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March 28, 2006
Hamline to wave bye-bye to 80 year-old mascot
The rhetOracle is a mock issue of Hamline's undergraduate newspaper, the Oracle. We are trying to be as derisive as possible. Please enjoy the farcical nature of this issue or at least, ignore us.
The university is bored with its mascot.
For more than 80 years the piper has represented the university. Armed with his jolly flute and whimsical cape and hat, the Piper has stood for strength, honor, and dedication to excellence on and off campus. The mascot got its name in the 1920s, when the university asked the Pioneer Press to hold a contest to crown a new mascot. Until that point, sports teams had been known as the “Red and Gray,” and had done quite well for themselves. The winner of the contest was a Twin Cities woman, who pointed out that Hamlin, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, is the birthplace of the tale of the Pied Piper. Hamline has been known as the Pipers ever since, but with the addition of new key administrators, the university is looking for ways to revamp its image. In an effort to reach out to new students, the athletics department, with help from certain key administrators, submitted a petition last week to change the school’s mascot.
“I really think it will help us with recruiting,” said baseball head coach Jason Verdugo. “I mean, it’s kinda tough to sell a team to prospective students when your mascot is a guy with a little flute. They all want to be a lion, or a crocodile, or a fighting chimpanzee, or something, not some little guy with a big nose and a checkered cape.”
Other coaches echoed the sentiment. Apparently it is believed that the Piper is no longer the symbol of strength it once was and change is needed.
“We realize that the Piper is a big part of our history here at Hamline, but so was being average at sports, and we’re past that now. Now we’re winning,” said mens track coach Paul Schmaedeke.
In the spirit of tradition, the athletics department will hold a contest to name the new mascot. The new contest will be a bit different, however. This time around, the department has a few suggestions as to which names would be suitable.
“We don’t want to get stuck with a clunker of a mascot for another 80 years,” said Verdugo.
Quite a few possibilities have been tossed around the department, but a final list of ten will soon be compiled. As of now, possible mascots include the Fighting Pipets, which are narrow glass tubes used to transfer liquids in chemistry labs, and the Hammies, since Hamline competes against the Tommies, the Johnnies, and the Ollies. Other options are the Leos, short for the Leonidases, the Yellow Crested Cockatoos, and the Pronto Pups, which highlights Hamline’s proximity to the state fairgrounds. Another idea involved revamping the Piper to make him a pipe bender or pipe layer. Many believe this seems more competitive than a musical instrument.
“I’m holding out for the Leos, cause then we could have a lion. You don’t get much more fierce than that,” said Athletic Director Dan O’Brien. “A few weeks ago I was rooting for the Pronto Pups, but I kept getting hungry, so now I’m Leos all the way. Go, Hamline Leonidases!”
In order to get the name Leos, Hamline would have to file a lawsuit against Bethel for the rights to have a lion mascot in the MIAC. The administration remains confident that it could win such a lawsuit, as Leonidases has Leo right in the name, and Bethel’s mascot, the Royal, has nothing to do with lions at all. Ballots for mascot voting will become available within the next two weeks.
Posted by dwright at March 28, 2006 01:43 PM
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