Picture yourself at your favorite baseball team’s game. When you look out into the field, something that usually catches people’s eyes is that teams mascot because is it is a fun, silly character. If you know of some mascots, you probably know that they are all some wacky color or something of the sort, but many don’t have something that distinguishes them from other mascots. Now picture the Swinging Friar. He is unique to many other mascots and has a completely different design compared to most. This is exactly what the Mascot Hall of Fame needs. Even though some may argue that the Swinging Friar doesn’t have what it takes to be in the Mascot Hall of Fame since he hasn’t had that big of an impact on the sport as the Padres have only gone …show more content…
to the World Series once since 1958, the Swinging Friar should probably be in the Mascot Hall of Fame because he has an amazing and catchy design that makes him a jolly and funny character, he has had a significant impact on the sport of baseball, has had groundbreaking moments, is active in the San Diego community, and is focused on youth. Despite his weaknesses, he is featured on a logo of the Padres and has been vital for the team’s regular season success since he debuted in 1958 and he also cheers on all of the Padres games. He has greatly helped San Diego in many ways as he has pumped some of the greatest fans in the world through the Padres’ losing seasons. He has also impacted upcoming stars in the minor leagues blossom with positivity. The Swinging Friar of the San Diego Padres has an amazing and catchy design as he is a jolly character who has funny facial features. As a general rule, Mascots are usually designed to be funny and jolly which is why he is such a good fit for the honor. Swinging Friar is loved by the city of San Diego and by the baseball world. “The Swinging Friar of the San Diego Padres is one of the more recognizable and unmistakable mascots in baseball. San Diegans love the big guy, who is always out and about representing the Padres” (Paranal). This is why Swinging Friar has a unique and fun design that appeals to fans. His design isn’t just unique, it has also has had a great impact on the sport. The Swinging Friar’s up going costume isn’t the only thing that makes him a good fit, as he has also has an enormous impact in sports because he is at every single Padres baseball game. As a general rule, the mascots need to go to the sporting events to cheer up the crowd and help out the team win. You can see the big fellow on the field multiple times not just cheering, but also entertaining the crowd (Paranal). A recent video, in fact showed the Padres mascot hitting a homerun in the “League of Mascots”, as well as hyping up the crowd (Paranal). He also has his own San Diego Padres logo of himself. Overall, the Swinging Friar has a tremendous impact on sports. In addition to the other components as to why the Singing Friar would be a good nominee for the Mascot Hall of fame, he has had many groundbreaking moments.
As a general rule, mascots usually are part of many memorable moments. One of the many memorable moment is when he did a video with the journalist site A Great Big Story as they also said “It's hard not to love this robed, big-sandaled ball of joy.”, showing that this mascot is loved by many. Another groundbreaking thing that he did was hitting a home run while he participated in the mascot derby (Gomez). He also is the one responsible for pumping up the fans which could very well help with getting contracts, like their eight year contract for $144 million for Eric Hosmer which is also the largest contract in franchise history (Snyder). It's also clear that he has very loyal fans as he has a ton of merchandise. People consider his change in color to also be very memorable as older fans will remember his change from red to …show more content…
black. Another reason why the Swinging Friar should be in the Mascot Hall of Fame is because he is focused on youth. As a general rule, mascot characters should be focused on everybody, including children. “Through the #FuturePadres program, the Padres donate jerseys, caps, and headbands to San Diego's youth baseball and softball players” (MLB). Swinging Friar is also pictured on their website with a group of Future Padres as well as supporting 73 different leagues(MLB). He himself takes part in the program, therefore showing he is focused on youth. Not only does he show a significant focus on youth, he is also active in his community by visiting schools/colleges.
As a general rule, mascot characters demonstrate major impacts on their community. A few years ago, the Padres and Swinging Friar visited BLCI around the holidays to spread holiday cheer (San Diego). According to BLCI’s website, the Padres had “...presented BLCI Executive Director, Jose Cruz, with a check for $10,000 towards their College Success Pipeline Program.”(San Diego). Swinging Friar also had “all of their parents and students receive a Padres Yearbook…”(San Diego) and “Everyone present had their yearbooks autographed by Carlos Quentin and picture taken with him and the Swinging Friar.”(San Diego). Similarly, the Padres had a holiday giving event this past year. They went to “40 stops from December 5th-December 16th.”(Padres 12 Days). They visited different “...community events and organizations throughout San Diego County and the Baja region.”(Padres 12 Days). Thus, the Swinging Friar is well suited for the mascot hall of fame because of his activity in his
community. Some believe that the Swinging Friar is not good enough in comparison to San Diego’s previous mascot, the chicken. Many considered the chicken to be “...baseball’s best-known mascot, and perhaps the most famous in all of sports.” (Warja) and was also named “one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century.” (Warja). Because of this, people believe that the Swinging Friar does not live up to the same expectations. While this position is popular, the Swinging Friar has many key components that set him aside from other mascots. SB Nation even wrote an article about the Swinging Friar which touched base on how “Most of the pro mascots are either generic animals in uniforms or poor imitations of the phanatic.” (Darklighter). The Swinging Friar also ranked 15 in the top MLB mascots by Sports Illustrated, where as the chicken didn’t even make it into the list (Vailliencourt). Therefore, we think that the Swinging Friar should be in the Mascot Hall of Fame because he is very unique compared to lots of other professional mascots, has had a great impact on the sport, has been active in the community by visiting hospitals, schools, colleges, and has even donated items to youth baseball and softball players. . The Swinging Friar has many traits that make him well suited to be in the Mascot Hall of Fame and would be a good addition to it.
The article “Indian Mascots-You’re Out” by Jack Shakley, was published in the Los Angeles Times in August 2011. The author argues the issues of sport teams having Native American names. The author wrote the article due to more and more Native Americans protesting at stadiums. This article can be divided into five sections. In the introduction, the author opens the article by giving us history on how he first encountered this topic in the early 1950s. He tells the readers, that his father gave him money to buy a baseball cap, but was also conflicted. He originally wanted a Yankees hat because of a fellow Oklahoma Mickey, Mantle came up as being touted as the rookie of the year. Since he is mixed with Muscogee/Creek, he felt misplaced to the
David Ortiz has saved the lives of hundreds of children by giving them medical care they would not otherwise have access to through his charity, the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. In February of 2005, he visited CEDIMAT hospital in the Dominican Republic, where he saw children suffering after they had heart surgery. He instantly donated two hundred thousand dollars to the hospital. Ortiz started his charity because he wants to give children everywhere the opportunity to live long, happy lives (DavidOrtiz.com). He makes sure that kids who need urgent care receive it as soon as possible. In the first year alone, sixty kids were given open-heart surgery (DavidOrtiz.com). With his aid, kids who cannot afford or do not have access t...
This can be supported by this statement from Laurel Davis’ article, “Native American mascots create a hostile climate for many Native Americans, and sensitive non-Natives, in the schools and communities with these mascots. It is hard to feel comfortable in and committed to a school/community, and perform to the best of one 's ability in school or work, when constantly surrounded by stereotypes that offend” (13). Native American’s lives are negatively impacted because they are made to feel uncomfortable and are presented with a hostile environment when they attend sporting events that use Native American images as their team’s mascot. Native Americans should not be made to feel uncomfortable because they are being disrespected while trying to be members of their community as a result of sports teams’ degrading use of images of Native American heritage as their team’s mascot. Many non-Natives do not view the use of Native American mascots as disrespectful, but their opinions cannot ensure that everyone will not feel disrespected. Many Native Americans are made uncomfortable in public settings because of the use of mascots thus negatively impacting their lives. If those of Native American heritage feel disrespected and degraded because of the use of mascots, and they clearly do, action should be taken to remove the issues that are causing
Redskins, Seminoles, Tribe, Indians, what do they all have in common? They are all athletic team names under scrutiny by people who deem them as being racist. For years, people have argued over the fact that these names and/or mascots are being used in a negative way. Some have been changed while others are still being argued over. Teams with these mascots should not be forced to change their names because the majority of Native Americans are not even bothered by these sports names.
Being former chair of the los Angeles City/county Native American Commission as well as president emeritus of the California community Foundation makes Shakely highly qualified in his argument because he is a Native American and he is highly respected in his organizations and in his community. Shakely clearly presents an affective argument from his point of view by providing personal experiences along with examples of sports teams’ Indian names and mascots and how they affect Native Americans. Sports team should remove the stereotypes of Native Americans. All Indian mascots and names should be removed from all sports teams. It’s the right thing to do.
Teams in every sport, at every level of competition, have a mascot. It is the mascot that represents the competitive spirit and team identity, motivating players and fans alike. Does the symbol chosen have any impact on whether a team wins or loses? Unlikely. But the choice of a Native American mascot continues to ignite debate and controversy among athletes, fans and alumni, as well as those people who might otherwise be disinterested in sports. Utilizing an Indian mascot is nothing more than a veiled attempt at hate speech.
...ers' evolution from mother and student into a leading voice against the merchandising of Native American sacred symbols -- and shows the lengths to which fans will go to preserve their mascots." In keeping all the Native American Mascots in schools, colleges, and professional sports teams we are showing a lack of respect. The Native Americans have voiced the lack of honor these names are bringing to them. "The fact that history has ignored the incredible pain we have inflicted on Native Americans does not now give us the right to ignore their largely muted call." Americans need to take a step back think about how they would feel if there ritual and or sacred tradition was misused. "We feel that we are being put in a position of sacrificing our dignity and pride and will never be treated as equals in white society as long as the use of Indian symbols continues."
An excited crowd waits expectantly to see the horse, cowboy, and calf burst out of the chute. Within seconds, the cowboy has the calf roped, on the ground, and tied. The action appears effortless. Two wranglers release the calf, and it trots out of the arena, seemingly unharmed. The question remains, are rodeos humane? That does the calf think of all this excitement? Contrary to what many people assume, PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned rodeos treat their livestock humanely.
Issue of whether to keep Mascots in schools or not, started in late 1970’s and from then this debate is going on. Most of the schools have Indian Mascots in place for half a century and suddenly it become problem to use Indian Mascots. Over 500 Native American organizations also announced their support for the removal of those mascots and over 1200 schools across the United States have changed the name of their sports teams and some school refused to play with those schools using Indian mascots. But some school still think that using mascots are just paying homage to the Native peoples and it’s just another group claiming to be offended. Sports teams used those mascots to promote their team’s athletic powers, like wolf, lion and eagle etc. How portrait of an Indain wearing hat with feather or headdress can be offensive or racist? One thing which never be done up to now that is to view our history from Native eyes. First of all, learn about their culture and their living style from their new perspective not the one which is given in our history books. From last hundred years we taught our generations that this is our country and we had a very long war with Indians which won. We also tell different kind of stories like burning of Fort Pequot Indians because they had trade relationship with British company. Can stories like this possibly be related to mascot issue? Using mascots are really a problem or just a political incorrectness.
Mascots are beloved figure heads for sports teams everywhere almost every sport team has a mascot of some kind; that said, sometimes instead of bring people together it can cause a rift between two cultures. Such as Washington’s D.C.’s football team the “Redskins” often the word redskin was a derogatory word used against the Native Americans and while it may seem as though paying homage to the Native American community the overall stereotyped actions of the fans themselves as well as the sugarcoating of the previously racial slur has done little to bring the two cultures together and instead created a larger disconnect between white and Native American. The name Redskin should be retired and replaced so that rather
The idea of having a Native American as a mascot seems respectful to the tribe and a way to honor the people who arrived
Aside from professional sports teams having offensive names, high school and college teams also have offensive names. In Greenly, Colorado at the University of Northern Colorado, their mascot is the Fightin’ Reds. Of course, this name sounds very racists, depicting Native Americans in a very harsh manner. Students on the basketball team renamed their team, The Fightin’ Whites. They were trying to depict the 1950’s style of the average American male. Their slogan for their team is “Every thang’s going to be all white.” By making this new mascot and new slogan, the basketball team was trying to get their city council to talk about the insensitive team mascots that their school, along with thousands of other schools have. In Eaton, Colorado the people who live there are amazed by all the madness that is going on about the school’s mascot. They are perfectly happy with the mascot, and to them it seems like it would be breaking tradition if someone were to change their mascot. Even though there are many people who hate the school’s mascot and vote for it to be changed, there are also some people who love it and do not want to be changed. Some people think it is a honor for a school’s mascot to be named after their culture. But the number of people for the mascots do not even compare to the number of people opposed to the mascots. (Cart, A12)
Some schools changed their team’s name voluntarily. In 2005, the NCAA required colleges to evaluate the potential offensiveness of their team name, symbol, or mascot and to get permission from the affected group. In North Dakota, the state university tried to drop its Fighting Sioux moniker; the state legislature blocked the move and then repealed the decision. Even in the state of Mississippi, Alcorn State University has stopped using a Native American mascot, but they have retained their Braves nickname. This indicates that meaningful discussion is being held about the use of these terms and images; hopefully, they are close to being
Times have changed - what was acceptable 30 years ago may not hold up in today’s world. Racially offensive mascots have created division - not unity. If teams like the Indians, Braves and Redskins were to change their names and update their branding, they could potentially benefit more than by holding on to offensive, outdated traditions. Why would a professional sports organization settle for fewer fans, less revenue, and an image that offends its own citizens? By...
Zoos display fascinating animals from all over the world for human entertainment, research, conservation, and education. Many scientists conduct studies on animals in captivity that they may not have been able to in the wild. Zoos educate all the visitors that come; they let people know everything that they know about the animals on display. We do learn a lot from these animals, but not all of the animals in the zoo are behaving like they normally would in the wild. Larger animals, such as elephants and orcas (commonly known as killer whales), have trouble with being confined in such a small area. However, many smaller animals benefit from zoos because they provide protection from predators, natural disasters, and poachers. They also benefit from conservation efforts; the babies being born get all the care they could ever need. Some animal rights activists are concerned that the conservation efforts are limiting the gene pool of the species. They argue that the small number of animals able to breed in captivity limits biodiversity and leads to weaknesses in the species overall. Zoos are wonderful places to study and learn about animals, but we need to improve the living standards for animals that struggle with captivity.