RebKell's Junkie Boards

[johnjohnW]

Is there some elephant/zoo connection to Brooklyn that I'm not getting?

[pilight]

[johnjohnW]

[pilight]

[Chip]

[Shades]

[jmvcity]

So now we can have Dumbo in DUMBO.

[Shades]

[Shades]

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Nnekalonians 1:14 - Thou shalt not accept that which is not earned

[auntie]

So Maddie is going to the Mascot Retirement Home?

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A woman's place is in the paint--Another artist for Liberty.

[root_thing]

[root_thing]

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

[Bob Lamm]

[Chip]

[Queenie]

[johnjohnW]

This might be one of the silliest debates I've seen. Ever.

Republicans do not OWN the imagery of Elephants. And it does not make the Liberty any less politically or socially aware to use an Elephant as a mascot. We are talking about an elephant for goodness sake. This is not some covert nod or endorsement of Republican policies.

That being said, I think the choice of an elephant is stupid on its own merits regardless of the connotation to republicans.

[Randy]

NY is also famous for Thomas Edison electrocuting an elephant in Coney Island. So perhaps they will relive that wonderful moment at games.

http://edison.rutgers.edu/topsy.htm

[root_thing]

First of all, my original post was a JOKE. Why do you think I used the emoji?

That said, if you're going to present yourself as this very politically and socially aware organization, then for a left-leaning group to choose the same symbol as the Republican party for their mascot does look a bit clueless. I think someone fell asleep at the wheel. Unless, they were intentionally being ironic -- which I doubt -- I don't think it's inappropriate for me to make fun of them. I used to deal with a security alarm company called American Security Systems. Pretty innocuous sounding name, right? The problem is that their initials are ASS. Obviously they didn't want to be associated with butts. However, it was an embarrassing oversight which they never bothered to fix. So, our receptionist used to have fun announcing that the ASS-man was here every time they came to make repairs.

As an aside, justifying the choice by identifying themselves with the Barnum elephant walk only compounds the problem. Circus animals became a major cause for animal rights activists, and it did lead to most circuses eliminating animals. That in turn probably put the final nail in the coffin for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey, which went out of business in 2017.

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You can always do something else.

[J-Spoon]

While these seem super obvious and not very creative I do not understand why the mascot isn't a funky Lady Liberty, an anthropomorphic torch called "Torchy or Lit" or a dog cousin of Maddie called "Barclay".

[Queenie]

We were spitballing a few ideas at home. We ended up with a lot of birds: something modeled on the peregrine falcons from Central Park, or based on a robin (one of the Dodgers' early nicknames), or the wild parrots of Brooklyn, or an eagle as a nod to the Brooklyn Eagle. I thought a gargoyle-type mascot would have been neat. He suggested a bulldog, as symbolic of Brooklyn's attitude while still a callback to our former canine mascot, or a mermaid in honor of the Mermaid Parade and as a nod to our LGBTQIA fan base (although mermaids don't really do well on dry land, so we scotched that one).

That's not even getting into more problematic possibilities, such as anything based on the more notable fauna of the big city, or on the seal of the city, or anything humanoid.

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Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

[root_thing]

As far as I know, no one dislikes Maddie or was calling for a new mascot. In fact, a lot of us love Maddie. So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

[J-Spoon]

I thought they changed it because Maddie was named after Madison Square Garden?

I am all for "If ain't broke" but If you own an arena you probably don't want your mascot to have the name of the previous arena where the team played.

That is kind of why I thought Maddie's Brooklyn cousin Barclay or Barkley could have been an easy if not too creative solution.

I also think a cute dancing cartoon torch named Lit could have been fun "Welcome your NY Liberty, now let's get this arena Lit!" cue the dancing Torch with pyrotechnics or rotating, multi-colored flame. "This team is on fire!" etc

[root_thing]

As I explained previously, the current Madison Square Garden is the third or fourth version. The original one was near Madison Square, off Madison Avenue, which in turn is named after James Madison. We can easily think of Maddie as just being named after an early president. In fact, before it came up recently, I didn't even know Maddie was named after Madison Square Garden. I'm sure a lot of fans didn't know, and if they did, how many cared?

This is clearly a marketing, clean house, new beginning kind of thing. No way they did a focus group and fans said their decision to come to games hinged on their feelings about the mascot. This was purely a management initiative. I understand changes to uniforms because it gives them new merchandise to sell. And new uniforms can actually provide the team with a new look on the court. But replacing a beloved mascot? It seems like a move that's all risk with very little reward -- if any.

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You can always do something else.