February 26
Last, but not certainly not least, Team 4 of March Madness 2010 comes from just south of San Franciso, CA and competes in Division III of the NCAA as an independent member. The campus of this school overlooks the Pacific Ocean, but the lure of the beach hasn’t prevented their athletes from practicing, as they have recently won national championships in water polo (2006), tennis (2007), and women’s club rugby (2005-2006).
As for their mascot? He goes by the scientific name of Ariolimax dolichophallus, and is no stranger to the big stage. You might have seen him on Fear Factor a few years ago, or in Reader’s Digest, when he was named the best mascot of 2004. He also made an appearance in a court case involving campus mascots, this having been written about him in Crue et al. v. Aiken in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals: “We give the best college nickname nod to the University of California, Santa Cruz. Imagine the fear in the hearts of opponents who travel there to face the imaginatively named ‘Banana Slugs’”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. The fourth and final team of March Madness 2010, the University of California, Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, and their mascot, Sammy the Slug!
February 25
We’re now one week away from March Madness and it’s time to meet team 3. From Saint Louis, Missouri and somehow playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference (not seeing the Atlantic Ocean anywhere close), this team comes from the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is the alma mater of Brian McBride, the only American to score a goal in more than one FIFA World Cup Tournament, Bob Ferry, the dad of Cleveland Cavaliers’ GM Danny Ferry, and some guy named Bradbury Robinson, who threw the first legal forward pass in football at this university in 1906. As for the guy who threw the first illegal forward pass? Forgotten by history.
This team’s mascot was recently tapped as one of the “coolest” in all the country. He was designed by Florence Prentz, a Missouri art teacher and illustrator, just two years after Robinson’s epic pass in 1906. No one is quite sure what her inspiration for the character was, but no matter what the origins, he is described as having a “cheery personality, a broad smile, and a rotund belly”. Some have described him as an elf, some have said he’s a vampire, others think he’s an alien, and still others have said he bears a striking likeness to a former coach, Coach Bender. Must have been one ugly dude. I’m not sure what he is, but I give you the third team of March Madness: the Saint Louis Billikens and their mascot, The Billiken!
February 24
Another day, another March Madness team is revealed. Team 2 in the competition comes from Williamstown, MA, at the base of Mount Greylock in the Berkshire Mountains. Representing a highly selective private school, this team participates in the NCAA’s Division III NESCAC Conference in most sports, except for skiing and squash (what is squash?), where they are Division I. And just in case you thought that people don’t really care about squash, check out the trash talking that went on during the 2010 NCAA squash championships. I kind of feel bad for the little Yale guy. He didn’t deserve that. But I digress.
If you were to create an ideal team mascot, you’d probably design something that is both intimidating and represents your school well, right? Well, this team doesn’t need to play by your rules. Located at the base of a mountain, and with school colors of purple and gold, I give you team 2 of March Madness 2010: the Williams College Ephs (pronounced Eefs, with a long e) and their mascot, Ephelia, the book-reading purple cow!
February 23
We’re now less than 10 days away from the kick-off of SI’s March Madness! And it is time to begin unveiling the 4 teams that will be competing at this year’s event. When you come on that first Thursday (March 4), you will be placed on one of these teams and compete for points throughout the month. Then, at the end of the month, the points will be totaled, a winner will be declared, and superiority will be established. Each day this week, a new team will be revealed. Without further ado, let’s meet team 1.
Hailing from Bowling Green, KY, and playing in the Sun Belt Conference, this team recently visited the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA tournament. Supported by its red towel waving fans who loudly sing the uber-creatively titled fight song, “Stand Up and Cheer”, this team is not one to back down from a challenge. As for the origins of the red towels? A legendary coach from this program was fed up with the team’s athletic towels being stolen, so he had them made red, and then proceeded to do such things as throw them to the rafters, beat them on the floor, chew on them, twist them, and cry into them. Do rabid fans need any more inspiration than this? Not at this school. No stranger to the big stage, having finished 6th in the 2009 Capital One Mascot of the Year Competition, this team’s mascot is large and in charge…and that’s about all he’s got going for him. The first team of March Madness 2010, I give you: the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Big Red!
February 11
Congrats to Eric for winning the last one, barely beating out Josh and Kyle. Here’s another one, this time for Starbucks…
February 9
As many of you know, we have a student-led service team in the high school ministry that helps to plan and run service projects. We think it is a really good way for us to live out our faith, caring for other people in very practical ways. That having been said, there is an opportunity for you to do this on Saturday morning, Feb. 13, at a local nursing home. Whitney O. has arranged for us to run a trivia contest with some residents there, and then have a little time to just hang out with them afterwards. The reason we think this is really important is that some residents of nursing homes don’t get many visitors, and can often by a forgotten section of society*, so this is a great chance to show them the love of a God who cares for everyone, even the least and the last. If this is something that interests you, you can meet at the church at 9:30am to carpool to the nursing home, and you should be back by 12pm. Since we can only take 20 people, please send Clay M. an e-mail if you want to come!
*For more Biblical perspective on why it is so important for Christians to care for the least and last of society (including widows), check out James 1:27 & Deuteronomy 10:17-19
February 1
A little blurry, but caption-worthy nonetheless….winner gets a gift card to Caribou!
