While it galls me in the extreme to even partially agree with the stylistic rantings of Clay Travis here…
… (I qualify with “partially” because “MSESPN” is a loaded term and because, regardless, it wasn’t the network as a whole making the argument, just one network shock jock) I can only say that having an issue with “Fighting Irish” is one of the more irrelevant takes I can imagine. And I ain’t no Notre Dame fan. Move on, idiot.
Get The Picture 
Gasp! Oy, what’s next, fogs and cats living together? 😉
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Oy! What’s next, dogs and cats living together? 😉
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I’m so shocked I posted it twice. Sorry!
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Believe me, I felt dirty typing it.
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Spoiler alert: I’m of Irish heritage, and I think if Max was any dumber on this non-issue, he’d be going backwards in time. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in my ennui.
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Yea but you used spell check the 2nd time.
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Life imitates The Onion.
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I’m not Irish or Catholic, but isn’t the Orangemen the mascot they find offensive?
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Tiocfaidh ár lá!
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Orangemen has been eradicated. Syracuse is now “The Orange”. Can’t you tell how much better the world is because of that.
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If you move a grain of sand the world is changed forever….
I heard that somewhere. In any event, royalists on ‘my island’ piss me off so I’ll take it.
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I heard that somewhere.-
“One Grain of Sand” Eddy Arnold maybe?
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Sounds more like early Pat Boone.
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I’m guessing Orange Persons wasnt available.
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Maybe I’m wrong but I’ve always thought that a mascot is chosen due to some form of respect or admiration of the qualities & characteristics of the mascot. Bulldogs are known for tenacity, stamina, strength & persistence.
Whether indians, braves, warriors or fightin’ Irish, someone thought highly of each of those respective peoples.
And then you have the UC Santa Barbara Banana Slugs.
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Wrong UC. Santa Barbara is the Gauchos. UC Santa Cruz is the Bannana Slugs. And believe me, it fits them.
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UC Santa Cruz
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…..and don’t forget the “Fighting Artichokes” of Scottsdale C.C.
Vegetables everywhere are upset and seeking legal council.
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The Delta State Fighting Okra out of Cleveland, MS.
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Beat me to it, Barnfart. Thing with okra, I have never seen any fighting, it basically being a, you know, vegetable but I have been offered it boiled, which produced the rally chant “I’m not eating the Fucking Okra dammit!” so there’s that.
As my tastes have matured, I have found that the art of “pickling” okra is absolutely indispensable in the construction of a proper Bloody Mary (Try Tito’s in yours, it’s the bomb) but I think it becomes a condiment at that point. Even so, I think the “Delta State Pickled Okras” has a nice ring to it. Should we petition the Mississippi Board of Regents?
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If you do anything with okra but fry it, you should be arrested for molestation. Boiled okra? Oh man, it is as gross as it gets in a kitchen.
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If you’re not Irish you have no right to speak on this topic and can’t understand the pain and outrage that goes with always being stereotyped as a fighting drunk person.
And if you are Irish – your obviously not a real Irishman and what we would call an Uncle Paddy.
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Travis is such a snowflake.
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The corpulent Irish (like, actually from Ireland) gentleman I sat next to in Wrigley Field couldn’t stand Notre Dame. Called them fake Irish. He said ” I hope you keel those fookers!”
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Well I am Irish and am deeply offended by their mascot. So much so that only tens of millions of dollars might, and I repeat might, ease my traumatic pain and suffering. Next stop: Lucky Charms cereal. The struggle is real.
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“Today, in PC Gone Amuck”. We have been Politically Stupid so long our own language, and ability to communicate with each other, has been severely disrupted. Some words have no consistent meaning any longer, others are misused/misunderstood due to not knowing the level of sensitivity, the political involvement, regional upbringing, school of choice, etc., etc., of the person you are speaking to, or who gets a forwarded email. So it wasn’t just this week that things went amuck in what was once a civil world.
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It’s not the nickname. It’s the fucking leprechaun. That thing is a disgrace. FWIW: I am about 92% of Irish descent and have a Gaelic last name.
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Riiiight. I remember now. Before the Irish played the Miami Vice’s this year you posted some stuff that sounded suspiciously like fandom towards ND. You don’t like the dwarf, what would your preference be? Please don’t say a potato.
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Seriously? I hate ND more than anything ever.
Your brain is scrambled. My drunken tailgate announcement in South Bend was:
“Boys I’d rather lose every other game on the schedule than be 11-1 and this game be the loss. And I meant it. Never would I say that about another game.”
Well, maybe the 2001 Tech game would be close.
Fuck ND always and forever. Hell, I pulled for Saban to beat those guys. That’s happened 4 times. Once vs. ND and three times when an Auburn win meant they got to Atlanta. Of course, Nick let me down 75% of the time. I did enjoy ND getting slaughtered though.
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Sorry, Bro. My mistake. So you’re with me on the “Fighting Potatos” thing?
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I’m good with Fighting Irish. I hate the mascot. The nickname doesn’t bother me. Its the arrogance and the press bias that always bothered me.
Listening to Beano say that Jake Pawlus was gonna with X number of natties and Y number of Heismans. Just makes you sick.
At least espn nowadays just makes you hate espn.
I suppose if they had a Bobby Sands lookalike with the phrase “Tiocfaidh ár lá!” displayed prominently, I’d be forced to soften my stance.
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…..and have a Gaelic last name.
Going out on a limb here
I’m guessing Campbell or Gallagher.
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You know, they sell t-shirts with “chucky a la” on line.
Seriously, why the problem with the leprechaun? I can’t stand clowns. (Of the Bozo/Stephen King type) Is it that sort of aversion or is it somehow demeaning?
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NM. Did not see post below.
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W. ;-)ho knew …. llet no one be offended
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Nope. One you’ll see much less frequently if at all. The anglicized version is seen considerably more. My forefather was involuntarily shipped even before Cromwell so he came with his own name.
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A lot of the problem with these nicknames is an outcome of the historical marginalization of said groups. Certainly the Irish were one of those at one time, but now that they’re fully assimilated, the nickname is more quaint than disrespectful.
Curious what people would think if a team were named the Frugal Jews.
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Quite a few schools call themselves The Fighting Scots, but they don’t have the national rep that ND has. Where’s the outrage about that?
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I named my fantasy baseball team the Hebrew Nationals. Nobody had a problem with that. 😉
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Well, they are some pretty awesome dawgs.
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Conagra will be in contact
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OK that’s funny.
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Bingo. I can’t imagine an Irish person being offended by the mascot. Irish were certainly the victims of vicious discrimination in the past. I think your reasoning is exactly correct. So I wonder why some groups are so easily offended by a silly mascot for some team playing a child’s game.
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The nickname is fine. The mascot is offensive.
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Yeah but the ESPN’er complained about the nickname.
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I see your point. But “Leprechaun in the Hood” is one of the great movies in cinema history.
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What do you find offensive about the mascot?
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Its a demeaning stereotypical display. Its like saying: what’s wrong with my smiling black lawn jockey eating watermelon?
It just is. If you don’t see it, you don’t want to. Tell me your heritage and I’ll easily come up with something you’d object to.
We need to abandon characterizing other people unless its clearly complementary. As it is its almost always insulting and patronizing even if not malicious. Its usually just ignorance or indifference.
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So, You would pick “Homer” the non-gender/race/species specific Atlanta Braves mascot over Chief Nocahoma?
Scot/Irish/French, near as I can tell, but Got Sr. more than once mentioned his suspicions about the curly hair.
And, I have had a run in with some neighbors over lawn statuary, but it wasn’t a lawn jockey. It was a Pelican. Tell me, who the hell gets pissed off about a lawn pelican? My house got leined because of it.
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Liened
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Sounds like you broke a covenant and pissed off the home owners association. How did you resolve it…. move the pelican to the backyard?
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As much as I would love to aggrandize my struggle with said covenants and their goosestepping neighborhood watch enforcers and say ” I fought the man to a draw”, it was more of an “OK I’ll put it on the lanai” thing. But in my defense, they had to file the lien before I moved it, then they had to remove the lein. I had knuckle under so I could sell the place.
FWIW, the pelican statue sits in my mancave, her name is “Victory”.
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By this line of thinking, we will be deeming a “Spartan” or “Trojan” mascot offensive to Doric or Ionic Greeks, respectively, if we can find one single Greek person to say it is offensive.
Sorry, but in real life, we can’t all be dictated to by the most offended person in the room. It’s about time people were reminded that whatever isn’t intended as an insult probably isn’t one.
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This is bullshit.
Nobody ever looked at the MSU or USC depiction and thought it was degrading or insulting. They both look like they’ll kick your ass. Nothing wrong with that.
The idea that if your insulted by something insulting than someone will be insulted by something that ain’t is dumb.
It’s like saying: oh well can’t say n***er next thing you know some libtard will have our tongues ripped out for saying bulldog. Speech police!
There’s nothing wrong with being respectful. Not everything is a slippery slope.
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Frugal Jews is redundant.
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I don’t think you’re supposed to say that. Having said that, I think being frugal is a great character trait. I’m pretty frugal myself.
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I’m allowed.
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So, what do they want? The Notre Dame Scared-Shitless Irish? Like that’s any better.
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Pretty obvious that the culture at espn dictates that idiotic pc statements and or thoughts is perceived as the way to get ahead. Just as Travis is preaching to his choir. Too bad that the country has to be so balkanized… especially about things like sports.
Then again maybe social media has become the new sport for many with the smart phone as the ball and the internet as the field. One big rivalry. Go team.
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Well I’m about 50% Irish and like to wear an Irish walking cap while I brawl with neighbors and sip fine whisky so my opinion is important.
I think that Notre Dame should be christened the “Fighting to Remain Relevant Irish”
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Shorter Senator: I disagree, so he’s an idiot.
Look. “Fighting Irish” isn’t offensive in the least, but a reasonable argument could be made that the cartoon leprechaun is offensive to some people.
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You think Max Kellerman is one of those people? If so, I humbly stand corrected.
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Sting is offensive to me though I don’t expect Tech to ditch it
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He also doesn’t even have enough legs to qualify as an insect. You’d think someone in their biological engineering program could come up with a couple more.
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Whether intended at the time or not, I think there’s a little bit of a double entendre with the ND nickname. From everything impressed upon me by my Notre Dame host this September, the University has always been the historical beacon of achievement to the American catholic population–a sign that you were on your way (as a student) or had made it (alum) to the top of the heap in a society historically run by anglo-saxon protestants. Obviously much of the American catholic population is of some Irish descent.
In my view, the mascot is every bit of a nod to the achievement of assimilation in America (the Irish “fighting” their way to the top) as it was anything to do with Gangs of New York’esque stereotypes.
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…the University has always been the historical beacon of achievement to the American catholic population. Obviously much of the American catholic population is of some Irish descent.
“Que hay de mí?” says Pedro.
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Well, thanks to 23&me; I now know that based on my paternal haploid group – I am 100% qualified to take a position on this matter.
Clay Travis is full of el Toro Excrement imo.
Fighting Irish fits. Especially these days when Notre Dame is an underdog. The Irish have a long history of being pugnacious, why stop now?
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Another reason to despise talking heads. May I suggest another round of layoffs at espn. Follow that up by exclusively showing the sporting events or replays of the sporting events. No more talk shows.
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This party is just getting started. I can’t wait for religious groups to take offense at high schools who are “Crusaders” or animal rights activists boycotting teams like the “Gamecocks.” Gonna be a good time.
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My very favorite holiday is St Paddy’s. Does that count? Can I be offended by Notre Dame’s mascot too?
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I can’t wait for the climate change crowd to complain about Hurricanes, the gun control activists about the OU shotgun, or the peaceniks about the Volunteers. Of course the PETA crowd complains about every live mascots including one white English Bulldog.
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They already changed the Red River Shootout to the Red River Rivalry. Then they came after us with their renaming of the Cocktail Party, although for the life of me I can’t remember what they wanted to call it. And of course PETA’s been griping about UGA for years, as if he doesn’t have a higher quality of life than all of us.
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Fug’em. PETA nutcases (and I am an animal lover) are so unlovable even the libtards are embarrassed by them. Mate them with ACLU clowns and even the Evangelistic guys will support abortions.
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Wow. We really have first world problems.
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