Collegiate Symbols Evoke Both Power & Whimsy

By Charlie Barnes, Guest Columnist

A man named Adam Smargon has a lot of free time and one peculiar passion. Smargon has compiled and regularly updates a list of thousands of American college athletic teams' symbols, mascots and nicknames.

To make the Smargon list, which runs more than 50 single-spaced pages but is not comprehensive ("nor even close to it," he says), the subject college or university must be located in the United States, and must be a member of an athletic division within the NCAA, or the NAIA which governs small colleges.

Some of the best-known college sports icons are unique. There's only one Fighting Irish, there is only one Oklahoma Sooners and only one Syracuse Orange. The Texas Longhorns are unique, as are the Kansas Jayhawks, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Other colorful Saturday afternoon images found nowhere else in all of college athletics are the Purdue Boilermakers, the Richmond Spiders, the Arizona State Sun Devils, the North Carolina Tar Heels, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Penn State's Nittany Lions, the Maryland Terrapins and the Thundering Herd of Marshall.

Princeton's Tigers are not unique - there are 46 college teams bearing the name Tigers - but the Harvard Crimson is one of a kind, and so are the celebrated Elis of Yale. The Furman Paladins stand alone, as do the Keydets of VMI, the Hawaii Rainbow, the Akron Zips, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and the Toledo Rockets.

The Indiana Hoosiers, along with the Texas Christian Horned Frogs and the Wichita State Shockers, have all been opponents of the Seminoles. We played the Virginia Tech Hokies for a national championship in 2000, and we played our first game of modern football against the Stetson Hatters in 1947. Georgia Tech's Ramblin' Wreck is unique, but they share their alternate Yellow Jacket moniker with 17 other colleges.

NCAA Division I schools are very, very serious about their symbols and colors. Sherri Dye is Florida State's full time Director of Licensing and Trademarks; all major programs have similar departments, usually staffed with lawyers and backed by marketing firms. Florida State, Florida and Miami all have contracts with IMG College, the massive marketing and licensing firm that claims more than 700 employees in 100 offices across America.

But many colleges and universities sport unique team names with charming mascots the fans find endearing. Who would not want to cheer for the Cal-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, or the Cal-Irvine Anteaters? And what name could Converse College possibly adopt other than, of course, the All-Stars. Likewise, Brooklyn College teams must be the Bridges.

Team names with a unique local appeal would include the Black Flies of the College of the Atlantic (the college website invites you to contribute to the Black Fly Society and "join the swarm.") The Blue Hose of South Carolina's Presbyterian College refers back to their 17th Century Puritan heritage.

Sometimes, colleges simply embrace the obvious. Thus we see the Columbia College (California) Claim Jumpers, the North Dakota Mines & Technology Hardrockers, the University of Alaska-Southeast Humpback Whales, the Arkansas Tech Wonderboys, the Keel Haulers of the California Maritime Academy, and the Evergreen State College Geoducks.

And some prefera more relaxed, even whimsical approach to college athletics. Consider the Whittler College Poets (yes, they play football), the Heidelberg College Student Princes, the Rowan College Professors and the Lord Jeffs of Amherst. And surely, an afternoon of athletic contests between the Sweet Briar College Vixens and the Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms would serve the highest order of sportsmanship.

Florida State played the Salukis of Southern Illinois in football in 1982. It's an Egyptian dog and I have no idea how they came to settle in Illinois. But we're told that Salukis are the oldest pure-bred dog in world and their ancestry can be traced back to 3,600 BC.

There are two Antelopes (Grand Canyon University, and Nebraska-Kearney.) Lyrics to "Home on the Range" aside, antelopes are native to Asia and Africa and are not found here in North America. Presumably, the best chance you'd have to see an actual antelope in this hemisphere is on game day.

Some names we'd normally assume to be unique are in fact not. There are two Gamecocks. The one not coached by Steve Spurrier is Jacksonville State in Alabama. Likewise, the Rebels of Ole Miss are seen again at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. There are three Red Raiders, three Hurricanes, several Wolfpacks, and even two 49ers. University of Maine-Augusta has covered the most ground in mascot names in less than 50 years, going from Rebels to Pumas and now Moose.

If you were to guess, you'd probably say that the Mary Baldwin College Squirrels would be unique, but not so. Only 90 miles away in Richmond, the Union Theological Seminary embraces the same rodent. Even our own storied Florida A&M Rattlers has a nickname counterpart in St Mary's University in San Antonio.

Six college teams call themselves the Gators, although one school came to that name simply as a matter of frustration. San Francisco State University thought it would be clever to call themselves the Golden Gaters, but the Golden Gate reference flew over the heads of most everyone. Fans, opponents and the media consistently referred to them as Golden Gators. Eventually, San Francisco dropped the golden and embraced the gator.

Some of the names are close but not quite the same. There's the Crimson Tide of Alabama, the Crimson Wave of Calumet College of St Joseph and the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene University (who used to be the Redskins until 1998).

Eagles is easily the most popular choice, with 63 teams proudly flying that moniker. If you include Golden Eagles along with Soaring Eagles and Screaming Eagles the total rises above 70.

Finally, the Zias of Eastern New Mexico - women's teams only - honors the sun symbol of the Zia Indians of New Mexico. And it's hard to know what to make of the Cal-State Longbeach Dirtbags, official mascot of the Mens' Baseball team (but of course).

And so we come roundabout to our own Seminole Indian symbol, unique among the thousands of American colleges and universities. Ours is always referred to as an honored symbol, never a mascot or a nickname.

While there are no other Seminoles, we are far from alone in the use of Indian symbolism for our athletic programs. Most are generic names, but some do refer to specific tribes such as the San Diego State Aztecs, the University of Illinois Illini, the Central Michigan Chippewas, the Mississippi College Choctaws and the University of North Dakota Sioux.

The Sioux are no more but the others are holding on. A decade ago, 22 college teams were known as the Indians, the Braves, the Redmen, the Tribe or the Chieftans. In 2012 that number has been reduced to just a dozen. There may be a small push-back against the forces of political correctness. According to Smargon, among the Eastern Michigan Eagles "efforts exist to change the nickname back to Hurons."

You'll not be surprised to learn that the Southeast Oklahoma State University Savages found themselves at ground zero in the Indian symbol controversy. Their teams displayed no Indian caricatures but they did employ a spear symbol similar to Florida State's. In 2006 they became the Savage Storm but this didn't satisfy the critics, so in 2013 they are now the Bisons.

Thirty college athletic teams are called Warriors, including teams from the National War College in Washington, D.C. (I am not making this up).

Some who criticize Florida State's use of the Seminole name like to say, "People are not mascots." However it does appear that most college mascots are, in fact, people. Reptiles, weather systems and other oddities aside, the majority of all American college and university athletic team symbols appear to be human beings of one description or another.

Lots of them refer to peoples of the British Isles or northern European origin. American culture reflects the ambitions of her early immigrants and the landscape is noisily rife with college athletic teams such as the Tartans, the Scots, the Swedes, the Saxons, the Britons, the Highlanders, the Norse, the Gaels, the Northmen, the Celts, and the Dutchmen. There are five other Cavaliers besides Virginia. Eleven versions of Minutemen and Mountaineers aside, 27 colleges call their team the Knights, and an astonishing 31 identify themselves as Pioneers.

There are 14 Trojans and 18 Vikings. There are eight Cowboys, five of them at schools in Oklahoma, one each in Texas and Wyoming and Louisiana.

College athletics features a whole shelf of Conquerors and Crusaders (24 of them actually), plus Explorers, Barons, Bombers, Patriots, Colonels, Generals, Majors, Captains, Cadets, Gentlemen, Buccaneers, Lancers, Lumberjacks (and yes, Lumberjills), Matadors, Marauders, Missionaries, Monks, Mounties, Musketeers, Canoneers, Pirates, Raiders, Rangers, Vandals, Governors, Statesmen, Senators and Swordsmen.

There is something to be said about the fruits of victory. You recall the Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta: the conflict between the Athenians who gave us democracy and The Classical Age versus the Spartans who personified the severe and harshly disciplined lifestyle that bears their name today. Well, in the end, the Spartans won those wars. Therefore, today 16 college athletic teams go forth proudly as the Spartans. Mount St. Mary's College of Los Angeles remains the only institution to embrace the Athenians.

If I were Irish, I might claim to be offended by the Notre Dame logo that glorifies the stereotype of drunken, brawling Irishmen. And surely, among the alumni ranks of the ten colleges calling themselves Scots, there is at least one kilt-wearing son or daughter of the heather who will say they are offended by such use of their heritage.

As the discussion over symbolism unfolds again I'll be interested to see whether Notre Dame or Oklahoma or West Virginia or Massachusetts or Michigan State or any of the other legions of American colleges and universities whose teams are represented on the field by symbols reflecting proud cultural tradition are inclined to change their mascots.

Certainly, there can be sincere differences of opinion. We must acknowledge those honest feelings and we have a responsibility to ensure respect in our use of the Seminole name, respect for all the tradition and for all the symbolism. In the end, that respect is our most effective defense against efforts to dismiss one of the most honorable, noble and recognizable symbols in college athletics today.

Adam Smargon's excellent and entertaining website may be viewed here.

Charlie Barnes is the former vice president and executive director of Seminole Boosters.