Giving New Meaning To Big Green

With a little pressure from the NCAA, Newberry College in South Carolina dropped its Indian nickname in May of 2008 and spent the past school year as the Newberry Nothings. (I made up the Nothings part, but you get the idea. The school teams did not have a nickname.)

A columnist from the newspaper The State has come up with a few suggestions for a new nickname, with at least a couple of them offered tongue in cheek. Given that the school colors are scarlet and gray, you can be pretty sure the following suggestion is one that was not intended to be taken seriously:

"This is where Newberry should follow the lead of Ivy League member Dartmouth,with a twist to acknowledge current times.

"During the 1920s, Dartmouth began referring to its athletic teams as the Indians. By the early 1970s, the school recognized the insensitive nature of the nickname and dropped it in favor of the Big Green.

"In a time when our country’s focus is on being green, Newberry can ride the wave

of ecological correctness and go with Big Green as a nickname."

The columnist does raise an interesting idea. Perhaps some of us who are less-than-thrilled with the Big Green nickname would be more enthusiastic if it were a little more cutting edge. Maybe the classic Bob Blackman helmet could be updated for these more environmentally aware times. Um, no ;-)

For full coverage of Dartmouth graduation including transcripts of the speeches, sound files of those speeches, pictures and bios of those honored, click here.

Among those in town for graduation was former quarterback Charlie Rittgers '06, whose sister Annie, served as president of the Class of 2009 from her freshman year on. She's profiled here. Charlie Rittgers is third on the Dartmouth career list for passing yardage and very well may have have challenged Jay Fiedler's career mark if he'd returned for a fifth season instead of heading off to law school.