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| (above) Before: Boone next to Paul Stastny |
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| (above) After: Boone erased |
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| (above) Before: Boone, Ruckus and Pioneer Pete |
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| (above) After: Mascots replaced |
"Boone is a part of our history, one that is treasured by many alumni and friends as a symbol of the University they knew three and four decades ago, and we are certainly an institution that honors its past."Nothing lasts forever and when you replace your mascots as often as most people replace the tires on their automobiles, the only constant at DU is change. The two "Spirit Murals" in Magness Arena went under the knife this week and a nice little piece of history was lost forever.
This is what happens when the line blurs between running a university and acting like a Third-World despot.
41 comments:
"We could respond to this with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!"
-Animal House
I surprised these mascot murals lasted as long as they did -- as they put DU in a seriouly visible position of hypocrisy on their own posittions.
DU has now moved from creating school spirit to eliminating any linkage to the positive momentum built the Boone movement.
The are changing the commandments on the barn wall. "Animal farm" is comimg to life....
hmmm...I kinda feel like asking DU for my money back for the donation I made towards the mural...
Maybe they thought we'd never notice....
Air brushing is an old and valuable technique used for many years by a former regime in Russia. For decades, each new annual edition of the official Soviet encyclopedia would feature comical photos where a former high ranking person used to be, but no longer was. It's good that in its quest for "diversity" DU is apparently unafraid of borrowing from other "forward" thinkers.
Coombe's quote in 2008
"Boone is a part of our history, one that is treasured by many alumni and friends as a symbol of the University they knew three and four decades ago, and we are certainly an institution that honors its past. Hence it seems reasonable that students and alumni be allowed to use the image as a celebration of that past, to the extent that they may choose."
I kicked in $2,500 towards the murals.
Then I won a $1,000 in the 50/50 Raffle, donated the winnings to the mural and convinced the 50/50 Raffle Fund to match my gift.
Damn. Damn. Damn. I should of taken the cash to Shotgun Willie's.
Sad, really.
They are so afraid of Boone...
Our Board of Trustees, our Chancellor and our Student Government have declared war on us, and we will just have to bend over and accept what they do.
After all, they must know better than us...
Well, the money was not wasted...it's still a nice looking mural. And one of the only decorative things in the Ritchie Center that is actually interesting. As opposed to the shrine to the golf donor. (With all due respect to the golf donor who is gloriously enshrined therein.) Still, kind of a slap in the face to some of us who donated $$$, don't you think? I wrote an email to the chancellor and Peg about this--gotta at least have my voice heard, even if it won't do any good.
A famous quote (from another time and in a different context) that seems applicable here, given the monomaniacal efforts to "de-Boonify" DU at all costs.
Mr. Welch: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
Is the University going to repay all of us who, in support of Boone, helped pay for these murals. Ha! Ha! I think we should all ask for our money back, as was suggested in a previous comment.
One really stupid edit they made: they changed "the home of champions" to "home of the Pioneers". Just another thing they will have to change in less than a decade.
I have a new idea for a new nickname that wouldn't be racist like Pioneers is. We could call ourselves the "Denver Blacks". Lots of school have changed their names to colors over the years. Big Red, Cardinal, Crimson, Big Green, etc.
Since DU is all inclusive, I couldn't think of a better color than black. From elementary school, I believe I remember learning that black (while not technically a color), represents the presence of all colors. While white represents the absence of color.
Black is all inclusive, and represents exactly what Coombe wants. Go Denver Blacks!
As it developed this episode has had many funny aspects to it but now is truly turning into a very sad charade. The more it continues the worse it is going to get for D.U. Not funny anymore
Last night I got a call from a DU Grad student. After a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, she said that she noticed I had given to the school in the past and would I consider another gift this year. I proceeded to tell her the story of Boone. She was not aware of the "mascot war" and seemed a bit taken back.
Now some out there would say what is all the fuss about a mascot. First of all, most of these people are not DU alumni and as far as I am concerned have very little standing in this debate. The problem is that tradition is being taken over by PC gone wild. I am waiting to hear the "anti-Boone" crowd tell us exactly how they are offended.
I thanked the young lady for the call but told her based on the direction the University has chosen to take, I felt my money could be used in other useful endeavors.
Im a boone fan but it does look better without him. DG nice to know you still go to shotguns grow up. Although not surprising with all the porn stars you know.
Thanks to who ever took the pic os the mural before they took Boone out. Glad it will always be on the blog here.
Ole Miss went through a similar process involving a student committee and an online poll when replacing Colonel Reb with The Rebel Black Bear in 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/us/15mascot.html?_r=1&
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Black_Bear
This almost-20 year old article on mascot name changes from the Marquette Law Review addresses many of the topics currently being discussed at DU.
http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=sportslaw
Many interesting passages but here is the conclusion...
"When a majority of all decent people affected by a
mascot agree that these offensive elements exist, then they should be
changed. This is the beauty of democracy. However, "there should not be a meat-ax overreaction." Not all mascots that only a few people
find offensive need to be abolished. Furthermore, teams with acceptable names, but mascots that offensively portray the names, need only change the portrayal. Many mascots are truly intended to honor, and in the eyes of many, they do honor. A name that honors need not and ought not be
changed."
Boone skips one playoff game against CC to attend a furry convention in Vegas and this Coombe guy rubs him out. What next? Deleting toga man from photos of the 2004 Championship?
What a bunch if whinnie bitches!
They replaced Boone and ruckus, both !
You don't realize what an insignificant bunch of c@nts you are !
You would think they would pick a new mascot before spending my tuition money on a new design...think it might be time to call up DU and ask for my money back.
Coombe is going North Korea on everyone. Coombe-Jong-Un!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=096hnKDw5tc
FWIW, I recently received a request to fill out a survey. I filled out the survey and noted that I hold a B.S in Accounting and a Juris Doctor, both from DU. I also filled out on one of the questions that I have donated in the past and do not intend to do so in the future. When asked why, I selected the "Other" option and said that I am upset by the administrations refusal to use Boone and it's refusal to consult alumni. I didn't have a lot of characters to work with, so, I said it as succinctly as possible.
At any rate, I hope our boys play their hearts out today and make us proud to be Pioneers.
Redemption should be their watchword tonight. Choking up that 4-1 lead earlier this year ought to leave a horrendous taste in their mouths.
someone should send these pics to the westword reporter who was writing about this!
Done.
Email with info sent off to staff writer Patricia Calhoun & editor Michael Roberts at Westword.
Call Peter Boyles
Call Mike Rosen
No. Call DU.
Emails:
Kevin Carroll is developing the new mascot and running the focus groups.
Chancellor's Office
Robert Coombe
chancellor@du.edu
Alumni Development Office
Kristine Cecil
alumni@du.edu
Marketing & Communication Division
Kevin Carroll
Kevin.Carroll@du.edu
Coombe has lost the plot!
This is unbelievable! Extremely disheartening and sad. What happened to preserving and honoring DU's history???????
Just had a nice 15 minute chat with Patty Calhoun at Westword.
She's putting in a call to DU's PR Department to get their spin on the "Mural Coverup." The PR Department is probably busy drinking wine and eating cheese at the Friday afternoon Faculty Mixer.
DU will just say that the mascot murals had to be covered because no university money could be spent on Boone per Coombe's 2008 letter.
The guy who approved the murals is now gone from DU, too.
DU's brass should re-read "Animal Farm" and realize how bad the optics look on this....
I'm alumni and staff and I can tell you that the MarCom people have already decided on a "solution" which they will push down your throat ad naseum until you just give up and do whatever they say because you don't time to fight their relentless meeting brigade. This "task force" is just a charade. We need a big donor to endow Boone and then the tune would change.
Let's go DU tonight! Should be a good game!
What's a "big" donation to DU that would make them notice? 5/10/25/50/100 grand? 1 million+?
Bob Magness got the arena named after him for $10 million.
Peter Barton got the Lax Stadium named after him for about $3 million.
Pat Bowlen got the strength complex named after him for less than @ million.
Vince Boryla got the recruiting lounge named after him for less than $1 mlllion.
Anybody want to bet that there are two big money donors, who didn't go to DU, sit on the B.O.T. that are behind this and Coombe is just the puppet.
If DG's right (and I suspect is) then these folks should quit hiding behind their high dollar anonymity and explain why they hold themselves in such high regard. While apparently having no respect at all for DU traditions and alumni. Just 'splain yourselves, dudes (or dudettes).
Meanwhile, I've been thinking some folks involved in this nonsense remind me of certain light opera characters. I just can't decide: Sir Joseph Porter, the Duke of Plaza Toro, the Learned Judge, the Lord High Executioner, you get the idea. They all share a certain amusing incompetence, which seems to be on display now.
Or they could sit back and laugh at you.
Good news is that somebody thinks you're funny. The rest of us just think you're pathetic.
I think the Board of Trustees is probably still very much influenced by Dan Ritchie and Joy Burns, who both hated Boone from the beginning.
Ritchie did lot of great things for DU and his popularity was well deserved, but his backward stances on school spirit have held us back in that area, and his leadership style (he ruled by fear) still has a long hold on the DU culture to this day. A great man, but not a saint.
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