The value of a nickname

[Pierre Dracot]

Has it occurred to anyone that the reason why Saint Louis University has such a lousy basketball team is because they're called the "Billikens?" Does anyone even know what a billiken is? Studies have shown that athletic teams emulate not only the personalities of their coaches but also of their nicknames. How could a team called the "Billikens" have any self-respect? And how could we lose to a team called the "Billikens?" For that matter, couldn't Xavier do better than "Musketeers?" Isn't that name racist, anyway? I propose that we have a contest to come up with a new nickname.

[xcellent]

I don't know what a Billikin is, but i disagree entirely about Musketeer. First, I don't know what you were thinking about Musketeer being racist, as far as I know Musketeer's where just soldiers with muskets . But everyone knows the 3 Musketeers cheer, All for One, One for All. If that isn't the right motto for any basketball team then I don't know what is. It is also the best descriptor for our team this year, very unselfish and very focused on the team as a whole. Our whole is greater then the sum of our parts.

[confusedbulldog]

How absurd, here are some odd mascots associated with good teams:
Jayhawks of Kansas, common a big blue bird?
Salukis of SIU, it's a dog, a royal dog. Whoop?
Sebastian the Ibis of Miami (FL), It's a bird, sure it's symbolic 'bout leaving but it's not too special
Otto the Orange of Syracuse, it's an Orange, how imposing
The Cardinal of Stanford, it's a Tree, oh Christ
Demon Deacon of Wake Forest, how troublesome is a rambling protestant (when it comes to sports)

And we have the Blue Blob to be our odd mascot. (Even though it's secondary)

[CarlosTheJackal]

Pierre, welcome back.

Please explicate on Musekteers being racist? Are you smoking Humbolt today?

I actually have a Billiken, a carve ivory good luck charm made by sailors and rivermen in idle hours. Back when we were in the MCC, the Billiken mascot would give me the willies. Uncomfortably androngenous.

[Mr. Neutral]

Racist--1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

Race--people who are believed to belong to the same genetic stock; "some biologists doubt that there are important genetic differences between races of human beings"

A musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket.

So which "race" are we offending? The "race" of muskets (an inanimate object)? The "race" of a type of infantry soldier? I swear, Pierre, you post the oddest things sometime.

[xuhuh!]

now we're getting serious......Candy Bars?