LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

Jay Wisnieski wrote:I wasn't a fan of people trying to get the names of mascots changed before I read this story, and my opinion still hasn't changed.

lil lady lax fan wrote:Keep in mind that the person bringing this up is a politician.

Aaron Lozano wrote:

lil lady lax fan wrote:Keep in mind that the person bringing this up is a politician.

Not just a politician but a Baptist deacon.

THE JERSEY DEVIL
http://www.weirdnj.com/_unexplained/jerseydevil.html

TSULacrosse wrote:What about the Duke Blue Devils, a Christian school

What Is A Blue Devil And Why Is It Your Mascot?
The name was derived from the French Blue Devils, a crack alpine corps which wore a striking blue uniform with a blue beret. R. Dwight Ware, editor-in-chief of the Trinity Chronicle, 1921-22, wrote that the current nicknames of The Methodists or the Blue and White were not very satisfactory. Several meetings of the entire student body were held and any and all suggestions were aired. William H. Lander, an assistant editor of The Chronicle, suggested the Blue Devils, although he later admitted that not even he was enthusiastic about it. No name got anywhere near a majority vote, so at the end of the 1922 school year Duke was still without a nickname.

The following year, Lander and Mike Bradshaw were named editors of The Chronicle. They decided before they departed in June 1922 that the Chronicle would exert leadership the next fall and "put over" the name Blue Devils for the college and its teams. They were still not enthusiastic about it but felt it was the best name available. From the first issue of the 1922-23 Chronicle, athletic teams were referred to as Blue Devils. Neither the college press bureau nor the cheerleaders used the name in 1922-23. The 1923 annual made fun of the name. However, through sheer use and repetition, the name eventually caught on, and ever since the Duke teams have been referred to as the Blue Devils.

TSULacrosse wrote: What about the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, a Baptist school.

Probably no aspect of Wake Forest athletics holds more fascination or lore than the simple nickname of the school's athletic teams -- the Demon Deacons. That's right. Demon Deacons.

When heard by outsiders for the first time the nickname always draws a double take. And why not. While most of a school's athletic tradition has to be shared in some way with its competitors, (When Auburn and Clemson play each other, it's the Tigers vs. the Tigers or the Wildcats vs. the Wildcats when Davidson meets Kentucky, or Villanova), the Demon Deacon nickname is something that holds true uniqueness for Wake Forest fans and alumni.

And while there are any number of ways to dress a Tiger, there is only one way to dress a Demon Deacon -- with distinction. At least that's what Jack Baldwin thought in 1941 upon receiving a dare to be the Wake Forest mascot. Until Baldwin took up a fraternity brother's challenge, Wake Forest had a nickname but no figure to personify the spirit of the Demon Deacon.

The school had gained its nickname in 1922 when a gentleman named Hank Garrity, Sr. took over coaching the college's athletic teams and revived the Deacon athletic program, which had fallen on hard times. As the Deacons started recording wins on a regular basis, the existing nicknames of "Baptists" and "Old Gold and Black" did not seem to capture the new spirit of Wake Forest athletics. When the Deacons pulled a particularly satisfying win off over rival Duke, sports editor Mayon Parker of Ahoskie searched for a new phrase to describe the "devilish" spirit that marked the athletic teams. He found that description in "Demon Deacon."

Wake Forest news director Henry Belk picked up Parker's new name for the Deacons and began using it in the school's news releases. Soon the name Demon Deacon had become a familiar term with all sports fans.

Nevertheless, that's all it remained – Just a name. Then came Baldwin leading the Deacons on the field against North Carolina. He was dressed in top hat, tails, and umbrella, riding the Carolina ram, and while his fraternity brothers roared with laughter at the sight of him, no one realized that the Deacons would never play again without their Demon Deacon. -- A joke was to become an institution.

Here was a truly unique mascot. One which seemed a step above the Tigers, Gamecocks, Eagles, and Wildcats of the world. "We tried to make him a little more dignified than other mascots," Baldwin says, "so we dressed up like you would expect an old Baptist Deacon would dress up."