It’s March Madness! Oh, my! I appreciate Michael Koh’s excellent reporting about the men’s and women’s matchups. On air with Andrew Stuckey, he even discussed our opponents’ school names and mascots.
On the men’s side, we play the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. No word about how their anthropomorphic ram, Rodney the Ram, fares against our beloved Rameses. However, I did discover that VCU was originally the Panthers at its founding in 1968 but changed monikers after only two years, allegedly as a nod to the pre-colonial era when tens of thousands of sheep roamed the area that is now downtown Richmond. This seems like a silly reason, but apparently, they had “mutton else” to go by!
(photo via Todd Melet)
Our women’s basketball team is up against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. While the university’s mascot is a bulldog, “leatherneck” is not a type of dog breed. The term is military slang for a member of the United States Marine Corps. Soldiers used to wear a high leather collar or “stock” with their uniforms, ostensibly to protect their necks from sword slashes in battle. But there was also an aesthetic piece — it kept the chin high and posture straight. General George F. Elliott, an early twentieth-century commander, said the “effect of the stock when buckled around a man’s neck was to hold his head high in the air, like geese looking for rain.” As far as mascots, I assume a bulldog is easier to lead by a leash than a goose.
Western Illinois is the only nonmilitary institution with permission to use a nickname of the Marine Corps. They used to be known as the “fighting teachers,” which, no offense to teachers, doesn’t inspire goosebumps. But in 1927, athletic director and coach of the baseball, basketball and football teams, Ray “Rock” Hanson, successfully applied for use of the Leatherneck moniker. Hanson was a Marine and a veteran of both World Wars. His nickname “Rock” came from his friendship with legendary Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne.
Readers are likely more familiar with the Tar Heels’ backstory, which also draws from soldier slang. In a time of violence overseas, it’s worth giving thanks that, even in the madness of March, basketball is only a sport.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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