Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
I missed my edit--rufous or RUST colored band. Apologies for my very confusing oversight.
Again--NOT orange.
The mascot debate/fandom thread
Again--NOT orange.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I do not want the kingfisher, but looks Orange and Blue here
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Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
I don't know what that is, but it isn't an adult female belted kingfisher. The crest is missing, the beak is wrong, and the color is wrong. Perhaps more gaslighting?
Belted Kingfisher Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
With its top-heavy physique, energetic flight, and piercing rattle, the Belted Kingfisher seems to have an air of self-importance as it patrols up and down rivers and shorelines. It nests in burrows along earthen banks and feeds almost entirely on aquatic prey, diving to catch fish and crayfish...
www.allaboutbirds.org
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Interesting. The other is the picture that comes up first when you google kingfisherI don't know what that is, but it isn't an adult female belted kingfisher. The crest is missing, the beak is wrong, and the color is wrong. Perhaps more gaslighting?
View attachment 28637Belted Kingfisher Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
With its top-heavy physique, energetic flight, and piercing rattle, the Belted Kingfisher seems to have an air of self-importance as it patrols up and down rivers and shorelines. It nests in burrows along earthen banks and feeds almost entirely on aquatic prey, diving to catch fish and crayfish...
belted kingfisher
belted kinfgfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) [female] Photo © David W. Brewer
I posted this link a day or two ago but I don't see it anymore. Sorry Dan if it's somehow an issue....
It's an official State of Illinois website about this bird....
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Some people still get to experience electricity. The irony of it all… This happens at EVERY Florida State University game. Watch Chief Osceola here. Everyone at, everyone in Illinois should see that and more like it.
The goal of the anti-Chief, pro-bird people is to eliminate ALL references to Native Americans in any official imagery of the University of Illinois, and that includes Illini. And like the War Chant, Oskee-wow-wow and the Three-in-One, will be gone. You’ll have nothing to “Chief” to.
Can you imagine Florida State without Osceola? THIS…or some silly mascot.
Can you imagine the irony of Florida State joining the B1G and the “Illini” coming to town with a silly bird?
Majestic bird? It’s five ounce…and it eats minnows. You want majestic?. Here’s majestic. Can your little bird do this?
I agree with the factual argument here, but I'm not sure it matters. Do the majority of people who found the Chief offensive also associate Fighting Illini with Native American imagery and therefore want the name changed? I think so. Heck, I associated the name with Native American imagery before, during, and after my stay in Champaign, until such time as I had to research it further to offer defenses for dropping the Chief but keeping the name. I just don't think the general public is ever going to care to differentiate, and I don't see how the presence or absence of a costumed animal on the sidelines changes that.
In particular, I think the Kingfisher is a trojan horse for a name change. For all the talk of mascots, the pro-Kingfisher crowd has produced mostly logos and graphics. How many schools have an official logo that has nothing to do with their team nickname? Alabama has the Elephant mascot, but I don't think it plays a prominent role in their branding.
If the Kingfisher mascot happens, I hope you're correct. I just don't see it.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
It's not like it's unique to Illinois in any way. They are found over a wide range over many states and countries - not just Illinois. Besides, ISU just down the road is already a bird, but at least it's the actual state bird.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
That looks like a common kingfisher, not found in North America.
I’m with you on this part. If it’s just a goofy mascot for the kids, why all the “in-game-graphic” esque logos?
I’m sure there are a few examples here and there of schools that HAVE a logo that includes an unrelated mascot, but it’s not the norm.
Plus, the mascot costume they did come up with is this hideous monstrosity.
I think the reason for all the logos and graphics is simply because it's the best way for them to promote the idea. I don't believe it's a coincidence that the first mascot proposal to really gain any true traction has been the one with a professional-looking visual identity. They had to fundraise to get the costume in the photo you sent and I don't think they would have gotten any support from the student body (which probably contributed the most money to them) if all their proposals looked hand-drawn or like they were just taken from clipart.
It's hard to find schools that have logos with unrelated mascots because it's hard to find schools with mascots unrelated to the nickname. The only I can think of off the top of my head is Standford with the tree being super integral to their logo, but that's the only example I can think of, at least with only counting what schools officially list as their logos. Standford still tho uses the tree in addition to block S.
As for the looks of the costume itself, I'm honestly not quite sure I've seen any good-looking bird mascot costumes. I'm not sure if the idea of birds just don't work with this or if I'm just so tired of damn bird mascots that it makes them all look bad. Either way, the costume doesn't look any worse than a typical bird mascot, but bird mascots almost always suck imo. The fact that it'd be another damn bird mascot might honestly be my biggest problem with the Kingfisher idea. If you're going to have no creativity when trying to pick a mascot idea, then just commit to having no creativity and do some goofy unknown creature like Gritty from the Flyers or Big Red from WKU, or the Blue Blob from Xavier. And an advantage there is there's no risk of anyone using it to try and change the name from Fighting Illini.
I do still stand by that I doubt Kingfisher will come to fruition anytime soon, at least in any official sense. Athletics seems to be really pushing back on it, even if they're doing it silently. All entities related to the DIA were instructed to basically not even acknowledge the bird at the parade. DIA seems to be very aware that they're likely the ones to take the negative impacts if this ever were to become official and are pushing back on it presumably due to that. You may see autonomous entities of the university adopt it and the community (mainly students) adopt the Kingfisher, but I doubt it'll be acknowledged officially at least for a while.
sbillini
- st petersburg, fl
If we're 14 pages (and ungodly number of years) into this debate and people still don't understand why FSU's situation is clearly not the same as UIUC's, this is a hopeless debate in general.
Great pic! And you can clearly see CURRENT students having FUN.
If they like it so much, you'd think they'd want a picture with it's front.
It is kind of funny thinking about it that if the original student editorial in 1882 said the name was based on the Illiniwek term, we probably would have had to change the name. Not even saying it was or wasn't, but just one line in 1882 would have changed a lot for our brand lol. I think more likely there's just only so many names you can come up with around Illinois, but thank god they didn't say it was based on anything Native American.
Yes, but can it carry a coconut?
So going to the Rose Bowl is good for attendance.
I’m calling it right now.
Someone is going to dress up in a different mascot costume (maybe one discussed here, maybe not) and they will (hopefully not too aggressively) come out of nowhere and take down the poor gal/guy in the kingfisher costume.
It will be all over twitter and then THAT will become our goofy mascot.
And I no, it won’t be me that does it!
Someone is going to dress up in a different mascot costume (maybe one discussed here, maybe not) and they will (hopefully not too aggressively) come out of nowhere and take down the poor gal/guy in the kingfisher costume.
It will be all over twitter and then THAT will become our goofy mascot.
And I no, it won’t be me that does it!
History shows when an idea is forced upon others, the result isn't the outcome the person "Willing" it to happen wants.
Prolly should rename the state too. /s
socalini
- So Cali
Just chiming in with my .02:
Like it or not, the Chief is never coming back.
"Fighting Illini" is never going away.
I feel no connection to the Kingfisher whatsoever. Grasping at straws for something, debatably, orange and blue.
Some form of Galloping Ghost is, in my opinion, the best option, assuming his family is cool with it. Have a student in a sepia-toned uniform and makeup with some orange highlights or stripes on it. Have him on the sideline by the team pumping up the crowd at the appropriate times. Maybe run through the band for a touchdown at halftime. I think it could look pretty cool.
Like it or not, the Chief is never coming back.
"Fighting Illini" is never going away.
I feel no connection to the Kingfisher whatsoever. Grasping at straws for something, debatably, orange and blue.
Some form of Galloping Ghost is, in my opinion, the best option, assuming his family is cool with it. Have a student in a sepia-toned uniform and makeup with some orange highlights or stripes on it. Have him on the sideline by the team pumping up the crowd at the appropriate times. Maybe run through the band for a touchdown at halftime. I think it could look pretty cool.
Because it is completely manufactured. There is nothing that particularly ties Illinois to the kingfisher. The bird's range is nearly the entire country. AND the bright orange and blue picture that shows up the internet is not even the kingfisher that is native to North America! It is the European one.
That is the European kingfisher.