As I sit here on my annual spring training vacation, numbed by the thumping handed to us by our Jesuit brethren from Eastern Washington, it occurs to me that
while USF and SMC have nicknames for us, we don't have nicknames for them.
To the Gaels, we are the "prunies," an anachronism from the days of the Valley of the Heart' Delight (although personally meaningful as my grandparents owned a small prune orchard in south San Jose in the late 50s); to the Dons we are "donks" (which, while certainly derisive is amusing). Both will on occasion refer to us as SCUm.
We need to reciprocate. I have some thoughts for the Dons at least. Given the Spanish heritage of our respective schools and their Spanish nickname, a Spanish alternative might be appropriate. During the Jesse Evans/Eddie Sutton debacle, I occasionally refered to the Don's as the Payasos (clowns); another thought might be Pendejos (no perfect translation but 'dumas*' or dumbsh** are close, although it also depends where in the Spanish Speaking world you are saying it-- it some places it's fairly vulgar). We could incorporate Dons into Pendejos and call them Pendonjos, but the that might be a bit forced. I know that during the mid 90's, SCU students referred to USF students as "dongs", but that is too obvious.
The Gaels are harder to pin a name upon. First off, I like the "Gaesl" nickname: it's fairly unique (only Iona comes to mind) and I'd really like it if it didn't belong to SMC. The "Gay-els" sometimes used on the Don board is forced, obvious and ignorant. Further, Moraga and SMC lack sufficient notoriety that would allow a nickname to jump out fully formed.
In the spirit of good natured competitive tweaking, does anyone have any thoughts re: nicknames for the Dons or the Gaels?
To the Gaels, we are the "prunies," an anachronism from the days of the Valley of the Heart' Delight (although personally meaningful as my grandparents owned a small prune orchard in south San Jose in the late 50s); to the Dons we are "donks" (which, while certainly derisive is amusing). Both will on occasion refer to us as SCUm.
We need to reciprocate. I have some thoughts for the Dons at least. Given the Spanish heritage of our respective schools and their Spanish nickname, a Spanish alternative might be appropriate. During the Jesse Evans/Eddie Sutton debacle, I occasionally refered to the Don's as the Payasos (clowns); another thought might be Pendejos (no perfect translation but 'dumas*' or dumbsh** are close, although it also depends where in the Spanish Speaking world you are saying it-- it some places it's fairly vulgar). We could incorporate Dons into Pendejos and call them Pendonjos, but the that might be a bit forced. I know that during the mid 90's, SCU students referred to USF students as "dongs", but that is too obvious.
The Gaels are harder to pin a name upon. First off, I like the "Gaesl" nickname: it's fairly unique (only Iona comes to mind) and I'd really like it if it didn't belong to SMC. The "Gay-els" sometimes used on the Don board is forced, obvious and ignorant. Further, Moraga and SMC lack sufficient notoriety that would allow a nickname to jump out fully formed.
In the spirit of good natured competitive tweaking, does anyone have any thoughts re: nicknames for the Dons or the Gaels?
