never, ever use them.
Fine, if I need a mascot I want this all the time...
Don't want one, but if inevitable, let's make some money off it. I for one embrace our new corporate overlords: the Illinois Peacocks.
Now someone more skilled than me superimpose the top half of the Chief logo over those feathers!
Regardless of whether you believe he was a mascot or honored symbol, can we all agree Chief Illiniwek did not perform the conventional duties of a mascot? To my knowledge, the Chief never fired a t-shirt cannon, posed for pictures with kids, dunked off a trampoline, or cut the ribbon at a grocery store opening.
I expect the pro-mascot folks would always have wanted a mascot, and in theory would have been clamoring for one before 2007. That thing in a crazy costume playing with the kids and trying to rev up the crowd during timeouts has always been missing from Illini sports. Personally, I find mascots to be stupid and pointless, with few exceptions. But hey, to each his own. They are easy enough to ignore, and mascots are very far down the list of things that annoy me at sporting events.
College mascots are typically aligned with the team nickname. It seems much more common to have a pro mascot that doesn't have anything to do with the team name, e.g. the Suns' Gorilla or the Flyers' Gritty. Realistically, we're never going to have a conventional mascot that aligns with the name Fighting Illini. If the desire is to just have a mascot, I would humbly suggest those in favor should be proposing something totally unrelated to U of I or the state, i.e. something more like the Gorilla. There will always be people who are mad the Chief is gone, and anything that hints of a potential new team nickname is never going to get majority support.
Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
If I'm not mistaken the San Diego Chicken is looking for work.
They tried him before, about 1980. He was booed out of the Assembly Hall and never seen again. Good luck at even finding a photo.
The reason that “they” want a mascot is not because they want a mascot. They don’t attend games or otherwise engage in anything involving a mascot or anything a mascot would do. They’ve been very clear. It’s simply Not The Chief and they’re playing games with the simpleminded.
Maybe we could invite FSU’s Chief Osceola how a symbol—that’s what FSU calls him—should be done.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Yeah sounds pretty fun, man
Saw this on reddit
Attachments
Great looking Kingfisher!
Better than the homemade costume from a few weeks back, and it looks like there is some inspiration from the headdress going on (though that's most likely not intentional and just how a Kingfisher looks).
But it has strong UTSA vibes, and I still feel as though this eventually forces the change from Illinois Fighting Illini to Illinois Kingfishers, which just feels significantly less.
That is the ultimate issue from my perspective. Once we have a mascot the next thing will be that the term Fighting Illini is racist and should be replaced. Since we have a kingfisher (or ground squirrel or otter, etc) as a mascot, why don't we just get rid of the reference to Fighting Illini altogether and start referring to our teams as the kingfishers?
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
is there dislike button I can toggle ?
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
I ran into the kingfisher twice today. Decided to call it a woodpecker and not even give it the respect of acknowledging what it intends to be.
Oh, the goal is most definitely to eliminate Fighting Illini. It’s no secret. It’s the ultimate goal. And when the chancellor says that Fighting Illini will always continue…not if he can help it.