I hesitate to post this because a) the mascot talk at EMU is so 20 years ago and b) clearly we should be the Eastern Michigan University Fightin’ Emus. But I’ll go ahead anyway: From the ann arbor chronicle, a column by John U. Bacon, “Mascot Madness: What are we losing when we reach for the blandest of names?” Here’s a quote:
It seems pretty obvious to me such pejoratives as Braves, Blackhawks and Redskins need to be replaced – and hundreds have been. But that shouldn’t mean all team names should automatically be changed.
There is no better example of good intentions gone awry than the mascot mess Eastern Michigan University stirred up a few years ago. The athletes there called themselves, at various times, the Normalites, the Men from Ypsi and, from 1929 to 1991, the Hurons.
Despite the fact that the Hurons are an authentic tribe indigenous to the region, and that the school created no offensive logos or rituals, a movement arose to change the name. Many of the arguments for doing so were of the “How would you like it?” variety.
Beyond other things, I think Bacon is forgetting about the problematic brave logo that did indeed represent the EMU Hurons (I believe on the side of football helmets, right?), and he’s making a pretty sophomoric argument about mascots like Celtics, Canucks, Yankees, and Vikings. But whatever.
Oh, and go Eagles/Emus/Big Birds. The spread is 23 points for Saturday; let’s see if we can cover that!
Imagine my joy when I came across this bit of news first thing this morning: 
