RebKell's Junkie Boards

[norwester]

Now I don't know about Hart. It could very well be an effort to ride roughshod over women's sports at Tennessee. And I'm mostly neutral about the name, though totally against the "Lady" generally.

I'm reminded of a time 5 or so years ago (2009) when the Western Illinois Leathernecks were doing away with the "Westerwinds" (whihc is admittedly kind of cool) nickname for the women's teams and unifying everything under the Leathernecks nickname. There was a big push back due to tradition. I wanted to support these women in spirit, but maybe I'm too pragmatic. Unifying the mascot doesn't mean Westerwinds never existed. It doesn't erase history. And kids today probably think the separate nicknames is kind of weird. Could it impact recruiting? I don't know.

However, I don't see why this is such a big attack on a Legacy. Pat's legacy (apart from excellence in basketball) was getting the name changed to a more palatable "Lady Vols". Do you think she wouldn't have preferred the same nickname as the men's team if she could have at the time? I kind of think she would, that she compromised at the time, and that this could actually further that legacy (despite the possibly shady intent of the AD), rather than diminish it.

I also think the only real argument is nostalgia. Even people writing articles in support of "Lady Vols" remaining don't have anything but "tradition" to really argue. Which is mostly a non-argument.

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