Dartmouth needs a new mascot. Scratch that ... Dartmouth needs a mascot. Dartmouth's lack of a mascot has been laughed at for years, and it is time for a change.
Not only would a mascot increase fan enthusiasm, but it would bring in added revenue from the sale of apparel bearing the mascot.
Before every home football game, the University of Colorado parades its mascot, a buffalo, around the field. The fans go nuts, and so would Dartmouth football goers at the sight of the Big Green Moose streaking at full speed across the field. You may laugh now, but this would serve as a source of inspiration to both the fans and the players.
The sales of clothing and memorabilia for professional sports teams who change their color or mascot traditionally go through the roof. Examples of this were the New England Patriots just a few years back, and the Los Angeles Kings in the mid-eighties. This same fervor would be created by a new mascot.
Fans want to wear their team's symbol, and the current t-shirts with the word "Green" on them just don't scream enthusiasm. A t-shirt with a scene from the Budweiser commercial featuring the Clydesdale horses playing football (except with moose, of course) would put sales of the "Green" t-shirts to shame.
Some want to see a return to the Dartmouth Indian of old. Coincidentally, these are the same people who do not understand why women are admitted to the college.
A mascot should not be offensive to its constituents, but by going from the Indian to the Big Green, the college went way beyond simple compliance with what is politically correct. The result made us the brunt of jokes and symbolically weakened the college and its teams.
The Big Green has no tradition to battle. A switch to a new mascot would make these Big Green years a long forgotten memory. "The Big Green what?" does not have to be heard at football games any longer.
Give us a moose or a wolf. Even a giraffe would do. But do not make us worship an intangible object. A color modified by an adjective is no substitute for a mascot.
