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A cuddly leopard with a green afro has been unveiled as the mascot of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Zakumi World Cup 2010 Mascot The character, called Zakumi, has been given his own biography and name to reflect the country's aims and hopes. Organisers said the character was 'born' on 16 June, 1994 - the year in which apartheid ended. The date is celebrated as Youth Day to mark the 1976 Soweto uprising when young protesters struck a blow against white rule. At the mascot's introduction at a state TV studio, a performer in a Zakumi costume kicked...

BISMARCK, N.D. (Legal Newsline)-North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Wednesday he opposes a judge's decision to seal all future documents in the University of North Dakota "Fighting Sioux" lawsuit against the NCAA. Northeast Central District Judge Lawrence Jahnke said he wants the parties to move toward a settlement. Stenehjem, whose office is representing the university, said he believes sealing the records violates the spirit of open records.

FLOWER MOUND -- Oh, Subway Jared wouldn't be smiling about this.A 14-year-old was assaulted and robbed of his Subway mascot costume Friday afternoon as he stood outside the sandwich shop. Three teens are suspected of taking the outfit after jumping out of their car.The victim suffered a slight arm injury when the teens tackled him and removed the sandwich costume. He also reported that the car ran over his foot as the teens fled; the victim was treated at the scene.Hours later police arrested the teenaged boys after witnesses and other employees took down a description of a car used...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen Thursday as Israel's national bird. The Hoopoe, or "Duchifat" in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews. President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird. The Book of Leviticus groups the Hoopoe with birds such as the eagle, vulture and pelican that are "abhorrent, not to be eaten." Israel is a main crossroads...

Steely McBeam's reputation is now a bit tarnished. One of the men hired by the Steelers to play the mascot has been fired. Kenneth Hahey, 24, of Mt. Washington was charged with drunken driving after he was stopped in the South Side in January, according to Pittsburgh municipal court records. His blood alcohol level was .166, according to a police affidavit. Steelers spokesman David Lockett said Hahey has been "released from his duties."

Why are elephants used as the symbol of the Republican Party? Watch this and see... Discover the answer

The tale of a Nazi mascot By Olga Craig, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:56am BST 10/06/2007 Page 1 of 3 The tale of a Nazi mascot The Littlest Nazi: Alex Kurzem was paraded before Hitler in an SS uniform Almost all his life Alex Kurzem has kept a lonely secret. Born in Koidanov in the Minsk region of Belarus in 1935, he emigrated to Australia at 15, married and raised a family in Melbourne. His sons grew up listening, spellbound, to their father's poignant, though light-hearted, wartime tale: of how, as a five-year-old pigherd, he became separated from his peasant...

A T-shirt produced by a North Dakota business at tempting to poke fun at the UND Fighting Sioux logo con troversy has inflamed ten sions on an already sensitive issue. The shirt, which James town, N.D.-based Orriginals Inc. began printing about a week ago, includes the words: "No Sioux Logo No Sioux Ca sinos!" It also features UND's Indian head logo with the words: "Hostile and Abusive," and plots out the location of three casinos in North Dakota and South Dakota, which it describes as "Destructive and Addictive."

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two days after naming its mascot "PorkChop," the Philadelphia Phillies' new Triple-A affiliate abruptly dropped the moniker after receiving complaints from Hispanics that it was offensive. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, whose mascot is a large, furry pig, had selected PorkChop from more than 7,300 fan submissions. The team, which begins play in 2008, announced Monday that the mascot will be named "Ferrous" instead. General Manager Kurt Landes said he heard from several Hispanics who said PorkChop was derogatory.

British police mascot 'too white, too male' November 20, 2007 08:35pm LONDON'S Metropolitan Police has been forced to spend £15,000 ($34,855.35) creating "ethnically diverse" mascots after complaints about a model deemed too white and too male. Met chief Sir Ian Blair ordered the new politically correct (PC) models after an Asian officer complained about...Steve, the mascot produced to visit schools to promote the police force. ...Steve was white, with blue eyes and blond hair... leaving Asian and women officers "isolated"... Blair, in a written response to the London Assembly, said the Met's diversity unit would be tasked with creating new...

Met Police forced to spend £15,000 on new mascot - because old one is 'too male and white'By CHARLOTTE GILL - More by this author » Last updated at 00:23am on 20th November 2007 PCSO Steve: The Met's uniformed mascot is said to be 'too male and white' Sir Ian Blair's force is spending £15,000 of public money creating "ethnically diverse" police mascots after one officer complained that the original white male model was alienating women and ethnic minority staff.  Scotland Yard approved the cost for creating a cast of four police figures including an Asian female community support officer...

A $104 million dollar hockey arena may be forced to remove hundreds of images of "The Fighting Sioux," the logo and nickname of the University of North Dakota for more than 70 years, if officials can't reach an agreement with tribal councils. The university, according to a settlement last month of a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, has three years to negotiate an agreement with two North Dakota Sioux tribes — Spirit Lake and Standing Rock — to receive approval for the continued use of the "Sioux" name and logo. If an agreement is not reached by 2011,...

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech has banned the sale of a T-shirt bearing the likeness of Michael Vick hanging the dog mascot of rival Texas A&M. The red and black shirts, with text that says "VICK 'EM" on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies' slogan "Gig 'em," was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday's game in Lubbock. The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. Vick, who...

The baseball world has been turned upside down today when perennial American League favorite Tampa Bay Devil Rays shockingly decided to change their name to the Tampa Bay Rays!

In accordance with the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s directive banning what it considers ethnically or racially hostile or abusive nicknames, mascots and imagery at championship events, Arkansas State University Chancellor Robert Potts announced that the school will be changing its team nickname. Formerly known as the “Indians,” the ASU teams will now be known as the “Weasels.” Potts said the decision to change the nickname was not an easy one. “We thought we were honoring Native Americans by naming our team the ‘Indians,’” Potts said. “We even had testimonials from local tribes endorsing our perception. But the lure of money...

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) -- Now that Arkansas State University Chancellor Robert Potts has accepted a recommendation to change the school's Indian nickname, the school is preparing to pick a new mascot. Potts announced yesterday that ASU would shed its Indian name and mascot. The NCAA has a ban on ethnically or racially hostile or abusive nicknames, mascots and imagery at championship events. Arkansas State was one of the schools found in violation of the policy.

Most Annoying Brand Mascots Is or Was...? "Advertising's Most Annoying: Which brand mascot makes you groan? Is it the Aflac duck? The Nabisco "Snack Fairy"? Share your pick for the most annoying character or person in advertising. FOR EXAMPLE:

More than two dozen of Jason Ray's family and close friends were at his hospital bedside Sunday, holding a vigil as the University of North Carolina mascot lay gravely injured after being hit by an SUV. The 21-year-old senior remained on life support and in extremely critical condition Sunday, two days after he was run down near his hotel in Fort Lee. Ray, who suited up as UNC's ram mascot, Rameses, was in New Jersey for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, a portion of which is being played at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford. Ray's father, Emmitt, who...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- The University of Illinois will drop its 81-year-old American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek...The move makes the school eligible to host postseason NCAA championship events, but it angered many Illini fans who say the chief honors American Indians. The NCAA in 2005 deemed Illiniwek -- portrayed by buckskin-clad students who dance at home...games and other athletic events -- an offensive use of American Indian imagery and barred the university from hosting postseason events. American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning... ...Eppley told reporters that the decision did...

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A Dartmouth College official who disagrees with the University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname has publicly apologized for a hockey tournament that is to include the UND team. "I must offer a sincere apology to the Native American community, and the Dartmouth community as a whole, for an event that will understandably offend and hurt people within our community," Dartmouth athletics director Josie Harper wrote in a recent letter to the editor that was published in the college newspaper, The Dartmouth. The UND men's hockey team is scheduled to play Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., on...

A district judge has granted a preliminary injunction to stop the NCAA from banning the University of North Dakota from hosting a postseason game because of its "Fighting Sioux" nickname, state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. Stenehjem said judge Lawrence Jahnke alerted him to the decision Saturday night. Stenehjem did not know the details. UND is among a handful of schools with American Indian nicknames and logos that the NCAA considers hostile and abusive. Those schools are barred from holding postseason tournaments, or from using their nicknames during road playoff games. Stenehjem, in asking for the injunction, said the ban...

A medal awarded to the only dog to be officially registered as a prisoner of war in World War II went on public display for the first time. Judy, a mascot on board a torpedoed Royal Navy vessel in southeast Asia, helped dozens of men survive a Japanese PoW camp in Sumatra after she was captured alongside marooned members of the ship's crew in 1942. Frank Williams, a British airman at the camp, befriended the pedigree pointer -- and later successfully persuaded Japanese officers to register her as a PoW. She went on to survive gunshot wounds and alligator bites...

Titans, mascot will not be punished NFL.com wire reports NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 17, 2006) -- The Tennessee Titans will not face sanctions from the NFL after their mascot's golf cart struck New Orleans quarterback Adrian McPherson and injured his knee during Saturday's preseason game. The league investigated the accident and reminded all teams that mascots must stay outside of a 6-foot boundary around their fields, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Tennessean. "No, the club is not going to be disciplined," Aiello said. The mascot T-Rac is played by Pete Nelson, the director of mascot operations. He will not face...

...I doubt anyone (including Indians or the ACLU) would have a problem if Snyder renamed the 'Skins the "Washington Honkeys." In fact, the "Fighting Whites" were an intramural basketball team formed at the University of Northern Colorado in 2002. The team was formed as a sort of payback to all the teams across the country who use Indian names and symbols as mascots...

Some leaders of Buffalo's black community say they consider the new name for the city's minor-league basketball team, the Silverbacks, offensive and racially insensitive. They say a silverback - an adult male gorilla - is an inappropriate nickname for a team with a large number of black players because bigots have referred to blacks as "gorillas," "apes" and "monkeys."...

MONTEREY, Calif. — First Nazarene Church used to start Sunday services with announcements and a generic welcome from the associate pastor. Now service starts with whirling spotlights, stadium music and a cougar mascot bounding down the center aisle slapping high fives and making "raise the roof" gestures. "Adding Christian Cougar was a great move for us," says the pastor. "No one calls our church boring anymore." Churches across the country are adopting mascots to pump up Sunday mornings and rally people in worship. "Our new mascot energizes things," says pastor Del Richards of Valley Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark.,...

Party's fiberglass pachyderm prohibited from Brookfield parade By LISA SINK lsink@journalsentinel.com Brookfield - Democrats can rejoice: This city's Independence Day parade will feature donkeys but no elephants. "Sparky," a 5-foot-tall, 100-pound fiberglass elephant purchased as the mascot for the Republican Party of Waukesha County will not be allowed in Brookfield's Fourth of July parade today, ending its four-year parade run. But the Wisconsin Donkey and Mule Society will return as a parade unit. That's because the donkey and mule society is not affiliated with the Democratic Party. The elephant mascot, however, violates Brookfield's ban on political parties as parade entries....

From Private William “Billy” Windsor (serial no 25232301), First Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, Cyprus. Sir, When the story broke last week in some papers that I had been demoted from lance corporal to private because of my apparently lower-than-average marching skills, commentators seemed to think that this was in some way funny. Presumably because I am a goat. Reporting the case, in which I was busted down to private after repeatedly veering off line while marching at a parade for the Queen’s 80th birthday in Cyprus, The Sun newspaper (presumably surprised to learn that regimental animals have ranks) was moved...

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The six-year-old mascot for a British army battalion has been demoted in disgrace for acting the goat during a parade in full view of dignitaries. Billy Goat has been a mascot of the First Battalion, the Royal Welsh regiment, since he was six months old and had the official rank of lance-corporal before his frisky antics during a parade marking Queen Elizabeth's official birthday earlier this month. The army said he had been demoted to fusilier (private) as a result of his behavior. "The goat major had a hard time keeping him in line, he was bouncing...

Stung by the NCAA allegation that its 'Fighting Sioux' nickname is disrespectful, University of North Dakota wants to sue. GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- In their showdown over the use of an American Indian nickname and logo, the NCAA leads its series with the University of North Dakota 3-0. But the Fighting Sioux are still fighting. Trounced last year by an NCAA mandate to change its 80-year-old Fighting Sioux nickname or lose some post-season rights, then rebuffed twice on appeals, the university now wants to take the battle of wills into federal court. A defiant UND President Charles Kupcella will confer...

June 7, 2006National Collegiate Athletic Association c/o Myles Brand and Bernard Franklin 1802 Alonzo Watford Sr. Drive P.O. Box 6222 Indianapolis, Indiana 46202Dear All,I have chosen to communicate with you in this way for several reasons. Since you have had what you say is the “final� word on the issue of our nickname and logo, we must now consider legal action. I want you, as well as University of North Dakota stakeholders and the general public, to know why we must. The NCAA leaves us no recourse but to consider litigation to make the point that the policy you...

The College of William and Mary can use the nickname “Tribe” for its athletic teams, but it must eliminate the two feathers in the W&M logo, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled Tuesday. The NCAA has been cracking down on Native American nicknames, mascots and images that some find offensive. The NCAA said, “the committee believes that coupling the term “Tribe” with imagery that has traditionally been linked to Native Americans, for example eagle feathers and arrowheads, transforms that use from one associated with “togetherness,” “shared idealism,” and “commitment” to a stereotypical reference to Native Americans.” If the Williamsburg college...

The NCAA, which can't seem to police illegal recruiting activities in college sports programs, or require that athletes actually are real college students, continues to flex its flabby muscles over what mascots are deemed to be permissable at athletic events. The 17 member "Executive Committee" has banned the Indian mascots at the University of North Dakota and the University of Illinois. Wire services issue stories on this matter, but they neglect to name the members of this exalted committee. The chairman is the president of the University of Hartford. Other members include the presidents of Belmont University, Alcorn State, Cal....

Hummer, the new mascot for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, is undergoing his obedience training. The puppy will follow recruits through several trainings events before earning the title of depot mascot. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brian Kester U.S. Marine Corps ‘Hummer’ 'Devil Dog' Steps in as New Depot Mascot By Cpl. Brian Kester Parris Island PARRIS ISLAND, S.C., April 7, 2006 — He is only 12 inches long, covered with white and brown hair and barks at the wall. Yet, the Marine Corps wants him to be one of the few, the proud. His name temporarily...

Reason rules the day for now, as a measure at my alma mater Northwest Nazarene University to drop its Crusader mascot name was defeated. But continued vigilance will be needed. The university's Board of Trustees - champions of political correctness that they are - now support finding a cuddly, soft definition of the crusades in step with our hip-hop modern times.

ROCHESTER — Administrators are on a fact-finding mission to learn more about the creation of Spaulding High School's mascot and logo after an alumnus asked that the Red Raider emblem be changed. In a letter sent to the superintendent's office earlier this month, Peter Sanfacon, Class of 1977 and now of Framingham, Mass., said the mascot and logo that depicts an American Indian is inappropriate and insensitive. He quoted a resolution passed in August 2002 by the New Hampshire Board of Education calling for local school districts to stop using American Indian sports mascots as well as a similar resolution...

Students offended by Crusader mascot name: Students think their mascot name, "The Crusaders," is behind the times, and offensive. Now, students at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa are interested in changing the school's mascot It hasn't hit the big time news, but it's making smaller waves in Treasure Valley, Idaho. Students at Northwest Nazarene University - an evangelical school - in Nampa, Idaho are in a bind. They think their mascot name, "The Crusaders," is behind the times, and offensive. Now, students at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa are interested in changing the school's mascot. Given that I am an...

The United Methodist General Conference had eliminated Atlanta before choosing Richmond for its 2012 General Conference. Now, it has eliminated Richmond as host for its 1,000 delegates and 4,000 other attendees, for the same reason: the names of the Braves' baseball teams. The denomination's Commission on the General Conference is moving the convention to Tampa because of its policy, begun in 2004, of not meeting in cities home to professional sports teams with American Indian names.

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - A rowdy Stanford University mascot was fired after being discovered drunk during a basketball game, university officials said. Fifth-year senior Erin Lashnits, who dresses as a tree for the university's irreverent band, was stripped of her duties last week after her blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.157 during a men's basketball game at the University of California, Berkeley. For the purposes of driving a vehicle in California, legally drunk is .08. Stanford went on to lose the Feb. 9 game 65-62. The university had previously placed the band on "alcohol suspension," which requires a zero-tolerance policy...

They're less than two months from taking the field, but the team known as Houston 1836 may soon change its name. The 1836 is the team which used to be the San Jose Earthquakes, but the new name is causing a little controversy here in Houston. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also on ABC13.com: Send news tips | RSS | ABC13 E-lert | Info mentioned on air | Search abc13.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's in a name? Apparently a lot since Major League Soccer announced that the San Jose Earthquakes were coming to Houston and would be called Houston 1836. "People have been very sincere. Some...

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are considering a name change, the Tampa Tribune reported Friday. "When [new owner] Stu Sternberg came in, he said there was a need for dramatic change. One way for dramatic change is to change the name," team president Matt Silverman told the paper. Silverman said that one option is to remove the "Devil" from Devil Rays after meetings with focus groups revealed a negative association with the with word "devil," the Tribune reported. "When they liked something we did, they would refer to us as the Rays. If they were discussing a complaint or gripe,...

Beware of flying phlegm. The Washington Redskins are coming to town. The team whose sprinkler system of a safety Sean Taylor, in the spirit of Leonardo DiCaprio in "Titanic," hawks loogies into the faces of his opponents when words just don't seem to be enough, is coming to Seattle for a playoff date with the Seahawks. Taylor does more slinging than Sammy Baugh ever did. But who can blame him for using everything in his power to get an advantage? After all, his team comes from the town where rules are meant to be bent. Washington, D.C., is a corruption...

An Evergreen Story On Saturday the Washington Redskins beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-10 in an NFL wild-card game, which means that this weekend the Redskins travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks, whose 13-3 record is the best in the National Football Conference. The Washington Post, a newspaper in the District of Columbia, reports that this is causing some trouble for a newspaper in Washington state: To avoid insulting native American heritage, the Seattle Times decided to limit severely the use of the term Redskins in the paper--even if a team with that name will dominate news coverage this...

Washington's football team may be doing heroically on the field, but their name is causing a furore THE US SENATE has been considering a Supreme Court nominee this week. It’s been a predictably tedious affair. Senators, puffed up with pomposity, have bloviated happily for hours. Washington has slept soundly. But even if it had been up there with the Scopes monkey trial for judicial drama, it is unlikely the confirmation process for Judge Samuel Alito would have been able to compete with the story that grips the nation’s capital. The local football team, the Washington Redskins, have reached the knockout...

Johnstown, Pa. -- A man who plays the role of Puckhead, the unofficial mascot of the Johnstown Chiefs hockey team, was burned when his fake beard and jersey ignited during a fire-breathing stunt that went awry. John Robertson, who has played the role for several years, was entertaining the crowd before the start of a game Friday night against the Reading Royals when he was injured, Chiefs general manager Toby O'Brien said. According to witnesses, Robertson poured the flammable liquid into his mouth and tried to light it, but it didn't work. When he tried a second time, Robertson's fake...

WASHINGTON -- The University of Illinois must soon decide whether, and if so how, to fight an exceedingly silly edict from the NCAA. That organization's primary function is to require college athletics to be no more crassly exploitative and commercial than is absolutely necessary. But now the NCAA is going to police cultural sensitivity, as it understands that. Hence the decision to declare Chief Illiniwek ``hostile and abusive'' to Native Americans. Censorship -- e.g., campus speech codes -- often are academic liberalism's preferred instrument of social improvement, and now the NCAA's censors say: The Chief must go, as must the...

The University of Illinois must soon decide whether, and if so how, to fight an exceedingly silly edict from the NCAA. That organization's primary function is to require college athletics to be no more crassly exploitative and commercial than is absolutely necessary. But now the NCAA is going to police cultural sensitivity, as it understands that. Hence the decision to declare Chief Illiniwek "hostile and abusive" to Native Americans.

A Louisiana tribe's blessing won't save the University of Louisiana-Monroe's Indian mascot from the NCAA's displeasure, so a new committee will study the mascot's future. ULM was one of 18 schools which the NCAA has ordered to stop using Indian mascots, images and logos in February 2006. The league allowed Florida State to remain the Seminoles because the tribe approved. But NCAA official Bernard Franklin has told ULM that "the use of a generic Native American reference like Indians or Braves cannot be mitigated by the concurrence of any Native America Tribe," university President James Cofer wrote alumni and other...

Say goodbye to that dancing creepshow named Mr. Six. Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, is fixing to deep-six the strangeling octogenarian that for years now has served as the chief mascot and marketing engine for troubled Six Flags Inc. Snyder, who took control of the theme park operator earlier this week, is planning to rebrand the Oklahoma company so it better appeals to children and families, the New York Post reported. That means steering away from “thrill-seeking teenagers” and establishing partnerships with fast-food restaurants and cartoon studios, the Post said. Branding experts say the odd-looking Mr. Six —...

"We've all heard the pleas for sports teams to leave behind the derisive nicknames of another era. And perhaps we can agree that there's little defense for some names. Take, for example, the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savages. (Women's teams: the Lady Savages. I kid you not.) But, wait: Turns out that the chief of the Choctaw Nation defends the Savages. Instead of ripping the college for insensitivity, tribal officials are proud of the name and emphasize the school's support for the quarter of its students who are Indians. Sometimes when you look beyond the easy slogans of activists, you...