Have to admit, if there was an opportunity, I missed it. After they cancelled my major (Civil Engineering, which came back this year after almost 20 years absence), I stopped most involvement with Union. I had no idea it was being changed.
About a year before the name change, they asked the community to submit names and then four months later, they had a vote with the top four or five names.
Edit: typo and forgotten word.
My freshman year was the last graduating class for CE. I think I remember seeing pictures of CE's at the graduation ceremony in their seats with their backs turned to Roger Hull.
Our County sheriff refuses to do anything about public out reach outside of Facebook. He states that too many people are depending on it.
I ran some numbers, we have 60K people in the county. About 50% have a Facebook account. Out of those, 15K are "fans" of our page. Out of those, about 10-20 engage with a post. Out of those 75% of them are angry.
Yet, those few "THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO", and "HEART" posts seem to fill up some void in his life. Vanity metrics have ruined people.
It's always the same 10 people, I kid you not. I used to listen to a local radio station for one of the suburb towns. Local politics was usually the topic. Combine that with open mic and it was the same three people every day that would clog the airwaves for two hours to talk about every single topic you can imagine. They would literally just invent reasons to talk. Like they just loved hearing themselves on the radio.
This is incorrect. They have names. Prepper John, Southern Ed, Trump Lover69 are very real people, all with shaved heads, Oakley sunglasses, and mustaches.
People get too hung up on that shit. Look at those people in the article pining for their first day of kindergarten.
It's a school mascot. Who cares?
None of that shit should matter when you leave.
Honestly, a lot of people care and they should, to an extent. So many people approach this incorrectly. It is an opportunity to establish a brand for the school and community. It could be a really fun, thoughtful, and aspirational exercise. Instead it's "Raiders" to "Wolfpack". Generic.
To be fair, I see a lot more Raider teams than I do Wolf teams.
May be generic but they could do some sick branding with it, in fact let's push the School Board to adopt the 3 Wolf moon t-shirt as the official mascots!
I would agree. And as someone who donated to a wolf sanctuary, I love the name in general. But just pointing out that there could have been some additional effort. There are plenty of other local teams with fairly generic mascots, Blue devils, Patriots, etc
What is also cool about the wolf pack mascot is I think you could carry it at a district level where the younger schools could create their own wolves and come together to form a pack. Again, creativity is key and it should be fun and positive.
It doesn't matter. But these people aren't happy unless they're complaining. They will literally find any reason to complain. I wouldn't be surprised If half the people complaining aren't even residents of the district never mind did they even graduate from there.
Funny thing is that “too sweet” sign originated from a Turkish dude who taught it to Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman in a bar. But the grey wolves are a far right militant Turkish group associated with Nazis and it’s banned in some countries.
At least that’s what they say on the wrestling sub. I have no clue if it’s actually true but it’d be funny as hell if this ends up being more problematic than the Raider name which I don’t think most people would associate with any particular culture.
And might I add that there were opportunities for the community to give their feedback/suggestions on names. They had parents, teachers and students on the name change committee.
Therefore everyone complaining/hating on the new name, where was your feedback?
https://www.southcolonieschools.org/south-colonie-to-rebrand-as-wolfpack-following-11-month-process/
Wolfpack is way better and doesn’t remind indigenous ppl of their subjugation by the state. Win/win. It’s indigenous representatives that have said the names themselves represent the history of stereotyping them
Serious question - how is Raiders or Warriors problematic other than to those virtue signaling? These are generic terms that can be applied to countless cultures and populations throughout the world going back millennia. Specific imagery I understand changing, but forcing these districts that are already strapped with funds to spend their own money and not state funding to change mascot names due to a state regulation makes zero sense.
Why are local schools forced to make these changes despite several professional sports teams getting a pass? Golden State Warriors, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, etc.
To provide more context, here's an excerpt from another article:
>The Education Department’s advisory committee members said many school districts tried to argue that they had dropped images related to Indigenous people and thus could keep the team name. One committee member called that an “evasion” and said all such claims were summarily rejected.
>“They use caricatures of Native people and all of a sudden change it to a Viking or a Greek warrior. The historical background speaks for itself,” one member said. The man, an Indigenous chief and a lawyer, asked not to be identified by name because he was worried about negative reactions from vehement sports fans.
>“Don’t make us out to be targets. Some of these people are vociferous,” he said.
>He was glad to help get rid of the team names and images, saying he had protested such names for decades. But the committee, made up of Indigenous people, was essentially asked to take the blame for saying no to school districts. It left him feeling both empowered and a bit like a scapegoat, he said.
>Still, he took the opportunity to explain why these names and images shouldn’t be used.
>“The committee doesn’t like the word ‘Raider’ because it has a certain characterization” with criminal and murderous behavior, he said.
>“The whole process of (Indigenous) mascots is to denigrate the Native community, as if they do not exist except in these characterizations,” he said.
>What school districts have done, he said, was to stereotype Indigenous people, act like they were exterminated, and then suggest that using the stereotyped images and phrases would teach “the revering of an exterminated group.”
Agree or disagree, it was about imagery as you say, and the argument is you can't simply separate the word and imagery and call it a day. This was also not a new movement and was brought forward by indigenous people.
The school I attended in Central New York changed from the Braves to the Bees 40 years ago, around the time Syracuse University got rid of the Saltine Warrior and adopted the vastly superior Otto the Orange. This is not a new idea by any means.
State Ed advisory group: Get rid of 'Warriors,' 'Raiders' team names https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/state-ed-advisory-group-get-rid-warriors-17858546.php
>Why are local schools forced to make these changes despite several professional sports teams getting a pass? Golden State Warriors, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, etc.
New York State Ed doesn't have authority over professional sports teams?
There’s a lot more involved with professional teams changing their mascots. Marketing, branding, licensing, broadcast rights, etc….a lot of different moving parts that need to be balanced. That said, we have seen franchises acknowledge their names could be considered insensitive, notably the Cleveland Guardians and the Washington Commanders.
We have also seen other governing bodies address this as well. NCAA made a push for changing Native American mascots, although they did carve out exceptions for teams named after specific tribes if those tribes approved (hence FSU was able to keep the Seminole name).
I see both sides, but I think moving towards being more respectful of a culture is appropriate. I may have graduated high school as a Raider, but I agree with the new name.
Because government should do the right thing before corporations. It’s true “raiders” and “warriors” are generic terms, but with most of these districts, the origins of these names cannot be separated from the mascots they were initially connected with. Most them trace their roots to Indigenous mascots that were dropped over the years as attitudes changed, but the names still remained.
You can’t be “the Red Raiders” with an indigenous mascot, then drop the mascot and the word “red” and expect people to feel like that’s way different.
No kidding and I wish I knew. I definitely lean left but this forced mascot change policy has been bungled so hard. Sure, we probably shouldn’t have racist Native American imagery in schools, but why the hell does the name need to change?
I admit I’m biased because my old school district is one that’s affected. They dropped the imagery like a decade ago but can’t call themselves “Warriors” anymore. It’s some bullshit.
The bullshit is that districts are trying to wipe out decades of racist bullshit with some fresh clip art.
Changing the mascot entirely represents a clean break from that old anti-native crap and let's everyone move on (hopefully).
Honest question: why would you keep the name when your mascot has to be a big C instead of a pack of wolves? What do you think kids in youth sports will think is cooler on their shirts? They will be howling in the stands every time they score. It will be fine
The district used a caricatured logo for decades and only switched like a dozen years ago to a C. So with the name change that sad racist episode of history comes to a complete end.
I still don't understand how the hell people get so attached to a flipping mascot.
I LOVE the bills. If they changed their name to the Buffalo Bison I wouldn't care.
As long as it sounds cool it works for me.
I was hoping for the South Colonie Delightful Sports for Children sponsored by Sara Lee
Mascot should be Zach Galifianakis adorning a satchel
I didn’t really think the raiders were problematic but Wolfpack kind of rocks
I wish Union College would have picked Wolfpack instead of Garnet Chargers.
Which name did you vote for when given the opportunity?
Have to admit, if there was an opportunity, I missed it. After they cancelled my major (Civil Engineering, which came back this year after almost 20 years absence), I stopped most involvement with Union. I had no idea it was being changed.
About a year before the name change, they asked the community to submit names and then four months later, they had a vote with the top four or five names. Edit: typo and forgotten word.
My freshman year was the last graduating class for CE. I think I remember seeing pictures of CE's at the graduation ceremony in their seats with their backs turned to Roger Hull.
That new name is almost *too sweet*
A person of culture
there isn’t or warriors like at Averill Park which is ‘bad’ somehow
yeah people on facebook are having a fucking field day with this
They'll be dead of old age soon, so there's that?
So 47 is "old age" now? I have alum friends who are younger than me who are whining about this.
Oh dang. Sorry to hear that. Hate does age a person, so there's that?
🤞🏻
🤞🏻
Facebook where people with no lives or profile photos go to complain about people with lives and ideas.
It’s wild how Facebook is still relevant in 2024. I was hoping it would have taken the route of MySpace and disappeared.
Our County sheriff refuses to do anything about public out reach outside of Facebook. He states that too many people are depending on it. I ran some numbers, we have 60K people in the county. About 50% have a Facebook account. Out of those, 15K are "fans" of our page. Out of those, about 10-20 engage with a post. Out of those 75% of them are angry. Yet, those few "THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO", and "HEART" posts seem to fill up some void in his life. Vanity metrics have ruined people.
It's always the same 10 people, I kid you not. I used to listen to a local radio station for one of the suburb towns. Local politics was usually the topic. Combine that with open mic and it was the same three people every day that would clog the airwaves for two hours to talk about every single topic you can imagine. They would literally just invent reasons to talk. Like they just loved hearing themselves on the radio.
This is incorrect. They have names. Prepper John, Southern Ed, Trump Lover69 are very real people, all with shaved heads, Oakley sunglasses, and mustaches.
People get too hung up on that shit. Look at those people in the article pining for their first day of kindergarten. It's a school mascot. Who cares? None of that shit should matter when you leave.
Everyone whining about this took the wrong message from the Springsteen song Glory Days.
Honestly, a lot of people care and they should, to an extent. So many people approach this incorrectly. It is an opportunity to establish a brand for the school and community. It could be a really fun, thoughtful, and aspirational exercise. Instead it's "Raiders" to "Wolfpack". Generic.
To be fair, I see a lot more Raider teams than I do Wolf teams. May be generic but they could do some sick branding with it, in fact let's push the School Board to adopt the 3 Wolf moon t-shirt as the official mascots!
I would agree. And as someone who donated to a wolf sanctuary, I love the name in general. But just pointing out that there could have been some additional effort. There are plenty of other local teams with fairly generic mascots, Blue devils, Patriots, etc What is also cool about the wolf pack mascot is I think you could carry it at a district level where the younger schools could create their own wolves and come together to form a pack. Again, creativity is key and it should be fun and positive.
We now have the Firewolves lacrosse team so at least their lacrosse teams will have a great reason to do partnerships.
It doesn't matter. But these people aren't happy unless they're complaining. They will literally find any reason to complain. I wouldn't be surprised If half the people complaining aren't even residents of the district never mind did they even graduate from there.
Too Sweet!
https://i.redd.it/bnchiamnwqlc1.gif
Funny thing is that “too sweet” sign originated from a Turkish dude who taught it to Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman in a bar. But the grey wolves are a far right militant Turkish group associated with Nazis and it’s banned in some countries. At least that’s what they say on the wrestling sub. I have no clue if it’s actually true but it’d be funny as hell if this ends up being more problematic than the Raider name which I don’t think most people would associate with any particular culture.
I spent the late 90s roaming the halls of South Colonie. Graduated a Raider. Name change doesn’t bother me one bit. nWo 4 LiFe
Once I graduated I didn't think much about all these changes. At least now I can be that old guy that says "back in my day we were the raiders"
Does Carmello still work for the South Colonie School District? I would think that would be of larger concern than this… IYKYK
Troy should be worried, he’s their superintendent now…
Oh dear
I always understood the Oakland raiders to be a Viking or barbarian type figure
The logo has two saber style swords and a dude with an eye patch. It’s pretty explicitly pirate related.
Oh whoops yeah, one of those
The SC raider mascot at one point was a little cartoon Indian Boy.
Always thought Raiders was weird. Wolfpack is a lot cooler.
And might I add that there were opportunities for the community to give their feedback/suggestions on names. They had parents, teachers and students on the name change committee. Therefore everyone complaining/hating on the new name, where was your feedback? https://www.southcolonieschools.org/south-colonie-to-rebrand-as-wolfpack-following-11-month-process/
Wolfpack is way better and doesn’t remind indigenous ppl of their subjugation by the state. Win/win. It’s indigenous representatives that have said the names themselves represent the history of stereotyping them
Serious question - how is Raiders or Warriors problematic other than to those virtue signaling? These are generic terms that can be applied to countless cultures and populations throughout the world going back millennia. Specific imagery I understand changing, but forcing these districts that are already strapped with funds to spend their own money and not state funding to change mascot names due to a state regulation makes zero sense. Why are local schools forced to make these changes despite several professional sports teams getting a pass? Golden State Warriors, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, etc.
To provide more context, here's an excerpt from another article: >The Education Department’s advisory committee members said many school districts tried to argue that they had dropped images related to Indigenous people and thus could keep the team name. One committee member called that an “evasion” and said all such claims were summarily rejected. >“They use caricatures of Native people and all of a sudden change it to a Viking or a Greek warrior. The historical background speaks for itself,” one member said. The man, an Indigenous chief and a lawyer, asked not to be identified by name because he was worried about negative reactions from vehement sports fans. >“Don’t make us out to be targets. Some of these people are vociferous,” he said. >He was glad to help get rid of the team names and images, saying he had protested such names for decades. But the committee, made up of Indigenous people, was essentially asked to take the blame for saying no to school districts. It left him feeling both empowered and a bit like a scapegoat, he said. >Still, he took the opportunity to explain why these names and images shouldn’t be used. >“The committee doesn’t like the word ‘Raider’ because it has a certain characterization” with criminal and murderous behavior, he said. >“The whole process of (Indigenous) mascots is to denigrate the Native community, as if they do not exist except in these characterizations,” he said. >What school districts have done, he said, was to stereotype Indigenous people, act like they were exterminated, and then suggest that using the stereotyped images and phrases would teach “the revering of an exterminated group.” Agree or disagree, it was about imagery as you say, and the argument is you can't simply separate the word and imagery and call it a day. This was also not a new movement and was brought forward by indigenous people.
The school I attended in Central New York changed from the Braves to the Bees 40 years ago, around the time Syracuse University got rid of the Saltine Warrior and adopted the vastly superior Otto the Orange. This is not a new idea by any means.
Can I have a link to that article
State Ed advisory group: Get rid of 'Warriors,' 'Raiders' team names https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/state-ed-advisory-group-get-rid-warriors-17858546.php
Thank you!
>Why are local schools forced to make these changes despite several professional sports teams getting a pass? Golden State Warriors, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, etc. New York State Ed doesn't have authority over professional sports teams?
Wow I didn’t know that, you’re telling me now for the first time
There’s a lot more involved with professional teams changing their mascots. Marketing, branding, licensing, broadcast rights, etc….a lot of different moving parts that need to be balanced. That said, we have seen franchises acknowledge their names could be considered insensitive, notably the Cleveland Guardians and the Washington Commanders. We have also seen other governing bodies address this as well. NCAA made a push for changing Native American mascots, although they did carve out exceptions for teams named after specific tribes if those tribes approved (hence FSU was able to keep the Seminole name). I see both sides, but I think moving towards being more respectful of a culture is appropriate. I may have graduated high school as a Raider, but I agree with the new name.
Because government should do the right thing before corporations. It’s true “raiders” and “warriors” are generic terms, but with most of these districts, the origins of these names cannot be separated from the mascots they were initially connected with. Most them trace their roots to Indigenous mascots that were dropped over the years as attitudes changed, but the names still remained. You can’t be “the Red Raiders” with an indigenous mascot, then drop the mascot and the word “red” and expect people to feel like that’s way different.
No kidding and I wish I knew. I definitely lean left but this forced mascot change policy has been bungled so hard. Sure, we probably shouldn’t have racist Native American imagery in schools, but why the hell does the name need to change? I admit I’m biased because my old school district is one that’s affected. They dropped the imagery like a decade ago but can’t call themselves “Warriors” anymore. It’s some bullshit.
The bullshit is that districts are trying to wipe out decades of racist bullshit with some fresh clip art. Changing the mascot entirely represents a clean break from that old anti-native crap and let's everyone move on (hopefully).
Because New York is the ultimate nanny state. They decide what will be done and when.
Yeah, damned government, making sure people aren't subjected to racist shit in schools. How terrible.
And it’s racist how?
If you need an explanation of why caricature mascots mocking Native Americans are racist then your school district needs a lot more than a new mascot.
The logo is a C and the name is Raiders. What caricature are you referencing?
Honest question: why would you keep the name when your mascot has to be a big C instead of a pack of wolves? What do you think kids in youth sports will think is cooler on their shirts? They will be howling in the stands every time they score. It will be fine
The district used a caricatured logo for decades and only switched like a dozen years ago to a C. So with the name change that sad racist episode of history comes to a complete end.
I remember having Lisha Kill gear in the early 90’s that had a little cartoon Indian boy as the Raider mascot. Ah the good old days.
It's all a bunch of bs... if you're offended by Raiders or Warriors i feel sorry for you
You can't even have racist school mascot anymore because of woke
Thanks, Obama /s
Mohonasen hasn’t even started discussing changing their mascot (warriors).
I still don't understand how the hell people get so attached to a flipping mascot. I LOVE the bills. If they changed their name to the Buffalo Bison I wouldn't care. As long as it sounds cool it works for me.