I root for the current Major League Atlanta Baseball team. (Braves)
Before that I rooted for the Minor League Atlanta Baseball team.
Guess I ain't never gonna be Politically Correct.
I also played college football at Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby, Illinois (two-year record: 21-3, with two Midwest Bowl championships). The team nickname was the Apaches. You never saw so much war paint, heard so many war cries or saw as many Mohawk haircuts, except perhaps in a John Wayne movie.
Both of these traditions have been pursued with the greatest reverence and respect for Native American traditions. There is nothing the slightest bit denigrating about it. As an American of Swiss heritage, I would be greatly honored if a college named its teams the "Fighting Swiss."
This year, the Apaches play their final games. In the fall, they will be named something else. I know it was just a community college, but we had an outstanding team. We had a junior college All-American both years -- one of them could bench press 450 pounds and the other looked and played like a young Lawrence Taylor -- and we always sent several players as transfers to Division I schools, such as Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska and Northwestern.
I am bummed out, dudes.
The pressure at the University of Illinois to change its team name has also been intense, but they are standing up to it much better. More power to Chief Illiniwek. May his tribe increase and find many buffalo.
Guess I ain't never gonna be Politically Correct.
Would you settle for the Green Bay Packers (Swiss)Cheeseheads?
